Genesis 33
Jacob Returns the Blessing

  1. The Story So Far
    1. Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau (32:3-21)
      1. On his way toward the Promised Land, Jacob's thoughts turn to his brother Esau
        1. He tricked Esau into selling his birthright for a bowl of stew
        2. He cheated Esau out of their father's blessing by deceiving the old man into believing he, Jacob, was Esau
        3. He fled the Promised Land over 20 years prior, fearing Esau's murderous rage.
      2. His messengers inform him that Esau is approaching with 400 men
      3. Jacob fears
        1. Before Laban, he could be self-righteous, daring Laban to point to one thing Jacob had stolen from him.
        2. And Laban replied "The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children and the flock is my flock; all that you see is mine."
        3. But Laban was lying. It was GOD who had given these things to Jacob.
        4. But now, what if Esau says the same thing? "Those ought to be my wives and children; that ought to be my flock. This is indeed God's blessing upon you … the blessing you STOLE from me."
        5. Jacob stacks up pretty well against Laban. But against Esau, he no longer has any righteousness of his own to point to. So he fears. Perhaps the Lord will allow Esau a just retribution against Jacob for Jacob's sins.
      4. And in his fear Jacob prays
        1. He confesses - finally - that he is unworthy of the least of God's blessings. He has not earned them. They are not a reward for his works.
        2. So how can he appeal to God if he doesn't DESERVE the good things God has to offer?
        3. He appeals on the basis of two things
          1. His own desperate need
          2. The promises of God to him
        4. And we observed that this is how we appeal to God as well
          1. We confess our own unworth
          2. We confess our need
          3. And we remind God of his promises.
      5. Then Jacob sends his wealth out in front of him, hoping to appease Esau with gifts
      6. This leaves him alone when the Man comes.
    2. Jacob Wrestles with God (32:22-32)
      1. He needs to go on and follow his family and goods, but a man appears and wrestles with him.
      2. They struggle until daybreak and neither can win.
      3. Then the man touches Jacob's hip socket and partially cripples him.
      4. Still Jacob will not let him go unless he blesses him
        1. Jacob has realized who this is - it's God himself.
        2. All this time Jacob had struggled with Esau for the blessing.
        3. And he's still in the midst of that struggle in this story.
        4. But suddenly he realizes, it is GOD who has the blessing. HE is the one with whom I must struggle.
        5. But he cannot win by strength, so he wins by pleading, just as in his prayer.
      5. And God gives him a new name, Israel, "God Strives" because he has struggled with God and men and prevailed.
      6. Yet still God does not give Jacob all he asks. He does not tell Jacob his name. But he has told us.
      7. Thus Jacob names the place Peniel, "Face of God" because he, a sinner, saw God's face and lived.
      8. He finally understands that the blessing is not something he can earn, but it must be freely given by God. All he can do is beg for it and believe God when God says he has given it.
      9. This week, we look at the result of that encounter in Jacob's life.
  2. Jacob and Esau Reconciled
    1. Jacob Goes in Front (1-2)
      1. Before wrestling with God, he went BEHIND
        1. He sent all his goods and his family in front of him
        2. He hoped to appease Esau with gifts, to BUY his favor, to EARN it somehow
        3. He hoped these gifts might somehow function as his PROTECTION from the wrath of Esau
      2. But he has this night been protected from the wrath of GOD
        1. He does not need to buy Esau's favor, he has GOD'S favor
        2. He is confident now. What can ESAU do to him? He will go in front of his wives and children without fear.
        3. And why has he escaped God's wrath? Because he offered gifts to God? Because he bought God's favor or earned it?
        4. No. Because he confessed his sin and wept and begged for it.
        5. The blessing of the Lord is not on the basis of Jacob's righteousness but is due to GRACE ALONE
        6. Then if he is to be reconciled to Esau and saved from Esau's wrath, let it be on the same basis.
    2. Jacob Gives Back the Blessing (3-10)
      1. So Jacob approaches Esau, bowing 7 times
        1. 7, the number of fullness.
        2. He thus expresses that he is Esau's servant, that Esau is the master.
        3. He puts himself in Esau's control, "Do with me what you will?"
        4. In this way he confesses his sin before Esau, just as he had confessed it before God the night before.
        5. And he pleads for Esau's mercy.
      2. He does something else in bowing before Esau
        1. He begins to give Esau back the stolen blessing
        2. Isaac blessed Jacob with these words: "Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you" (27:29)
          1. He thought he was blessing Esau
          2. Jacob obtained this blessing by trickery and deceit. He stole it.
          3. Now he returns it.
          4. He comes to Esau as a servant, with Esau as his lord. Esau is lord over his brother, just as the blessing promised.
          5. He comes to Esau bowing down, just as the blessing had asked, "May your mother's sons bow down to you."
        3. Jacob is confessing that he stole this blessing from Esau, that it belongs to Esau and he wishes to give it back.
        4. He is not trying to buy Esau's favor but to repent of his sins.
      3. And he is confessing as well his dependance on God
        1. He stole Isaac's blessing intended for Esau because he thought he needed it.
        2. But now, in the night, he has received GOD'S blessing.
        3. What does he need with Esau's?
      4. Children of God, let us learn from Jacob's example
        1. How often we are afraid to humble ourselves, to seek forgiveness, especially before unbelievers, and also before one another.
        2. We think somehow this will diminish us in their eyes, but so what? We have been accepted by God and blessed by him. NOTHING can diminish us in his eyes, so let us not be afraid freely to own our sin before God and men.
        3. Once you understand what Jacob knows - that your righteousness is not in yourself but in God alone - you will not be afraid to repent in every situation that calls for it.
      5. Esau freely forgives Jacob
        1. He runs to meet him and embraces him, falling on his neck and kissing him.
        2. No longer do they wrestle with one another as Jacob had wrestled with God the previous night
          1. Jacob has finally wrestle with the right person, not with Esau but with God
          2. And he has been blessed.
          3. The wrestling is over.
          4. Therefore God's blessing works itself out in that Esau will no longer wrestle with Jacob either.
        3. Esau forgiving Jacob and embracing him is a sign that God himself has forgiven Jacob and embraced him.
        4. And Esau is reconcile BEFORE Jacob offers him any gifts.
          1. The reconciliation is not on the basis of Jacob's works, but is gracious.
          2. And the gifts Jacob is about to offer cannot buy what has already been freely given.
          3. So it is with Esau because so it was with God.
      6. Then Jacob finishes giving back the blessing.
      7. His wives and children bow down before Esau
        1. They too are Esau's servants and Esau is their master.
        2. God has blessed Jacob, has "graciously given" these to "your servant."
        3. Now he in effect gives them to Esau; he puts them at Esau's service.
      8. And he pushes the gift of animals on Esau
        1. He says, "These are to find favor in the sight of my Lord"
          1. After all this, is Jacob still trying to BUY Esau's favor?
          2. No. He means this in the sense that he desires to be pleasing to Esau so he offers these animals.
          3. It's like what happened at Bethel
            • God blessed Jacob and made promises to him
            • So Jacob said SINCE God has made me promises and will be my God and will bring me back to this place, THEREFORE I will give him a tenth of all I have
            • He's not buying God's favor; he's responding to God's grace.
        2. Esau at first politely declines
        3. But Jacob insists and prevails.
      9. The return of the blessing is complete - the honor and the family and the possessions that Jacob stole have now been returned.
      10. Now that Jacob has received the heavenly blessing from God, he knows that he does not need earthly wealth anyway.
      11. Here is the blessing, Esau, he cries. Take it back!
        1. I misunderstood it.
        2. The real blessing is not an earthly blessing involving material wealth. What a fool I was!
        3. It is a heavenly blessing. The blessing is that God will be MY God and I will dwell in his presence forever.
      12. Children of God, you have been likewise blessed
        1. You have been given Jacob's blessing, the presence of God in Jesus Christ.
        2. And in him you have been given eternal life.
        3. What then are earthly goods or earthly honor to you?
        4. They are nothing!
        5. Give these things away freely as Jacob does here.
          1. Jacob here loses nothing of eternal value
          2. And neither will you no matter how generous and humble you choose to be.
          3. Still in Christ you are rich beyond all imagining. In him you are esteemed above all other created beings.
    3. Jacob Interprets the Event (10)
      1. Seeing your face is like seeing God's face.
      2. Esau's forgiveness, as we have noted, is the sign of God's forgiveness
      3. So this reconciliation is a sign that God himself has truly been reconciled to Jacob.
      4. Let us then also strive as much as possible to be at peace with all men, for this reflects the peace we have with God in our Lord Jesus Christ.
        1. We strive for peace with our family members, even the unbelievers, because this reflects our peace with God.
        2. We strive for peace with neighbors and co-workers, even the unbelievers, because this reflects our peace with God.
      5. And yet, as we are about to see, this peace does not reflect fellowship. It does not reflect a common purpose or common values.
  3. Esau's Temptation and Jacob's Partial Faithfulness
    1. Esau Urges Jacob to Live in Seir (11-15)
      1. Esau then makes a frightening assumption - "Let US take our journey; let US go, and I will go before you."
      2. What is Esau assuming?
        1. They are now both headed for the same place
        2. Esau is now Jacob's protector.
      3. Do you see this? "Let US go" means let's both return to the land of Seir.
        1. What's the problem there?
        2. Seir is outside the Promised Land; it's away from the presence of God.
        3. Esau is not a man of faith; he doesn't understand the blessing of God the way Jacob does.
        4. Jacob gives him back the blessing, but he doesn't make any move to relocate to the Promised Land and seek the Lord. To Esau the blessing is just material wealth and superiority to his brother.
        5. He figures Jacob thinks the same way and will want to move with Esau to a place where Esau is prosperous whether that happens to be in the Promised Land or not.
      4. Jacob has been tempted this way before.
        1. When he told Laban he was leaving for the Promised Land, Laban tempted him to put off that journey to earn some wealth.
        2. And Jacob fell for it. He delayed seeking the presence of God and relying on God's promises so he could seek earthly, material blessings.
        3. Will he fall into sin in this way again?
      5. And Esau says, "I will go before you."
        1. I will be your protector, Jacob. I will be strong for you.
        2. Jacob now knows that he is not strong enough to protect himself.
        3. Will he be tempted by this offer to seek protection in someone else who is of this earth?
        4. Or will he resist and commend his protection to God alone?
        5. Let GOD go before Jacob. If this happens he doesn't need Esau's protection. Does he understand this at last?
    2. Jacob Escapes, But By Deceit
      1. Jacob responds in faith, declining Esau's offer.
      2. He must press on toward the Promised Land
        1. He must head for his inheritance, which God has given to him.
        2. He must seek the presence of the Lord rather than relevance and importance in the world.
        3. He must seek his protection from God rather than from Esau. Let God go before him.
      3. Yet he does not refuse directly; he is somewhat deceitful (13,14)
        1. He claims his reason for not wanting to accompany Esau is that the flocks and herds and children are weak and cannot be driven very fast.
        2. So he tells Esau to go on ahead and he will follow him to Seir.
        3. He has no intention of going to Seir after what God has shown him.
        4. The Promised Land is the only place for him and he knows it.
        5. But still he cannot bring himself to break totally with his brother by telling him the truth.
      4. Esau presses the issue, saying he will leave some people behind to accompany Jacob
        1. Does he sense that Jacob may not come without an escort?
        2. In any event Jacob again politely declines.
      5. And Jacob does not go to Seir.
      6. He leaves this brother behind because the presence of God is more important still.
      7. We spoke a minute ago of the importance of being at peace with all men because God has made his peace with us.
      8. But this "peace" is not the peace of fellowship, of common goals.
      9. What fellowship does Jacob have with Esau?
        1. What common goals do they share?
        2. Esau loves the earthly, Jacob strives for the heavenly
        3. Esau makes his home in this world, Jacob longs for the next
        4. Esau has his treasure in the temporal, Jacob in the eternal.
      10. So Jacob must leave this brother behind.
      11. Luke 14.26 - If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27"And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
      12. Mt 16.24ff. - If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26"For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
    3. Jacob Does Not Immediately Head for Bethel
      1. After what Jacob has seen and heard, his faith should be total
        1. God appeared to him at Bethel, swearing to be his God and to bring him back to that place of his presence.
        2. God prospered him when Laban tried to cheat him.
        3. God protected him when Laban came to harm him.
        4. Angels appeared to him after he and Laban parted ways.
        5. He wrestled with God and saw God's face and lived.
        6. Esau, who had hated him, is now reconciled. This is God's doing.
        7. How can he doubt?
        8. And yet, a little bit, he still does.
      2. He settles in Succoth
        1. It's not Seir, the land of Esau, which is good.
        2. But it's still on the wrong side of the Jordan river.
        3. It's not quite in the Promised Land, although it is in the suburbs if you will.
        4. It's not in the sweet spot, originally promised to Abraham
        5. And it's not Bethel, the place God promised to bring him back to.
        6. He dwells there lonc enough to build a house for himself and stalls for his cattle.
        7. Get up, Jacob! Seek the Lord. Seek him fully! Set the world totally behind you. Go to Bethel, into his presence. He invites you there!
      3. Finally he leaves Succoth and crosses the Jordan and settles in Shechem
        1. He's getting closer.
        2. He's on the right side of the Jordan river now
        3. And he buys a parcel of land, a sign of his faith.
          1. His treasure is here
          2. The promises of God are here
          3. His inheritance is here.
        4. These are all good signs, but when will he head to Bethel, to the house of God?
        5. Go, Jacob! Claim God's promises and cling to them!
        6. Do not be afraid!
      4. Let us have more confidence than Jacob
        1. God has appeared to you in Christ and promised to bring you to heaven.
        2. God has given you riches and a dwelling in heavenly places in Christ Jesus
        3. God has protected you from sin, death, and the devil. Totally. For Christ has risen again, triumphing over all those enemies.
        4. You have seen the face of God in the preaching of Christ and you have lived. Indeed God has embraced you.
      5. Therefore forsake the world and seek utterly and resolutely the kingdom of God's glory in Christ.
      6. You have nothing to lose. All that matters has been given to you already.
        1. Set aside your wealth, your reputation, your confidence in yourself, your worries and cares.
        2. Come to God in Christ and find your home with him. He beckons you. He promises you. He commands you. And his commandment is not burdensome, for it is a command to be still and know that HE is God. Nothing else can help you. Nothing else matters.
  4. Why Isn't Jacob's Faithfulness Total?
    1. To Show the Power of Sin
      1. Even after all he's seen, Jacob still drags his feet.
      2. His worldliness runs deep and clings to him.
      3. His sin still gets the better of him in small ways if not in large.
      4. He still in part loves what is passing away.
      5. He still in part fears people other than God.
      6. He still in part doubts.
      7. How strong, children of God, is the remnant of sin that entangles us!
      8. How necessary, then, is it that your pastor preach this message week after week!
        1. You have been freed from sin and raised with Christ!
        2. This world has nothing to offer you. Turn your back on it!
        3. The book of Genesis offers you this message week after week because you need to hear it week after week.
        4. Because week after week you are again tempted by the world and attracted to that which is passing away and dazzled by that which cannot protect.
        5. In truth, the whole Bible offers this message week after week: Turn from the temporal to the eternal, from the things destined for destruction to the kingdom that lasts forever.
      9. And how often we are like Jacob
        1. We here this message week after week and so we cling a little less to the world. But still we cling.
        2. Then your Lord will come to you again and again as he came to Jacob again and again to preach this gospel of the everlasting kingdom
      10. Let us seek to be conformed not to Jacob's image but to Christ's.
    2. To Turn Attention from Jacob to Christ
      1. So you won't have faith in faith, So you won't have faith in Jacob, So you will long for the revelation of a better man, So you will long for a better revelation of God.
      2. So you won't have faith in faith
        1. Imagine Jacob's faith was perfect. No flaws in it at all.
        2. Then your focus would be on Jacob's faith. You would say, "If only I too had a faith that perfect, then God would accept me and bless me." And you would struggle in your assurance of salvation.
        3. Instead, Jacob limps in his faith.
        4. So now your faith is not directed at Jacob's faith but at the One who Jacob's faith was in. Your attention is directed to Christ.
        5. Don't you see that faith in itself is nothing? It's who faith points to; HE is everything. HE is the perfect one. HE is the one worthy of God's love and the inheritance of heaven.
        6. And here, in Jacob, we see that even a weak and faltering faith is sufficient, if only it lays hold of HIM, of Christ. For He is perfect.
      3. So you won't have faith in Jacob
        1. This was a great temptation for the Jews, to look to Jacob as the founder of their race and of their nation, and to glory in him.
        2. But look at him! After all he's seen, after all that's been done for him, STILL he falters and is weak. STILL he wavers and can't quite grasp the fullness of the promise of God by seeking Bethel, the house of God, as his home.
        3. THIS man is not sufficient to bring his people into the presence of God.
        4. THIS man is not righteous enough to give righteousness to his people.
        5. THIS man needs redemption himself and therefore is no fit Savior.
        6. The Bible is not a series of stories about great heroes of the faith. It's a story about sinners, and Jacob is one of them. And it's a story about the Savior of sinners, Christ Jesus. He is the one to put your faith in. He will not disappoint.
      4. So you will long for the revelation of a better man.
        1. Aren't you getting impatient, after all this time in the book of Genesis? You should be.
        2. We looked at Adam. What a perfect man! But he fell, and all his descendants with him.
        3. But God promised that the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head. We've spent all of Genesis waiting for that Seed.
        4. We looked at Noah and saw that he was righteous in the midst of a wicked generation.
          1. So God destroyed the wicked generation and saved Noah.
          2. Then Noah got drunk and lay naked in his tent. Where is his righteousness then?
          3. Oh well, perhaps the next one will be the Seed.
        5. We looked at Abraham, a man of great faith.
          1. Yet all his life he faltered and hesitated, sometimes expressing that faith, sometimes full of doubt and sin and confidence in the flesh.
          2. Clearly HE is not the promised Seed
          3. But perhaps his Seed will be?
        6. Isaac also is a sinner.
          1. he repeats the sins of his father.
          2. He lies about his wife, putting her in jeopardy, to protect himself.
          3. He shows favoritism to the son God has not chosen and tries to frustrate God's will by blessing Esau.
          4. WHY won't he believe completely?
        7. And then Jacob
          1. The scoundrel, the cheat, the deceiver, the thief
          2. But God appears to him at Bethel
          3. Surely now, he will devote the rest of his life to trusting God?
          4. He falters in Laban's land and seeks the things of the world.
          5. God appears to him again and says go back to the Promised Land.
          6. Surely now? No. He fears.
          7. God vindicates him against Laban. Surely now he will seek the promises of God and trust him utterly?
          8. No. He fears Esau.
          9. He wrestles with God and sees God face to face. God lets him win and does not kill him?
          10. Surely now? No. He falters.
        8. WHEN will a man come along who entrusts himself completely to God?
        9. WHEN will a man come who puts the world TOTALLY behind him and seeks only that which is above.
        10. WHEN will a man come who sets his face like flint toward Bethel, that his dwelling place might be with God?
        11. You're tired of all these stories of failures and partial successes (which are really failures).
        12. You long for the one who will succeed.
        13. When will HE come. When will HIS story be told?
        14. You want him so bad you can taste it.
      5. So you will long for a better revelation of God
        1. Jacob saw God at the top of a stairway into heaven at Bethel
        2. God came down to earth and Jacob wrestled with Him and saw him face to face
        3. And still it wasn't enough to motivate Jacob to seek only the heavenly.
        4. When will God reveal himself more clearly, more fully, more perfectly, that his people might have full ASSURANCE of the truth of his promises?
        5. This will only happen when Christ comes.
        6. Children of God, He has revealed himself to you. Clearly. Fully. Perfectly. In Christ.
          1. Therefore, do not limp in your faith like Jacob.
          2. Do not hesitate between the world and the kingdom of heaven.
          3. Do not build a house for yourself and booths for your cattle and devote yourself to amassing and securing what passes away.
          4. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, it will all be gone.
          5. Seek the eternal one, the face of God, in Christ, and all these things shall be added to you.

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