Genesis 33

Sunday Morning Bible Study

July 22, 2007

Introduction

What do you do when things break down between you and another person? Some people think immediate divorce.

Illustration

A Polish man moved to the USA and married an American girl. Although his English was far from perfect, they got along very well until one day he rushed into a lawyer’s office and asked him if he could arrange a divorce for him - “very quick.” The lawyer said that the speed for getting a divorce would depend on the circumstances, and asked him the following questions:

LAWYER: “Have you any grounds?”

POLE: “JA, JA, acre and half and nice little home.”

LAWYER: “No, I mean what is the foundation of this case?”

POLE: “It made of concrete.”

LAWYER: “Does either of you have a real grudge?”

POLE: “No, we have carport, and not need one.”

LAWYER: “I mean, What are your relations like?”

POLE: “All my relations still in Poland.”

LAWYER: “Is there any infidelity in your marriage?”

POLE: “Ja, we have hi- fidelity stereo set and good DVD player.”

LAWYER: “Does your wife beat you up?”

POLE: “No, I always up before her.”

LAWYER: “WHY do you want this divorce?”

POLE: “She going to kill me.”

LAWYER: “What makes you think that?”

POLE: “I got proof.

LAWYER: “What kind of proof?”

POLE: “She going to poison me. She buy a bottle at drugstore and put on shelf in bathroom. I can read, and it say, ‘Polish Remover’.”

So what do you do when things get rough with another person? Do you avoid them? Hire a lawyer? Quit your job? Jacob is about to run into a person he’s been wanting to avoid for a very long time.

:1-17 Jacob meets Esau

:1 Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants.

:2 And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last.

He lines up the family in order of importance to him. If Esau attacks, perhaps Rachel and Joseph will be able to escape.

:3 Then he crossed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

bowed himself – shachah – (Hithpael – “reflexive”, something he willingly does himself, not under pressure by his brother) to bow down, prostrate oneself; before superior in homage; this is a word often used of how we worship God

Lesson

The bowing master

Archaeology tells us that the custom of the day in greeting a king was to bow before him seven times.

Here Jacob is yielding to Esau. He is acknowledging Esau as his “lord”, as his “king”.

But you might recall what the Lord told their mother Rebekah before Esau and Jacob were born:

(Gen 25:23 NKJV) And the LORD said to her: "Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger."

When Isaac blessed Jacob, he said,

(Gen 27:29 NKJV) Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, And let your mother's sons bow down to you.

You could make a case for saying that the wrong person was “bowing”.

But then you might also have a problem on the night of the Last Supper when the Master put His robe aside and humbly washed the feed of His disciples like a servant should do.

Yet Jesus said,

(Mark 10:44-45 NKJV) "And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. {45} "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

This is a problem some men have. They look at the Bible verses that tell a woman to submit to her husband, and they feel like their wife ought to be bowing down before them.

Yet the Bible teaches the man that he is to love his wife like Christ loved the church, we ought to lay down our lives for our wives. If Jesus didn’t come to be served but to serve, so should a husband.

This is not just a man problem. It’s a human problem. Learn to bow.

:4 But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

It’s been twenty years since they last met. The last time they saw each other, Esau was planning on one day killing Jacob. You might say to me that time heals all wounds, but I don’t think so. Remember that Esau has an army of 400 men with him. Why is that? Because he was coming to kill his brother until something happened.

Lesson

Restoration in relationships

It’s been awhile since Jacob and his brother Esau got along. Even though you could make a point that Jacob only did things to get what was coming to him, the way he did them didn’t exactly endear him to his brother. The last time Jacob had seen his brother, Esau was threatening to kill Jacob.

Yet Jacob has taken some steps that have led to reconciliation. A broken relationship is going to be mended. Here are some practical steps to bringing reconciliation. These aren’t magic pills that will solve every problem. There’s no guarantee that these things will fix every difficulty. People are still human, people will respond with their own human free will. You may be doing your part correctly, but that doesn’t mean the other person will respond correctly. Esau responded correctly.

Here’s what Jacob used to bring reconciliation:

1. Prayer

He asked God to help him with Esau:

(Gen 32:11 NKJV) "Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children.

But it didn’t end there. He ended up wrestling all night with God, crying out for God to bless him.

And in the end, even though Jacob was declared the “winner”, Jacob came away changed.

Jacob the heal-catcher was crippled.

Sometimes when we pray, we are the one that is changed.

2. Giving

Jacob sent a gift ahead to Esau, hoping it would help smooth things over.

One of the key ingredients to love is giving. That’s what we learn from God:

(John 3:16 NKJV) "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Often relationships go sour when we turn inward, become self-centered, and only focus on what we’re not getting out of the relationship.

We ought to be more concerned about what we’re giving, what we’re contributing to the relationship.

3. Humility

It is pride that says, “I’m not going to be the first one to give in this time”.

Pride causes division while humility brings unity.

At the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11), mankind was full of pride, the people thought they could do anything, even building their own stairway to heaven. But in the end, their pride led to confusion, division, and the people were scattered.

It is humility that bows to the ground seven times.

(Phil 2:3-8 NKJV) Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. {4} Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. {5} Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, {6} who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, {7} but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. {8} And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus is the example of humility. His humility reconciled us to God. Humility leads to reconciliation.

:5 And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, "Who are these with you?" So he said, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant."

graciously given – chanan – to be gracious, show favor

:6 Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down.

:7 And Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed down.

:8 Then Esau said, "What do you mean by all this company which I met?"

Esau wants to know what’s up with all these flocks that were presented to Esau before he met Jacob. It was a LOT of animals. (Gen. 32:14-15)

:8 And he said, "These are to find favor in the sight of my lord."

favor – chen – favor, grace, charm; acceptance

:9 But Esau said, "I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself."

:10 And Jacob said, "No, please, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me.

as though I had seen the face of God – an interesting thing for Jacob to say, considering that he’d just seen the face of God as he wrestled all night with God.

I would suggest that when Jacob saw Esau running to meet him, embracing and kissing him and they wept together, that Jacob caught again a glimpse of God’s face, seeing God’s fingerprints all over this meeting with Esau.

A few days earlier Laban had been warned by God not to harm Jacob.

And now Esau comes to embrace and welcome Jacob.

:11 "Please, take my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough." So he urged him, and he took it.

Some translations have Jacob offering a “gift” or a “present”. But the New King James is best here, with Jacob asking Esau to take his “blessing” (Heb. B@rakah)

Do you see the twist here? How did Jacob and Esau part ways twenty years ago?

Jacob had taken Esau’s blessing. Now he’s asking Esau to take his blessing.

has dealt graciously – chanan – (Qal) to show favor, be gracious

I have enough

Earlier (vs. 9) Esau said that he had “enough”. He used the word rab – much, many, great

Now Jacob says he has “enough”, but he uses another word:

enough – kol – all, the whole; totality, everything

When you have received God’s grace, you don’t just have “much”, you have “everything”.

It reminds me of what Paul wrote about,

(2 Cor 12:9 NKJV) And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

sufficient

Lesson

Grace leads to grace

Did you see how many times “grace” was found in this chapter?

In vs. 5 Jacob says that his children were a “grace” from God.

In vs. 11 Jacob again recognizes God’s “grace” given to him.

All this “grace” has resulted in Jacob being “gracious” and giving a “gift” to Esau.

Jacob is even hoping that the gift he’s showing will provoke “grace” in Esau. (vs.8)

I think a good way of defining “grace” is to think of it as a “gift”. God’s grace toward us involves all that God “gives” us, even when we don’t deserve it.

If you have found God’s grace, it ought to make you a gracious person.

(Luke 19:1-10 NKJV) Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. {2} Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.

The tax collectors were Jewish men hired by the Romans to collect Roman taxes. They were required to collect a minimum amount from each person but if they collected more than the minimum, they could keep the extra. These men made their fortunes by ripping off their own people.

{3} And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. {4} So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. {5} And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house."

If you’re looking for Jesus doing some tremendous thing for Zacchaeus, this is all there is. The “grace” Jesus shows Zacchaeus was nothing more than spending time with him and allowing Zacchaeus to pick up the tab for lunch. Yet that was not the thing a good Jewish Rabbi would do – spending time with such a sinner.

{6} So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. {7} But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner." {8} Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold." {9} And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; {10} "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

What happened to Zacchaeus? He’s gone from ripping people off to paying them back with interest.

He’s tasted grace. He’s become gracious.

This ought to be a mark of Christians. We ought to be gracious people. We ought to be giving people.

If I’m not a gracious person, perhaps I need to invite Jesus over to my house and spend some time with Him.

:12 Then Esau said, "Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you."

:13 But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die.

:14 "Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me, and the children, are able to endure, until I come to my lord in Seir."

Seir

:15 And Esau said, "Now 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."

He asks for the “favor” (again chen) to not be escorted like a suspicious character.

:16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.

:17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

Succoth – Cukkowth – “booths”; Succoth is located near the Jabbok creek on the eastern side of the Jordan.

When you piece together the events of the last couple chapters with the chapter ahead, you come to the conclusion that Jacob must have been at Succoth at least ten years.

Note:

:18-20 Jacob arrives in Canaan

:18 Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city.

The old King James reads,

Shechem – Sh@kem – “back” or “shoulder”; a city located in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, 34 miles north of Jerusalem. It is about 20 miles due west of Succoth, across the Jordan and up into the hills of Canaan.

Shechem was the first place that Abraham stopped at when he arrived in the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:6).

Shechem is now known as the Palestinian city of Nablus, one of the largest cities of the West Bank (pop. 135,000).

:19 And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money.

Hamor … Shechem’s father – The city was named after Hamor’s son.

:20 Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.

El Elohe Israel – “God the God of Israel” or “the mighty God of Israel”

Shechem is 20 miles north of Bethel, where Jacob had his first personal encounter with God.

(Gen 28:20-21 NKJV) Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, {21} "so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God.