And so listen carefully now to God's holy word from the book of Genesis chapter 33. And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. And he put the servants with their children in front. Then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother. But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and they wept. And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, who are these with you? Jacob said, the children whom God has graciously given your servant. Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last, Joseph and Rachel drew near and they bowed down. Esau said, what do you mean by all this company that I met? Jacob answered. to find favor in the sight of my Lord. But Esau said, I have enough, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself. Jacob said, no, please. If I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough." Thus he urged him, and he took it. Then Esau said, Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you. But Jacob said to him, My Lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. Let my Lord pass on ahead of His servant, and I will lead on slowly at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me, and at the pace of the children, until I come to my Lord and see you. So Esau said, Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me. But he said, What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my Lord. So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan Aram, and he camped before the city. And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. There he erected an altar and called it El Elohei Yisrael. Sends our reading in God's word. Let's ask his blessing upon our reading, now in a word of prayer. O God who speaks, we come tonight desiring to listen to your voice and to be changed by it. We pray, Lord, that you would now open your scriptures, which you have preserved, that they might be living before us, that we might see and marvel and worship at the side of your great deeds in history. And we pray, Lord God, that you would draw us closer to yourself as we submit ourselves to this text. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. The events of Genesis 33 have been a long time coming, haven't they? Jacob and Esau, our two brothers in the text, they had last seen each other 20 years prior. Their final meeting, if you will recall, had not been a pleasant one. That was the day when Jacob swooped in and stole the blessing which his father Isaac had meant for his twin by means of deception. That wasn't the first time that Jacob had taken something away from Esau, but that incident, which is narrated in Genesis chapter 27, that was going to be the last thing that Jacob took away if Esau had anything to do with it. That was the last straw. And he was so angry that he was going to kill his brother if he had his way. Fortunately, their mother, Rebecca, overheard Esau's plans, and so she began scheming and decided to shoo him away from their home there in Canaan in order to protect him. Jacob could return when things settled down, but what was supposed to be a short Trip to visit family in Mesopotamia, we've seen over several chapters now, stretched into a two-decade detour as he became ensnared in his service to his uncle Laban. Now he's headed home and his brother's still alive. So at this point in the biblical narrative, Jacob can't put off confronting Esau anymore. It's time for the chickens to come home to roost. That's why he had sent messengers before him in the preceding chapter. He wanted to check in on his brother, see how he was doing, and most importantly, seek to make peace so that he might get out with his life. As we saw, Jacob was rattled to his core when he received his messengers back from going to see Esau, and they reported that Esau is actually headed this way, and he's headed this way with 400 men by his side. And this sent Jacob into that frenzy that combined feverish preparation and faith-filled prayer, back and forth, back and forth. Finally, Jacob's fear, as we saw last week, was quieted And his perspective was transformed when the Lord appeared to him by night as a wrestler. In the form of an angel, the Lord attacked Jacob. And after their night of battle, the Lord, we saw, blessed Jacob and renamed him. No longer would he be Jacob, the heel grabber, but he would be Israel, for he had striven with God and with men and he had prevailed. And so we come to Genesis 33. With that experience under his belt, Jacob is now ready to meet his brother face to face. And the question is, will he survive? Yes, he will. By the grace of God, as we're going to see in this text, the two brothers are able now to bury the hatchet as the Lord, no doubt, sows peace among them. The result is a moving story of an emotional family reunion after years of estrangement, the sort of story that we'd like to see play out today in cases of estrangement that we know. But the question we need to ask ourselves as we come to this emotional family story is, who cares? Well, why is this event drug out over the course of two full chapters? Why does this, why does the reconciliation of Jacob and Esau matter in the grand scheme of things? Jacob's already got what he wants. Jacob's already got what God wants to give him. Forget Esau, right? Not so fast. The Lord has included this story in the book of Genesis because it is evidently important. And so I want to propose to you tonight that this reconciliation between Jacob and Esau was more than sentimental. This is more than a heartwarming reunion story. In actuality, it was a crucial step towards preparing Jacob to inherit the land where his father's sojourned. This was necessary. In Genesis 33, Jacob and Esau reconcile, thereby clearing the way for Jacob's fruitful return to Promised Land, where he would be able, with no more fear, to settle down and worship Yahweh as his God. This reconciliation had to happen for Jacob to fully enjoy his covenant blessings, because full enjoyment of the covenant requires reconciliation with God and man, brought about by the Son of God. That's what we've seen over these last few chapters. That's what was necessary for Jacob, for the covenant to advance in its purposes, and that's what's necessary for us. Enjoy the covenant. We must know something of reconciliation. That's the theme which we want to watch for as we study this chapter. And so to that end, we'll turn to the text now where we see in three parts the brothers meet in verses 1 through 3, the brothers reconcile in verses 4 through 15, and then finally the brothers part ways in verses 16 through 20. So first the brothers meet in verses 1 through 3. After his night wrestling with the Lord, Jacob set out limping to go find his brother. And he didn't have to try too hard. It wasn't long before he looked up, we're told, and he saw Esau coming with his 400 men. I mentioned last week, 400 men sounds more like a war party than a welcome wagon. That would be a very welcoming welcome wagon. And so it seems likely that when Esau set out with those men, he did not have Jacob's best interests in mind. So Jacob responds appropriately. He begins staggering his family out to protect as many of them as he can. And the order, if you notice there, the order in which he places them is somewhat on the nose. You know, they say as a parent, you're not supposed to have favorites. Well, he does, and he's not afraid to show it. It's pretty clear that he arranges his family in order from least favorite to favorite. The female servants and their children go first. Then Leah and her children. Then his beloved Rachel and Joseph last. The idea here seems to be that the farther back you are, the better chance you have of surviving. And so Jacob here, he's not exactly freed from his longstanding partiality. Rachel still is woman. He's going to do what he needs to keep her safe. But let's give Jacob a little credit. Something is different about this attempt to protect his family. It's not like all the other ones. Did you notice the difference? Previously, Jacob had chosen to bring up the rear. That's how he wound up alone prior to being attacked by the angel of the Lord. He sent his family on a cross and he stayed back. Now, however, he leads the way. Jacob is prepared to face the consequences, whatever they may be. But the hope is that if something does happen, it'll happen to him and the others can scatter. Perhaps someone, some remnant of the seed of God's people can get away. It's a strong evidence that Jacob's encounter with the angel of the Lord at Peniel has changed him. This is different than what he would have done just a chapter ago. The Lord has prepared him for reconciliation, making him spiritually strong, even as he has become physically weaker. The man's fear and focus on self-preservation have given way to faith and self-sacrifice. He's trusting in the Lord. So Jacob takes the lead, approaching his brother respectfully. He bows himself to the ground seven times as he nears Esau, which was an ancient Near Eastern custom meant to communicate the respect of an inferior party to a superior party. Jacob is taking the lowest seat, metaphorically speaking. He's humbling himself before his brother. How will Esau respond? Will he take this opportunity to take advantage of his brother's humility and smite his brother where he stands? Will he send forth his servants to slaughter those women and children if they can catch him? Will this be the day that he gets his long-awaited revenge? Well, the answer to these questions come in verses four through 11, as the brothers reconcile. For most of the questions, we see that the answer is no. Esau's not gonna smite Jacob. He's not gonna slaughter his family. He's not gonna seek revenge. Instead, he does something that clearly Jacob had not expected. If he had, he would not have wasted all of his time shifting his family around and freaking out. Esau runs to meet Jacob. He embraces him, he falls on his neck, he hugs him, he kisses him, and he weeps with his brother. This almost reminds you, doesn't it, of a story in the New Testament. It's like Esau is receiving the prodigal son home. It's like he's receiving the prodigal son home, returning after his long errand in the wilderness. And he's receiving him with grace, he's receiving him with mercy, he's celebrating his return and their reunion. It's immediately evident that all of Jacob's fear and all of Jacob's anxiety were turned on. This was to be a day of reconciliation, not revenge. rather than reprimanding Jacob, Esau just wants to know what all the hubbub's been about. What's all this about? All these people. Who are the women and the children? They're approaching in groups. There's been animals everywhere. I don't know what's going on. The women and children, they're coming to Esau. They're bowing down one at a time. Based on our study of Genesis, we know that the story of who these people were and where they came from, that's a long story. That's a several chapter story. Jacob restricts himself to the short version though. He simply explains, these are the children whom God has graciously given me. I went out single, went out by myself, carrying my walking stick, but this is the family that the Lord has given me in the meantime. But, says he, that doesn't explain all these servants with herds and flocks have been coming to me for days. What's happening? So Jacob explains that these were meant as a gift. for Esau so that Jacob might find favor in the sight of his Lord. Now, Lord here is, it's lowercase. He's referring to Esau. He once again is humbling himself before his brother. He's treating him as his Lord. He is the servant. He bows before him. I think that in speaking this way, though he does not come out and say it directly, Jacob is implicitly admitting his guilt for past wrongs. He doesn't come right out and say, you know what, bro, I'm sorry that I stole everything you ever had. He's given Esau plenty of reasons to be mad at him. He knows that. So while he didn't come right out and say, he's trying to give his brother reasons to be happy. He wants to smooth things over as best he can. But actually, Esau, Despite losing his birthright and blessing, he has not become impoverished himself. He tells Jacob, you know what? Actually, I've already got more than enough. You can keep this stuff. He doesn't need Jacob's animals, too. He'll be all right. But Jacob insists. What does he say? He says, no. Please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand, for I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God. And you have accepted me. Please accept my blessing that is brought to you because God has dealt graciously with me because I have enough. That's an interesting and revealing way of insisting that Esau receive this gift. And there's one particularly revealing line in there. When Jacob says, I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God. and you have accepted me. That's a somewhat difficult thing to understand properly until you think back on Genesis chapter 32. Remember what we saw in Genesis chapter 32. I'll just read it to you, it's on the next page. After that big wrestling match in the night, as Jacob wrestled with what had happened to him, as he reflected upon what had happened to him, he calls the name of the place where it happened, Peniel, saying, for I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered. marveled that he had seen God's face and lived. What he's doing now is he is likewise marveling that he has seen Esau's face and lived. Two faces that he did not think he could look upon and keep breathing his next breath. It's just happened. He has been accepted and he has been favored just as he was before, the night before. So just as one would offer to God a sacrifice while seeking reconciliation, so Jacob now presents this sacrifice to Esau as a means of finalizing, consummating their newfound peace. See, Jacob realizes that God has been gracious to him by restraining his brother's anger. And therefore he gives an offering to his brother in gratitude for all that God has done. Please accept my blessing that is brought to you because God, he says, has dealt graciously with me and I have enough. The Lord has made all of this possible. And so after urging Esau to accept the gift of animals, Esau takes it. The men are reconciled. To put it in maybe a more modern vernacular, the beef has been squashed. I don't know which one of those is more familiar to you, but it's over, it's over. And it's important to notice that this reconciliation is not a purely natural thing. Jacob did not just wake up feeling generous. And Esau did not just wake up in a forgiving mood. Calvin says this, that Esau meets his brother with unexpected benevolence and kindness is the effect of the special favor of God. The Lord has been at work in the hearts of both men to make this possible. The pre-incarnate Son of God, who appeared in the form of the angel of the Lord, has transformed Jacob's heart through their midnight wrestling match, and he has evidently softened Esau's heart as well, even though there is no evidence that Esau was particularly religious. And so we see here a moment which has come about only in the particular divine providence of God as the Lord leads these two brothers through the reconciliation process in order, and we're coming to this point, in order to fit Jacob for his reception of the covenant blessings. Get there in a moment though. Because just when the twins rekindle their old relationship, Jacob comes to a potential bump in the road. He is now officially, with this matter dealt with, ready to go back to Canaan. But Esau is so warmed by the reunion that he invites Jacob to come back home with him. Let's move back in again. He invites him back to Seir and Edom. He'll lead the way. Come on. The question is, will Jacob abandon his plans to go back to the land that the Lord his God is giving him? Well, despite having a newfound peace, the patriarch is uneasy at the proposition, perhaps for a number of reasons. The feasibility of these two men living together, and obviously both have large camps, maybe that wouldn't even be possible. And perhaps this would be displeasing to the Lord. There are a number of reasons that Jacob may have felt uneasy about this. And so in verse 13, he makes an excuse for remaining behind a while. And he cites the frailty of the children and the presence of young among the animals. Neither of those groups could be driven as hard or as fast as Esau's 400 men, moving like soldiers could go. And so Jacob says, you go on, I'll catch up later. But Esau won't leave it there. If the children and the animals can't keep up, he will at least leave behind some of his people to provide additional manpower to protect them and guide them along the way. He wants to see his brother in Syria. Jacob argues that's needless. And so he asks his favor to do as he has requested. And their final agreement is that Esau and his men, they'll go on. Jacob and his family, they'll come later. Here's Bible trivia. Does Jacob go to Syria? No. He does not. This is going to be the last time, really, that he's around Esau until they reunite to bury their father Isaac. Isaac's still alive. We're going to see that soon. So what is going on here? Some have been quick to call this a lie on Jacob's part. He said he was going to do one thing, then he did another. I don't think we necessarily have to come to that conclusion, though. It could have been that he really did intend to visit at some point. Or, and I think this is more likely, it may simply be that this whole back and forth reflects the norms of ancient Near Eastern hospitality culture. Withholding hospitality and rejecting hospitality could be sources of offense. Both of them could be. And these are two brothers who have just made peace. They don't want to introduce any new means of offense. And so it may be that Esau was being polite and Jacob was being polite right back, turning Esau's offer down gently in a way that Esau could perceive without being offended. I mean, don't we do this sort of thing occasionally? So, yeah, I'll come over sometime. Yeah, I'll do that. You know, sometimes we mean it, sometimes we don't. We're being polite. We're thankful that they offered, and maybe one of these days we'll get around to it. We don't have any intention of doing it right now. By the way, this is an important moment in the story, because the invitation to Seir was an invitation to turn away from the Promised Land. This is a fork in the road. Edom was to the southeast of Canaan, and Jacob's supposed to be headed west. To go with Esau would really nullify the whole purpose of this reconciliation, which was supposed to prepare Jacob for his return to Canaan. And so by politely postponing any potential trip to Edom, Jacob solidifies his footing on the right track. And thus we find the brothers parting ways in verses 16 through 20. Now that the men were at peace with one another, Edom returned to Seir from whence he had come, on the other hand, heads to Succoth, east of the Jordan River. And the Patriarch camps there for a while with his family, with his livestock. Then they crossed over into Canaan proper and dwelt in the city of Shechem, which was named for its chief resident. Now Shechem's going to turn out to be bad news, but we're not there yet. For now, we know that Shechem was the son of a man named Hamor, and from his family, Jacob was going to quickly purchase a piece of land near their city. He bought it for 100 pieces of money. If that sounds vague, it's because it's meant to be. The terminology there is not particularly common in the Bibles. We don't really know how much these 100 pieces were worth. But it seems to have been a modest sum, and so with this, he becomes a legal landowner in Canaan. like his grandfather who bought the cave of Machpelah from the Hittites. Jacob now purchased a plot of land from the sons of Hamor as his own Canaanite home. Notice that having reconciled with his brother, in no time, he starts coming into possession of his inheritance. Reconciliation has paved the way. What does he do now that he has established a new homestead? Verse 20 says that there he erected an altar and called it El Elohei Yisrael, God, the God of Israel. See, we've come full circle. We've come full circle now. When Jacob left Canaan the first time, he encountered the Lord in a vision at Bethel. At Bethel, he made a vow. Part of that vow was that Yahweh would be his God if he safely returned him from Mesopotamia. Now he's not yet made it back to Bethel and he's going to have some business to do with God there yet again, but still, at this point he erects an altar upon which to worship the God who brought him out of exile. He is returning thanks with his family for the redemption which the Lord has worked in his life. And so we see a pattern beginning to develop as we come to the close of this chapter. When the angel of the Lord wrestled with Jacob in the night, it accomplished two vital things in his life. First, it turned Jacob's fearful, self-obsessive gaze outwards as his faith grew and as his dependence upon God grew. And second, it gave him the courage and confidence which he needed to confront his brother, trusting the results to the Lord. That's the first thing it does. But then God shows Jacob that he is, in fact, worth trusting and depending upon when the reconciliation goes as well as can be expected. God turns his faith upward. He reconciles him to his brother. He shows him that he need not fear. He did what he said he was going to do. And when all of that has been accomplished, Jacob crosses into Canaan, beginning to enjoy the covenant blessings, and he worships the Lord. Reconciled to God and man through the work of the pre-incarnate Son of God, Jacob starts inheriting the land which had been promised to him and to his father. The Lord repaired their relationship, strengthened Jacob's faith, he caused reconciliation to those who were at odds with Jacob, and he cleared the way for Jacob to dwell in the land in sweet communion with him worshiping an altar signifying his faith. And I think maybe you can agree with me that in all these ways, Jacob strongly resembles the hypothetical brother in Matthew chapter five. That brother who goes to worship the Lord, but then remembers that his brother has something against him. And so he turns and he goes reconciled with this brother before placing his gift on the altar. He comes to terms with his accuser so that he can enjoy unhindered access into the presence of God, having no lingering fear. Jacob lives that out in a very literal way. At peace with Esau, he is at peace with God, to whom he begins making sacrifice. But I do think there is a sense in which this pattern still holds for us as well. We see what happens to Jacob take place in a repeated way in the Christian life. Because we know that to enjoy unhindered access into the presence of God, we too must be at peace with God and man. And to be at peace with God and man, Jesus, the Son of God, must also change our hearts. Through his death on the cross, he established the necessary conditions for peace in a sinful world. Think of Paul's words, describing the reconciliation between believing Jews and believing Gentiles, he declares in Ephesians 2.14, for he, Jesus, is himself our peace. who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility. That peace then becomes our possession by faith in Christ. He reconciles us to God. He reconciles us to man. And so to most fully enjoy God, especially in worship, Matthew chapter five, we must entrust ourselves to Christ Because through Christ, we are reconciled to God. And through Christ, we can be reconciled to those with whom we have formerly been at odds. In Jacob's case, unhindered covenant worship required reconciliation with a biological brother. In Matthew 5, it does seem to be that the spiritual brothers of fellow Christians believers are primarily in view. But no matter where our problem might lie, God in Christ wants to make us a reconciling people. who seek peace wherever possible. Think of the words of Paul, again, Romans 12, eight. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. We are to be a reconciling people. And again, why do we care about that? Why does it matter? It matters for the same reason that it mattered for Jacob. Genesis 33 shows us. Through reconciliation, we come into a state of unhindered communion with God. Matthew Henry argues that we seek reconciliation, especially with our brothers and sisters in Christ, because till this be done, he says, we are utterly unfit for communion with God and holy ordinances. And so when we come into the presence of God, hearing the word, offering up prayers, receiving the sacrament. It should be our aim to be at peace with all insofar as it is possible with us. That peace can be found in Christ, the great peacemaker. He established peace for Jacob and we look to him to establish peace for us so that we can truly enjoy the full breadth of the covenant blessings made available in communion with our covenant God. As we come to the close of Genesis 33, we are coming to the close of a chapter in Jacob's life. The cloud which had so long hung over his head has now been pierced by sunshine. Unfortunately, his trials are not over. They're big trials to come. But God has established peace and rest for his return to Canaan, and thus he opens the door for Jacob to worship. Through the transforming power of the God with whom he wrestled all night, Jacob now enjoys fuller covenant blessing and communion with his Lord. And so it should be our prayer tonight, as we look to Christ, Christ the peacemaker, who reconciles us to God, who can bring about a state of peace between men, It should be our request that he too would grant us a fuller enjoyment of that which is available to us through Christ Jesus, our Lord. May we know the peace of Christ and may we experience unhindered, unfettered communion with God, being at peace with all insofar as it's possible. It's asked the Lord's help.