Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. (Genesis 33:4)What drama! Twenty years after cheating Esau out of his blessing, Jacob returns home. How will he be received by the brother who swore to kill him?
In reading this solitary 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, in the vicinity of the Dead's Sea's southern tip, on the opposite side from Israel. Read more about future encounters with Edom (Esau was also called Edom and that is the name of his descended kingdom) in Deuteronomy 2, Numbers 20 and 2 Chronicles 20.
Have you ever tried to mend fences with someone who was angry with you?
Isn't Day 10 - January 10th? Or have I just had too much chocolate?
ReplyDeleteMerry, that's a good question. Yes, January 10th is Day 10. I'm trying to stay a day ahead, so that whenever you read, the post will already be there for you. The date (in white print) comes up automatically and tells when I posted the blog. It has nothing to do with the day in green (Day 11), which is what you need to go by. I can't say whether or not you've had too much chocolate, but I hope that answers your question.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should start adding the date to the title, but then people will be confused when the title date is January 11 but the blog date is January 10!
I don't know. Maybe I'll just have to shut down the whole project, thanks to Merry!
Pastor Tim.......welcome to my world! LOL
ReplyDeleteIs there such a thing as too much chocolate?? I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, does anyone else think it seemed a bit cowardly of Jacob to put all the women and children between himself and Esau? And he put the maids first, then Leah...the only one he was actually standing *with* instead of hiding behind was Rachel.
ReplyDeleteMending fences is pretty stressful, and worse when *you* are the one in the wrong. Jacob knew he'd been manipulative and deceitful, what a lot of crow he had to eat. It says a lot for Esau that he was able to 'get over it'... but yeah, the Edomites didn't exactly forget grandad Esau's bedtime tales about his brother, did they? - Amy
Amy, I couldn't agree with you more about Jacob's cowardice. I also think it may have something to do with "puffer fish" syndrome. He was making his family look even bigger than it was, hoping Esau would think twice about attacking. I do notice, however, that this was just prior to his pivotal wrestling with God, which seemed to be the final breakthrough to integrity after a lifelong wrestling match with his own character.
ReplyDelete