King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 6 notes
1And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.
2And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.
3And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
4And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.
Forgiveness and healing had now taken place.
The past healed.
Oh Jacob 😢 😢 😢.
I can imagine Esau seeing his brother from afar off... limping and approaching him.
His heart ♥ swelled with longing for his twin brother...
His brother with whom they had played together as kids and bullied each other here and there.
Now his brother was limping... Life had happened, and Esau knew too well that life happens to us all...
He forgave his brother and ran to him.
5And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.
6Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.
7And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves.
8And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord.
9And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself.
To refuse such a gift, Esau must have been very rich then.
10And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.
Esau was walking in the blessing Isaac blessed him with... He was not going to serve Jacob. He had broken the yoke of bondage to Jacob that was placed conditionally on him.
Now that he was free there was no point being bitter against his brother, and the sufferings and lessons he had to go through to become who he was served him well.
He was wise and blessed and free.
In good faith there was nothing to hold against his brother.
I’m sure if Esau was still under bondage and not free yet, he would still hold resentment against his brother who was coming back blessed.
11Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.
12And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.
13And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die.
14Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.
15And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find grace in the sight of my lord.
16So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir.
17And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
18And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-aram; and pitched his tent before the city.
19And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for an hundred pieces of money.
20And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.
El was the general name for all gods, but God had told Israel that he was the prince 🤴 with God.
To let him know that there was only one El — that is, himself.
So now Jacob calls the place by the name of his God, i.e. God, the God of Israel 🇮🇱.
So anyone who asks which god he is referencing, he, Jacob, would let them know there is only one El and he is the El of Israel.
Rightly so