Read with Me
Genesis 33:8-20 (HCSB)
So Esau said, “What do you mean by this whole procession I met?”
“To find favor with you, my lord,” he answered.
“I have enough, my brother,” Esau replied. “Keep what you have.”
But Jacob said, “No, please! If I have found favor with you, take this gift from my hand. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing God’s face, since you have accepted me. Please take my present that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have everything I need.” So Jacob urged him until he accepted.
Then Esau said, “Let’s move on, and I’ll go ahead of you.”
Jacob replied, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and I have nursing sheep and cattle. If they are driven hard for one day, the whole herd will die. Let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will continue on slowly, at a pace suited to the livestock and the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”
Esau said, “Let me leave some of my people with you.”
But he replied, “Why do that? Please indulge me, my lord.”
That day Esau started on his way back to Seir, but Jacob went on to Succoth. He built a house for himself and stalls for his livestock; that is why the place was called Succoth.
After Jacob came from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely at Shechem in the land of Canaan and camped in front of the city. He purchased a section of the field where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for 100 qesitahs. And he set up an altar there and called it “God, the God of Israel.”
Listen with Me
Jacob had done everything he could think of to assuage his brother’s anger. He had sent envoys to let him know that he was returning. When he learned that his brother was coming to meet him with 400 men, he had sent ahead of him gifts of flocks and herds, all with an announcement that they were gifts for Esau from Jacob.
But Jacob was not aware that God had already been working on his behalf not just to change Esau’s mind, but to change his heart. So, when Esau finally arrived, it became a joyous reunion and not the battle that Jacob was anticipating.
When Esau asked Jacob to explain the flocks and herds he had encountered on the way, Jacob explained that they were gifts to win his favor. But Esau didn’t need any gifts. He had already been well-blessed by God and had great abundance himself.
But Jacob continued to urge him to accept what he had offered. The Hebrew word used in verse 11, translated “present” is literally a petition for Esau to receive his “blessing”. Thus the gifts represented Jacob’s attempt to repay the blessing he had stolen from Esau more than 20 years earlier. Jacob included an expression of his delight in seeing a smile of acceptance on Esau’s face instead of an angry scowl. He said it was like seeing the face of God, a clear reference to his encounter with God during the previous night.
Jacob still didn’t fully trust Esau’s acceptance of him, so he refused his offer to accompany him back to their home territory, as well as the offer to have some of his men accompany him. Instead, he wanted to move slowly until he came until he arrived back at his father’s and mother’s camp. Finally, Esau left to return to Seir, allowing Jacob to make his own way back.
But instead of going straight to Seir, Jacob stopped and made camp outside the walled city of Shechem, going so far as to buy a portion of land from the ruler of the city. There he set up an altar that he named El Elohe Israel, meaning “God, the God of Israel”, or “the God of Israel is mighty”, a clear recognition of God’s hand at work in his affairs.
Pray with Me
Father, your hand is definitely visible in all these events. Mere human planning could not have changed a heart as thoroughly as You changed the heart of Esau. Slowly, Jacob was coming to know who You are and what You are capable of doing. Finally, as he settled into his new home, he owned You as his own God, not “the God of my fathers”, but “the God of Israel”. Slow progress, but real progress. Amen.