Day 1 of Week 7 The Patriarchs

October 23, 2008
Day One of Week Six
The Embrace of Brothers
 
Today's Treasure: Genesis 33: 4
Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. 
 
 
The principal question in today's lesson is: What does Matthew 5: 23 – 24 say about making amends?
Matthew 5: 23 – 24
Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gifts there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
 
Beth states in our study, "Esau and Jacob were blood brothers, but there is no greater kinship than the one formed by the blood of Christ."
Matthew 5: 23 -24 states that we should never make an offering to God if a grievance exists between you and a brother. If one does exist, we must go and make amends. Then we can return and make our offering with a pure heart.
 
God thinks so highly of our relationships with one another that he does not want an offering from us if we are holding something against our brother. If you recall, when Jacob and Esau separated last, Esau was planning to kill Jacob for tricking him out of his blessing. You can imagine that Jacob was not looking forward to seeing Esau. He had years to think of all the things Esau would do to him for his bad behavior. You know, Esau had every right to feel wounded by his brother. Jacob should have been frightened by what their encounter might be like. He was not a good brother to Esau. He took everything meaningful away from Esau. So, let's find out what happens as they come face to face.
Read Genesis 32 and Genesis 33. They are pretty short chapters. It shouldn't take long.
Carefully consider how Jacob arranged his family as they prepared to meet Esau and his 400 men.
What was he apparently doing?
Jacob placed the maidservants and their children in the front. Leah and her children followed the maidservants. Rachel and Jacob were in the back with their children. Jacob placed the wives and children in order of his love for them. Here we go again! Why don't we just keep smacking poor Leah in the face? I honestly think I would have erupted this time if I were Leah. Proving that she is a better person than me, that didn't happen. Okay, so I have to wonder what Jacob is thinking with this line up. Is he planning the order that the wives and children should be killed in if Esau is, in fact, coming to out of revenge? This is definitely one reason a man should NOT have more than one wife. He should be focused on his wife and children to protect each one…not line them up according to how much he likes the mother.
 
Offer your own thoughts concerning any unspoken reasons why Jacob might now want Esau to accompany him and his family.
I personally felt that he did not want Esau with his family because he knew Esau was not a godly man, and Jacob was committed to worshipping his God. Beth feels like his reasoning was related more to the idea of not wanting to strain their relationship any more than they had to. It is wonderful that they were able to reconcile the relationship; however, you can have too much of a good thing.
 
What did Jacob buy for 100 pieces of silver?
He bought the plot of ground where he pitched his tent
 
What did Jacob call the altar he set up?
El Elohe Israel, meaning "God is the God of Israel". We know that Jacob's name was changed to Israel after his encounter with God. He was not referring to the nation of Israel. He was referring to himself.  
 
Jacob's reference to God as the "God of Israel" was intensely personal and is connected to Genesis 28: 20 -21. Read these verses and explain the connection.
In verses 20 – 21 of chapter 28, Jacob vows to commit his life to God if God gave him provision and returned him to the land of his father. God was true to his promise to Jacob. In verse 33, he sets up an altar to God in order to honor the commitment he made to Him.
 
Now let's focus on the physical approach between Jacob and Esau. There are two very different attitudes as they approach one another. Jacob is very hesitant and afraid as he approaches Esau. He is expecting his brother to meet him with fury. However, Esau runs towards his brother and embraces him immediately. He kisses Jacob and they weep in their embrace.
The next point that Beth makes in this lesson is the most interesting to me. She wants us to consider the contrast in the way the two brothers were able to physical meet each other. Jacob, the chosen one, was forced to limp towards his brother. Esau was able to run into Jacob's arms. Why is it that the chosen one was forced to live with a crippled leg? Beth suggests that sometimes God will wound His own children to make him/her walk differently while the profane and ungodly seem to run with endless confidence and vitality.
To quote Beth, "We are to walk as people who have encountered God, and some of the most transforming encounters are wrestling matches." Remember that the lost do not wrestle with God nearly as much as His own children do. They do not care enough to wrestle with him.
Beth quotes the Talmud: "God says to man: 'With thy very wounds I will heal thee.' "
Have you ever experienced a time when you felt that your wounds were the most healing to you?
I definitely feel that the things I suffer through always make me love and respect God more. I can think of so many things in my life that ache in my soul to this very day. When Scott and Tina had their accident, I truly do not know what I would have done if God had not been there for me to lean on. I was absolutely devastated. I remember that I was praying one morning and I vowed to God that I would never deny Him during that process of healing. I have to tell you that there were many times I was tempted to question God's sovereignty through that time. I just couldn't imagine how the sacrifice of two precious people like Scott and Tina could serve any purpose. I was angry, and it was difficult to understand. I finally had to realize that I will not truly understand on this side of heaven. The wound from that ordeal is still very tender in my heart. I do not wear it as Jacob wore a crippled leg, but it is with me every day of my life. I cannot tell you how my heart aches on so many days as I miss my friendship with Tina. The wound is almost as fresh today as it was three years ago. Yet, the anger is not there like it once was. If I were not dependent on God for a release from that anger, I don't think I could have ever overcome it.  
Then Brian's mom passed away suddenly. I not only lost the most amazing mother-in-law on the face of this earth, I had to watch my husband suffer through the devastation of losing his mother. My children still ache from the loss of their grandmother. They loved her with all of their hearts. Once again, I had to give my grief to God because it was just too much for me to handle.
Now, with this cancer, I have learned that there is no point in going through the process of emotions that eventually land me at the feet of God. This time, I just decided to go straight to the source. This is a physical and emotional battle, and I did not have the time or the energy to try to do things my way. I will probably always carry a physical and emotional scar from this disease. However, God has been with me from the very first step of the journey. The scars will heal, but I am forever changed by this wound. I would much rather be traveling a different path. However, if this is where God needs to take me for my transformation, I might as well put my hiking shoes on so we can go ahead and get to the top of the mountain!
I am sure God will take me on many journeys as the years pass! I pray that I will only learn to praise Him more with each step!!!
 
Have a wonderful day, and I love each of you!
Tiffany