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Genesis 33:8
Comments
Jacob again shows himself to be a changed man. No more will he give way to his previous less than honest ways. He will be straightforward. His word is now his bond. He has the belt of truth around his waste and he will not do less than he says he is going to do. He will not in this case take back a gift that he had already indicated he would give, and which he had determined in his mind that he would give. This is the foundation of honesty; it lives in a heart that sticks to it decisions even though another way opens up. Esau already knows what the droves are because he has already spoken with those who were in charge of them. Jacob has instructed the drovers what to say, and they have no doubt passed on his message faithfully. Esau asks out of politeness and to weaken Jacob’s resolve, because he intends to decline the gift: he is already a rich man who can afford to have 400 men in tow. Jacob speaks in lowly terms of his gift, and emphasises that the gift is nothing compared to the benefit he has received in finding grace in his brother’s sight. He is not just saying this. It really is very important to him. So when Esau declines the gift on the basis that he has considerable wealth of his own, Jacob strengthens his statement and puts it even more forcefully in what sounds like rather exaggerated language. ‘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.’ But it is not an exaggeration, given the situation and given what God has recently shown him in answer to prayer. Yes, his brother’s welcoming face was indeed like the face of God to Jacob – his Peniel – for this is what exactly what he had been praying about, and now God has so worked in his brother’s heart that all the old hostility is gone for the moment. God can suppress the hostility of the world if he wishes. This transformation is equivalent to getting exactly what he had asked from the Lord.
Application
Jacob too has enough, and he is not going to offer a gift and then withdraw it again, because that is how he used to behave before God dealt with him. When we are tempted to revert to our old ways we have to be especially vigilant and strict with ourselves. We must not give way an inch to what the old nature suggests, because our greatest prospect of victory lies in wholehearted obedience. This is also a matter of witness to his brother. If Jacob had listened to Esau and not followed through with his gift, Esau would in the future have had grounds to say: my brother Jacob is still the same insincere man he always was. So Esau accepts the gift.
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