“Jacob and Esau Reunite”

Genesis 33:1-17

 

Jacob’s story continues. We are at the last of the three parts of his return home. This section of the story began with the sending of messengers to Esau, who is now coming to meet Jacob with 400 men. Last week we read about Jacob’s wrestling match with God, which resulted in him being wounded and blessed by God. No sooner had this happened and…..

 

Today’s Scripture begins with

“Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men;”

Jacob may be wounded but he immediately goes into action. He divides up his children and puts them with their mothers. 

Notice the order in which he places them. He puts the servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next in line and Rachel and Joseph in the back. 

Then notice what he does next, verse 3,

“He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.”

Since when does Jacob put himself in front? In danger? Up until this point, whenever there seemed to be danger,  Jacob has placed everyone else first and he’s pulled up the rear. Yet, after his encounter with God, Jacob has changed. He came up to the front and actually bowed down to his brother. 

After Jacob’s wrestling match with God, speaking with Him face to face and receiving God’s blessing, Jacob finally believes God is going to take care of him. The fear Jacob had that his brother was going to kill him is no longer taking precedence over his trust in God. 

This is the moment he finally does something for others at his expense. 

Looking back, hyperlinking,

this is like Noah’s sacrifice and 

like Abraham’s surrendering his son over to the will and purpose of God. 

Jacob has finally come to the point of surrendering his life over and trusting God.  

Going forward, this moment will be repeated by Jacob’s son Judah. He will sell his brother Joseph for 20 shekels and it’s going to catch up with him in Joseph’s court. Judah will give his life in place of his youngest brother Benjamin. 

The Biblical narratives are designed with these culminating moments. 

One of the chief characters is faced with a moment of choosing whether they will fear God or fear humans and then…

whether they will give their life for others. 

Jacob isn’t the only brother who has changed. Notice Esau’s response, verse 4, 

“But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.”

Jacob had created all his fear for nothing. At this point we have a hyperlink to one of Jesus’ parables, of the Prodigal Son. Remember, Jesus grew up in a Jewish home listening to all of these stories from the Old Testament. The Esau response was well known to those Jesus was preaching to. 

Esau had been wronged by Jacob, 

the father in Jesus’ parable had been wronged by his son, 

we continually wrong our Heavenly Father, 

and what is His response? 

Not anger, not ridicule, not at all what the sinner expects. No, the one that was wronged, runs and hugs and kisses the one who has done the wrong. 

Definitely not what Jacob was expecting!

They get done embracing and Esau looks up and what does he see? A large group of women and children. 

Esau asks, verse 5, 

“Who are these with you?”

Check out Jacob’s response, 

 “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.”

Jacob continues to see himself as Esau’s servant. He also sees his family as a result of God’s favor. That's a first! 

The entire family comes to meet Esau and they bow down before him. 

Esau then asks Jacob, verse 8,

 “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?”

Jacob responds with, it’s

“To find favor in your eyes, my lord,” 

One could call it a peace offering. 

Esau returns with, 

 “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

Jacob, doesn’t give up. 

No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.”

Jacob’s offering to his brother Esau, is in part like he is making an offering to God. 

Jacob was offering part of his blessing, back to his brother. He’s finally sharing. In fact, both brothers have more than they need. They have both been blessed. 

Hyperlink back to Cain and Abel. 

Remember God said to Cain, “Listen, Listen, just because I favored your brother doesn’t mean there’s nothing for you. If you do good, you too will be blessed.”  

Both Esau and Jacob are well off. Jacob however, has been acting like there’s not enough and it was up to him to be the one to make sure he was taken care of. At this point, his offering is seen as giving back the blessing that he actually took from his brother in the first place. 

This is a significant point for Jacob. He has switched from a scarcity mindset to a recognition of reality that he has everything he needs. Notice how this transformation occurred. He gives his life, or at least puts it in what he perceived as danger, in relationship to his family. 

Then, in relation to his brother, he gives up the thing he has been striving for his whole life, which was to grab the blessing. And yet, even when he ends up giving, he still has more than he really needs. He is going to be fine. 

This demonstrates exactly what Jesus said when he answered the Torah scholars question, “What’s the most important command in the Torah?” Jesus gives two answers: “Love God” and then “Love your neighbor.” Somehow they are both the single most important. Like in this story, the way we relate to others, that is the way you relate to God, they are never separate things. Remember what the man told Jacob after wrestling with him? “You’ve been wrestling with God and with people.” This is a core message throughout Scriptures. 

Once one meets God face to face, our perspective changes. We begin to see other people as image bearers of God. You begin to see people the way God sees them. 

Jacob’s new perspective began after his wrestling match. Like getting hurt really badly, having a terrifying encounter with his maker, facing his own mortality, his own selfishness, caused him to double take. 

That very painful experience became the worst and the greatest thing that ever happened to him. Prior to that encounter, Jacob was calculating and arranging everything to save himself. Apparently if you try to save your life, you might end up losing it. 

Check in time.

This is me every day. This is each of us every day. Will I choose to see every other person I come in contact with as bearing the image of God?  

Regardless of the circumstances?

Will I choose to hold on to what I perceive to be mine? Because I’m not sure if there’ll be enough tomorrow? 

Or, will I trust God? 

Notice how Esau represents what God does for each of us all the time. Instead of holding a grudge, Esau chose to forgive. 

Jacob’s past actions hadn’t changed, but Esau’s response to them had. Jacob, on the other hand, began to understand who God is because of his brother’s behavior. How we treat others demonstrates what our relationship with God is like. 

Grace Received ~ Grace Given.  

We’d like to think that the brothers unite and live happily ever after. But then again, this is not a fairy tale. Jacob may have changed, but it’s still a process. He is still having to work out some things. 

Esau relentlessly accepts the gifts offered to him by Jacob. Then, he offers to accompany Jacob on his way back home. 

But Jacob has his excuses, 

“My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die.  

So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”

Esau then offers some of his men to stay and help. 

“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”

Esau returns to Seir. Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth. Where he sets up tents, an image of Eden. 

Jacob has returned to Eden but the brothers will not dwell together in unity. They have at least come to peace with each other but in just a few chapters they will become hostile siblings and remain that way for the rest of the Hebrew Bible. 

Not much has changed for Jacob. His story is realistic. Like many of us we have our highs and we have our lows. 

We have our summer camp experiences that work great while at summer camp. But when we come back to life as it always is, we discover things haven’t changed as much as we thought. Jacob remains Jacob to the end. These brothers, like most families, have established certain patterns and have created a particular family culture, which they pass down to generations. 

It’s predictable what’s going to happen. We’ll read about it next week, 

Let’s pray.