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^“12 Then Esau said, ‘Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.’¹³ But 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. ¹⁴ So 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.’¹⁵ Esau said, ‘Then let me leave some of my men with you.’‘But why do that?’ Jacob asked. ‘Just let me find favour in the eyes of my lord.’¹⁶ So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. ¹⁷ Jacob, 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.¹⁸ After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. ¹⁹ For 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. ²⁰ There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.”NIV

‘’So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. Jacob, however, went to Succoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock’’ (16,17a).

 What was that again? ‘Faith is living without scheming.’ But here is Jacob, the man of faith, acting once more like someone without it. He had seen God’s goodness; prayer had been answered; his brother had welcomed him. Yet still he was afraid and suspicious, and here he reverted to type.

My thoughts this morning run along these lines: what did he miss out on by distancing himself from his brother? Indeed, what did he cause his family to miss also? In what ways was he robbing his brother?

However, Jacob had been told by God to return to Canaan. So he had no intention of going with his brother to Seir. But he should have been straightforward and honest about his intentions, not returning to his old deceptive ways. Why didn’t he just say so? Couldn’t they still have had a relationship?

Some patterns are deeply ingrained in the human psyche. They are stubborn and do not die easily. I cannot point the finger. If I do, I know I will have three pointing back at me. But that is not to excuse Jacob’s conduct. As we read this story we should heed the warning embedded in it, and with the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit endeavour to walk the high road in our relationships. At the same time, remember: ‘Like Jacob, none of us becomes perfect in this life; we all have a tendency to slip back into our old nature from time to time.’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.180.

^“5 Then 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.’⁶ Then the female servants and their children approached and bowed down. ⁷ Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.⁸ Esau asked, ‘What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?’‘To find favour in your eyes, my lord,’ he said.⁹ But Esau said, ‘I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.’¹⁰ ‘No, please!’ said Jacob. ‘If I have found favour 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 favourably. ¹¹ Please 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.” NIV

‘’…to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favourably’’ (10)

 This verse reminds me of a story told about the famous author, Edgar Wallace. He had a neighbour who was a Christian. Wallace apparently said, ‘As long as I live in the same street as that old man, I cannot doubt that there is a God.’

 There is something of God-likeness in the welcoming of another, and in showing them kindness – whether or not they deserve it. This is what God is like. He is gracious. Grace is undeserved favour. God welcomes all who trust in Jesus, whatever they have been or done.

As we have previously noted, Esau did not require Jacob’s lavish gifts (8,9). He was accepting of him anyway. Similarly, our attempts to ‘buy-off’ God are futile and unnecessary. He accepts us on the basis of Jesus’ sacrificial death alone – not on our attempts to earn his approval.

That said, it is right to acknowledge God’s bountiful blessings to us (5b), and to want to generously share what we have been given. But Esau’s acceptance could not be bought; and neither can God’s.

PRAYER: Lord God, may I be so filled with your Spirit that other people see you in me. Make my life compelling evidence for your reality, I pray

“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. ² He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. ³ He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.⁴ But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.” NIV

‘’He himself went on ahead…’’ (3a)

For a number of years I was part of a creative writing group in the village where I live. One principle I learned was: ‘Show, don’t tell.’ For example if, in penning a story, you paint a vivid picture of Mr. So and So, we, the readers, will see his anger. You don’t necessarily have to say, ‘He got angry.’ If you use your writing ‘brushes’ with sufficient skill we’ll get the picture. We’ll see the steam coming out of his ears, and, if it’s exceptional writing, we may even find ourselves hiding behind the sofa!

What does verse 2 ‘show’ in terms of who Jacob loved the most?! (I was thinking, however, that in the end Jacob couldn’t protect Joseph. For years he thought he was dead. He wasn’t, of course. But he was in a lot of trouble. Nevertheless, the Lord was with him – even in prison – and did more for him than Jacob ever could. There is a limit to how far we can go in protecting those we love, but they are always under God’s ever-watchful eye).

Regardless of how Jacob positioned his servants and family members, he himself went out in front (3a). That’s what leaders do. If he was afraid, he wasn’t a coward. He put himself in the firing line. Leadership is self-sacrificial.

Notice also the respect he showed Esau (3b) – even though he had every reason to believe his brother regarded him as an enemy. There is a form of courtesy we owe to all people, no matter what they believe or how they regard or treat us. Let us learn to honour all those made in the image of God.

Anyway, ‘Nothing to see here’!!(4). Nothing, that is, apart from an emotional family reunion. All Esau’s fears failed to materialise, and we can feel the relief. Verse 4 is reminiscent of the return of the prodigal son (Luke 15:20). In this case it was the prodigal brother.

‘Many things, like this meeting with Esau, are worse in anticipation than in actuality.’ F.B.Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.27.

Tom Hale (like Meyer) sees the change of atmosphere as being definitely due to answered prayer (32:11)

^“22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. ²⁴ So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. ²⁶ Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’²⁷ The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’‘Jacob,’ he answered.²⁸ Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.’²⁹ Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name.’But he replied, ‘Why do you ask my name?’ Then he blessed him there.³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.’³¹ The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. ³² Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.” NIV

‘’So Jacob was left alone…’’ (24)

Over many years of reading the Bible, I have regularly come back to this well-known story. For me, there has always been something of a mystery about it, and to a degree it remains mysterious. But I suppose any encounter with God will inevitably be so. However, here are one or two things I feel I can say about it:

• Jacob’s experience has been paralleled in the lives of numerous believers. We can be on our pilgrimage for many a long year, and then, definitely and dramatically, we encounter God and are significantly changed. Jacob saw God and lived (30), but I dare say there were things   in him that died too – things which needed to die. He came out of the meeting with God alive, but not unscathed. He walked with a limp. We may be too strong. God might have to weaken us, or cause us to feel our weakness, in order to use us as He desires. Our strength must be in Him alone;
• Prayer can be a struggle. Okay, many days you may say your prayers, and it’s meaningful, but you feel very little. But there may also be occasions where you find yourself in an elevated place of prayer. You have a heightened intensity. It may be a prolonged period of prayer. ‘Pray until you pray’ someone said. Maybe you can identify with that? You know from experience what that feels like. You have been in Jacob’s shoes, feeling something like desperation (26b). Anyone who enrols in Christ’s school of prayer will take modules in the battle element. They will attend classes in wrestling. There can be something akin to ‘labour’ and ‘bringing forth’ in prayer. In Colossians 4:12 Paul writes ‘’Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.’’ Prayer can be very hard work;
• There is something about time alone with God for which there is no substitute. On a night when Jacob must have felt alone, and possibly lonely (22-24), he was to have a life-changing run-in with his Lord. So I encourage you, turn off the devices; get into a quiet place, and try to give God your undivided attention. I can’t guarantee you will like all that He does in and to you. Ideally I would prefer not to limp! But the world will benefit from the changes God brings about – and so will you.

^“13 He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, ‘Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.’¹⁷ He instructed the one in the lead: ‘When my brother Esau meets you and asks, “Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?” ¹⁸ then you are to say, “They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.”’¹⁹ He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: ‘You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. ²⁰ And be sure to say, “Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.”’ For he thought, ‘I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.’ ²¹ So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.” NIV

‘’I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me’’ (20).

Here is Jacob the mixture: praying, but also scheming, manipulating to try to bring about his desired end. He thought he could buy Esau off with a lavish gift. But as the sequel will show (in chapter 33), it was all unnecessary.

This story causes me to think about how people in general approach God. They tend to think He can be ‘bought’. If there is a God, they feel they have to win His acceptance with their human efforts. They seek to earn his approval by church attendance and charitable acts etc, etc. They believe they can work their way into His good books. But they can’t. God can’t be ‘bought-off’. However, we who know Him have been ‘bought’ by the only price necessary for salvation. It was paid in the currency of the Cross. For those who trust in Jesus alone, they know they are ‘’accepted in the beloved’’. There is no ‘’perhaps’’ about it. They have the witness of the Holy Spirit.

Let this thought be our joy and our peace this Easter time: we don’t have to pay; we have been bought.

PRAYER: ‘I owed a debt I could not pay, He paid a debt He did not owe…’ Thank you Jesus for paying the only price necessary.

^“7 In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. ⁸ He thought, ‘If Esau comes and attacks one group,the group that is left may escape.’⁹ Then Jacob prayed, ‘O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, “Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,” ¹⁰ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. ¹¹ Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. ¹² But you have said, “I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.”’NIV

In many ways Jacob utters a model prayer (9-12):

• It is a prayer which acknowledges and appeals to God’s Word (9,12);
• It is a humble prayer, full of gratitude for God’s goodness to him (10). He knew he was undeserving. He was not a ‘self-made’ man;
• It is specific and definite (11). Jacob had a prayer ‘bull’s-eye’ in view.

Yet…this prayer is set in the context of a man wavering between faith and fear and doubt. But I find I cannot point the finger, for this is often true of me. How about you?

We note that fervent prayer is not opposed to strategic planning (7,8). ‘Pray to the Lord and keep your powder dry,’ counselled the general. It’s not bad advice to say, ‘Pray like it all depends on God and work like it all depends on you.’ If there are certain thing crying out for action and attention we must not make prayer a substitute for doing them.

I wrote yesterday about how we can ‘jump at shadows.’ Sir Winston Churchill said, ‘I knew a man once who told me that in his life he had known many problems – most of which never happened!’ But while it is true that we can imagine many a scenario that is far from the truth of the situation, I guess it is possible that Esau was coming to attack Jacob and all those with him. Possibly Jacob’s prayer did change things. Prayer certainly does change many a situation; and it changes people.

We do well, however, to consider Warren Wiersbe’s comment that while Jacob prayed to be delivered from Esau, his real need was to be delivered from himself. Although he didn’t yet know it, Jacob had an up-coming appointment with the Divine Surgeon (22-31). He was going to have a painful operation which would leave him limping. But he would never think of suing the Doctor.

“Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ² When Jacob saw them, he said, ‘This is the camp of God!’ So he named that place Mahanaim.³ Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. ⁴ He instructed them: ‘This is what you are to say to my lord Esau: “Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. ⁵ I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favour in your eyes.”’⁶ When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, ‘We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.’⁷ In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. ⁸ He thought, ‘If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.’”NIV

And you know what thought did…   But I can’t condemn Jacob. I have stood (and, sad to admit, I all too frequently do stand) in his shoes. I take what I know – or what I think I know – and I fill in the gaps. I allow my fears and anxieties to lie to me. I don’t have to believe them, but I do! I am capable of constructing all kinds of scenarios, imagining things that 99.9% of the time will never happen.

Of course, Jacob’s fears were logical; they were, to an extent, understandable. He had every reason to fear the brother he had wronged; this volcanic brother who had wanted to spew deadly lava all over him (27:42-44). But look at how this chapter begins (1,2). ‘’Mahanaim’’ means ‘double camp’. What a powerful manifestation of angels Jacob had to sustain him. Wiersbe also points out that if he had recalled his experience with God at Bethel (28:13-15) he would not have been afraid. Maybe so, but fear can overwhelm a person like a flood, and cause them to temporarily lose their grip on the promises of God.

F.B.Meyer notes that this world is full if angel help. There are more for us than there are against us.

PRAYER: Lord God, help us to increasingly live with this ‘double-camp’ understanding. Give us eyes to see things that naturally we are unable to perceive. Although we are prone to fears, help us to live without them, knowing you are with us.

^“43 Laban answered Jacob, ‘The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? ⁴⁴ Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.’⁴⁵ So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. ⁴⁶ He said to his relatives, ‘Gather some stones.’ So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷ Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.⁴⁸ Laban said, ‘This heap is a witness between you and me today.’ That is why it was called Galeed. ⁴⁹ It was also called Mizpah,because he said, ‘May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. ⁵⁰ If you ill-treat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.’⁵¹ Laban also said to Jacob, ‘Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. ⁵² This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. ⁵³ May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.’So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴ He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.⁵⁵ Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.”NIV

‘’…even though no-one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me’’ (50).

It’s been observed that for all that Jacob and Laban were somewhat ‘bent’ (as, indeed, we all are), they were also conscious of living their lives in the presence and sight of God. That is no small thing. But it’s a shame that this awareness didn’t help them to amend their less than scrupulous ways. However, we are all strange mixtures. It’s just more apparent in some than in others.

Warren Wiersbe comments:

‘It is better to declare a truce than to wage a war, but the best decision of all is for brethren to ‘’dwell together in unity’’ (Ps.133:1). See Ephesians 4:25-32 for directions.’ ‘With the Word’, p.37.

I have just finished reading a helpful little book by Andy Stanley entitled ‘Better decisions, fewer regrets – 5 questions to help you determine your next move.’ The fifth question he poses is ‘The relationship question. What does love require of me?’ No Christian will want to evade that challenge.

PRAYER: Lord please give me the strength, the desire and the ability to always look yo the interests of others before my own.

^“22 On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. ²³ Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴ Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’²⁵ Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. ²⁶ Then Laban said to Jacob, ‘What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war. ²⁷ Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so that I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and harps? ²⁸ You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You have done a foolish thing. ²⁹ I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” ³⁰ Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?’³¹ Jacob answered Laban, ‘I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force. ³² But if you find anyone who has your gods, that person shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.’ Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.³³ So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent. ³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.³⁵ Rachel said to her father, ‘Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I’m having my period.’ So he searched but could not find the household gods.³⁶ Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. ‘What is my crime?’ he asked Laban. ‘How have I wronged you that you hunt me down? ³⁷ Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.³⁸ ‘I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. ³⁹ I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night. ⁴⁰ This was my situation: the heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. ⁴¹ It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. ⁴² If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.’”NIV

‘Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, ‘’Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” ‘ (24)

‘‘I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob either good or bad.’ “ (29)

“If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.” (42)

This is the God with whom we have to do. He intervenes in very real lives and very real circumstances. It may well be that not everyone has such a vivid and overtly powerful experience of the Lord’s intervention. As our faces, personalities and circumstances differ, so do our stories. One believer may have many miraculous moments, and another comparatively few. As John Stott once said, ‘We are not to imagine that we have all been mass-produced in some celestial factory.’ But let us not doubt for one minute that the God who intervened in Bible days still does so in our own times.

I recently heard prayer described as ‘expressed helplessness.’ We need this God, and if He is for us, who can be against us?