A Peaceful Departure Genesis 33:1-20

We started this journey with Jacob back in Genesis chapter 31 when the sons of Laban were complaining, Laban turned against Jacob, and God told him to return to the land of his fathers. Jacob took his family and his belongings and made a run for it while Laban was away shearing his sheep. Laban heard what happened and chased down Jacob and confronted him. But God prevented Laban from saying anything good or bad to him and Laban went home empty-handed. Jacob left Mizpah and continued south until he reached the Jabbok River. There he was met by the angels of God and he named the place “Two Camps”. Jacob, drawing nearer to the land Edom, sends messengers and a peace offering to Esau hoping to appease the wrath of his brother. The messengers came back with the report that Jacob did not want to hear: Esau was coming with 400 men. That night as Jacob fearfully waited for Esau to come, a mysterious man appeared and wrestled with Jacob until morning. After the encounter, Jacob says that he has seen God face to face and yet lived. Jacob receives the blessing of God and names the place but walks away limping from the ordeal. This leads us to the story that we have before us in Genesis chapter 33. In our text for today, surprisingly we find Jacob’s humility in verses 1-3. And equally as surprising we see in verses 4-11 the kindness of Esau. We also see Jacob changing his offering of appeasement to a free gift. And finally, we follow Jacob as he makes his return to the Promised Land.