†. Gen 33:1-2 . . Looking up, Jacob saw Esau coming, accompanied
by four hundred men. He divided the children among Leah, Rachel,
and the two maids, putting the maids and their children first, Leah
and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last.
Well; that might suggest the value Jacob put upon Leah. The maids of
course were expendable; and their kids too as far as Jacob was concerned.
And Leah's ranking was right behind them so that if Esau should begin
slaughtering Leah and the maids; maybe Rachel and Joseph could get away.
Reuben, the oldest, was no more than 12 at this time; and Joseph, the
youngest, was barely over six.
†. Gen 33:3a . . He himself went on ahead
Good move. Still keeping himself at a distance from his family just in case
violence should break out. If Esau was spoiling for a fight, hopefully it would
be with Jacob alone, and not with his family right in the middle of it.
†. Gen 33:3b . . and bowed low to the ground seven times until he
was near his brother.
The Tell El Amarna tablets record that when approaching a king, the one
approaching always bowed seven times. So, as was customary in those
days, Jacob bowed low before Esau as he came near as a token of respect
and recognition of Esau as ruler of the region. He may not have actually
been living down in Seir yet at this time, but had already subdued the
indigenous peoples so that the area was his domain; and under his control.
†. Gen 33:4 . . Esau ran to greet him. He embraced him and, falling
on his neck, he kissed him; and they wept.
Imagine Jacob's utter surprise (and relief) when, expecting violence from his
brother, he was kissed instead and Esau became emotional and started
blubbering all over the place! This scene may have played out a whole lot
differently if God hadn't taken a role in it.
†. Prv 16:7 . .When the Lord is pleased with a man's conduct, He may turn
even his enemies into allies.
But what about those angels, the ones that camped nearby Jacob's camp?
What part did they play in all this?
According to Jewish folklore, four bands of angels went to Esau's camp the
previous night and beat him and his men savagely. When Esau realized that
Jacob had men with him who could knock his teeth out, it changed his
attitude and developed a respect for his brother that he didn't have before.
Because of that, a saying came about that if you want an "Esau" to treat you
with respect, you should beat him up because that's the only thing he
understands.
Well; that's very imaginative, and somewhat amusing too. But I believe
those angels served another purpose altogether, and they fought with a
totally different foe too.
Invisible to the unaided eye are dark, unholy creatures in our world who go
around influencing human thoughts, and manipulating people to evil ends.
They would have surely interfered in Jacob's homecoming had not the holy
angels restrained them. That's part of their job-- holding back the invisible
forces of evil in the world of men. They don't always do that though; usually
only when God has a special purpose to accomplish; for example:
†. Dan 10:10-14 . .Then a hand touched me, and shook me onto my hands
and knees. He said to me: O Daniel, precious man, mark what I say to you
and stand up, for I have been sent to you. After he said this to me, I stood
up, trembling. He then said to me: Have no fear, Daniel, for from the first
day that you set your mind to get understanding, practicing abstinence
before your God, your prayer was heard, and I have come because of your
prayer.
. . . However, the prince of the Persian kingdom opposed me for twenty-one
days; now Michael, a prince of the first rank, has come to my aid, after I was
detained there with the kings of Persia. So I have come to make you
understand what is to befall your people in the days to come, for there is yet
a vision for those days.
That is astonishing. God dispatched word to Daniel on the very day that he
prayed, but it couldn't get through because a powerful dark being
intercepted the holy messenger.
In the unseen world; sinister beings are operating covertly: manipulating the
destiny of persons, and nations. (cf. Eph 2:1-2)
No wonder the world is plagued with monsters like Muammar Qaddafi, Pol
Pot, Kim Jong Ill, Manuel Noriega, Saddam Hussein, and Osama Bin Laden;
and predatory lenders; and unscrupulous investment banks the likes of Bear
Sterns, Lehman Bros, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley;
and dishonest securities rating firms the likes of Standard & Poor, Moody's,
and Fitch. People like that are human allies to the forces of evil; the mortal
marionettes of invisible masterminds-- evil intelligences who secretly run
world affairs undetected by natural means. The beauty of their system is
that it is just too incredible to comprehend. Very few modern, intellectual
sophisticates believe in spirits. Since hardly anyone believes in them, they
have the advantage of stealth-- and their unsuspecting victims just go on
about their business as usual, oblivious to their presence; and easy prey to
powerful psychological suggestions and manipulations.
The dark spirits can easily cause the ruin of perfectly good marriages,
friendships, and businesses; and they can control an entire nation's
economy and it's politics. Take a look at the country of Israel today. Does it
really look as though God is running it? No way. It is only too obvious who
has control of it now. And the dark angels will stay in control until such a
time as Messiah commands the holy angels to purge them out.
Dark mists could've made things go very badly between Jacob and Esau. But
God foreknew their evil intentions and stepped in to thwart them by sending
a detachment of His own forces to hold the mists in check while the two
brothers kissed and made up; and settled their differences.
Note: Not too long ago I ran across an op-ed in the local paper in regards to
the mental faculties of today's movers and shakers in government and big
business. The op-ed's observation was that events of the last decade
suggest that the patients are running the sanitarium. America's government,
and America's financial institutions, seem to have taken leave of their senses
and behaving as men and women with mental illness. I tend to agree and I don't
mean it as sarcasm either; but as a serious appraisal of recent policies and
practices. A movie titled "Margin Call" touches on some of the aspects of that
loose-canon havoc.
Cont.
/
by four hundred men. He divided the children among Leah, Rachel,
and the two maids, putting the maids and their children first, Leah
and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last.
Well; that might suggest the value Jacob put upon Leah. The maids of
course were expendable; and their kids too as far as Jacob was concerned.
And Leah's ranking was right behind them so that if Esau should begin
slaughtering Leah and the maids; maybe Rachel and Joseph could get away.
Reuben, the oldest, was no more than 12 at this time; and Joseph, the
youngest, was barely over six.
†. Gen 33:3a . . He himself went on ahead
Good move. Still keeping himself at a distance from his family just in case
violence should break out. If Esau was spoiling for a fight, hopefully it would
be with Jacob alone, and not with his family right in the middle of it.
†. Gen 33:3b . . and bowed low to the ground seven times until he
was near his brother.
The Tell El Amarna tablets record that when approaching a king, the one
approaching always bowed seven times. So, as was customary in those
days, Jacob bowed low before Esau as he came near as a token of respect
and recognition of Esau as ruler of the region. He may not have actually
been living down in Seir yet at this time, but had already subdued the
indigenous peoples so that the area was his domain; and under his control.
†. Gen 33:4 . . Esau ran to greet him. He embraced him and, falling
on his neck, he kissed him; and they wept.
Imagine Jacob's utter surprise (and relief) when, expecting violence from his
brother, he was kissed instead and Esau became emotional and started
blubbering all over the place! This scene may have played out a whole lot
differently if God hadn't taken a role in it.
†. Prv 16:7 . .When the Lord is pleased with a man's conduct, He may turn
even his enemies into allies.
But what about those angels, the ones that camped nearby Jacob's camp?
What part did they play in all this?
According to Jewish folklore, four bands of angels went to Esau's camp the
previous night and beat him and his men savagely. When Esau realized that
Jacob had men with him who could knock his teeth out, it changed his
attitude and developed a respect for his brother that he didn't have before.
Because of that, a saying came about that if you want an "Esau" to treat you
with respect, you should beat him up because that's the only thing he
understands.
Well; that's very imaginative, and somewhat amusing too. But I believe
those angels served another purpose altogether, and they fought with a
totally different foe too.
Invisible to the unaided eye are dark, unholy creatures in our world who go
around influencing human thoughts, and manipulating people to evil ends.
They would have surely interfered in Jacob's homecoming had not the holy
angels restrained them. That's part of their job-- holding back the invisible
forces of evil in the world of men. They don't always do that though; usually
only when God has a special purpose to accomplish; for example:
†. Dan 10:10-14 . .Then a hand touched me, and shook me onto my hands
and knees. He said to me: O Daniel, precious man, mark what I say to you
and stand up, for I have been sent to you. After he said this to me, I stood
up, trembling. He then said to me: Have no fear, Daniel, for from the first
day that you set your mind to get understanding, practicing abstinence
before your God, your prayer was heard, and I have come because of your
prayer.
. . . However, the prince of the Persian kingdom opposed me for twenty-one
days; now Michael, a prince of the first rank, has come to my aid, after I was
detained there with the kings of Persia. So I have come to make you
understand what is to befall your people in the days to come, for there is yet
a vision for those days.
That is astonishing. God dispatched word to Daniel on the very day that he
prayed, but it couldn't get through because a powerful dark being
intercepted the holy messenger.
In the unseen world; sinister beings are operating covertly: manipulating the
destiny of persons, and nations. (cf. Eph 2:1-2)
No wonder the world is plagued with monsters like Muammar Qaddafi, Pol
Pot, Kim Jong Ill, Manuel Noriega, Saddam Hussein, and Osama Bin Laden;
and predatory lenders; and unscrupulous investment banks the likes of Bear
Sterns, Lehman Bros, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley;
and dishonest securities rating firms the likes of Standard & Poor, Moody's,
and Fitch. People like that are human allies to the forces of evil; the mortal
marionettes of invisible masterminds-- evil intelligences who secretly run
world affairs undetected by natural means. The beauty of their system is
that it is just too incredible to comprehend. Very few modern, intellectual
sophisticates believe in spirits. Since hardly anyone believes in them, they
have the advantage of stealth-- and their unsuspecting victims just go on
about their business as usual, oblivious to their presence; and easy prey to
powerful psychological suggestions and manipulations.
The dark spirits can easily cause the ruin of perfectly good marriages,
friendships, and businesses; and they can control an entire nation's
economy and it's politics. Take a look at the country of Israel today. Does it
really look as though God is running it? No way. It is only too obvious who
has control of it now. And the dark angels will stay in control until such a
time as Messiah commands the holy angels to purge them out.
Dark mists could've made things go very badly between Jacob and Esau. But
God foreknew their evil intentions and stepped in to thwart them by sending
a detachment of His own forces to hold the mists in check while the two
brothers kissed and made up; and settled their differences.
Note: Not too long ago I ran across an op-ed in the local paper in regards to
the mental faculties of today's movers and shakers in government and big
business. The op-ed's observation was that events of the last decade
suggest that the patients are running the sanitarium. America's government,
and America's financial institutions, seem to have taken leave of their senses
and behaving as men and women with mental illness. I tend to agree and I don't
mean it as sarcasm either; but as a serious appraisal of recent policies and
practices. A movie titled "Margin Call" touches on some of the aspects of that
loose-canon havoc.
Cont.
/
