Genesis 33
McGeeCHAPTER 33THEME: Jacob meets Esau; Jacob journeys to ShalemIn the previous chapter we saw the high point in the life of Jacob, which was his encounter with God. On that night “a man” wrestled with him, and the “man,” not Jacob, did the wrestling. Jacob was not looking for another fight. He has Uncle Laban in back of him and Brother Esau ahead of him, and the last time he saw both of them they were breathing out threatenings against him. This man Jacob is not in a position to take on someone else. Therefore, the “man” took the initiative; He was the aggressor.
He was, as we have seen, the preincarnate Christ. Jacob resisted Him until the touch of God crippled him. Then, recognizing at last who He was, Jacob clung to Him until He blessed him. From this point on we will begin to see a change in Jacob. As we follow his life in the chapter before us, we will think that we have met a new man. To tell the truth, he is a new man.
Genesis 33:1
JACOB MEETS ESAUJacob wants to spare his family; so he separates them from the others.
Genesis 33:2
I would love to have a picture of Jacob meeting his brother Esau! I suppose that while he was a mile away from him, he started bowing. He is coming with his hat in his hand because Esau has four hundred men with him, and Jacob doesn’t know if he is coming as friend or foe.
Genesis 33:4
Well, they are twins, they are brothers. Let bygones be bygones. It looks as if God has certainly touched Esau’s heart because he had sworn vengeance that he would kill Jacob.
Genesis 33:5
Jacob introduces his family to his brother.
Genesis 33:8
Apparently Jacob believes for a moment that his strategy of approaching his brother has worked. But it wasn’t necessary. Listen to Esauwhat a change!
Genesis 33:9
Esau is saying, “You didn’t need to send that to me. I have plenty already.”
Genesis 33:10
This is almost a humorous scene. Up to this time, each was trying to get something from the other. This was especially true of Jacob. Now we find Jacob in a new role altogether. Here he is insisting that his brother take a gift. Esau says, “You don’t have to give it to me. I have plenty.” But Jacob insists that he accept it. Believe me, something has happened to Jacob! He reminds me of Zacchaeus in the New Testament. When our Lord called him down and went with him into his house, something happened to Zacchaeus. He wasn’t the same man that climbed up into the tree. He said he would no longer be the tax collector who had been stealing from people and had been dishonest. He wanted to return, not only anything that he had taken in a wrong way, but he wanted to restore it fourfold. What a change had taken place! You could certainly tell which house Jesus had visited. Certainly there is a change that has taken place in Jacob. Before he had traded a bowl of stew to get a birthright; now he is willing to give flocks and herds to his brother for nothing! In fact, Jacob insists that he take them. Esau finally accepted the gift. In that day and in that land if one refused to take a gift which was urged upon him, it was considered an insult. Therefore, Esau takes the gift.
Genesis 33:12
Esau is saying, “Now as you return to the land, let me go before you, show you the way, and be a protection for you.”
Genesis 33:13
Jacob says, “I’m moving my family, and we have little ones, also we have young among the flocks and herds. We can’t go very fast. You, of course, with that army of four hundred will probably want to move much faster; so you go ahead.”
Genesis 33:14
Jacob says, “I can’t keep up with you, Brother Esau. I’ll just have to set my own pace. You go on ahead.”
Genesis 33:15
Esau lived in southern Canaan in Seir, the “land of Edom,” at this time. After their father’s death, he moved to Mount Seir, which God subsequently gave to Esau for a possession (Deu_2:5).
Genesis 33:17
JACOB JOURNEYS TO SHALEMNow let us not pass by so quickly and easily here that we do not pay attention to what has happened. A great change has come over this man Jacob. You see, all of Jacob’s clever scheming to present a gift to his brother Esau has just come to naught. God had prepared the heart of Laban not to harm Jacob, and God had prepared the heart of Esau to receive Jacob. Now he has peace on both fronts. Esau did not want the gift of Jacob because Esau himself had an abundance.
When Jacob insisted, he took the gift out of courtesy. Both these brothers seem to be generous and genuine in their reconciliation. We have no reason to doubt it. Since Esau is now prosperous, and since he attached no particular value to his birthright anyway, there is no reason why he should not be reconciled to his twin brother. Now the sunshine is beginning to fall on Jacob’s life. Laban is appeased and Esau is reconciled. God had arranged all of this for him. Had Jacob been left to his own cupidity and his own cleverness, he would have come to his death in a violent manner. Before too long Jacob is going to look back over his life, and when he does, he is going to see the hand of God in his life, and he is going to give God the glory. However, the evil that he has sown is yet to bring forth a full harvest. Trouble is in the offing for this man. It is there waiting for him. Esau rides off to Seir, and we bid good-bye to him for the time being. He will be back, however, for the funeral of his father Isaac, as we will see in chapter 35.
Genesis 33:18
Jacob is sometimes criticized because he stopped here at Succoth and at Shalem and did not proceed on to Bethel. Actually, we ought not to expect too much of Jacob at this time. He’s been crippled, and he is just learning to walk with his spiritual legs.
Genesis 33:20
Jacob builds an altar here, just as his grandfather Abraham was accustomed to building altars wherever he went. The fine feature is that Jacob identifies his new name with the name of God. He calls it El-elohe-Israel which means, “God, the God of Israel.” This indicates real growth in a man who is just learning to walk. Let’s put it like this. This man is on the way to Bethel, but he hasn’t arrived there yet. First he journeys to Succoth.