November 19, Genesis 33
And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. - Genesis 33:1
Steve was busy at his desk. He answered a waiting call: ”Hello, this is Steve."
"Steve, it's Bob.” Adrenaline flowed like electricity through Steve’s body. The name filled Steve with anticipation and dread. “I won't keep you long, but there's something I need to say to you."
Steve had both longed for and dreaded this moment. He had wronged and hurt this man years before. In a moment, the wrong he did, the damage it caused, the guilt he felt and all he feared swirled through his mind.
"Ok. I'm glad to hear from you. I'm listening."
"I'm calling from the airport, waiting for a flight. I needed to tell you that I forgive you."
The word "forgive" rushed through Steve's ear to his brain and his heart. He was stunned. A wave of gratitude and relief washed over him.
"Bob, I am so glad you called. I have wanted to hear those words for so long. I’m sorry for what I did. Thank you."
"I did it more for me than you," Bob said. "It's time to move on. Now maybe we can."
Steve tried to be calm. He was unable to keep the tremor out of his voice. "I can't tell you how much it means to me. Thank you. How are you?"
"It's been hard, and I'm struggling. But I needed to tell you that I forgive you and I’m moving on. That's all."
Steve thanked him again and the conversation ended. He sat stunned, relieved and overwhelmed with what had just happened.
The circumstances and the call in this story are real. Only the names have been changed. Reconciliation feels good, doesn't it? We like stories about repaired relationships and forgiven debts. Maybe they give us courage to take needed steps in our own lives. Maybe those stories rekindle our hope to hear the words: "I forgive you."
Jacob had feared for years the moment he faced in Chapter 33. He was running for his life to escape Esau's wrath when he left. He had been exiled from home for twenty years. Now under God’s direction, he was going home. God promised to protect him, but he was so afraid.
When Esau and 400 of his men came into sight, Jacob arranged the procession to meet his estranged brother. Rachel and Joseph brought up the rear with Leah and her sons just ahead of them. The two concubines with their children walked ahead of them. Jacob led the procession. He paused and bowed down seven times as he approached Esau and his men, honoring Esau as if his brother was a great king.
Esau began running. Running toward Jacob. Did Jacob tense and prepare for impact? Esau hugged him, kissed him and wept tears of joy. Twenty years (and no doubt God's work on him) had taken away the malice. The twins were reunited.
Jacob explained the present that had preceded him, and persuaded Esau to accept it. He introduced his family. Jacob was reverent and respectful. He called Esau "lord" and described himself as his "servant." Jacob said Esau's face was like the face of God to him. He saw the fulfillment of God's promise and the answers to his prayer in his brother's happy countenance.
Esau called Jacob “brother." There could have been no sweeter word to Jacob's ears. Esau accepted the gift as well as the man who offered it. Esau offered to travel together, but Jacob said they moved slowly, and told Esau to go on home. Esau offered an escort from some of his men, and Jacob declined that as well, and promised to come visit him at Seir. Jacob journeyed on and entered Canaan.
When Jacob came to Shechem, he bought property there and pitched his tent. The gift of the land God had promised this family would be given, but to their descendants. Hundreds of years and slavery in Egypt lay between Jacob and the fulfillment of the land promise.
Like his father Isaac, Jacob dug wells in the land. We only know this because Jesus sat by a well to talk to a Samaritan woman over 1700 years after his ancestor Jacob had dug it.
Like Abraham, the land Jacob bought would become a burial ground, but not for himself. He and Leah would be buried at Machpelah. But centuries later when the Israelites brought Joseph’s bones home from Egypt, he would be buried on Jacob’s land. Also like his grandfather before him, Jacob built an altar and worshiped God. He called his altar by a new name: El Elohe-Israel. For the first time, Jacob/Israel gave God a name that associated the Almighty with him personally and with the nation that would come from him.
Maybe all reconciliation stories point to the greatest reconciliation story of all. The greatest reconciliation in the history of the world took place on a cross outside Jerusalem when Jesus died to reconcile us to God. Maybe all those stories about broken and restored relationships remind us and give us hope. God took the initiative in reconciling us to himself in Christ, and he wants us to come home to him. A warm welcome, complete forgiveness and great relief are waiting for us when we humble ourselves and come home to God.
Copyright © 2021 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—November 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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