God Resolves Conflict
With: Our Design According to Genesis • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Assumptions
Assumptions
Genesis 33:1–7 (NIV)
Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants. He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.
But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.
Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.”
Then the female servants and their children approached and bowed down. Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.
Jacob had just endured wrestling with the Lord. The Lord had given to Jacob that night such a precious gift, to chasten his pride and challenge his tenacity. The Lord in a very tangible way showed Jacob that his strength lied solely in his tenacity to cling to the Lord. But now in the first testing of that tenacity and faith, Jacob allows the familiar, his assumptions, rule his response and he becomes the obstacle to reconciliation with Esau. The impact of this will have ramifications for the next several weeks of messages.
When we are faced with conflict, especially familiar conflict, how often do our assumptions dictate our response?
Embrace or Reject
Embrace or Reject
Genesis 33:8–20 (NIV)
Esau asked, “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?”
“To find favor in your eyes, my lord,” he said.
But Esau said, “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”
“No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.
Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”
But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”
“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”
So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.
After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.
Jacob continues in his mistrust of Esau and turns away from reconciliation and settles for estrangement. Jacob’s pride and his fear of retaliation causes him to be the source of separation between him and his brother. The crazy part is that Jacob wants his brother to trust that he had changed by the hand and the power of God, but fails to recognize and acknowledge that the same had occurred with his brother Esau by the had of the Lord. Esau had been transformed from the one seeking revenge to the one wholly trusting in God’s provision.
Esau embraced the provision of the Lord. He saw clearly that all he needed was from the hand of the Lord. The faithfulness of the Lord to meet every need and to walk with Esau caused Esau’s revengeful heart to subside. What good is a birthright and a blessing if it costs you the Lord? When we face conflict, the road to biblical resolution begins with recognition and acknowledgement of the faithfulness of the Lord to be sufficient in the conflict. Every gain of the conflict pales in comparison to the generosity of the Lord. Every point of contention points us to the sufficiency and grace of our Lord upon the cross. Every loss of the conflict can be reborn through the forgiveness and power of the cross.