Good Wednesday to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Have you ever had the experience of preparing to meet someone with whom you’ve had an unresolved conflict from many years before, and this meeting will be the first time you’ve seen them in many years? What was it like my friends? How did you prepare for that moment when you’d see them face to face for the first time in a long time, having no idea how they had been dealing with the conflict, over all these years?
We’ve been traveling with Jacob recently, and today let’s see how he and his brother Esau prepare to encounter each other after more than 20 years apart? You may recall Jacob had run for his life when he realized his brother Esau was planning to kill him. Oh Esau had good reason to be angry, didn’t he? His twin brother Jacob had deceived their father Isaac and stolen Esau’s firstborn blessing. (Gen. 27) That was bad enough, but you may also recall that some time before, Esau had sold his firstborn inheritance birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew when he was famished one day. (Gen. 25:29) These twin boys had taken sibling rivalry to an extreme, fueled by the fact their parents were divided. Isaac loved his eldest son Esau, Rebekah loved her younger son Jacob, and this divided love was evident to the boys and everyone else. Divided love breeds jealousy and wounded hearts, and that nurtures competition and conflict. So for more than 20 years Jacob and Esau were both nursing their wounded hearts, probably debating the details of their memories, and occasionally wondering what would happen if they ever saw each other again?
Yesterday we saw the time had finally come that Jacob needed to leave Haran, where he’d lived and raised his family over the past 20 years. If you were with us yesterday we saw Jacob did not leave Haran a happy man. Bitterness and resentment had grown in his heart toward his father-in-law Laban, so much that he left with all his family and belongings when Laban was away on business. When news of this came to Laban, he quickly ran after Jacob. After 7 days of traveling Laban found Jacob and his caravan, and the confrontation between these two angry men was severe. They both had years of built up frustration. In the end, they did not resolve their differences nor did they reconcile, instead they agreed to separate permanently, building a line of demarcation at Mizpah, which they both agreed neither would cross.
As Jacob continued his slow journey back toward his boyhood homeland, his mind and heart would have been filled with many unanswered questions. The top of that pile of questions would have been questions about his brother Esau. How had these past 20 years treated Esau? How large was his family? Had he been successful in business? But most of all, how was Esau’s heart toward Jacob? Was he still nursing the grudge of 20 years before or had time changed him? I wonder if you’ve found yourself in this situation? Perhaps a school or family reunion, or maybe a wedding or funeral will bring you back into contact with someone from your distant past? What happened emotionally in you as you anticipated seeing someone with whom you, many years before, had a conflict?
Genesis 32 is the story of Jacob preparing to meet Esau. It’s really quite amazing because it forced Jacob to give serious thought to what had happened in their family relationships so many years before. It wasn’t pretty! As Jacob probed more deeply into the honest truth of their conflicts, I’m sure he saw his own deceitfulness and greed were the primary reasons their family dysfunction had become so serious that Jacob had to flee for his life. If you’ve reflected on your past and found yourself overwhelmed with remorse about the damage you’ve done, what did you do with your shame and guilt, my friends? Jacob sent messengers looking for Esau, for they had not had any contact in more than 20 years. Jacob not only needed to know where Esau was living, but what attitudes did he have? Was reconciliation possible or was Esau still looking to kill Jacob and now all his family?
Can you imagine Jacob’s anxiety the day he saw the messengers returning from their mission. Let’s listen in on their report, it’s brief and to the point: “We went to your brother Esau and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” (Gen. 32:6) So, knowing what you do about festering grudges and thoughts of retaliation which maybe you’ve experienced, what conclusion should Jacob draw from this brief report, and what advice would you give Jacob? The Genesis records says “In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. Jacob thought, ‘If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.” (Gen. 32:7) So ponder that a moment. If you had to divide all your extended family and all your earthly belongings into two groups, with the possibility one group would be destroyed or taken captive, how would you do that?
The agony Jacob felt in his heart must have been beyond description. But such is the grief and shame of living a life of deception, lies, and manipulation of relationships. There is a profound life lesson to be learned here my friends! Have you learned it yet? Do you understand the painful price of untruth and unresolved conflict? Jacob next did a very important thing… He talked with God! I assume we don’t have a full record of everything Jacob said to God, but we have this: “O God of my [grand]father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper.’ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed the Jordan, but now I have become two groups of people. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.” (Gen. 32:10,11)
While I don’t hear much repentance of his terrible sins which ripped his boyhood family apart, I do hear acknowledgement of God’s remarkable goodness to Jacob and his sense of total unworthiness. I also hear a deep fear that, without God’s protection, Jacob is fairly certain he may lose much of what he has gained over the past 20 years, maybe even his own life. I hear him calling upon the God of his heritage, but I don’t hear much appeal to the relationship with God Jacob has personally developed. That tells me Jacob had not spent much time nurturing his relationship with God and so he appeals to God on the basis of being part of Abraham’s family and God’s special relationship with Abraham, his grandfather.
Now, let’s be honest friends, do you approach God with confidence that He loves you and will receive you within the integrity of the strong and growing relationship that God and you have been nurturing? Or do you approach God holding tightly to the apron strings of your parents or grandparents or Pastor or some other ‘religious’ friend, hoping God will hear you on the basis of your association with someone else God has a good relationship with?
Listen to the good news of Hebrews 10 “When this priest [Jesus Christ] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God…because by His one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy… Therefore, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus…and since we have a great priest [Jesus] over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith… Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful...” (Hebrews 10:12,14,19-23)
Do you understand this profound proclamation my friends? You and I, and any person in the world, is invited by God INTO His throne room, ‘the Most Holy Place’ IF we have trusted in Jesus Christ and His death on the cross to fully pay for our evil sin. The resurrected Jesus is there, in God’s Presence, and as we pray, as we speak to God, Jesus intercedes for us according to Romans 8:34, as our advocate according to 1 Timothy 2:5,6!
So I ask you, my friends… do you enter the throne room of God with confidence or fear, with certainty you are welcome there as a son or daughter, adopted by God into His family, or as a stranger? It all depends on the relationship you have with Jesus Christ! Have you fully trusted in Him and His death and resurrection, or is Jesus stranger to you? As you call out to God as the burdens of life weigh heavy on you, are you calling to your heavenly Father, in confidence of being received with love, or do you simply hope God somehow hears and will be merciful, even though you don’t have a relationship with Him?
This is my purpose in “Walking with Jesus”… to help you build that glorious relationship with Jesus! So let’s all take time right now to enter God’s Most Holy Place in worship and prayer. And here’s a song to help us gain a fresh perspective as we enter into the Presence of Jehovah…
Today’s Scripture is Genesis 32.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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