Read Genesis 33
Do you want
to know where you stand in your family?
Who is the favorite? Who is the
black sheep? Who is the no-filter uncle?
It was easy
in Jacob’s family. Everyone was on a
track to meet Esau and his 400 men. He
had already divided his estate into 2 camps in case Esau attacked. Maybe some could get away.
But the time
had come to meet his brother and see what the future held. Jacob was up front, but he was followed by
his two servant wives and their children.
Behind them
were Leah and her children. Finally,
there was Rachel and Joseph. If they
were attacked, maybe Rachel would get away. Maybe she could safely find her way
to one of the camps and survive with Joseph to continue the line in fulfilling
this Father of Many Nations business.
Remember,
this whole 20 years in Paddan Aram began with Jacob wanting Rachel as a
wife. He ended up married to Leah first,
but he really loved Rachel. In all, he worked 14 years to get Rachel as his
wife.
He stayed
there a total of 20 years, but the last few were just growing his flocks.
So here we
are coming face to face with Esau and his 400 men and Jacob is totally unsure
of how this will go. He had sent gifts
to try and appease his brother, but anger is anger and we might ask, did 2 decades soften it
or intensify it?
Really, who
shows up to meet their brother with 400 men? This might not go well, but it
did.
Esau ran to
greet his brother. He asked him about
all the flocks and herds, and then told Jacob that was not necessary. Esau had plenty. Jacob did not need to give
him anything.
Finally,
Esau accepted the gifts. Jacob did not
want to go back with his brother right then.
He said the herds with mothers and their offspring couldn’t go further
without rest. It wouldn’t be so easy on
the human kids either.
So Esau
returned home.
Jacob did
not follow. He went to a place that
would be called Sukkoth near the city of Shechem and settled there. Sukkoth means shelters.
Why is any
of this important? Was Jacob back to his
deceptive nature? Was this just practical?
Really, Jacob showing up at Esau’s place with everything he owned and
saying, “Mind if we stay a while, would be a bit overwhelming.”
We don’t
know all of the particulars, but we know that Jacob bought some property
in this area and settled down. Again,
what is the significance?
The place
where Jacob settled was part of what God promised Abraham. The place where Esau settled was not. It was just outside the Promised Land in
present-day Jordan or perhaps as far as Saudi Arabia.
Edom—the land of Esau’s
descendants—would be part of the southern
border of the Promised Land.
So was Jacob—now called Israel—back
to his deceptive ways or just being practical—the whole this town ain’t big
enough for the both of us sort of thing?
In any case,
the story that would take all of Jacob’s family into Egypt would move forward
from this place in the Promised Land.
God was with
Jacob as promised. Esau did not destroy
him.
Jacob did
not live on top of his brother. He put
some space between them. They were still
neighbors in one sense, but each would live their own lives.
Jacob had
not married from the local pagan girls. Esau
did, plus he had one wife who was a descendant of Ishmael.
These two
brothers, both descended from Abraham, had different callings in life. Jacob’s
family would save the known world through Joseph, produce God's Chosen People,
receive God’s law through Moses, return to the Promised Land under Joshua’s
leadership, and produce the Savior of the world.
Esau’s
family would be known as Edom. Remember that Edom means red. Esau was reddish and harry when he was born
and he sold his birthright for a red-looking bowl of stew.
Edom means
red and so the Edomites are named after a red person. Have you ever heard anything like that before
in your life?
Anyone take
Oklahoma history? Oklahoma means red
people. I don’t think there is any
biblical significance in that, but it’s a nice rabbit trail.
Edom is
involved in more biblical history, but most of the story follows Jacob’s line.
Jacob’s family would leave the Promised Land for Egypt and in something over
400 years, return to it.
This was
God’s plan. You are part of God’s plan. Your job or next job, your education or
your dropping out of school, your perfect game or your game with 4 errors are
part of his plan.
It is
sometimes hard to see at the moment, but we are being molded
like clay into the creature—the new
creature that God wants us to be.
Almost 10
years ago, I was sitting in my office as part of a ministerial alliance
meeting. Two of the pastors were going
on mission trips. Both said, we can
always use another pastor. It’s easy to
find people to give out food and Bibles but a little more difficult to find
someone equipped to preach, teach, baptize, and pray without notice.
I said,
“I’ll know when God calls me to go.” This discussion did not seem like a call
to me, but it preceded one.
The next
week, I received an email from someone in Kenya claiming to be a bishop and
wanting me to come to preach to and teach pastors and church leaders. After some due diligence—I have also received
those emails that say for just $1000 charged to my Visa, an imprisoned Kenyan
prince would give me half of his multimillion-dollar fortune—I answered his
email.
In the
course of emails and phone calls, I asked him how he came up with me. He said that he read one of my articles. I think it was the one about love being the
strongest force in the universe. That’s
when he contacted me.
I went to
Kenya twice. Most of you remember that,
but I wrote that article with you as my target audience. It was connected to a sermon a dozen years
ago.
God will do
what God will do and he will direct our paths to accomplish his will.
If you took
some time to contemplate all of the seemingly insignificant things in your
life, you might just see God at work.
So, your
challenge for this week is to do the Psalm 46:10 thing and be still. Know that he is God and reflect upon what is
happening in your life.
Some of it
might be to show you the path to which you are called. Some might be to let you hit
rock bottom so you trade in your own
understanding for trusting God. Some of it is just too logical. Some is not.
This
morning’s message is that God
will use your decisions to accomplish his will and finish
the good work that he began in you. Make the best decisions that you can
always seeking to please God, but remember, his
plan will be accomplished.
You might
mess up, make a complete mess of everything you thought you were accomplishing,
and even find yourself at rock bottom, but you can’t mess up God’s plan, and
that includes God’s plan for your life.
You are not
that powerful!
Because you
have received Jesus as Lord, you are his and he won’t lose you.
Never give
up for God never gives up on you.
Amen.
