Genesis 24:6

The patriarch, on the other hand, delivered an adequate direction to his servant and put him under oath. But let us now see the servant's sense of duty in imitating his master's godliness; when he saw the good man directing him with great earnestness, he said to him, "If the woman does not want to accompany me, do you want me to take your son back to the country you came from?" In case some problem arises, he is saying, and I seem to overstep your commands, I would consequently like to know what rules I should observe and whether it is your will that Isaac should go there, take his wife and then return here if she does not agree to accompany me, as you commanded? So what did the good man reply? He rejected this alternative, saying, "Be sure not to take my son back there." There is no need for you to do it, he says. The One who made the promise to me and guaranteed that his descendants would be increased to such an extent will also bring this to a happy end.

And Abraham said unto him,....

Genesis is both the book of beginnings and the book of dispensations. You know what use Paul makes of Sarah and Hagar, of Esau and Jacob, and the like. Genesis is, all through, a book instructing the reader in the dispensations of God towards man. Paul saith, in a certain place, "which things are an allegory," by which he did not mean that they were not literal facts, but that, being literal facts, they might also be used instructively as an allegory. So may I say of this chapter. It records what actually was said and done; but at the same time, it bears within it allegorical instruction with regard to heavenly things. The true minister of Christ is like this Eleazar of Damascus; he is sent to find a wife for his Master's son. His great desire is, that many shall be presented unto Christ in the day of his appearing, as the bride, the Lamb's wife. The faithful servant of Abraham, before he started, communed with his master; and this is a lesson to us, who go on our Lord's errands. Let us, before we engage in actual service, see the Master's face, talk with him, and tell to him any difficulties which occur to our minds. Before we get to work, let us know what we are at, and on what footing we stand. Let us hear from our Lord's own mouth what he expects us to do, and how far he will help us in the doing of it. I charge you, my fellow-servants, never to go forth to plead with men for God until you have first pleaded with God for men. Do not attempt to deliver a message which you have not first of all yourself received by his Holy Spirit. Come out of the chamber of fellowship with God into the pulpit of ministry among men, and there will be a freshness and a power about you which none shall be able to resist.

Genesis is both the book of beginnings and the book of dispensations. You know what use Paul makes of Sarah and Hagar, of Esau and Jacob, and the like. Genesis is, all through, a book instructing the reader in the dispensations of God towards man. Paul saith, in a certain place, "which things are an allegory," by which he did not mean that they were not literal facts, but that, being literal facts, they might also be used instructively as an allegory. So may I say of this chapter.