1 “And 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. 2 And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. 3 And he himself passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until 4 he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and 5 they wept. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are these with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant. 6 Then the handmaids came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. 7 And Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves; and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. 8 And he said, What meanest thou by all this company which I met? And he said, To find grace in the sight of my lord. 9 And Esau said, I have enough; my brother, let that thou hast be thine. And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand; forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. 10 Take, I pray thee, my gift 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. 11 And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee. 12 And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me give suck; and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die. 13 Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant; and I will lead on softly, according to the pace of the cattle that is before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come unto my lord unto Seir. 14 And 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. 15 So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir. 16 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle; therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
18 “And Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram; and encamped before the city. 19 And he bought the parcel of ground, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for an hundred pieces of money. 20 And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.”
1 “And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there; and make there an altar unto God, who appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and 3 purify yourselves, and change your garments; and let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me 4 in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which 5 was by Shechem. And they journeyed; and a great terror was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did 6 not pursue after the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan (the same is Beth-el), he and 7 all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el; because there God was revealed unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. 8 And Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried below Beth-el under the oak; and the name of it was called Allon-bacuth.
9 “And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, 10 Thy name is Jacob; thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name; and he called his name Israel. 11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, 12 and kings shall come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave unto Abraham and Isaac, to thee will I give it, and to thy 13 seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from 14 him in the place where he spake with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spake with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured out a drink-offering thereon, and poured oil 15 thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Beth-el.”
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.
(1) Whom was Jacob now fearlessly prepared to see? Gen. 33:1. (2) What arrangement, however, did he make of his family? V. 1. (3) Describe the meeting of this humble shepherd and that warrior chief. Vs. 3, 4. (4) How did Jacob’s family meet Esau? Vs. 2-7. (5) What question did Esau now ask? What was Jacob’s reply? V. 8. (6) Did Esau wish to take the present? V. 9. (7) How was it that Jacob could see the face of God in Esau’s face? V. 10. (8) By what words did he show that he recognized the hand of God in all his dealings with him? V. 11. (9) What proposition did Esau now make? V. 12. (10) Did Jacob accept it? Vs. 13, 14. (11) What other proposition of Esau’s was gracefully rejected? V. 15. (12) Where did Esau now go? To what place did Jacob journey? Vs. 16, 17. (13) Where did Jacob journey from Succoth? V. 18. (14) What example of Abraham’s did he follow here? What name did he give the altar? Vs. 19, 20. (15) After his experiences at Shechem, what instruction did the Lord give Jacob? Gen. 35:1. (16) What did Jacob say to his household? Vs. 2, 3. (17) What were their strange gods? and what was done with them? Why did not the people pursue after them? Vs. 4, 5. (18) How did Jacob here reveal his reverence for God? What did he call the altar? Vs. 6, 7. (19) What sad event occurred in this place? V. 8. (20) What blessing was here renewed? Compare it with the previous blessing at Penuel. Vs. 9-13. (21) By what ceremony did Jacob here reveal his reverence for the Lord? Vs. 14, 15.
Suggestive Readings.—“Patriarchs and Prophets,” pp. 204-208; “Spirit of Prophecy,” vol. 1, pp. 125, 126.
NOTE.
The life of Jacob is a vivid illustration of the utter futility of human planning to accomplish the designs of God. “The wisdom of any human agent is not sufficient for the planning and devising in this time. Spread every plan before God, with fasting, with the humbling of the soul before the Lord Jesus, and commit thy ways unto the Lord, and the promise is, ‘He shall direct thy paths.’” “The Lord will work in this last work in a manner very much out of the common order of things, and in a way that will be contrary to any human planning. . . . God will use ways and means by which it will be seen that He is taking the lines in His own hands. Workers will be surprised by the simple means that He will use to bring about and perfect His work of righteousness.” It is by prayer that we know the will and plans of God. It is the prayer, and not the planning, of Jacob that turns the heart of Esau.
ADDITIONAL STUDY.
(1) Write a comparison of the lives of Jacob and Esau. (2) What did Jacob’s attitude in this meeting with Esau signify as to his mind with reference to his former course concerning the birthright? (3) Note the directions of Mt. Seir and Succoth from this place of meeting. (4) Who had been at Shalem before Jacob stopped there? Between what two famous mountains was the field of Shechem? (5) Trace Jacob’s travels from Haran back to Bethel, and look up the places in the Bible dictionary. (6) How often do we read of Esau’s erecting an altar to the Lord? Jacob? What does this show?
