Story 54 A New Sunrise
The sunrise came and a new morning began. The conniving sneak was transformed. In the past, Jacob had showed some glimpses of faith. Unlike Esau, he had not married Canaanite women. He truly believed in God’s promise that the land of Canaan would one day belong to the descendants of Abraham. But Jacob’s efforts to be a part of God’s blessings were all wrong. He tried lying and deceiving instead of depending on Lord’s ability to make his plan go forward. In the midst of all Jacob’s constant striving and writhing around, God remained utterly faithful. He was bound to Jacob by his powerful covenant love. Jacob was his partner in the covenant, and nothing could separate Jacob from the love of his Lord.
Jacob, now called Israel, limped away from his great wrestling match with God a changed man. Before, he was a confident liar. Now he was broken, be he was sure of his need for God’s blessing, which is a very strong place to be. He limped in dependence on God to meet his brother and the army he brought. Jacob was returning to the Land of Promise in obedience to God, but he could not enter until he faced the problems of his past.
When Jacob saw Esau coming with his four hundred men, he divided his family into groups. The maidservants of Leah and Rachel and their children came first, then Leah and her children, and finally Rachel with Joseph. Jacob was still playing favorites for the whole world to see. How painful it must have been for his other sons to watch their father put them ahead in line for the attack.
After arranging his family, Jacob went out ahead to meet Esau head on. He bowed down low with his face to the ground seven times in front of the oncoming wave of men. He wanted to show that he was Esau’s servant. How ashamed he felt. He could not imagine that Esau would come to him with anything but rage and anger!
When Esau saw his twin, he began to run. He grabbed Jacob in a tremendous hug, holding him around the neck and kissing his long lost brother. What a different meeting this was from the one Jacob had feared! Could he ever have dreamed of this? Both of them wept together over the years of anger. They wept with wild relief that it was over.
Esau looked around and saw Jacob’s wives and children standing there. “Who are they?” he asked. Jacob told him that these were the gifts that God had given him. Notice that Jacob did not say they from Laban. They were not even the work of his own hand. They were the blessings of the Lord.
Jacob had each of his wives come forward to meet his brother. As they came and bowed down before Esau, Esau asked him why Jacob had sent all of the flocks and herds of animals on ahead of him. Jacob told him it was to gain Esau’s favor.
Esau was a very wealthy man, and he had already forgiven his brother. He told Jacob that he could keep his lavish gifts. But Jacob said, “‘…seeing your face is like seeing the face of God…please accept my present…’”
Jacob was speaking and acting carefully in every way to win his brother back. He avoided mentioning their past, he made no mention of his birthright or the blessings. He did not point out that he had married within the family when Esau had not. He gently avoided the areas that might bring sting or shame, and declared the best truth in his heart. For all their battles, Jacob loved his brother.
When Esau saw how much Esau wanted to give him his gifts, he finally agreed to take them. It was a sign between the two that the peace between them was sealed.
Esau tried to convince Jacob to travel together with his men to Seir, the home of Esau, but Jacob protested. He said that four hundred men could travel much farther and faster in a day than his huge clan with children and animals in tow. Then Esau said he would leave some men behind to journey with Jacob and protect his family. Again, Jacob refused. He said, “‘But why do that? Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.’” It was a kind way for Jacob to let Esau know that he wouldn’t be coming at all.
Esau made his way south to Seir. After he was gone, Jacob turned his clan in another direction. They went back across the Jabbok River to the north and made his way to Succoth. He settled his family for over a year. He built a home for his people and stalls for his cattle.
From there, Jacob moved his family on into the land of Canaan. They went to the city of Shechem and encamped there. This was already an important city in the history of God’s people. It was at Shechem that God came to Abram and promised to give the land to his descendants. Jacob bought a plot of land outside the city for a hundred pieces of silver and built an altar. He celebrated his arrival back home there and named the altar “El-elohe-Yisrael”, which means “God of Israel.” The children of the promise were home.
After this story, Esau disappears from the pages of the Bible. He only reappears once more, and that is to bury his father. Esau had treated the blessings of his family and the covenant of God with contempt. He had graciously forgiven his brother in the end, but he never showed any interest in the ways of the God of his fathers. He had no vision for spiritual things, and so Esau walked out of the story of God’s people.
Jacob, on the other hand, showed the powerful way God had worked in him. He went from deceiving to peace making and carefully working to make things right. And God was at work in every way behind the scenes, using the crisis of the moment to transform his chosen servant. When Jacob gave up his right to be in control, God restored him to the land of his people.
One more thing remained for Jacob to do. Many years before, Jacob made a promise to God. You may remember the story. It was on that first night when he was fleeing from the Esau to take refuge at his Uncle Laban’s. In the pitch black of night, when Jacob had only a stone for a pillow, the great vision spread out before him. A stairway from Heaven down to earth radiated brilliantly before him. Jacob watched as angels came up and down the stairs as they carried out the Lord’s will. At the top was the God himself, revealing his holy presence to the desperate and lonely Jacob. In those sacred moments, God renewed the covenant of Abraham with the unworthy scoundrel. In response, Jacob tried to cut a deal. He promised that if God blessed his travels and took care of him, he would return to that place. He set up a pillar and said that he could come back and turn it into a house of God. That was a mighty and binding promise. Twenty years later, God had surely fulfilled his promises to Jacob. Would Jacob do the same? The land of the promise was called Bethel. When would Jacob go there? And what trouble would come if he didn’t?