33 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. 2 And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. 3 He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 5 And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” 6 Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. 7 Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. 8 Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company1 that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.” 9 But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” 10 Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. 11 Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.
12 Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of2 you.” 13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. 14 Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
15 So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” 16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. 17 But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.3
18 And Jacob came safely4 to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. 19 And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money5 the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. 20 There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.6
Section Overview
Jacob has dreaded meeting his brother, Esau, and with good reason. The last time Jacob met him, Esau was threatening to kill him (27:41), and the last news he had was that Esau was approaching with four hundred men (32:6). Yet, when the meeting between the brothers actually occurs, it is rather anticlimactic. This is due in part to the fact that Jacob has just met with God (32:24–29); after such an encounter, any human meeting would necessarily be anticlimactic. But it is due also to the Lord’s preparing the way for Jacob. Jacob’s fears of an unfriendly welcome turn out to be unfounded, and indeed he has to deal with the opposite problem: an invitation to live with Esau (33:12–16), which would mean settling once again outside the borders of the Land of Promise.
Apart from the outcome of the meeting between the two brothers, the encounter is interesting primarily for what it reveals about how their hearts have changed or remained the same over the intervening twenty years. Both have prospered in worldly goods in the meantime, but, while Jacob is quick to attribute his prosperity to the Lord (v. 11), Esau makes no such connection (v. 9). Jacob has clearly grown spiritually through all the challenges he has faced, while Esau—whose path through life seems to have been relatively plain sailing in comparison—has remained the same, completely lacking in any spiritual interest or discernment. Esau may have lost the Abrahamic blessing to his younger brother through God’s choice (25:23), but he does not seem to have felt its absence. As long as Esau has worldly prosperity, that is sufficient for him.
Section Outline
IX. The Family History of Isaac (25:19–35:29) . . .
K. Meeting Esau (33:1–20)
Response
Genesis 33 shows us how the doctrine of election works out in practice. It is not as though Esau desperately wanted to be the chosen son and God harshly turned him away. On the contrary, left to himself, Esau showed absolutely no interest in God or in the spiritual side of divine blessing. He gave God no credit for the blessings he had received and was entirely content to live his life without reference to God. Regret is not the same thing as contrition and repentance (cf. Heb. 12:17). Equally, although Jacob was God’s chosen heir, he was not instantly sanctified. To be sure, God’s grace has an effect in his life that is clearly visible in this chapter; he is penitent over his sins against his brother and seeks to make amends insofar as he can. He also clearly credits God for the blessings he has received, and he is returning to the Promised Land by faith. Yet at the same time he is guilty of favoritism, protecting Rachel and Joseph over the rest of his family. He also lies to Esau about his future plans and settles down short of fulfilling his vow to return to Bethel and offer sacrifices to the Lord.
This is why we all, like Jacob, need a perfect savior. Our lives as believers should evidence significant growth in obedience to God, but we will always fall short of God’s holy standard of perfection. Our obedience can never be good enough, even on our best days. But the perfect righteousness of Christ is always good enough to measure up, and it is this righteousness, credited to us as a free gift, that makes all God’s chosen ones acceptable in his sight. It is God’s grace that saves us, grasped by simple faith and not our works, so that there is no room for boasting in the Christian life (Eph. 2:8–10).Genesis 33