Genesis
32:3 ¶ And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau
his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye
speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with
Laban, and stayed there until now: 5 And
I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have
sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight. 6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying,
We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred
men with him. 7 Then Jacob was greatly
afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the
flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands; 8 And said, If Esau come to the one company,
and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.
Jacob and company
are about to meet even another group, but this one does not comfort or put
Jacob in awe but terrifies him. Jacob knows that he took advantage of his
brother twenty years ago. He has to pass through Esau’s territory.
Genesis 25:30
And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red
pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
Genesis 36:8
Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.
Notice the
following as the Hebrews travel to the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 2:1 ¶
Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of
the Red sea, as the LORD spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days.
2 And the LORD spake unto me, saying,
3 Ye have compassed this mountain long
enough: turn you northward. 4 And
command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your
brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of
you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore: 5 Meddle not with them; for I will not give you
of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount
Seir unto Esau for a possession. 6 Ye
shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water
of them for money, that ye may drink.
Clearly, Jacob has
kept informed about his brother’s doings. He appears to be making an offering
to Esau, to hopefully buy off his desire for revenge. Jacob’s servants, which
he sent as scouts to see what Esau’s mind was about, tell him that Esau is coming
his way with four hundred men. It does not look good for Jacob, his family, his
servants, and his wealth, if not his life.
Dividing his group
into two Jacob hopes that if Esau attacks one the other will escape. Notice two
things here. God made provision for Esau even though Esau, perhaps, did not do
right by our view. He was carnal, a man dominated by his flesh. But God took
care of him. He was not part of the ministry to reconcile man to God except in
this part with his relationship with Jacob. But God put his territory in the
path of God’s man so that God’s man would have to pass through it.
There are a lot of
potential sermons in this passage, for instance, how you as a Christian, a type
of Jacob, may have to pass through an Esau’s territory to get where God wants
you to go. Or, how you may have to face an unsaved person or a brother in Christ
whom you’ve wronged in the past. How your fears may blow things all out of
proportion to what God has planned. Many sermon possibilities, many examples of
the Christian’s real-life experiences.
Another thing to
consider is how fearful Jacob is even though God told him to go back to his own
place. He lacked the courage of his faith to believe God would continue to
bless and protect him. Here we see in the Bible an understanding of our
weaknesses. Even in the face of our greatest spiritual triumph, even doing
God’s perfect will, we sometimes have fear and uncertainty, doubts and
concerns. It is not unusual, does not show you are denying God’s will, just
that you are human and weak.
No comments:
Post a Comment