Teaching

Why do you think Chris didn’t look at the directions his father gave him?

Have you ever not followed directions? What happened?

Our SuperTruth today says, “God will give me wisdom.” God’s wisdom gives us direction and instruction for our lives. In our Bible story today, who asked God for wisdom? Eliezer, Abraham’s servant.

Sarah had died and Abraham was a very old man. God had blessed his life. However, Abraham wanted to take care of something very important before he died. His son, Isaac, was not married. Abraham called upon his oldest and most trusted servant, Eliezer, to find the right wife for Isaac. Abraham gave Eliezer specific instructions to carry out. What were those instructions? 1. She must not be from Canaan. 2. She must be from Abraham’s family, a relative from his homeland.

God had spoken to Abraham many years before and told him to leave his family and move to Canaan. God had made a covenant with Abraham. Does anyone know what a covenant is? A serious agreement, a solemn commitment.

God promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants if they served and obeyed God.

Have a volunteer read Genesis 17:7–8:

⁷ “I will confirm My covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸ And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”

This was so important that Abraham asked Eliezer to promise to follow his instructions.

Hold up the cake mix. What’s this?

What could possibly go wrong if I didn’t read the directions?

What if I didn’t measure the ingredients, or I left some out?

What if I added some extra things I found in my cupboard, like spaghetti sauce or dog food?

What if I turned the temperature too high or baked the cake too long?

A lot of things could happen—none of them good! Sometimes it can even be dangerous to not follow the instructions, like with a power tool or an electronic device. Do you remember what happened with Chris and the robot his dad was inventing?

Eliezer knew the task would be difficult. He asked questions before promising to follow all of Abraham’s instructions. What a great relief and comfort for Abraham to know he could trust his servant to do what was asked!

Let’s learn a little more about Eliezer to better understand the man and servant he was. Eliezer was in charge of Abraham’s household. This was a tremendous responsibility given only to someone trustworthy. He was loyal, having served Abraham for many years. Before Abraham had children, he told God that his servant Eliezer would be his heir and inherit all his wealth. Yet God told Abraham that his servant would not be his heir; instead, Abraham would have a son. That son was Isaac. See Genesis 15:2–4.

If you thought you were going to inherit a lot of money but then a new baby came along who would get it all, would you be happy or jealous?

This is why Eliezer’s faithful and selfless service was so amazing! Eliezer told Rebekah’s family that God blessed Abraham with sheep, goats and cattle. He had a fortune in silver and gold, many servants, camels and donkeys. See Genesis 24:34–35. So, Eliezer could have been angry and bitter toward God and Abraham. He could have easily been jealous and resentful of Isaac. Yet Eliezer prayed selflessly that God would give him success with his mission and show unfailing love to his master! Eliezer did not carelessly choose the first woman he saw! He prayed for God’s wisdom and God’s choice for Isaac’s wife.

Have you ever been tempted to follow part of the instructions; maybe to choose what is fastest or easiest to do?

Hold up the cake mix. Can you imagine following the directions perfectly, then not putting it in the oven?

It would have been easy for Eliezer to stop at this point. Abraham was 600 miles away; who would know?

Rebekah gave him a drink and was watering the camels—she must be the one, right?

Eliezer did not stop; he had promised to follow all of Abraham’s instructions, not part of them! Then Eliezer found out she was a relative of Abraham. He worshiped God for leading him straight to his master’s relatives! Yet, he still wasn’t finished. At Rebekah’s house, Eliezer would not rest or eat until he knew that Rebekah would leave her family and come back to Canaan with him.

If you had come all that way on a camel, would you be glad to relax a little while, and maybe take a vacation, catch up on your sleep, and eat some good food?

Yet even the next morning, Eliezer did not allow himself to be delayed in fulfilling his mission!

Eliezer was a faithful servant who wanted to please God and his master. Eliezer did not trust his own judgment; he prayed and asked God for wisdom—and God answered! God wants to give us the wisdom to make good choices, too! All we need to do is ask Him.

Have a volunteer read James 1:5:

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

Did you know that we should seek after God’s wisdom like hidden treasure? Let’s learn more about that in our Discipleship Challenge!

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

Display the models you made before class. Give each child the three patterns, scissors, a pencil, and tape. Children will carefully cut out the patterns and follow the instructions to assemble their crafts. Have them write their names on the boxes and place the paper coins inside. Assist any children with special needs.

You may use the Choices Cube and Cube Scenarios in class as an Additional Activity.

Like Eliezer, we need wisdom to make good decisions. God is delighted to give us all that we need!

Read Proverbs 2:1–6:

My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God. For the Lord grants wisdom! From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Yes, God’s Word is a valuable treasure to us! We must never stop searching for His wisdom!

Your challenge for this lesson is to read the first two scenes on the Scenes Card at home with your family, if possible. For each scene, take turns rolling the Choices Cube and discuss different ways you could respond to that particular scene. Next, find the Scripture Coin with the same number as the scene, and look up the Bible verse on it to find God’s wisdom for that scene. Then, place the Scripture Coin in the Wisdom Chest. When you come back next time, I will ask you to share the funniest and wisest answers that you heard!