JACOB’S ENCOUNTER WITH ESAU If Jacob had prepared himself for his encounter with his brother Esau, through prayers, offering gifts, and dividing his family into two companies, God, on His part, prepare Esau’s heart, by kindling it with brotherly emotions and longing to meet his brother. 1- The encounter of the two brothers 1-16. 2- Jacob in Succoth and Shechem 17-20. 1- THE ENCOUNTER OF THE TWO BROTHERS “Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Lea, Rachel, and the two maidservants. And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Lea and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last. Then he crossed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother” (Gen. 33:1-3). This plan revealed Jacob’s feelings: He put his beloved Rachel with her son at the end of the procession, in order to give her more chance to escape, in case of any attack by his brother and his men. As for him, he crossed over before all, as though he is offering himself a ransom for all, even for the two maidservants. It is fit for a Christian to harbor such a spirit, to be as his Master the Lord Christ, who preceded the flock as a good Shepherd, who delivers Himself for his flock. Jacob precedes the procession, not out of a spirit of haughtiness or arrogance, but of a spirit of humility, bowing himself to the ground seven times, as a sign of submission. As to Christ the Lord, the heavenly Groom and Head of the Church, He preceded the procession of conquest by His humility, “making Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant... and being found in the appearance of man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7-8); He, God’s Only-Begotten Son, learned obedience through His passion (Hebrew 5:8). Being One with His Father, He fasted, prayed, and worshipped in submission to Him, in our name, and on our account, so our worshipping is accepted in Him. If Jacob supplanted the birthright and the blessing, and enjoyed God’s promises to his grandfather Abraham, and his father Isaac, yet the Holy Bible did not disregard the good heart and feelings of his brother Esau, evident from the following behavior: (1) Once Esau saw his brother, “He ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept” (Gen. 33:4) as though he had forgotten the past, with all its envy and grudge! (2) He revealed his love through his brotherly inquiry about that great number of people who came with Jacob, to which the latter confessed that this is the grace of God that grants everything. (3) It seems that Esau did not feel comfortable with taking the present offered to him by his brother Jacob, but wished instead to give him hospitality, together with his family, and all his servants. Jacob, in his turn, responded to these feelings with a spirit of humility and wisdom, as though apologizing for the past, and asking him to show his pleasure through receiving his present, saying to him: “If I now found favor in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me” (Gen. 33:10) And he urged him, and he took it. (4) When Jacob apologized for the slow pace of his journey due to the weakness of his young children and the exhaustion of his livestock, he suggested that Esau goes ahead of him, Esau left behind some of his men to help and guide his brother. 2- JACOB IN SUCCOTH AND SHECHEM Jacob journeyed to ‘Succoth,’ meaning ‘booths;’ many places carried this name, as for instance Succoth, where the Jews set booths for their livestock, after their exodus from the land of Egypt, not far from Rameses (Exodus 12:37); and Succoth to the west of the Jordan; But the present Succoth was located east of the Jordan, about one mile, south of the river of Jabok. After Succoth, he set forth toward Shechem in the land of Canaan (see Gen. 12:6). In some versions, it is said: “Jacob came to Salem, city of Shechem,” namely to Salem, on the border of the land of Shechem, son of Hamor. There, he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. The first task Jacob did as he returned to Canaan, was to erect an altar for the Lord, and called it ‘El Elohe Israel’ (Gen 33:20) .namely, ‘God of Israel;’ as he came to settle down in the bosom of God, through the sacred sacrifice. Let us have in our heart, an altar for the Lord, for our depths to be a spiritual Canaan, where God transfigures through the sacrifice of the cross.
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