Genesis 32:9-12

2009.Apr.03 17:00

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Read Genesis 32:09-12 | Full Chapter

Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord Who said to me, Return to your country and to your people and I will do you good, I am not worthy of the least of all the mercy and loving-kindness and all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant, for with [only] my staff I passed over this Jordan [long ago], and now I have become two companies.
(Genesis 32:09-10, AMP)

Jacob’s growing up, I think. He’s acknowledging Yahweh’s goodness and role in his success. More importantly, Jacob acknowledges that this favor is undeserved. He also recognizes that God has a will for Jacob’s life. And that perhaps is the biggest difference from the Jacob that fled his brother’s wrath twenty-plus years prior. His financial gains are rather nice, but that he can actually spend some time focused on acknowledging Yahweh shows spiritual growth. Not to imply that growth is near complete.

Deliver me, I pray You, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and smite [us all], the mothers with the children.
(Genesis 32:11, AMP)

Indeed, Jacob’s prayer is starting to sound similar to many of the Psalms, with the combination of reverencing God, but also acknowledging the difficulties of a current situation, seeking Yahweh’s delivering hand in them.

Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me. Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.

(Psalm 40:13-14, KJV)

Like the Psalmist, Jacob understands that he is full of fear and that he alone is not sufficient against the forces (real or imagined) arrayed against him. Jacob is dependent upon Yahweh to survive this day. Yes, he will use his wisdom and/or cunning, and yes, Esau’s willingness to forgive should not be downplayed. But Jacob’s source now is Yahweh and Yahweh alone. Or, at least, it ought to be.

And You said, I will surely do you good and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
(Genesis 32:12, AMP)

And, now, Jacob refers to the “sand of the sea” descendants promise which plays a continuing role in the Genesis narrative. As had Abraham and Isaac (if I remember correctly), Jacob has received this particular promise from Yahweh, which with Jacob’s children is going to start branching out. Yahweh made this promise during the “Jacob’s Ladder” incident, now some twenty or so years prior. That Jacob references it now, during a time where he’s dealing with fear, shows a level of faith and maturity that was not then evident.

Jacob’s coming of age story is approaching it’s conclusion as he finds his way back home to Palestine.

Genesis 27:41-46

2008.Sep.26 14:20

Rebekah tells Jacob to Leave

Read Genesis 27:41-46 | Full Chapter

So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob."
(Genesis 27:41, NASB)

Esau’s anger is understandable. His reaction is not acceptable. He has consistently failed to examine his own fault in the loss of his birthright, and in the apparent alienation of his parents due to his marriage. He is also, in my opinion, putting too much stake on his father’s blessing. Go out there and suceed, man. It is interesting to note the implication that he is not yet ready to throw off his yoke to Jacob, insofar as he has not accomplished it.

Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, "Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban! Stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury subsides, until your brother's anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?" Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?"
(Genesis 27:42-46, NASB)

Esau has also not yet learned that Rebekah finds out everything. Oops. So, she warns Jacob to head out for “a few days”, and she gives him a specific destination: the home of her brother, Laban. Her timing will prove to be way off, and she doesn’t give a reason that I see for her particular destination.

Rebekah, in this passage, is a proponent of the “time will heal all things” mentality, not something I personally buy into. Yes, many things will recede from daily awareness, but does she really think that Esau’s anger will not be renewed when Jacob returns? She’s right on that point, as it turns out, but other situations have changed. This is a family in serious need of professional counseling. Which is, in some ways, reassuring.

When Rebekah ponders losing both her sons in one day, in a rehash of Cain and Abel, she doesn’t seem to be aware the she’s already lost at least Esau, who is rapidly breaking all remaining ties to his family, and that she has virtually lost Jacob due to her scheming, as he now has to hide from his brother. Again, the time to fix all this has past a long time ago.

So, Rebekah makes her justification to Isaac for sending their son away: that she does not want him to marry a Hittite, as Esau had done. Now why she can’t just say “Esau’s going to kill him,” I don’t know. And again, again, it’s amazing that the family has arrived at this point of hatred everywhere. Isaac, come on! What were you doing for the last twenty, thirty years? Not paying attention to the health of your family, apparently. Which, about to be a father, is the part of this story most significant to me, that Isaac should have seen trouble and intervened years before.