Sermon Tone Analysis

Sunday September 17, 2006

Genesis: Genesis 33:12-16-Esau Departs From Jacob

Lesson # 206

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 33:1.

On Thursday evening we studied Genesis 33:1-11, which gives us the record of Jacob and Esau reconciling with each other.

This morning we will note Genesis 33:12-16 where will see Esau departing from Jacob.

Genesis 33:1, “Then Jacob lifted 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 maids.”

Genesis 33:2, “He put the maids and their children in front, and Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last.”

Genesis 33:3, “But he himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.”

Genesis 33:4, “Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.”

Genesis 33:5, “He lifted his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, ‘Who are these with you?’

So he said, ‘The children whom God has graciously given your servant.’”

Genesis 33:6, “Then the maids came near with their children, and they bowed down.”

Genesis 33:7, “Leah likewise came near with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed down.”

Genesis 33:8, “And he said, ‘What do you mean by all this company which I have met?’

And he said, ‘To find favor in the sight of my lord.’”

Genesis 33:9, “But Esau said, ‘I have plenty, my brother; let what you have be your own.’”

Genesis 33:10, “Jacob said, ‘No, please, if now I have found favor in your sight, then take my present from my hand, for I see your face as one sees the face of God, and you have received me favorably.’”

Genesis 33:11, “Please take my gift which has been brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have plenty.

Thus he urged him and he took it.”

Undoubtedly, the two brothers, Esau and Jacob spent a long time speaking with each other concerning their experiences during the twenty years they were separated from each other.

Esau would have informed Jacob that he had a large family and was very wealthy and would have shared his experiences of the past twenty years with Jacob.

Esau’s story is recorded in Genesis 36:1-8.

Likewise, Jacob would have informed Esau of his experiences with Laban during the past twenty years.

He would have spoke to Esau regarding the experience at Bethel just after he left Canaan.

Jacob would have told Esau of the magnificent vision of elect angels and the stairway to heaven, and that the preincarnate Christ appeared to him in a dream and made promises to protect and prosper while in Paddan Aram (See Genesis 28:10-15).

He would have told Esau of his difficulties with Laban and that the Lord still prospered his household giving him four wives and twelve children and large flocks and herds from Laban’s flocks (See Genesis 29:31-30:43).

Jacob would have informed Esau of his difficult departure from Laban just prior to meeting Esau (See Genesis 31) and would have spoke of his wrestling match with the Lord at Peniel just prior to meeting Esau (See Genesis 32).

No doubt, one of the first things that Jacob would have asked Esau was the status of his mother Rebekah and his father Isaac.

There is no further mention in the book of Genesis regarding either Rebekah or Isaac except in connection with their deaths and burial (See Genesis 35:27-29; 49:31).

Evidently, Rebekah was dead at this point but Isaac was still alive, though blind.

When Jacob returned home to Canaan, Isaac would have been approximately one hundred twenty years of age since he was one hundred years of age when Jacob deceived him and stole the birthright twenty years prior, which led to Jacob’s departure.

Genesis 25:26 records that Isaac was sixty years of age when he had Esau and Jacob and Genesis 26:34 records that Esau got married at forty years of age, which would make Isaac one hundred when Esau got married.

Isaac lived to be one hundred eighty years of age according to Genesis 35:28 and was living in Hebron when Jacob returned to Canaan and died there according to Genesis 35:27-29.

Genesis 33:12, “Then Esau said, ‘Let us take our journey and go, and I will go before you.’”

“Let us take our journey” is the verb nasa` (us^n*) (naw-saw), which means, “to pull up” stakes that stabilize a tent and is a technical term for “breaking camp.”

Now, remember Esau has four hundred men who serve as Esau’s military and were therefore, accustomed to traveling at a swift pace.

On the other hand, Jacob could not travel fast but could only go at the pace of the cattle and his children.

Therefore, Jacob is hindered by the animals in his flocks and herds that are nursing and the children in his household.

In fact, they had just completed a very difficult and arduous journey from Paddan Aram to the Mount Gilead region, which was over three hundred miles.

So Jacob is smart and knows full well he can’t continue to drive his flocks and family at such a pace because they will die of exhaustion.

Genesis 33:13, “But he (Jacob) said to him (Esau), ‘My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds which are nursing are a care to me.

And if they are driven hard one day, all the flocks will die.’”

“Frail” is the adjective rakh (Ir^), which means, “tender” in the sense that the children in Jacob’s household could not physically or emotionally withstand the hardships and sustained efforts of a trip to Seir, which the adults in his household were capable of withstanding.

“Which are nursing” is the verb `ul (lWu) (ool), which designates the feeding activity of the young domestic animals.

“Knows” is the verb yadha` (ud^y*) (yaw-daw), which means, “to discern” meaning that Esau could “perceive by sight, see, recognize, or apprehend clearly” that the children in Jacob’s household and the animals among his flocks that were nursing were incapable of withstanding another long trip to Seir.

This verb indicates that Jacob is “not” lying or deceiving Esau or making an excuse for not going to Seir with Esau.

But rather he is saying to Esau that he could see for himself that the children in his household and the animals in his flocks that were nursing were incapable of withstanding another long trip to Seir like the one they just completed from Paddan Aram.

As we can see Jacob is declining taking a journey with Esau’s militia because he has too many young children and too many of his flocks and herds are nursing their young and if driven hard one day, would die on the journey.

Genesis 33:14, “Please let my lord pass on before his servant, and I will proceed at my leisure, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”

Jacob employs deferential language when addressing his brother Esau, using the terms “my lord” and “his servant,” which demonstrates the humility he learned while enduring fourteen years of divine discipline under Laban in Paddan Aram by bowing seven times to the ground before Esau.

We must not think this deferential language on the part of Jacob was intended as an acknowledgement of servility on his part, but simply as a token of respect and recognition of Esau as ruler of the region.

Believers are commanded in the Word of God to defer to one another and consider each other as more important than themselves.

Romans 12:10, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.”

Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.”

Esau offers to accompany Jacob in a southerly direction however Jacob declines the offer, not because he is afraid of Esau or that he did not trust him, which is indicated in that when Jacob approached his encounter with Esau, he had no fear of being attacked because of the assurance that the Lord gave him at Peniel.

The fact that Jacob passed ahead of his wives and children and put himself ahead of them to meet Esau demonstrated that he had no fear of his twin brother but was a demonstration of his faith, his confident assurance that God has given him the victory and reconciliation with Esau.

Therefore, it is clear that Jacob did not fear or mistrust Esau prior to meeting him or even after making contact with him since Jacob was operating in faith, resting in the promise of God to protect him and his family.

If he was living in unbelief, he would have never have initiated contact with Esau.

Also, another factor indicating that Jacob would have no mistrust or fear Esau at this point in the narrative is that the two had reconciled as demonstrated by Esau accepting Jacob’s gift before witnesses as restitution for stealing the blessing of the birthright from Esau.

Jacob declined Esau’s offer because Jacob’s caravan had to travel slowly due to the presence of young children and large flocks, which were nursing their young whereas Esau’s soldiers would have been impatient with Jacob’s slow pace.

The second reason why Jacob declined Esau’s offer to travel with him to Seir but did not mention it to Esau was that the Lord commanded him to return to the land of Canaan (See Genesis 31:3) and even promised him possession of it (See Genesis 28:13).

The fact that Jacob doesn’t mention to Esau that the Lord had promised him the land of Canaan and commanded him to return to it does “not” mean that Jacob has lost sight of what the Lord said to him but rather he is being tactful.

“Tact” is a keen sense of what to say or do to avoid giving offense and is the skill in dealing with difficult or delicate situations.

The fourteen years of divine discipline under Laban have developed in Jacob the ability to use tact in dealing with this delicate situation with Esau.

Jacob demonstrates great tact in that he avoids mentioning that the Lord commanded him to return to Canaan in order to avoid provoking Esau to jealousy and reminding him that God did not choose him to inherit the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant, which would include possession of the land of Canaan.

By demonstrating tact with Esau, Jacob, now Israel was loving his neighbor as himself and treating others the way that he would want to be treated.

Mark 12:28, “One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘What commandment is the foremost of all?’”

Mark 12:29-30, “Jesus answered, ‘The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’”

Mark 12:31, “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’

There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Matthew 7:12, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

Obviously, Esau knew that Jacob had returned for just this reason yet Jacob wanted to avoid mention of it because he was sensitive to Esau’s feelings.

During the twenty years apart from each other, Esau realized that Jacob was properly entitled to the birthright and the blessing and that God had chosen Jacob to be in the line of Christ and inherit the blessings, promises, privileges and responsibilities of the Abrahamic Covenant.

Esau was able to accept that Jacob was entitled to the birthright and the blessing because in Genesis 33:9 when Jacob urged Esau to take the gifts, Esau replies, “I have plenty, my brother; let what you have be your own.”

Furthermore, Genesis 36 reveals that God had prospered Esau with possessions and posterity and had made him a great nation, the nation of Edom, which would have given him fulfillment and prevented him from becoming jealous of Jacob’s great prosperity.

Jacob’s reference to visiting Esau in Seir does not mean that Jacob planned to go directly to Seir, but rather it meant that he would visit him by himself in the future without the flocks and family as indicated by his use of the personal pronoun “I” instead of “we,” which would of course denote his entire family.

Scripture does not record whether Jacob ever made such a trip but this doesn’t mean he didn’t take it either.

Genesis 33:15, “Esau said, ‘Please 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.’”

Esau then offered Jacob a portion of his men to accompany him for protection but Jacob declines this offer as well.

Jacob declined this offer from Esau because Jacob was confident in the Lord’s promise to protect him and be with him as witnessed by the Lord’s protection of him while dealing with both Laban and Esau.

Therefore, he saw no need for this military presence to protect him since he had faith and was totally and completely confident that the Lord was with him and would protect him from any and every possible adversary.

Genesis 33:16, “So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.”

Jacob politely refuses Esau’s offer of men and Esau agrees to Jacob’s request and headed back to Seir.

“Seir” is the proper noun se`ir (ryu!C@) (say-eer), which is a mountainous region located primarily east of the Gulf of Aqaba, but west as well and was originally settled by the Horites, also known as the Hurrians, a non-Semitic people dispersed throughout the ancient Near East.

Eventually, the descendants of Esau, the Edomites took over the land and so therefore, Seir was also synonymously called Edom (Genesis 32:3; 33:14, 16; Joshua 24:4; cf.

Genesis 36:1, 39).