August 23, 2004

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Proverbs 19

Weekly Memory Verse: John 1:12

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

Genesis 33:1-20 (NASB95)
¹ Then Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. ² He put the maids and their children in front, and Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. ³ But he himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. ⁴ Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ⁵ He lifted his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, “Who are these with you?” So he said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶ Then the maids came near with their children, and they bowed down. ⁷ Leah likewise came near with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed down. ⁸ And he said, “What do you mean by all this company which I have met?” And he said, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.” ⁹ But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother; let what you have be your own.” ¹⁰ Jacob said, “No, please, if now I have found favor in your sight, then take my present from my hand, for I see your face as one sees the face of God, and you have received me favorably. ¹¹ “Please take my gift which has been brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have plenty.” Thus he urged him and he took it. ¹² Then Esau said, “Let us take our journey and go, and I will go before you.” ¹³ But he said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds which are nursing are a care to me. And if they are driven hard one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴ “Please let my lord pass on before his servant, and I will proceed at my leisure, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.” ¹⁵ Esau said, “Please let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” ¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷ Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built for himself a house and made booths for his livestock; therefore the place is named Succoth. ¹⁸ Now Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped before the city. ¹⁹ He bought the piece of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. ²⁰ Then he erected there an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.^[1]

Jacob had just finished wrestling with God, and when he faced his brother, he was scared to death.  He lined up his family from the least favorable, Leah, to most favorable, Joseph.  At least he did not use his family as a human shield. 

The seven times he bowed down appears at first to be a mark of fear on Jacob's part.  However, in the eastern customs, this was a mark of respect from a younger brother to an older brother.  Jacob was finally acknowledging that his brother was his elder brother and due respect.

Proverbs 21:1 (NASB95)
¹ The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes. ^[2]

Why do you suppose that Esau had such a sudden attitude change?  Could it have been that over the twenty years he had matured and put away the hurts and offenses of childhood?  At any rate, Esau demonstrated love and forgiveness for Jacob.

Jacob takes the role of the servant, offering bribes to the greater brother who was surely angry with him.  I find it intriguing that Jacob could not see the way that Esau was reaching out to him, either that or he did not trust his motives. At any rate, all the efforts that Esau made to make restitution with Jacob was treated with distain.  Esau welcomed Jacob with open arms, as a brother, and Jacob maintained that he was a lesser brother, almost as if Esau was his god.  Esau made it clear that the gifts were not necessary, Jacob insisted that he take them.  Esau offered to travel with Jacob and he was told to go on ahead.  In the end, Esau returned to his country, can you imagine how frustrated that he was?

Esau was excited to see his brother and was willing to accept him back unconditionally.  Jacob was so blinded by his agenda and the pre-conceived idea that he had about Esau that he missed what was being said.  How often does this happen in life, people are so wrapped up in their own thinking that even when a better way is staring them in the face, they can't see or accept it as reality.  From the text, it appears that Esau returned to his country alone, that had to hurt.  It was outright rejection of every act of love that Esau mustered up, and he was sent away. 

Jacob may not have had his vision toward his brother clear, but he did have the right attitude toward God.  When he returned to the place where God had called him, he built an altar to testify to that fact.  The building of the altar was a statement that he had traveled to where God had called Him.  Ultimately, our lives are all about God.

I am going to close here, I wanted to work on this chapter further, but time is against me.  If you wish to add comments, please write in.  I have several comments from Erik, I hope to include them tomorrow.

Questions for thought:

How would you evaluate Jacob and Esau's responses?

Father, teach each one of us from Your word, open our eyes to the truths that are applicable to us in Your word.

In Him,

Joe Turner.