Jacob and Esau – Genesis 33

And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So, he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother. But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, fell on his neck, and kissed him, and they wept – Genesis 33:1-4.

 Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me – Genesis 33:10.

I was reading through Genesis to start my year when I came across this infamous story about Jacob and Esau. They had been separated for over 15 years after Jacob stole Esau’s birthright and inheritance. They had not seen each other since that time. Esau rides out to meet Jacob, but Jacob is terrified that his brother will destroy him. He sends several gifts to appease Esau and turn his heart from revenge.

As you can see from the text, Esau seems to have put all this enmity behind him, but Jacob is fearful. Esau worked through the betrayal and rushed to welcome his brother warmly and enthusiastically. Jacob’s fears are washed away in their tears, but even then, he insists his brother take the gifts he offered. His heart is free from the anxiety of not knowing if his brother would welcome him or take revenge. Unforgiveness is costly.

Our willingness to forgive others says more about what we believe God will do for us than what others have done to us. It may take a long time for a person to forgive, but it takes far longer to heal without it. Regardless of how long it takes someone to come to a point where forgiveness is offered and accepted, true healing and freedom cannot happen without it.

Fifteen years of stress, worry, anxiety, and even fear about not knowing what that meeting would look like is staggering. Certainly, there would be reasons early on to know they should not meet, but after 15 years, things were still not resolved.

The principle is obvious: the sooner we reconcile differences with people, the more freedom we will experience. In 2025, one of our spiritual priorities should be that when we face any conflict with others, the sooner we can forgive and reconcile, the more healing and freedom we will experience. If we hang on to our hurt and pain, the danger of animosity exponentially grows more toxic.

In His grace and forgiveness,

Pastor Brad.