Isaac,
Esau and Jacob.
Grace
and forgiveness are the very precious, God-given means of love. by Giulio Mari
"Deliver
me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear
him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children." Gen.32:11 KJV
In
the Bible there is a very emotional encounter between two people which vividly
depicts the power of God's grace. The story is found in the book of Genesis,
chapters 32 and 33. It recounts the time when Jacob, on the way back to the
Promise Land, makes preparations to meet his brother Esau whom he had defrauded
years before —and whose face he had fled.
Yes,
Esau had been grieved having despised his birthright by selling it to his
younger brother. Yet even more so, Jacob had stolen from Esau their father's "blessing
of the firstborn" by impersonating him under the hand of Isaac. Jacob had acquiesced
in his mother's scheme to promote the interests of her favorite son —himself. He
had taken Esau's birthright by opportunism but the blessing by deception.
Three
times Jacob had explicitly lied about his identity as he was being questioned
by his nearly blind father. Imagine therefore the fear he must have felt while
committing his transgression. These incidents in Jacob's eventful life show how
God and fear are closely knit in the fabric of a stained conscience. So much so
that Jacob refers to God as Fear — he actually substitutes the word God with
the word Fear.
"Except
the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had been with
me. . . ." Gen.31:42 KJV
And
again we see why, later in life, Jacob, evoking his earlier sinful behavior,
would call the "God of his father" the "Fear of his father"
because in his father's presence he felt the holy fear of God.
"And
Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac." v.53 KJV
In
Jacob's heart, at the very moment of sinning, God and Isaac were one and the
same.
The
reality of life is that God is the silent witness to all our actions[i]—He
is ever present. When we hurt or wrong someone that person becomes His messenger
unto our conscience —like an instrument of the Almighty. We know we have sinned
and the person we harmed is, in our eyes, the sword of God's impending
punishment upon us. Jacob makes this ever so clear as we join the narrative of
his return to Canaan Land.
From
the time his mother Rebekah had compelled him to flee twenty years has passed,
but now, on his way back, Jacob had sent his servants ahead to tell Esau that
he was returning home. But the report he hears is anything but reassuring—Esau
is coming to meet him with four hundred men. During the years of separation a
bad conscience had been Jacob's companion, but on his way back home fear had
joined hands with guilt. The time of reckoning had come.
Jacob
becomes very fearful for his life and that of his large family. As the time of
the encounter approaches he lets most of his great caravan go ahead of him with
a well staged present for the appeasing of his brother's anger. Later on, knowing
that Esau is closing in with his force, he arranges his family in such a way
that the ones he loves the most would have the greatest chance of
survival.
In
his eyes Esau had all the right to avenge himself and punish him as he saw fit.
So Jacob, being in dire need of help, lifts his voice to God and in his desperate
prayer for deliverance he cries: "for I fear him. . . ." But,
upon facing each other, his brother relieves his fears: "And Esau ran to meet him,
and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept."
Gen.33:4
KJV. Jacob
wept for joy as well as relief, and while sobbing he shouts:
"For
I have seen your face, like seeing the face of God, and you are pleased with
me."
v.10 LITV
To
him, over the passing years, to encounter Esau would have been the same as
confronting God. But
finally his brother's forgiveness had set him free from guilt and fear of
punishment.
And
so it is for us —how great a surprise and joy when instead of punishment we
find grace! Therefore,
having been forgiven, we are now
free from the fear of judgement, condemnation and punishment.
But
why—why have we found grace with God and His wrath[ii]
has turned away from sinners? And what made Esau change his mind from his first
intention, "[I] will kill my brother Jacob", to embracing him
with such affection? Was it the twenty years that had elapsed? Had he forgotten
what Jacob had done to him? And do we
receive forgiveness just because God forgets our trespasses and our sins have
an expiry date? Is time then the great healer? Not so with God, neither with
man. By
considering why Jacob was forgiven by Esau we will also know why we are
forgiven by God.
Well
then, what is it that moved Esau's heart? The Bible does not say—it gives no
reason—just the facts. It is up to us to discern. To that end, let us go back to
the encounter to look and sense the drama of the unfolding scene as painted for
us by the words of Scripture.
What
was it like for Jacob to face the one who he knew had determined in his heart
to kill him?
The
only thing we may go by is Jacob's reaction to the report of his servants—fear.
He confessed that to God to find relief for his anxious soul. Jacob's
messengers had related to Esau the size of his people and possessions. So now
Esau was coming to meet him with enough company to have the upper hand
Jacob
was a man of his times, he knew how to read the signs of peace and peril. He
knew that four hundred men
was a bit much to go and say hi to somebody. Justifiably so, Jacob became very
much afraid and started to make preparations to try and save himself and his
own. The words of his mother, reaching back to the time of his escape, came
back to him: "Esau is going to ease himself on you, to kill you."
Trouble was on its way. That same Esau was there now, he had arrived, the dust
having settled revealed the might of his band.
At
last, now Jacob faces his brother. Yes, he had aligned his family in such a way
that the people he loved the most were the safest in line. But now he comes out
from among them to meet Esau. Having come to the open he begins to walk toward
his brother—he faces Esau and his four hundred men behind him. What will it be,
death or life? We can only imagine the tension of the moment. His family and
his people holding their breath before the might of Esau's small army. Only the
snorting of the horses on one side and the bleating of sheep on the other,
might have been breaking the silence due to such an anxious moment.
With
Esau looking over the camp, Jacob, now alone with his destiny, begins to bow to
the ground as he walks towards his brother.
"And
he (Jacob) passed in front of them (his family) and bowed himself to the ground seven times until he came even to his
brother."
His
steps are interrupted by seven bows—all the way to the ground. How difficult it
must have been for the newly crippled Jacob to walk and bow on the way to look
into his brother's eyes. During this time Esau, while watching his brother,
apart from the bows, must have noticed his limping—something was different. Yes,
only the previous night Jacob had wrestled with the Angel until dawn and God
had touched his hip socket which had become unhinged. His name had been changed
to Israel and God had blessed him there. Jacob had indeed met with the Almighty
and had been changed in character and posture.
Esau
saw a broken man limping toward him. Humility and repentance were his brother's
virtues now—the outcome of God dealings with him—the touch to the hip crowning
twenty years of discipline. Esau must have been moved to compassion and
kindness toward his now crippled brother and loved him. I believe that at this
very moment God moved Esau's heart toward Jacob and filled it with compassion
turning revenge into pity.
"And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him. And they wept"
"And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him. And they wept"
What
hurt Jacob from God helped him with Esau. The discipline we receive from our
Lord shapes the witness we hold before man.
There
has been a time and a place, in our own lives, when we, having been met by God,
have been crippled in our own will-power. Our sinful way of life gave in and
surrendered to His will and His wonderful ways. And just as Esau had seen his
brother as an enemy so God has seen us as sinners, but just as Esau was moved
to kindness at the sight of Jacob's limping, so God is moved to forgiveness and
compassion toward us who have been broken by the work of Christ and He is
pleased with us.
We
have spent our night wrestling with the Angel. For some
that night has been a lifetime, for others just a day but all the redeemed have
come to surrender—in the morning, at the dawn of that new life which Jesus
secured for us[iii].
Jacob was touched in the flesh, we have been touched in the spirit—to walk in
newness of life. Jacob limped from then on—he had to lean and rely on his staff,
we, by faith, have to rely on the work of Christ who obtained peace for us by
the blood of His cross[iv].
Oh
the joy of knowing God's forgiveness! To know that the Judge of all the earth
has pardoned us; not because He has looked the other way, but because somebody
else - Jesus - took the penalty we deserved.
What
amazing love is this! His favor and grace freely flood our souls with wonder
and gratitude.
Fleeing
from Esau, having left home, and passing over the Jordan on the way to
Paddan-Aram, Jacob had used his staff to defend himself and sustain his long
steps, "For I passed over this Jordan with my staff. . . ."
But
now, on the way back, after having met and struggled with the Angel, he had
become crippled. His staff now was to support his weakness—God had done His
work in Jacob—his natural strength had been dealt with.[v]
And
so with us, at the cross, meeting our Savior, we came to know our sinfulness
and the weakness of our flesh. We realized that we cannot make it on our own.
We are too weak and our flesh is beyond redemption. We have been crippled in
our own self-sufficiency. We need Christ's cross as our staff to sustain us in
our weaknesses and help us to walk a holy life. Because He was nailed to it, we
are sustained by it.
The
work of the Angel saved Jacob from the wrath of man, the work of Christ saves
us from the wrath of God[vi].
[i] Prov. 5:21,
For the ways of man are before the
eyes of the Lord and He ponders all his paths. NKJV
[ii] John
3:36, The one believing into the Son has everlasting life; but the one
disobeying the Son will not see life but the wrath of God remains on him. LITV
[iii]
Gal. 2:20, I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; [yet] not longer I
but Christ lives in me. And the [life] I now live in the flesh I live by faith toward the Son of God, the [One] loving me and
giving Himself over on my behalf. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness [is] through law, then
Christ died without cause. LITV
[iv]
Col. 1:20, [And] through Him making peace by the blood of His cross. . . LITV
[v]
Hosea 12:3, He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his strength he
struggled with God. NKJV
[vi]
Rom. 5:9, Much more then, being justified now by His blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through Him. LITV
(Scriptures taken from the KJV, NKJV of
the Bible and the LITV [Literal Translation of the Holy Bible] by J.P.
Green,Sr.1995).
_____________________________
Being aware of my limitations but
desirous to share, I submit this paper
to my fellow believers in Christ. None of my work is ever complete, there
is always something to add as the Lord grants more light. "For in You is the fountain of
life, in your light we see light." Ps.36:9
Rev. 03, 2013
Rev. 03, 2013
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