Jacob to Israel – A Life Transformed – 10

Genesis 33

Jacob still has this nagging feeling that his brother, Esau is out for revenge, Genesis 33:1 records that ‘he lifted his eyes and saw Esau with 400 men‘. His immediate reaction is to divide his children according to their mothers, placing the maidservants in front, followed by Leah and then Rachel. This time, unlike before when he ran away from danger, he faces it as a changed man and goes before his family to meet his brother Esau, placing himself in a very vulnerable position. What happens next is nothing short of a miracle. God has not only been at work in Jacob’s life and changed his nature and name, He has also been at work in Esau’s life, not to the same extent, as Esau’s heart was not God centred. But God had been at work to allow and enable this momentous reconciliation to take place. We must never underestimate or limit how God wants to work. Jacob was exercising the faith and trust that he had put into Almighty God and moved forward with limited mobility as a result of the wrestling match, to encounter one of the great moments in his life. How many times do we enter into situations without the knowledge that God is in control? For Jacob, moving forward before the right time would have been disastrous, yet here we find that God has gone before him and is still in front preparing the way.

The meeting was sweet, we read that Jacob moved forward with his face to the ground in total humility and Esau ‘ran to meet him‘, ‘kissed him‘ and ‘threw his arms around him‘. What a transformation in these two brothers lives. One moves from murderous intent whilst the other from twisted self preservation.

This story shows us how important it is that we set our hearts after God. Through Jacob’s willingness and tenacity not only was his life transformed but also that of his brothers. How this reunion must have thrilled the heart of their old father Isaac, just as Repentance and Forgiveness thrills the heart of Almighty God.

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