Genesis 24:1-4 "And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac."
Abraham had attained a great age at this point, being 140 years old. We can have a good estimate of his age based off two things. He was a hundred years old when Isaac was born (Genesis 21:5), and Isaac was forty years old when he got married (Genesis 25:20). For 140 years, the LORD had blessed Abraham both naturally and spiritually.
One of those blessings was that Abraham had a servant that he trusted implicitly. Although the servant is not named here, it is likely that this servant was Eliezer (Genesis 15:2). At one point, Abraham even thought that this man would become his heir because Abraham had no children of his own. It was about this time that Sarah came up with the plan for Abraham to have a child by her handmaid, Hagar.
Remember that the LORD blessed Abraham in all things. Even though he listened to Sarah concerning this plan, God blessed him. Even when he lied about who Sarah was, God blessed him. God did not bless Abraham’s disobedience; He blessed Abraham. In the same fashion, the LORD blessed the children of Israel for forty years in the wilderness.
This is not about God blessing us in our disobedience, but rather about Him blessing in spite of our disobedience. We see God’s longsuffering and mercy in the fact that God blessed Israel with manna, and their shoes did not wear out for forty years. In this is also a warning: just because God continues to show us mercy and to bless us does not mean that He is pleased with our unfaithfulness.
Abraham loved Ishmael, and God blessed Ishmael for Abraham’s sake. Still, the time came that God commanded that Ishmael and Hagar be separated from his household. God promised Abraham that He would make Ishmael mighty, but the descendants of Ishmael became some of Israel’s greatest enemies. It is unwise for us to assume that just because God has not withheld His blessing from us that He is okay with our disobedience.
Abraham wanted Isaac to have a good life before God. He instructed his servant to go to his kindred to find a wife for Isaac. He was not to be married to any of the daughters of the Canaanites where he was living at the time. Abraham did not want Isaac to be married to someone who did not know the LORD and worshipped idols.
Today, we need to be careful about what we marry ourselves to. If we pledge ourselves to the things of this world that we live in, we will reap the corruption that is in the world. Even though we may fail from time to time, our journey here needs to be one of seeking the LORD and doing His will. It is wise for us to seek the counsel of God and join ourselves to that which comes from His country.