The Servant’s Prudence and Abraham’s Faith

Notice also the servant's good judgment. He did not say, “What is this? There are so many peoples near us, so many daughters of wealthy, distinguished, and prominent men, yet you are sending me to a distant land, to people I do not know. Whom will I speak to? Who will recognize me? What if they plot against me or deceive me? Nothing is so vulnerable as a stranger.” He said none of these things. Passing over all such concerns, he considered precisely what most needed to be considered. By offering no objection he showed his obedience; by asking only the one question that above all needed to be asked, he showed his prudence and foresight.

What was it, then? What did he ask his master? “But if the woman is unwilling to come with me,” he said, “shall I take your son back to the land from which you came?” Abraham replied, “Do not take my son back there. The Lord, the God of heaven and earth, who took me from my father's house and from the land where I was born, who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To you and to your offspring I will give this land,’ He will send His angel before you and make your journey successful.”