Preparing for the Worst...

For the past few weeks, we have been looking at a section of the very first letter in the Bible called the book of Genesis, where we have seen a man named Jacob begin learning the lessons from his selfishness and rebellion that resulted in him being married to two different women in eight days. This week, I would like to jump back into this section of the very first letter that is recorded for us in the Bible, called the book of Genesis. And as we jump back into the book of Genesis, we are going to discover another timeless truth that can powerfully impact our relationship with God and others. So let’s discover this truth together, in Genesis 32:1:

Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. Jacob said when he saw them, "This is God's camp." So he named that place Mahanaim. Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He also commanded them saying, "Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: 'Thus says your servant Jacob, "I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight."'"

Moses brings us back into the story of Jacob and his family by explaining that after entering into a covenant agreement between with Laban that born out of the jealousy and lack of trust between them, Jacob began his journey back to the land that God had promised to his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac. And as Jacob began his journey back to the land that God had promised him, Moses tells us that Jacob had an encounter with the angels of God.

 Just as the Lord appeared to Jacob 20 years earlier when Jacob left the promised land in fear of his brother Esau, here we see the Lord remind Jacob once again of the reality that He is ever present and ever engaging the world. The Lord wanted Jacob to clearly understand that regardless of his location, regardless of the direction he was traveling in, that He had not left him but was present with him. After encountering God’s messengers that reminded him of God’s presence, Jacob sent messengers of his own to his brother Esau, who was living east of the Promised Land in the country of Edom.

The message that these messengers carried to Esau, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “Dear Esau, this is your servant Jacob. I have been out of town living as a foreigner with our Uncle Laban. The reason I have been gone so long is due to the fact that Uncle Laban delayed my return. But now, I am no longer delayed and am heading back to mom and dads. I have sent these messengers ahead of my arrival because I want you to know that I have a large gift that I want to give to you once I get there. I hope that once I arrive and give this gift to you that I would be able to find favor with you”.

Now a question that arises here is “why is Jacob sending these messengers to Esau prior to his arrival? Why doesn’t he simply surprise Esau with the gift once he had arrived? And why doesn’t Jacob tell Esau about his wives and kids?” If those questions are running through your mind, I just want to let you know that those are great questions to be asking. And the answers to these questions are directly related to the history between Jacob and Esau.

As we discovered in the Promise series, twenty years earlier, Jacob had deceived his older brother Esau out of his birthright, which was the rights and rank that one had as a result of being the firstborn in a family. In addition, Jacob had deceived his father Isaac into giving the family blessing to him instead of Esau. As a result of the deception of Jacob, Moses tells us that Esau bore a grudge towards Jacob. And from the animosity that Esau harbored toward Jacob, Esau formed a plan to gain the birthright and blessing back by killing Jacob.

Jacob’s mom Rebekah then deceivingly convinced Isaac to send Jacob to live with his uncle Laban, where he had spent the past twenty years. However, even though it had been twenty years, Jacob still remembered the reason why he was sent to live with his uncle. Jacob still remembered the grudge that Esau bore against him. And Jacob recognized that his deceit resulted in a significant conflict that had never been resolved.

You see, instead of working through the conflict with Jacob, Esau wanted to strike out at Jacob in anger. Instead of working through the conflict with Esau, Jacob wanted to walk out from Esau in fear. And as a result, this unresolved conflict had lingered in the background of Jacob’s mind for twenty years.

How often do we act just like Jacob and Esau? How often can we find ourselves striking out at others when we have conflict with others? How often can we find ourselves walking out from others when we have conflict with others?

So now, as Jacob is following God’s command to head back home and God’s promise of His presence as he heads back home, Jacob longs for peace and reconciliation with Esau. However, Jacob has no idea how Esau will respond to his return. After all, it has been twenty years. So Jacob sends messengers to Esau to let them know that he is on the way home and the he desires to move past the history and move past the conflict. Moses records Esau’s response for us in verse 6:

 The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him." Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies; for he said, "If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape."

Moses tells us that Jacob’s messengers returned from their encounter with Esau with a simple message: Esau is coming to meet you and he is bringing four hundred men with him. Now imagine yourself as Jacob. Place yourself in his shoes. How would you respond to the news? Remember, the last time you saw your brother was twenty years ago, when you deceived him and stole his place and the family inheritance from him. And he was not happy with you. And now he is coming to meet you with four hundred men. How would you respond?

Jacob responded with fear and with anxiety. From Jacob’s perspective, even though Esau did not say he was coming to get revenge, Jacob assumed the worst from the messenger’s words. And Esau’s words provoked fear and anxiety over having to encounter Esau and the unresolved conflict between them. Jacob responded to his fear and anxiety by preparing for the worst.

Jacob divided the people and possessions into two groups in order to best defend against Esau in the event that Esau responded to the conflict between them by striking out. But not only did Jacob make preparations for how he would respond if the conflict took a turn for the worse.

Tomorrow, we will see a second way that Jacob responded to this unresolved conflict…