Esau ran to meet
Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him (Genesis
33:4).
Let’s face it, Jacob was the nerd and Esau was the jock.
When Esau returned from a hunting trip, Jacob leveraged a bowl of soup against
his brother’s hunger for a double portion of the inheritance. Then Jacob –
mama’s boy that he was – cooperated with Rebekah’s plan to cheat Esau out of
his blessing too. No surprise, his flimflamming
led to a death sentence of sorts, and he hightailed it out of Dodge
to save his life. He found a safe haven working for his uncle, which gave him
not only room to breathe, but also time to start a family and amass
considerable wealth of his own.
Now, twenty years after cheating his brother out of his
birthright, Jacob returns home. How
will he be received by the brother who swore to kill him?
In reading this chapter, one might be tempted to say, “Happy
ending!” But this is not the end of the story. Esau settled his extended family
in the hill country of Mt. Seir, near the southern tip of the Dead Sea, to the south and east of Israel.
Esau got a bowl of soup; Jacob got an inheritance, and their descendants were
enemies for a thousand years. Was it worth it?
TODAY’S MEDITATION
After congratulating yourself
on a sweet deal, have you ever found out the price was higher than you
originally thought? How could doing things God’s way yield a better result next
time?
There have been times when I have obeyed God and it cost me friendships and relatives, not that I lost them but that will not talk to me anymore. There are many times that I wish I could talk and have on occasion called to try and open lines of communication with them but to no avail. God’s way is always better although I have lost a friend and some relatives over the years I do not regret the decision that was made. I was obedience to God and what He was asking me to do I have also since been blessed for my decision and walk continually in the favor of God.
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