WHEN JACOJ MEETS ESAU

PROCLAMATION

“And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men … And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.  And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept.  Genesis 33:1-4 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Jacob knew that his brother Esau was coming, and four hundred men were coming with him. (Genesis 32:6)  Jacob sent small separate groups of his sheep, cattle, goats, camels, bulls, and donkeys to Esau as a gift to soften his heart because he was afraid that his brother still wanted to kill him. (Genesis 32:13-20)  Then he gathered his children and grouped them with their mothers.  He placed the handmaids and their children in the front, followed by Leah and her children, and he placed Rachel and Joseph in the rear of the group. (Genesis 33:1-3)  Then he stood at the front of his family and bowed down to his brother.  When his brother Esau saw him, he ran to him and embraced him.  After they wept, Jacob introduced Esau to his family. (Genesis 33:4-7)  Esau questioned him regarding all of the flocks that he met along the way to him, and Jacob answered that they were gifts to find favor in his eyes.  Esau said, keep them, I have plenty, but Jacob insisted that he take them, and he finally gave in and accepted them. (Genesis 33:8-11)

 

APPLICATION

The Bible teaches us to “fear not,” and “fret not,” and not to worry because God is in control of things.  The Lord God can work things out for us in ways that are much better than we expected.  We worry for no reason because God has already worked it out for us.  All we have to do is put God first and all of the other things will be taken care of. (Matthew 6:33 and Luke 12:31)  God can harden a heart (Exodus 4:21 through 14:17) or soften it. (1 Samuel 26:1-25)  It has been said, “If you pray, then don’t worry; if you are going to worry, then don’t pray.”