Morning has broken and Jacob is going forward to meet Esau.
"Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants. He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. He himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground seven times as he approached his brother." (Genesis 33:1-3) Jacob can see his brother approaching from a fair distance away and he has time to arrange his family in a particular order. I can't think of any reason why he would arrange them in this order unless he is putting his favorite wife and favorite child last. Putting them last in the line would give them a better chance of escaping if Esau and his men attack, so I feel that Jacob arranges his family in the order in which they are most important to him. The two female servants (also his secondary wives) are placed in the front of the procession with their children. It was not common for a child of a secondary wife to be the main heir unless a man had no sons with a primary wife, and I think he's more willing to lose these sons than the others.
He puts Leah and her children after the servants and their children, even though Leah is his first and chief wife and even though a son through her should be (and will end up being) his heir. But he still loves Leah less than he loves Rachel. He places Rachel and Joseph last in the procession. I wonder if perhaps he intended to make Joseph his heir, disregarding the laws and customs of his day. We will see later on in Genesis that Joseph is his favorite son and that his obvious favoritism for Rachel's child causes even more family dysfunction than is already present. Joseph's brothers will hate him for being the favored child and they will do something to ensure he cannot become the heir. Jacob is a changed man---a better man than he used to be---but he isn't perfect. You and I didn't become perfect when we accepted the Lord as our Savior, and the Lord is going to be working on us our whole lives, and the Lord is going to have to work on Jacob his whole life.
Jacob places himself in front of the group and bows before his brother seven times as a way of appeasing his anger. But Esau isn't angry. God has had twenty years to deal with his heart. As we said in our study a couple days ago, Esau comes with four hundred men not because he's amassed an army but because he's put together a welcoming party. "But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept." (Genesis 33:4) Esau has reflected for twenty years upon his own behavior. He knows he's as much to blame for despising his birthright as Jacob is for deceiving their father into bestowing it upon the "wrong" son. Jacob himself has been deceived while he's been gone and now he understands what a terrible thing it is to treat a person this way. The two brothers are willing to let bygones be bygones. They might not have been very good friends with each other in their youth, but they are brothers and they love each other.
"Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. 'Who are these with you?' he asked. Jacob answered, 'They are the children God has graciously given your servant.' Then the female servants and their children approached and bowed down. Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down." (Genesis 33:5-7) The entire family shows their respect to the elder brother.
"Esau asked, 'What is the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?' 'To find favor in your eyes, my lord,' he said." (Genesis 33:8) In yesterday's passage Jacob sent servants and many animals from his flocks and herds ahead as gifts to Esau. He was trying to smooth the way for a reconciliation.
"But Esau said, 'I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.'" (Genesis 33:9) Esau has matured greatly in twenty years. He's a wealthy and successful man in his own right. He's no longer the impulsive young man he used to be, a man who was so irresponsible and so incapable of planning ahead that he traded his birthright for a bowl of stew simply because he was very hungry in that moment. He doesn't need or want anything from Jacob's flocks and herds. He has plenty of his own.
But it's important to Jacob that his brother accept these gifts from him. Esau's acceptance will be the outward sign of what has taken place in his heart. He's forgiven his brother. Accepting these gifts is like him saying, "We're square now. We're at peace. The past is the past and we're not going to think about it or ever bring it up again." Jacob insists he wants his brother to have the gifts. "'No, please!' said Jacob. 'If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.' And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it." (Genesis 33:10-11)
It's interesting that Jacob says seeing Esau's face is like seeing the face of God, especially when we consider that the previous night Jacob actually saw the face of God in the person of the pre-incarnate Christ. What does he mean by comparing Esau's face to the Lord's face? I believe it's because he saw forgiveness in the eyes of both the Lord and Esau. Instead of condemnation, he found mercy in the eyes of both the Lord and Esau. Instead of an accusing glare, both the Lord and Esau had compassion in their eyes.
Esau intends to accompany Jacob home. "Then Esau said, 'Let us be on our way; I'll accompany you.' But Jacob said to him, 'My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.'" (Genesis 33:12-14) Jacob will slow Esau down if they travel together. The animals and the smallest of the children can't be expected to make fast progress on the way. Jacob himself can't move very fast because his hip was wounded during the previous night's wrestling match with the Lord. Also, Jacob will end up lodging in another area instead of going on to stay with his brother in Seir. The Bible doesn't tell us why he never takes Esau up on his offer to stay with him on his way back to their father's house. I don't know whether it's because he doesn't want to inconvenience his brother in any way or whether he feels uncomfortable staying with his brother after twenty years of them not speaking to each other. Jacob may feel so bad about what he did that he is loathe to cause his brother any trouble at all by lodging with him. It could be that because of how he once treated Esau that he just can't accept generosity from his brother.
Some scholars suggest Jacob is still wary of Esau, as if Esau might not actually be at peace with him but is planning to do him harm, but I feel that if Esau intended to do him harm the best opportunity for that is right here in our current chapter. Jacob really has nowhere to go and Esau has four hundred men with him. If Esau wanted to kill Jacob and his family or take them captive, he could have already done so.
Esau is still busy showing hospitality to his brother. He's concerned that Jacob is vulnerable to robbers out here in the wilderness with no soldiers to protect him. "Esau said, 'Then let me leave some of my men with you.' 'But why do that?' Jacob asked. 'Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.'" (Genesis 32:15) Jacob says, "Don't trouble yourself on my account. It's enough that you are no longer angry with me." Jacob isn't afraid in the wilderness because he knows the Lord is with him.
"So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth." (Genesis 33:16-17) The word "Sukkoth" means "shelters".
"After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel." (Genesis 33:18-20) He names this place "mighty is the God of Israel". This indicates he is thankful that the Lord has brought him this far, but the Lord never told him to stop off at Shechem and buy a plot of land there. Instead of doing this, Jacob would have been better off if he'd taken his brother up on his offer and had lodged with him on his way back to his father Isaac's house. When the Lord instructed Jacob to leave the estate of his father-in-law, the Lord said, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you." (Genesis 31:3) But Jacob doesn't go immediately back to his relatives as the Lord commanded. He avoids going to Esau's house and stops off at Shechem and purchases land there. He's not where the Lord wants him to be and trouble is going to find Jacob's family in the godless city of Shechem.
We are going to feel frustrated with Jacob from time to time. I think we are going to have to cut him some slack though, because anyone reading the story of my life or reading the story of your life is going to feel frustrated with us from time to time. Like Jacob, our hearts belong to the Lord. But like Jacob, we have to live in weak human bodies in a fallen world filled with sin and temptation. We are going to fall short sometimes and fail to follow all the way through when the Lord gives us instructions. We are going to put ourselves in positions that bring hardship into our lives. But, just as the Lord never casts Jacob aside, the Lord isn't going to cast us aside. Whenever we stumble and fall, He'll be reaching out a helping hand to us.
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