And the man stooped, and bowed down before Jehovah,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
and said, Blessed be Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, who has not withdrawn his loving-kindness and his faithfulness from my master; I being in the way, Jehovah has led me to the house of my master's brethren.
Abraham's servant has just met Rebekah at the well and learned that she comes from his master's family. Before he says a word to her household, he stops and worships.
He does not congratulate himself on a successful errand. He does not rush indoors with the news. One writer sets this beside Daniel, who also praised God first when God answered him:
Someone has rightly said that God is always the first thought of a person walking with God. It was so long ago with the servant of Abraham. He had seen God's clear guidance, and his first act was to worship the LORD, saying: "Blessed be the LORD … the LORD has led me in the way" (Gen. 24:26-27). It was the same with Daniel. When God stepped in with mercy in his trials, Daniel's first act was to praise God, saying: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His" (Dan. 2:19-23).
Notice where he stopped.
He had recognised God's hand in the whole of this business. So before going farther, before even entering the house, he bowed and worshipped the Lord.
He blesses God not for a lucky coincidence but for two things God had promised to keep: steady kindness, and reliability to His own word. One commentator calls this worship with understanding behind it:
And the man said, for it is intelligent worship, "Blessed be Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, who has not withdrawn from my master His mercy and His truth …" It is a trusting and adoring acknowledgement of His faithful goodness.
He does not call God "my God." He blesses the God of his master:
Eliezer says, "O Lord God of my master Abraham." He does not say "my God." God had made the promises to Abraham, and had revealed Himself as the God of Abraham. Here the servant shows himself in complete dependence. We find him in the path of promise. He does not exalt himself. He acts according to God's purposes in complete dependence, and does not pretend to have anything except where God had placed the blessing. For us this blessing is in Christ, and there is the answer to our requests.
The order of his sentence matters. He was already on the road his master sent him down; only then was he led. Guidance meets the person who is already where God can meet him:
It reminds us of Abraham's servant (Gen. 24:27). Obedience placed him in the way, and then he says, "I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren." He was in the way — the path of obedience. The Lord could come into that path too and lead him on in it. No other path than this can He approve by His presence.
The road ended at his master's family. One writer applies this to us:
Do we not see a picture here, though partly veiled? When someone honestly seeks the Lord's way, He will lead him to the fellowship of those who are His own people.
One writer reads Eliezer, the servant, as a picture of the Holy Spirit sent by the Father. This verse then shows what marks that work:
Again, we have Eliezer, a picture of the Spirit of God. He is marked by this: his heart goes out to the Lord in complete dependence and in simple-hearted praise, as he receives the quick and unmistakable answer of His grace. Eliezer had his mission from Abraham; so the Spirit is sent from the Father on an errand of love in the church. Prayer and worship suit the members of Christ's body in the same way, and should go out intelligently with God's purpose, just as Eliezer's prayer rested entirely on the aim of the one who sent him.
- Way — obedience put him on the road first; the Lord then led him along it. God's guidance meets the person already walking where He has sent them.
- Worship — the moment the answer came, he bowed. Praise came before the news and before the welcome inside. God is the first thought of anyone walking with Him.
- Mercy and truth — he blesses God for kindness that held, and for a word that proved reliable to his master.
- Dependence — "the God of my master," not "my God." He claims only what God has promised. He asks only where God has placed blessing.
- Family — the road of obedience ended among his master's own people. The servant pictures the Spirit sent by the Father, who leads in dependence and simple praise.