Day 23. Reading in Genesis 32 – 34. 

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and meditate on it. Then, share your thoughts in the comments.

 

Genesis 32.

Jacob is returning home. He has a whole lot more than he left with: wives, children, servants, and animals to spare. He knows he has to meet his brother sooner or later. He remembers the situation 20 years earlier when he escaped. Esau had vowed to kill him as soon as their father died. Had their father died?

Jacob sends messengers to see Esau. Does he still seethe? Or has he forgotten his vow?  The messengers return, saying that Esau is coming with an army of 400 men. Gulp!  It seems he has NOT forgiven nor forgotten.  Jacob divides his family and flocks into two camps, saying if Esau gets one, perhaps the other will escape.  Jacob spends the night alone, praying and reminding God of all His promises.

The next day, Jacob sends Esau wave after wave of gifts, thinking they will appease his brother before they meet.  He spends the night alone … until God visits him.  The “man” (whether in dream or in person) wrestles with Jacob all night and puts his hip out of joint when he sees how Jacob persists. Jacob demands he bless him.  The “man” asks for his name (Jacob, the grabber, cheater, deceiver) and gives him a new name – Israel (champion with God), then leaves. Ever afterward, Jacob/Israel has that limp as a reminder.

Genesis 33.

Then … Esau arrives. 

Jacob had again split his camp up, putting those he least valued in front, with Rachel and Joseph at the very back. Then, approaching Esau, he bowed to him seven times like the lowest slave. 

BUT!!!!  Esau ran to Jacob, embraced him, and kissed him. They wept together in reunion, for God (not the 500 animals) had changed Esau’s heart.  After all the introductions and explanations about the waves of animals, Esau says they should journey together and that his men would protect Jacob.

But Jacob declines, saying he has to go slow because of the flocks and children. He even refuses to have Esau’s men accompany them as a guard. So, in peace, they depart.

Jacob had told Esau, “I’ll meet you later in Seir (in the south where Esau lived), but he had no intention of going there. As soon as his brother left, Jacob and his family turned westward, first to Succoth to rest everyone, then across the Jordan River to Shechem, where he bought a piece of land to settle. There, he set up an altar and worshipped God.  He had returned to the land promised to his family. 

Genesis 33.

Next is a very dark scene in Jacob’s family.  Dinah, his only daughter, seems to have a rebellious streak. She goes out (alone?) to check out the nearby town. Shechem (the city was perhaps named after him) saw her, lusted after her beauty, and raped her. 

When Jacob and sons heard about this, they were infuriated. Shechem’s father came to Jacob to make a deal for Dinah since his boy was “in love” with her. “Hey, let’s be friends. We can exchange daughters, and all be happy. What will be your bride price?”

Simeon and Levi (Jacob’s #2 and #3 sons) devised a wicked plan.  They said that the men of Shechem all had to be circumcised first. (This was supposed to be a sign of the relationship between God and His people, like baptism, not a bribing piece.)  Shechem’s father agreed on behalf of all the men in town (after all, he saw how richly God had blessed Jacob with flocks and herds and hoped to get some of them in the deal), and the deed was done.

On the third day, when the men were the most sore, Simeon and Levi attacked them and killed Shechem, his father, and ALL the men in the town before taking back their sister.  They also plundered the town taking all the animals, all the wealth, all the little children, and all the women. WHOA!!

Jacob was aghast!  “What have you done??? You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land. My days are numbered if they all get together and attack. We shall be destroyed!!”

“Should they treat our sister like a prostitute?” answered the unrepentant Simeon and Levi.

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• There are lots of lessons here for me. Although the meeting with Esau went well because God intervened, Jacob/Israel still seems to go his own way. Beginning with a deception about meeting Esau in Seir, he buys land in Shechem. Doesn’t he want to go see if Isaac is still alive? He obviously can’t control his children. And he has a lot of fears.  
• Will I ever get over my proneness to sin?  And sin in the same ways?  Praise God, He forgives and helps me. Oh, to have a true heart for him.