Sermon Tone Analysis

!!!!!! Genesis 33-34

 

As a background for chapter thirty-three, let's go back and see what God said to Jacob in chapter thirty-one, verse three.

"And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee."

So, he has the word of God to start out on.

God is saying to go back to your family and your land and He would be with Jacob.

Jacob is on his way back now and he sends his servants ahead to tell his brother Esau that he is coming home and that God has blessed him with a great abundance of goods.

He is evidently seeking to indicate to Esau that he is not coming back to claim his birthright or any kind of sustenance from the family.

The servants returned with the message that his brother was coming to meet him with four hundred armed men.

Jacob recognized that this was an unusual kind of welcome and he was fearful.

He prayed for the LORD to help him and reminded God of the promises he had made to Jacob.

Either the LORD directed Jacob or he did it by his own scheming, but he set out to restore his relationship with Esau.

He did this by building him up and calling him lord and referring to himself as his servant.

Then he sent before him the different groups of animals which were to be a gift for Esau.

Now in chapter thirty-three, we come to the showdown where Esau and Jacob meet.

"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.

And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindmost."

(Gen.33:1-2).

"And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother."

(Gen.33:3).

According to the ancient tablets, which are a famous archeological discovery, and deals with laws and customs of that period, when you approached a king you were to bow seven times.

By this, Jacob was acknowledging Esau's lordship over him.

"And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept."

(Gen.33:4).

The brothers, at this point, probably did a lot of sharing of things that had happened in the twenty years since they had seen each other.

"And 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."

(Gen.33:5).

Now, Esau also had a big family by this time and we will read of that in a few chapters.

"Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.

And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves; and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves."

(Gen.

33:6-7).

Probably at a signal from Jacob they came near and presented themselves to Esau.

"And 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.

And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself.

And 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.

Take, 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."

(Gen.33:8-11).

Esau questioned the droves that he had met on the way and now he asks about the people that are with Jacob.

Jacob told him they were his children and that the LORD had blessed him with plenty.

There are two different Hebrew words used for "enough."

The one used when Esau said he had enough was "Rab" and the one used when Jacob said he had enough was "kol," which means, I have everything.

Jacob had learned that God was his resource and when God becomes your resource, you have everything.

Others may have a lot, but there is that total sufficiency which is ours when we have God.

"And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.

And 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."

(Gen.33:12-13).

"Let 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." (Gen.33:14).

It would seem that Jacob is still unsure of Esau.

He is hesitant to go together with him to Seir.

He wants to take a slower pace so his animals won't die and his children won't be weary, as they are young.

He has been going at a faster pace fleeing Laban, and now wants to continue at a slower pace.

"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.

So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir." (Gen.33:15-16).

"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." (Gen.33:17).

It is interesting and you can't tell from the text whether Jacob is trying to deceive Esau again or what; for, evidently he had no intention of returning to Seir.

He built a house in Succoth and settled there for many years.

When he met Esau, the oldest of his children, Reuben, was probably about twelve years old.

When they left Succoth and moved to Shechem where Jacob's daughter, Dinah, was raped by the prince and the older brother's revenged her by killing the males of Shechem; they had to be somewhere in their twenties at this time; so, it is possible that they stayed at Succoth for eight years.

Succoth was on the other side of Jordan and they had not yet come back into the land that was promised to Abraham.

"And 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.

And 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.

And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel."

(Gen.33:18-20).

They had crossed the Jordan and come into the land at last.

It is possible during the eight years spent in Succoth, that Jacob went to visit Esau and his aged father, Isaac.

We don't know for sure as the scripture doesn't say.

When he came to Shechem, he bought a parcel of land and dug a well.

This is the well where Jesus met the woman of Samaria.

The well is still there today outside the ancient ruins of the city of Shechem.

Shechem is at the foot of Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.

It is in a valley close to the capital city of the northern kingdom which was Samaria.

It was Mount Gerizim where the men would stand to bless the people as they came over Jordan and they would stand on Mount Ebal to recite the curses.

All of this was in the area where Jacob came and pitched his tent.

Jacob erected an altar and called it "God, the God of Israel" and this is the first time that Jacob has used the new name that God had given him.

He has, now, come back into the land; but, is still not totally obedient for God had said to return to the land and to his family.

His family are some eighty miles south of Shechem in Beer-Sheba.

His disobedience became costly.

"And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land."

(Gen.34:1)

Dinah, being the only girl in the family and having eleven brothers went out to find some friends among the daughters of the land.

"And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her." (Gen.34:2).

It is impossible for us to know Dinah's character, so, we don't know if she was in agreement to this.

She might have been in rebellion against her parents strict rules, but the scripture doesn't say.

It only says that Shechem violated her.

"And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel."

(Gen.34:3)

Shechem found himself drawn to Dinah and he loved her.

"And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife." (Gen.34:4)

Marriage was made by arrangement and it always involved a dowry.

Shechem is asking his father, the king, to get this young girl for his wife.

"And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter; now his sons were with his cattle in the field; and Jacob held his peace until they were come."

(Gen.34:5)

From the story, it seems that Dinah remained at the house of Hamor.

Jacob realized he could do nothing without his sons as he was outnumbered.

He waited until they came home and shared with them what had happened to Dinah.