Gen 15:2 - What is your "Eliezer of Damascus"

Abram's response to God's promise of a reward seems a little muted because there is a hole in his bucket. Since Abram is childless, whatever God gives him will end up with his servant Eliezer of Damascus.  

But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" (ESV) Gen 15:2  

This guy is lined up to inherit everything Abram had. He was not a stranger, he may even have been the chief servant, yet he was not a son and so anything that Abram had would pass from him to another not of his actual family line.     

I am sure there is some significance in this man Eliezer as he is mentioned here by name. There seems nothing obviously significant about Damascus except that it is the place where Abram chased the enemy kings too and took their treasure (Gen 14:15,16). Could it be that Eliezer of Damascus represents the the fact that we can't keep earthly gain and riches when we die? Even if that is a bit of  a stretch hermeneutically I think the thought still stands. Abram seems to have given all the treasure he gained away except what was needed to feed his men (Gen 14:24) and now Abram can't see how anything that God gives him will have lasting meaning to him as his family line will come to an end.

It's kind of a cliché but "you can't take it with you" is still true of most things. Money, fame, and power do not pass through the grave no matter how much we embalm or burry them with us. We may have a lot or a little in this life but there is a hole in our bucket and all of it will drain away in death. Like Abram we may have an Eliezer of Damascus that will inherit what was ours but it's not really ours anymore which makes them pleasant but pointless. We can pass our money on to a cat's home or a charitable trust, or even a blood relative, but it will no longer be ours. Others may speak well of us or remember us fondly, or put up a monument to us or make a documentary about us but what good is that to us? What therefore can we have that lasts forever? What can God give us that doesn't have to be passed on to another?   

Well, God did give Abram a son but that son in himself was not going to plug the hole as he too would one day die. However, he had a son who had a son and so on until in the person of Jesus God gave us his own son and in him we can live on through death and keep all that we have in him. Jesus has no hole in his bucket so God can give us things in him that will last forever. Anything in Christ will pass through death and be ours for eternity. Instead of an Eliezer of Damascus we can have Jesus of Nazareth and through him eternal riches, now and forever.