†. Gen 32:4 . . Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother Esau in
the land of Seir, the country of Edom,
The Hebrew word for "messengers" is the same word often used for angels.
Since that word has such wide application, some have proposed that Jacob
dispatched the holy angels on ahead to meet with Esau for him. Well, I think
that might be stretching the imagination just a little too far. Jacob was in
charge of his own camp, not God's, and there's no textual evidence to
suggest otherwise.
Jacob had learned where Esau lived, and could have avoided contact with
him if he wanted to. Esau's land was pretty far out of the way. His haunts
were way down in Seir, a mountainous tract which runs along the eastern
side of the Araba, once occupied by the ancient cave dwelling Horites.
If you have a map handy, it's in between the southern end of the Dead Sea
and the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. Jacob's destination was Shechem,
in the vicinity of modern day Nabulus, up in the West Bank about 80 miles
northwest of the tip of the Red Sea; as the crow flies.
†. Gen 32:5a . . and instructed them as follows: Thus shall you say to
my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob:
Jacob instructed his servants to acknowledge Esau as Jacob's superior. The
word he used for "lord" is 'adown (aw-done') which means: master and/or
sovereign, i.e. the one in charge. 'Adown is also a pretty good word for
aristocrats like Earls and Dukes; e.g. m'Lord.
It's true the patriarchy passed to Jacob, but he must have felt it was
expedient to set that aside for now and approach his brother from the
standpoint of their natural birth rank. Jacob never really desired to lord it
over his brother, and there was certainly no reason to assert his patriarchal
rank at this time, most especially for the purpose of this particular reunion;
which was to make amends for past grievances and to set the stage for
Jacob's peaceable return to the neighborhood.
This show-down was a necessity. Jacob couldn't very well be looking over his
shoulder all the time, wondering if Esau was around somewhere nearby
drawing a bead on him. They had to get their differences smoothed out now
before Jacob settled his family in Canaan. And this meeting was going to be
difficult enough without invoking the prerogatives of royalty. No. Better that
Jacob met with Esau as his younger brother, and then go from there and see
what happens.
†. Gen 32:5b-6 . . I stayed with Laban and remained until now; I
have acquired cattle, asses, sheep, and male and female slaves; and
I send this message to my lord in the hope of gaining your favor.
The delegation's mission was merely to inform Esau that Jacob was back in
town; and to make sure Esau knew that Jacob was not here for a fight. He
was in fact inclined to seek Esau's good graces. Esau's initial reaction was
probably an instinctive posture of self defense. Since it was predicted that
the younger would rule the older, it may have appeared to Esau that Jacob
was returning from Paddan-aram with a large body of fighting men to claim
the covenanted boundaries, and to subjugate Esau under patriarchal rule as
predicted in Gen 25:23.
†. Gen 32:7-9 . .The messengers returned to Jacob, saying: We came
to your brother Esau; he himself is coming to meet you, and there
are four hundred men with him. Jacob was greatly frightened; in his
anxiety, he divided the people with him, and the flocks and herds
and camels, into two camps, thinking: If Esau comes to the one
camp and attacks it, the other camp may yet escape.
Jacob quite naturally jumped to the conclusion that Esau still sought his
death. From all appearances, it sure looked that way. So he followed a
typical caravan tactic of dividing his troupe so that if Esau should attack the
lead group, the one following would have a chance to escape while Esau was
busy with the first. It would have been wiser to take up positions and wait
for Esau to come to Jacob. But apparently, the local terrain wouldn't permit
Jacob's assembly to scatter all over the place and thereby make it difficult
for Esau to attack everyone at once.
†. Gen 32:10 . .Then Jacob said: O God of my father Abraham and
God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me; Return to your
native land and I will deal bountifully with you!
One can't help but admire Jacob's praying style. It's so practical-- no
bombast, no pious rhetoric, no platitudes, no rote, and no siddur --just down
to business, and right from the heart.
But what I really love most about his style is the appeal he makes to certain
promises that God made to him. Jacob came to the point in his walk of faith
where he realized that if God planned to make good on those promises, then
He has to keep Jacob alive to do it; just like Abraham reasoned that God had
to raise Isaac from the dead in order to keep the promises he made
concerning him (cf. Heb 11:17-19) promises which, in reality, made Jacob
just as bullet proof as Abraham and Isaac.
†. Gen 32:11-13 . . I am unworthy of all the kindness that You have
so steadfastly shown Your servant: with my staff alone I crossed
this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Deliver me, I pray,
from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; else, I fear, he
may come and strike me down, mothers and children alike. Yet You
have said; I will deal bountifully with you and make your offspring
as the sands of the sea, which are too numerous to count.
Jacob was given a promise, and he held God to it. It takes real spiritual guts
to do that. In court, we commonly make people take an oath to tell the truth
and then hold them to their word. And we notarize our legal documents so
they become binding and carry some weight. So why don't we do the very
same thing with God? Would He be insulted? No way! If only more people
would hold God to his word like Jacob did. There's absolutely nothing wrong
with that. As the writer of the book of Hebrews said; reliance upon God's
testimony provides one with encouragement, and an anchor for the soul.
(Heb 6:16-19)
Cont.
/
the land of Seir, the country of Edom,
The Hebrew word for "messengers" is the same word often used for angels.
Since that word has such wide application, some have proposed that Jacob
dispatched the holy angels on ahead to meet with Esau for him. Well, I think
that might be stretching the imagination just a little too far. Jacob was in
charge of his own camp, not God's, and there's no textual evidence to
suggest otherwise.
Jacob had learned where Esau lived, and could have avoided contact with
him if he wanted to. Esau's land was pretty far out of the way. His haunts
were way down in Seir, a mountainous tract which runs along the eastern
side of the Araba, once occupied by the ancient cave dwelling Horites.
If you have a map handy, it's in between the southern end of the Dead Sea
and the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. Jacob's destination was Shechem,
in the vicinity of modern day Nabulus, up in the West Bank about 80 miles
northwest of the tip of the Red Sea; as the crow flies.
†. Gen 32:5a . . and instructed them as follows: Thus shall you say to
my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob:
Jacob instructed his servants to acknowledge Esau as Jacob's superior. The
word he used for "lord" is 'adown (aw-done') which means: master and/or
sovereign, i.e. the one in charge. 'Adown is also a pretty good word for
aristocrats like Earls and Dukes; e.g. m'Lord.
It's true the patriarchy passed to Jacob, but he must have felt it was
expedient to set that aside for now and approach his brother from the
standpoint of their natural birth rank. Jacob never really desired to lord it
over his brother, and there was certainly no reason to assert his patriarchal
rank at this time, most especially for the purpose of this particular reunion;
which was to make amends for past grievances and to set the stage for
Jacob's peaceable return to the neighborhood.
This show-down was a necessity. Jacob couldn't very well be looking over his
shoulder all the time, wondering if Esau was around somewhere nearby
drawing a bead on him. They had to get their differences smoothed out now
before Jacob settled his family in Canaan. And this meeting was going to be
difficult enough without invoking the prerogatives of royalty. No. Better that
Jacob met with Esau as his younger brother, and then go from there and see
what happens.
†. Gen 32:5b-6 . . I stayed with Laban and remained until now; I
have acquired cattle, asses, sheep, and male and female slaves; and
I send this message to my lord in the hope of gaining your favor.
The delegation's mission was merely to inform Esau that Jacob was back in
town; and to make sure Esau knew that Jacob was not here for a fight. He
was in fact inclined to seek Esau's good graces. Esau's initial reaction was
probably an instinctive posture of self defense. Since it was predicted that
the younger would rule the older, it may have appeared to Esau that Jacob
was returning from Paddan-aram with a large body of fighting men to claim
the covenanted boundaries, and to subjugate Esau under patriarchal rule as
predicted in Gen 25:23.
†. Gen 32:7-9 . .The messengers returned to Jacob, saying: We came
to your brother Esau; he himself is coming to meet you, and there
are four hundred men with him. Jacob was greatly frightened; in his
anxiety, he divided the people with him, and the flocks and herds
and camels, into two camps, thinking: If Esau comes to the one
camp and attacks it, the other camp may yet escape.
Jacob quite naturally jumped to the conclusion that Esau still sought his
death. From all appearances, it sure looked that way. So he followed a
typical caravan tactic of dividing his troupe so that if Esau should attack the
lead group, the one following would have a chance to escape while Esau was
busy with the first. It would have been wiser to take up positions and wait
for Esau to come to Jacob. But apparently, the local terrain wouldn't permit
Jacob's assembly to scatter all over the place and thereby make it difficult
for Esau to attack everyone at once.
†. Gen 32:10 . .Then Jacob said: O God of my father Abraham and
God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me; Return to your
native land and I will deal bountifully with you!
One can't help but admire Jacob's praying style. It's so practical-- no
bombast, no pious rhetoric, no platitudes, no rote, and no siddur --just down
to business, and right from the heart.
But what I really love most about his style is the appeal he makes to certain
promises that God made to him. Jacob came to the point in his walk of faith
where he realized that if God planned to make good on those promises, then
He has to keep Jacob alive to do it; just like Abraham reasoned that God had
to raise Isaac from the dead in order to keep the promises he made
concerning him (cf. Heb 11:17-19) promises which, in reality, made Jacob
just as bullet proof as Abraham and Isaac.
†. Gen 32:11-13 . . I am unworthy of all the kindness that You have
so steadfastly shown Your servant: with my staff alone I crossed
this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Deliver me, I pray,
from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; else, I fear, he
may come and strike me down, mothers and children alike. Yet You
have said; I will deal bountifully with you and make your offspring
as the sands of the sea, which are too numerous to count.
Jacob was given a promise, and he held God to it. It takes real spiritual guts
to do that. In court, we commonly make people take an oath to tell the truth
and then hold them to their word. And we notarize our legal documents so
they become binding and carry some weight. So why don't we do the very
same thing with God? Would He be insulted? No way! If only more people
would hold God to his word like Jacob did. There's absolutely nothing wrong
with that. As the writer of the book of Hebrews said; reliance upon God's
testimony provides one with encouragement, and an anchor for the soul.
(Heb 6:16-19)
Cont.
/
