And so listen now to God's word from Genesis chapter 32 verses 1 through 21. Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, this is God's camp. So he called the name of that place Machaniah. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, Thus you shall say to my lord Esau, Thus says your servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants and female servants. I have sent to tell my Lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight." And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him and the flocks and herds and camels into two camps, thinking, if Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape. And Jacob said, God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, return to your country and to your kindred that I may do you good. I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant. For with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. But you said, I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude." So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him, he took a present for his brother Esau. 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams, 30 milking camels and their calves, 40 cows and 10 bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, Pass on ahead of me, and put a space between drove and drove. He instructed the first, When Esau, my brother, meets you and asks you, To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you? Then you shall say, They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau, and moreover he is behind us. He likewise instructed the second, and the third, and all who follow the droves, you shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, and you shall say, moreover your servant Jacob is behind us. For he thought, I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and after what I shall see his face, perhaps he will accept me. So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God endures forever. Let's ask his blessing upon our study of his word tonight in prayer. Lord God, as we come to your holy word tonight, we pray that you would give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand and believe what you have here revealed to us. Bless us, we pray, and help us to see the care which you have for your saints who are in covenant with you. This we ask in the name of our Lord. Amen. Grudges can be nasty things. Have you ever been involved in one? Maybe you've held a grudge against someone else, or maybe someone else has held a grudge against you. It doesn't matter much, I don't think. Because being in a grudge is an uncomfortable thing. regardless of which end of the arrangement you're on. They tend to weigh heavy on the hearts and the minds of those who get wrapped up in them. It's the sort of thing that we ought to try to avoid and that we ought to try to bring to an end if we do become involved in one. When we come to Genesis 32 tonight we encounter a man who knew plenty about grudges. Really this text revolves around a grudge and its resolution. Jacob had fled from Canaan to Mesopotamia on account of his brother's anger towards him. Jacob's mother Rebecca, do you recall, told him she would send word when it was safe for him to return when his brother Esau's anger had cooled. That word never came. So as far as Jacob knew, his brother had been nursing a grudge against him for the last 20 years. But he could not stay in Mesopotamia forever just to avoid his brother. The Lord had promised to bring him back to the land of Canaan before he had ever left. The Lord had recently indicated that it was time for him to return. And the Lord had delivered him, as we saw in chapter 31, from the tyranny of his uncle Laban, thereby clearing the way. So when we come to chapter 32, ready or not, here Jacob comes. And thus our text describes for us this evening in verses 1-21 of this chapter, Jacob's plan, his prayer, and his preparation as he pursues reconciliation with Esau. Amid all that, I think the central impression given by this account is that when the moment to face Esau drew near, he was filled with dread. Yet in desperation, Jacob here casts himself upon the Lord for deliverance. Consequently, the text, I believe, points us in the same direction that Jacob learned to turn. This isn't just about Jacob's deliverance. This text shows us that because our faithful Lord cares for us, we can lean upon His promises and trust Him to deliver us from our foes. That's what I hope you'll see tonight. But first, let us consider Jacob's plan in verses 1-8. In Genesis chapter 31, the patriarch finally made that break with his uncle Laban. The departure, we know, had greatly upset his uncle. The Lord had to intervene and protect his servant, but the two men were able to reach a peaceable agreement to part ways. But when chapter 32 begins, Jacob, we see, he's back on the move. He's headed towards the land of promise. And that's when something mysterious happens to him. It's not the first time something mysterious has happened to Jacob. It's not the last time that something mysterious is going to happen to Jacob. But in short, on this occasion, we are told that as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. The mysteriousness of this, I think, largely stems from how little is said about it. The record here It includes no description of the angels' actions or words. Nothing. They're simply there. Jacob sees them and makes an observation. When Jacob sees them, he takes it as a sign of the divine presence. He sees angels and he says, this is God's camp. That makes good sense. The last time that Jacob had seen a vision of angels, they were going up and down a ladder. Do you remember that? And who was at the top? The Lord. The Lord was at the top of the line. So now he sees these angels and he calls the name of the place Machanaim which means two camps. Alongside his camp there was another camp inhabited by angels signaling to him that the Lord who had appeared to him so long ago at Bethel was still with him. So as Jacob made his way He was suddenly and subtly reminded that the one who had promised him a safe return was indeed still with him. He was not making this journey on his own. The Lord of the Covenant accompanied the recipient of the covenant promises. Brothers and sisters, this is a reassuring picture of the way in which our covenant Lord accompanies us as believers on our pilgrim journey through this world. It's only on a handful of occasions in the scriptures that God pulls back the curtains for His servants to see that He is actively sending forth angelic messengers to watch over and protect them. We don't ordinarily get to see things like that. The Lord does not always pull back the veil for us. But the question is, why should we think that the immutable God who does not change acts any differently today? When we walk through the valley of tears that is this world, feeling as if we are surrounded by the enemy, feeling as if this world is out to get us, the God of the covenant is still busy dispatching all means necessary to get us right where He wants us. He's going to do what needs to be done to get us where we need to go. It's what He did for Jacob, it's what He does for us. And Jacob, since this, and he had the appropriate response, he took comfort. He took comfort. His confidence began to build. He began to stand up a little straighter. He'd been browbeaten by his uncle for 20 years. Now he sees the Lord's on his side. The result is that he is primed and prepared to confront his brother Esau after 20 years apart. It's time. According to verse 3, Jacob sent messengers to his brother Esau in Edom. He takes the initiative. I think this is instructive because if you were to take time to flip to the back of your Bible and look at a map of the region, you will discover something, which is that Edom is to the southeast of the land of Canaan, and Mesopotamia, where he had been dwelling, it is to the northeast, and so Jacob could have avoided the area that his brother was dwelling in altogether. He could have just gone around it. But the Lord was camping alongside him. He's comforted, he's consoled, he's confident, and he is determined to bring this feud to an end. The grudge cannot last forever, so he sends messengers to his brother. And he sends these messengers on ahead with the purpose of testing the waters. We'll see just how he's feeling after 20 years. They are to go and they are to respectfully entreat with Esau. They are to explain the circumstances of Jacob's long absence, as well as his intention to return with a full entourage of oxen and donkeys and flocks and male servants and female servants. And furthermore, they are to make clear that Jacob desires peace. They're to speak on his behalf, as verse 5 explains, they're to say this, I have sent to tell my Lord, he's speaking very respectfully, I have sent to tell my Lord in order that I may find favor in your sight. Jacob's plan is, in essence, to bury the hatchet. Let's let it go. Let's let bygones be bygones. And this plan to send messengers, it's quickly executed. They go to Seir and Edom. They find Esau. They evidently deliver the message. No words are recorded here between the two parties. But then they return. And what's their report? We came to your brother Esau, and he's coming to meet you. And there are 400 men with him. That is not the response that Jacob was looking for. I don't know what response he was looking for, but that wasn't it. The messenger's report fills Jacob with fear. Verse 7 says, Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. And maybe you can understand why he would feel this way. If you were to wake up in the morning, you heard something going on outside, and you looked out in your driveway, and you saw police cars flying up your driveway with lights blazing and sirens blaring, you would probably assume that they intended to arrest you, not give you a reward. I'm guessing. That's what I would assume. So likewise, when Jacob heard that Esau was headed his way with 400 men, he fears the worst. That sounds more like a militia than a welcome wagon. So his response here in the text is to employ a self-preservation strategy. And I don't mean that to say that he was being selfish. I mean self-preservation including all of his family, his people, his camp. While he had just been comforted by the presence of a second camp of angels, now it's fear that's going to drive him to establish a second camp of his own. That's a recurring theme in this passage. Two camps, two camps, two camps. He's going to split his camp, dividing his family and his flocks, thinking if Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape. He's thinking worst-case scenario. And if worst-case scenario happens, at least someone would survive. See how quickly our circumstances can bring us low? He had just seen the angels of God, and now he's panicking. And haven't we all experienced something like this? You come to worship. You hear God's word. You sense His presence. You're filled with hope, confidence, peace. You get out in the parking lot. You flip open your phone. You've received a text about some crisis in your life that's going to negatively affect you and the spell is broken. It's over. You fall into despair. You're panicking. You're filled with fear. Our faith can begin to waver at lightning speed. It's not unique to Jacob. Jacob, fortunately, has not, despite the fear that he feels, he has not forgotten the promises of God. In fact, while he is sorely afraid, his mind... What sanctification has happened in his life? His mind goes straight to God. who is going to have to be the source of his deliverance if he is to be delivered. And so we've seen his plan, but his reliance on God is portrayed more clearly in the second portion of this text, which contains Jacob's prayer in verses 9 through 12. And I want you to see that this prayer is actually a marvelous display of faith in a time of trial. Jacob begins by calling on the God of his father Abraham and his father Isaac, the Lord, Yahweh. And Jacob identifies the recipient of his purse such because only the covenant God of Abraham and Isaac can deliver him, their heir, from his brother. Over many years the Lord had spoken words of life to all three men, and Jacob's survival is going to depend on the Lord making good on those words which have been passed down from generation to generation. The Lord, after all, is the one who had told Jacob to return home to his kindred to begin with. This was God's idea. This trip back to Canaan was supposed to be the channel through which God funneled goodness and blessing Jacob's way, not evil. He was supposed to be turning over a new leaf. Notice, while Jacob recalls that past promise, he does not presume upon it. This is a lot of humility for a man who has not previously had a lot of humility. the last two decades had caused some spiritual growth in him. He's been a greedy cheat in the past, but now he knows that even if God has promised he does not deserve the Lord's generosity, he confesses to the Lord, I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant. But despite that unworthiness, God had shown him such steadfast love, that word hesed, which you may be familiar with, that is covenant, mercy, love, and faithfulness. And he had shown this in a multitude of ways. Even though Laban had tried to bring him down, the Lord had been there to raise him up. And he gives a very concrete example of this. When Jacob crossed the Jordan on the way to Bananaram, all that he had, A staff in his hand and his walking stick. Now God has so abundantly blessed him that his family and his flocks can be divided into two large, sizable camps. It is precisely because God has shown unworthy Jacob such grace that he has here the wherewithal to plead for deliverance on this occasion. If Yahweh had done more for Jacob than he had deserved in the past, well then he may well do more for him than he deserves in the present. Specifically, what he wants from the Lord in the present is he requests to be delivered or saved from the hand of his brother Esau. He fears that brother that he once cheated. He knows that he done him wrong. He fears for his life. He fears for his wives and for his children. And so all Jacob knows to do is to cast himself on the mercy of the one who had said to his grandfather Abraham, I will surely do you good and make your offspring as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered for multitude. Surely, God is going to have to preserve at least some of Jacob's children in order to uphold that decree. And so he casts himself upon the word of the Lord. I want to suggest to you that this is an exemplary prayer for deliverance. Think about it. Jacob comes to God with an awareness of God's character and covenant. He recounts and reflects upon the Word of God which had been formerly revealed to him. Then with all humility he makes his request on the basis of that revelation as he seeks deliverance from the Deliverer. And finally, having made his request, he closes his prayer by again pleading God's promises back to him. This is a prayer of faith which holds tight to God and his word. Jacob's prayer here brings to my mind that hymn, maybe you're familiar with it, which says, standing on the promises of God that cannot fail, when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, by the living word of God I shall prevail, standing on the promises of God. When you're backed against the wall, when you're afraid, when you are at the end of your rope, You don't know how to tie a knot to hold on. You have got to stand the promises of God and trust Him to deliver you from all your foes, whatever form they may take. You have got to plead the Bible's promises with the Lord. You have got to cry out to Him and make your desires for deliverance known. And you can do these things with faith that our Lord cares for you deeply. As we've already sang tonight, what a friend we have in Jesus. What a friend. So we can take all these things to the Lord in prayer. Why can we do that? Jacob could do it. He knew to do it because God had expressed his care for him in a very pointed way. The Lord had spoken to him from heaven. We've not heard an audible voice from heaven. But here's the good news. Despite that fact, we have something really that's better. We have a fuller revelation which is preserved for us in the pages of the scriptures. And that revelation centers around Jesus Christ, who is the surest sign of God's care for his people. Think back on those words from 2 Corinthians chapter 1. As we read them earlier, we see that Paul described to the church the intense affliction that he had experienced alongside his other apostolic co-workers. They had faced such opposition, such hardship, that Paul was afraid. They were all afraid they were going to die. But with that behind them, with hindsight in their favor, Paul was able to perceive that God had allowed them to face this hardship in order to force them to rely on Him. They had shared in Christ's suffering. They had picked up their crosses, they had followed the crucified Christ until they thought they had come to the end of the line. But they did so as those who believed, now I'm quoting verse 5, 2 Corinthians chapter 1, they did so as those who believed that as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. and therefore being comforted in Christ, Paul could conclude in verse 10 of that chapter, God delivered us from such a deadly peril and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. And then when you look for an instrument, how did this come to pass? Well, Paul mentions explicitly the prayers of the people of God. Accordingly, we see that we can walk through the crucible with the Christ who was crucified, because the Christ who was crucified was also raised, and having been raised, he now comforts us. As he pledged to his disciples while he was still on the earth, Jesus sent the Comforter, the Holy Spirit from heaven, so that we might never walk alone in the Christian life. Really, we see that the entire Trinity is involved in consoling us and assuring us of our spiritual deliverance and security. We've not heard a booming voice from heaven like Jacob. But the Bible teaches us that the Father's ascending of Christ expresses God's care for His people. The Son's sacrifice expresses God's care for His people. The Spirit of Christ's presence expresses God's care for his people. And so when we are afraid or suffering or afflicted, we can turn to the Lord in prayer in full confidence, clinging to his character and covenant promises, knowing that for the Lord, for those in the Lord, it's never just sufferings. It's sufferings and comfort, too, because the Lord died and was raised. And this comfort, this is the gospel here, this comfort, this hope of deliverance, this security is available if your faith is in Jesus Christ, in whom the Abrahamic covenant has been fulfilled. And so this text, if we want to know the comfort, the consolation, the security that Jacob could find in prayer, that Paul could find in prayer, Then we turn from our sin, we turn to that crucified and risen Christ, we receive the promises of God, and then, crucially, we stand on those promises, content that the God who has promised will watch over and care for us. He will deliver us from the world, the flesh, and the devil. There are no greater foes than that. The Lord can deliver us from them all. Well, Jacob offered his prayer of faith after his plan appeared to stoke Esau's anger. So then we come in the third place to the fact that Jacob here, at the close of this section, began to prepare for the moment of truth. This is Jacob's preparation for the worst. You can see the preparatory work in verses 13 through 21. After praying, Jacob stays put for the night. But he's going to send others on ahead of him in an attempt to assuage Esau's anger. Or at least what he perceives to be Esau's anger. That they're going to carry an extremely lavish gift on ahead of Jacob and the Oaks. That this is going to change Esau's mind. Now Jacob has tricked his brother out of his birthright and his blessing. He's not going to give it back. That's not what this is about. It was clear by now that he was God's chosen servant. It would be wrong, actually, I think, for him to have given it back. He was in that long line connected to the offspring of the woman mentioned in Genesis 3.16. Esau is the son of the serpent. But that's not going to stop Jacob from using the blessing which he had received to bless his brother. And yes, he does hope to benefit from blessing his brother by not dying. He sends 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 30 milking camels, their calves, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys. If I received that gift, I would be overwhelmed. But, you know, this was the sort of thing that people wanted back in that time. And so these are supposed to be delivered to Esau in droves by servants. And every time a servant arrives with another slew of animals, they're to say of the gift, they belong to your servant Jacob. They're a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he's behind us. They were all to say the same thing. with great respect and kindness in the hope that the gift might appease Esau and turn away his wrath. And maybe there was something to the idea that this would be an overwhelming gift. Hard to fight a battle in the middle of a herd of animals. And so he wants to turn away his brother's wrath and that aim is expressed openly in verse 20. Jacob instructs his servants to deliver his gifts prior to their encounter. For what reason? because he thought I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me. In other words, this gift was supposed to be something of a propitiation. Do you remember what that means? A propitiation is an offering which is meant to satisfy the wrath and anger of an offended party. That's what Jacob wants. He wants to satisfy, cool, tamp down the wrath of someone who is angry at him. We might say that Jacob is trying to put his best foot forward. That's what all this is about. He's going to put his best foot forward so that he might be reconciled to Esau. and he wants to be reconciled to Esau so that he can live in peace in the land of Canaan, which the Lord his God has promised him. He does not want to live the rest of his life looking over his shoulder. So filled with a mix of, I think, fear and faith, he prays and prepares for the worst. He believes, that's what this prayer teaches us, But he's also afraid, and so his fear sends him into a frenzy as he tries to think of something to placate Esau. The grudge needed to die if Jacob was going to move on with his life. In this text we're not going to see the resolution. No appearance of Esau in this passage. That long-awaited meeting between Jacob and Esau is going to have to wait, and Jacob is going to have to undergo a profound spiritual transformation first, as we're going to see next week, Lord willing. But for now, the preparatory work moves forward as the propitiatory present passes ahead of Jacob while he remains in the camp with his family. He is putting his best foot forward, yes, but only God can deliver him now. Brothers and sisters, I don't know what might be instilling fear and worry in your mind right now. I don't know what might be stoking dread in your heart. I don't know who might be playing the role of Esau in your life. But I do know this. As we said at the beginning, because our faithful Lord cares for us, we can lean upon his promises and trust him to deliver us from our foes. The God who camped alongside Jacob, to whom Jacob prayed, in whom Jacob trusts, even as he divided his camp and sent his brother a gift, that God is worthy of your trust and the work of Christ revealed in God's word is the surest sign that it is so. And so we can, with Jacob, no matter what fear we may be feeling, for Christ's sake, because character and covenant, we can entrust ourselves to our faithful Savior and believe that He will deliver us. Let's pray.