Theological Commentary: Click Here
In Genesis
33 we begin to catch a glimpse of what God has been able to do without human
intervention. We already know how God
has prospered Jacob. Jacob left a man on
the run. He returned a wealthy man with
a hefty entourage and family.
God has not
been unkind to Esau, either. By his own
testimony, God has shown His grace and mercy to Esau. No longer does Esau feel angry about the
birthright or inheritance. Esau seems
pleasantly happy to have his brother back – although do note that he takes Jacob’s
gift in the end.
What can we
learn here? Time does heal wounds. When enough time goes by, Esau no longer
feels anger to Jacob. Jacob may still
fear Esau’s wrath, but he quickly learns that his fear is unfounded.
But what we
can really learn is that God is the force behind that healing. It is God who brought Jacob and Esau to
maturity. It is God who brought them
together again in peace. In the moment,
we might have wondered how it was that Esau would ever find peace with Jacob
after all that Jacob did to him under the influence of Rebekah. But when we step back and gain some perspective,
we can see that it really is God who makes those kinds of changes.
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