Genesis 33: Jacob meets Esau

Genesis 33

¹ Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants. ²He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. ³He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

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⁴But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. ⁵Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.

Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.”

⁶Then the female servants and their children approached and bowed down. ⁷Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.

⁸Esau asked, “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?”

“To find favor in your eyes, my lord,” he said.

⁹But Esau said, “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

¹⁰“No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. ¹¹Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.

¹²Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”

¹³But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. ¹⁴So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”

¹⁵Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”

“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”

¹⁶So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. ¹⁷Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.

¹⁸After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. ¹⁹For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. ²⁰There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.

Genesis 33 (NIV)

In Genesis 32, Jacob prayed that God will save him from the hand of his brother Esau and now instead of a bloody battle, they had a beautiful emotional reunion with hugs and kisses.

Just like that, anger that had festered for over 20 years was dissolved. God is good.

Lessons from Genesis 33:

Be ready to forgive: The love of God compels us to forgive those who wrong us, whether or no they apologise for their wrong-doing.

God’s blessings are not exclusive, everyone can experience the blessing of God: In Genesis 33 verse 9, Esau reveals to Jacob that he also has plenty, God had blessed him too. Just because the blessing of Abraham was passed unto Jacob doesn’t mean Esau was going to be broke and impoverished. So too, we all can be blessed, someone else’s blessing does not take anything away from you.

When God answers your prayer, recognize His works and give Him glory: In Genesis 33 verse 10, Jacob said to Esau “For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favourably”. In that moment, he recognized that he was walking in an answered prayer. Don’t be too focused on the next thing you want God to do that you forget to stop and acknowledge what He is doing now.

When you give from your heart, you don’t hope for the other person to decline your gift: Jacob’s insistence that Esau should accept his gifts shows that he really wanted for those things to go to Esau. A reluctant giver always hops on the first chance they get to take back the gift they offered, don’t let that be you. There is blessing in giving.

Walk at your pace: Oftentimes in life, you may feel the urge to rush in an attempt to catch up with the world. Many times, this will leave you feeling like a failure when you don’t hit certain milestones at the time the world dictates (graduate at X age, get a job at Y age, be married with kids by Z age, etc.), but this should not be. Don’t follow others and hurry to do things, walk at your pace. Tune your pace to God’s speed that you may be in perfect step with Him.

In Genesis 33:14, Jacob did this by asking Esau to go on ahead while he followed along with his people. Moving at Esau’s pace will have resulted in Jacob potentially losing some of his flock and making his children sick.

God’s call upon your life doesn’t give you the right to force or guilt people into giving you things for free: We saw in Genesis 23, that when Sarah died and the people wanted to let Abraham to get the burial for free, he insisted to pay full price for it. Now also, we see Jacob in Genesis 33:19 buying the land where he settled for 100 pieces of Silver. You should be happy to be a giver. God can give you grace to receive favourable prices and freebies but it’s not on you to make people give you things for free.
Let your victories be marked by acts of worship unto the Lord.

Reflection

Are you quick to forgive?
Do you worship God in your harvest season?
Are you a generous giver? How can you be a blessing to someone today?

Prayer

Dear God, thank you for forgiving me for all my shortcomings. I am not perfect but you love me still. Help me to exercise this kind of love and forgive those who hurt me. Help me forget the hurt that people have caused me and extend hugging arms instead of daggers.

Thank you for blessing me so that I can be a blessing to others too. Help me walk in step with you and do things according to your timing. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.