The Meet Up - Genesis 33

33:1-3 - It seems like the original plan was to split the family and hide them so that some would survive if Esau decided to kill Jacob’s family, and at this point it looked likely, but after spending the night with the messenger from God it appears that Jacob was more confident that they were going to live. Even though he was still very obliging on his way to meet Esau, he took his family out of hiding and just like with the animals, sending them in groups, he sent his family, first “the handmaids and their children,” then “Leah and her children,” and finally “Rachel and Joseph.” I really didn’t like this set up, but the IM speaks to this very issue saying, “Some have criticized Jacob’s arrangement of the camp because it appears that he is putting the handmaids and their children in the most dangerous position. It was be a natural thing, however, in the Middle East for a clan leader to show off his family and possessions in such a way that the best and most highly favored is saved until last.” This is an adequate explanation, and I’ll accept it.

I think what makes this display of his family more palatable is that Jacob “passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.” Jacob might have sent his lesser wives ahead of his other wives but he went himself first of all. After talking to the angel all night, Jacob seemed to understand that he was going to live, but I don’t think a peaceful resolution if anything like what he expected. He probably expected to have a fight with his brother and win through the strength of the Lord, that’s what I would have guessed if I were him.

33:4-7 - Walking up to his brother that he screwed over 20 years earlier, I would have been pretty nervous, but “Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.” This was the least likely outcome, I think, but man what a testament to maturity and the atonement for Esau to have grown and healed and become this forgiving guy, he’s actually one of my favorites. I relate to his story, I spent so much of my life angry and violent, but I’d like to think that I’ve grown and healed since then, and I think that’s what happened to Esau. Jacob left for 20 years and Esau stayed around his parents, and maybe they reconciled.

Clearly there was some damage that had been done having divided loyalties between parents and children, but maybe in the time that Jacob was gone, Isaac and Rebekah clung to their only close son and they repaired their relationship. Maybe Isaac taught Esau the gospel and they became more incorporated with the household. Maybe Rebekah accepted the fact that she had multiple daughters-in-law, some that she didn’t like, but maybe they started to get along for the sake of, I assume, the multitude of grandchildren that Rebekah now had. I think that this represents an underappreciated healing concept of reconciling healthy relationships.

Esau was so happy to see Jacob, and when he looked up and saw “the women and children” he asked, “Who are those with thee?” Jacob coyly answers, “the children which God hath graciously given thy servant.” Still very deferential, still exuding humility, not going to let this good moment let Jacob drop his guard. Esau must relate to this because he himself has many wives and children. The handmaids and their children, then Leah with her children, and finally Rachel with her children come and “bowed themselves” before Esau, again very deferential.

Esau must have been very surprised by just how much Jacob’s family had grown in 20 years, I mean, I know it’s a long time but I think back to the people I knew 20 years ago, and looking at them then as single people, now 20 years later with dozens of members of their household, that would be a big surprise. It also would probably signify God’s favor for Jacob, because he had done so well for himself even far from home. But then again, Esau had done well for himself as well, and Isaac wasn’t dead yet so I don’t think he would have inherited his father’s estate yet. So the bounty and wealth that both men had acquired in the 20 years since they last saw each other is an indication that they were both highly favored of God, we are just only hearing Jacob’s side of what happened.

33:8-20 - Esau continues by asking Jacob “what meanest thou by all this drove which I met?” or as I understand it, “what did you mean by sending me all these animals before?” Jacob responds that they were a gift to “find grace in the sight of my lord.” They go back and forth a few times, both Jacob and Esau saying, “no I don’t need that stuff, I’m rich enough already,” until finally Esau acquiesces and accepts the gifts. Then they go back and forth on who is going to make the journey back first, Esau saying “I’ll come with you,” and Jacob saying, “my children and animals are too young and slow to go at your pace, so I’ll just take my time traveling by myself,” and Esau says, “ok fine, I’ll have some of my men journey with you to help,” and Jacob says, “no worries, we are fine by ourselves.” These dudes.

It is also interesting to note here that when declining Esau’s offer of help and companionship, Jacob tells Esau that he needs to go slowly at the pace needed by this children and young animals, “until I come unto my lord unto Seir.” What’s interesting about this is that Jacob said, “I need to go slowly, but I’ll come to your house,” but he doesn’t, Jacob “journeyed to Succoth, and built him a house.” I googled how far away Succoth is from Seir, and it appears to be quite a distance, and there are several articles noting that once again, Jacob deceived Esau, only this time he didn’t con him out of anything tangible, only a relationship with his brother.

Jacob tells Esau that he will meet him in Esau’s home of Seir, where it is suggested that their parents Isaac and Rebekah live at this point, but instead of meeting him there like he promised, he turns and goes to Succoth and them to Shechem, “which is in the land of Canaan.” Why he lied to Esau, I don’t know. Why he built a place to live only to then move to Shechem a while later? I don’t know. There’s a lot to this story that is kind of sketchy, but Jacob is moved closer to home and has been reconciled to his brother in a miraculous manner.