Jacob Sends Presents
to Appease Esau
Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the
land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my
lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have lived with Laban as an alien,
and stayed until now; and I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves;
and I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your
sight.’”
The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your
brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”
Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that
were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies,
thinking, “If Esau comes to the one company and destroys it, then the company
that is left will escape.”
And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my
father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your
kindred, and I will do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the
steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant,
for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan; and now I have become two
companies. Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of
Esau, for I am afraid of him; he may come and kill us all, the mothers with the
children. Yet you have said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your
offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because of their
number.’”
So he spent that night there, and from what he had with him
he took a present for his brother Esau, two hundred female goats and twenty
male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milch camels and their
colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.
These he delivered into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and
said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me, and put a space between drove and
drove.” He instructed the foremost, “When Esau my brother meets you, and asks
you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of
you?’ then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob; they are a
present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover he is behind us.’” He likewise
instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall
say the same thing to Esau when you meet him, and you shall say, ‘Moreover your
servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him with the present
that goes ahead of me, and afterwards I shall see his face; perhaps he will
accept me.” So the present passed on ahead of him; and he himself spent that
night in the camp.
Jacob Wrestles at
Peniel
The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two
maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took
them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.
Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man
saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and
Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me
go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless
you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you
have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked
him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?”
And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have
seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” The sun rose upon him as
he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the
Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the hip socket, because he
struck Jacob on the hip socket at the thigh muscle.
Jacob and Esau Meet
Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and four hundred
men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two
maids. He put the maids with their children in front, then Leah with her
children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. He himself went on ahead of them,
bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near his brother.
But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his
neck and kissed him, and they wept. When Esau looked up and saw the women and
children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God
has graciously given your servant.” Then the maids drew near, they and their
children, and bowed down; Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed
down; and finally Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. Esau said,
“What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find
favor with my lord.” But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you
have for yourself.” Jacob said, “No, please; if I find favor with you, then
accept my present from my hand; for truly to see your face is like seeing the
face of God—since you have received me with such favor. Please accept my gift
that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I
have everything I want.” So he urged him, and he took it.
Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go
alongside you.” But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are
frail and that the flocks and herds, which are nursing, are a care to me; and
if they are overdriven for one day, all the flocks will die. Let my lord pass
on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of
the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until
I come to my lord in Seir.”
So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who
are with me.” But he said, “Why should my lord be so kind to me?” So Esau
returned that day on his way to Seir. But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built
himself a house, and made booths for his cattle; therefore the place is called
Succoth.
Reflection:
- Jacob spends the whole
night wrestling with God.
Ultimately, Jacob will not let God go until he has been
blessed. When have you wrestled
with God? Is there something in your life now that you need to wrestle
with God about? What would that
look like for you?
- At the end of this week’s
reading Esau extends forgiveness and there is reconciliation between Esau
and Jacob. When have you been
forgiven for something pretty big?
What was that like?
- Jacob sent gifts to his
brother with the hope of mending his relationship, what can you do to mend
a broken relationship? Where do you need to seek forgiveness?
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