Bible Discussion Thread

And now we come to the meeting of Jacob and Esau, 20 years in the making! Jacob assumed that Esau had not changed in 20 years. But he had. He had wives and children of his own now. God had given Esau 6 sons and wealth. He was a leader among the inhabitants of Seir, where he moved to from Canaan some time ago.

By the time Jacob meets up with Esau, Jacob had caught up with his family. Upon seeing Esau in the distance with 400 men, Jacob divided his family up into 3 groups. It is interesting how he selected the order of the groups. It was obvious to us that he ordered them least loved to most loved. That must have spoke volumes to his wives and sons.

Jacob approached Esau in a respectful, customary way, stopping to bow and prostrate himself towards Esau 7 times. Not so for Esau. He ran to Esau and embraced him by the neck, kissed him and they wept having set off from the the south to meet Esau with 400 men, Esau may have intended to bring harm to Jacob or capture him together. But, perhaps, overnight, "wink, wink" something changed in Esau. What a healing moment! The meeting was joyous instead of tense. Esau was delighted to see that Jacob had been blessed with a large family with twice as many sons as he had.

They discussed the gift of animals Jacob had sent ahead. Esau at first declined the gift, saying that he already had plenty. He wanted Jacob to keep the animals for himself as he gets re-established in the land of their father. At first, Jacob wanted to win Esau's favor, but now that he had it from Esau before Esau knew the animals were a gift, Jacob realized that seeing Esau face to face in such an accepting way that God had been answered his pray being so welcomed by Esau was an immense gift to Jacob. After Jacob insisting once more Esau accepted his brother's gift. Their brotherhood was restored.

Next, Esau suggested that he escort Jacob and family through the area. Jacob declines. I think that was a wise course to take. He didn't need Esau's influence.