On New Year’s Eve in London, British dramatist Frederick Lansdale was asked by Seymour Hicks to reconcile with a fellow member of the club. The two had quarreled in the past and never restored their friendship. “You must,” said Hicks. “It’s very unkind at a time like this to be unfriendly. Go over now and wish him a happy new year.” Soon Lansdale crossed the room and spoke to his enemy - “I wish you a happy new year, but only one!”
For years I’ve watched that spectacle play out. Thankfully, the rabid lack of forgiveness, and bitterness are the exception rather than the rule around Hebron; but we’re all acquainted with the devastation brokenness with others causes, especially in the lives of those most bitter.
Last week we turned to a famous example of brokenness with others – the story of two brothers, Jacob and Esau. As we noted, the brokenness we see in the relationship is a progression from Jacob’s brokenness with God and himself. His name comes from the Hebrew akob, meaning “heel,” and he certainly lives up to his name. From the time of his birth his life is marked by grasping rather than giving. His record of conniving and self-interest begins with his brother, but it doesn’t stop there. He cheats his brother, his father, even his uncle, until God performs radical surgery on his hardened heart. For seven chapters we see the old Jacob. We see him through a bartered birthright, a stolen blessing, a dream of angels, and a divine pronouncement remarkably similar to the one his grandfather received in Genesis 12. We see him through the accumulation of wealth and power. We see him through a covenant of mutually assured destruction with his uncle, Laban. And through it all we see the old Jacob – a heel from infancy to middle age.
But in chapter 32 it all begins to change for Jacob and amazingly for Esau too. The chapter begins with Jacob’s departure from his maternal uncle, Laban. He’s served him for fourteen years. For his years of service Jacob has gained two wives, a flock of kids, a wealth of animals and servants, and yet, just as he did on the eve of his father’s death, Jacob has to once again flee. He takes all of his stuff and flees from Paddan-aram.
He’s already certain of his desired destination. He intends to return to the land of his fathers, the place of promise, Canaan; but he faces a challenge. He knows that to get there he has to go through the territory his brother controls. It’s Esau’s area. It’s a region controlled by the same brother he bamboozled twenty years earlier. So what does Jacob do? He prays! He prays that the God who has promised him a future will protect him (Genesis 32:9-12). Imagine the chutzpah!! Imagine asking God to intervene when for decades you’ve acted on your own, under your own power. Imagine asking God to baptize your bull----. You say, “That’s a bit strong, isn’t it?” Not at all!! Look at what he does as soon as he’s finished praying. He concocts a scheme to assuage Esau’s anger. He intends to send out some of his animals and servants, then his family, before he goes to encounter his brother. What a heel!
But before he can proceed with his pathetic plan, night falls, and God shows up. O what a gracious God He is. Instead of kicking his butt, instead of giving Jacob what he deserves, He breaks his hip. The Bible says he touches the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocates it. He gives him a permanent limp. Now many people pass over this, but we shouldn’t. I would suggest that what happens to Jacob at Peniel is the most important thing that happens to him in his entire life.
It is here at Peniel, which means “face of God,” that there’s total healing of Jacob’s brokenness. In fact, after this encounter we immediately see the full extent of the healing. All of his relationships – with God, himself, and his brother are radically transformed in exactly the same way Jesus Christ heals such brokenness today. I’ve preached this text before – but NEVER like this.
Here are some questions you may wish to investigate in preparation for Sunday:
1. When does this encounter take place? (Genesis 32:22) Is there any future
significance to this place?
2. What is the significance of telling us that Esau is accompanied by 400 men?
3. How do you reconcile verse 3 and the plan in Genesis 32:13-20?
4. What biblical parallels do you find with Esau’s greeting of Jacob?
5. Why would Esau be so positively disposed to his brother?
6. What’s behind Jacob’s seven-fold bow?
7. Is there any significance to who speaks first in this encounter?
8. What does Jacob mean in his answer to Esau in verse 8?
9. Why does he insist on blessing Esau? Is it a requirement?
10. Is there any significance to the word Jacob uses in verse 10 (present or
blessing) and Esau’s use of it in Genesis 27:36?
11. What does Jacob/Israel mean when he says in verse 10 that seeing Esau is
like seeing the face of God? (See Genesis 32:30)
See you Sunday – It’s a great text for broken lives that wish to know how Jesus sets us free!
