Lift Up Your Eyes

Photo by Kumiko SHIMIZU on Unsplash
Jacob has had quite a life thus far. There have been a multitude of twists and turns, deceptions and deals, and they have been leading up to this point, this last (for now) conflict. The eventual confrontation with Esau has been a long time coming. It has been twenty years since he’s seen him last, and at that time, Esau was just waiting to kill Jacob. 
We happen to know how this story is going to shape out, so I must put on my imagination to try to feel what Jacob had to be thinking about here. How many pleasant moments were interrupted by the sudden remembrance that Esau is still out there? How did it feel to successfully tell off Laban only to remember that there was someone else way more upset out there? Now lets imagine just the last 48 hours. Jacob found out that Esau is on his way, with 400 men! He’s been bustling about getting camps ready, sending advance servants with gifts, reordering his family to protect his favorites, and then capping it all off with an all-night wrestling match with God! By the time we get to our passage, it can be tough to imagine how Jacob is even seeing straight. 
Maybe you’ve been here. Hopefully you’ve not had conflict where you fear for your life, but perhaps you’ve encountered such conflict, you can’t imagine it ever going away. Maybe you are even the reason that the conflict is there. No matter which position you find yourself in, I think this passage holds out hope for you today. 
As we will see today, and I’m leaning heavily on my old seminary prof, Alan Ross for this main point, Reconciliation is a gift from God. 

Reconciliation is a gift from God. 

Let’s remind ourselves of where we are in this narrative. Genesis started with the creation of the world, the fall of humanity, and the very beginnings of God putting the world back together. He decided to do that with the Descendant of one family, the family of Abraham. This Descendant’s line has been threatened ever since chapter 12. Sometimes by the family’s own sinful decisions, sometimes by outsiders. But the blessing and promise has been graciously passed down now three times. It started with Abraham, moved to Isaac, and now to Jacob. 
Jacob has seemed the least likely to inherit this blessing. While Abraham and Isaac certainly had their foibles, they weren’t named “cheater.” Jacob earns his reputation through deceitfully obtaining the blessing from Isaac (though as we saw, this was always God’s plan). He stole a birthright and blessing from Esau, and now the Descendants are under threat again as Esau is ready to kill Jacob. 
The moment has come. Jacob lifts up his eyes and sees Esau with his army. He prepares the family, placing Joseph in the back. One commentator points out that Joseph is the only child actually named here, perhaps to prepare us for the final third of the book to tell his story (Matthews). For all the legitimate change that has taken place in Jacob’s life, he still hasn’t shaken that favoritism. This will be revisited later. 
Has there been change to Jacob’s character? It is difficult to assign a motive for Jacob’s actions here, as there are a number of ways to look at this. Whether this is Jacob’s old tricks of deception with a little groveling thrown in, or the real change of heart for such a man I think is beside the point. While Jacob behaves like a servant approaching a master, Esau has clearly already been changed. He throws his arms around his brother, weeps and kisses him. The old conflict has been forgiven, and all Esau is ready to do is revel in seeing his brother again. Was it the gifts? the bowing? The distance of time that heals all wounds? No, ultimately, it was the grace of God. Grace from God is how Jacob has survived his whole life, including the time He was wrestling with God Himself. 
Look at how we can see God’s grace listed in Jacob’s life. Esau lifts up his eyes to see all that God has done for him. There is a whole congregation of little ones. This is in addition to the servants with all their livestock Esau encountered earlier. God has been very busy with Jacob. 
Have you taken time to reflect on God’s blessings to you? I recognize there are days where this is easier to do than others. It is hard to be grateful during a stomach bug or chronic pain other than saying, “At least it isn’t worse!” But try to set aside time to regularly reflect on the ways in which God has been gracious to you. We tend to only think in categories that we value at the moment, but take some time to consider how God has blessed you beyond your preferred currency. IF you are the type of person who values money, think about how God has blessed you with relationships or time or physical health, or mental health (from the book The Five Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom—I haven’t read it yet, but a friend has made me aware of it recently). I know it feels like a Christian cliche to count your blessings, but there is even some brain research going on that has found gratitude to be an important factor in your health! 
Now, let’s take a look at this beautiful moment in verses 8-11. Esau asks what all these people mean, and Jacob responds that it is meant to find favor in Esau’s eyes. Perhaps if there is any hard feelings left over, these gifts might help smooth them. 
Look at how Esau responds, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have.” Some commentators sees this as Esau’s moment of surrender of his birthright (Matthews). However this is framed, look at the transformation of character on Esau’s end. He lost the blessings and was so upset about it, he was ready to murder. Now, with Jacob in a subservient position, bowing before him, all the family lined up, with Esau and an army, he could make all kinds of demands here. Yet, Esau is reluctant to take even what is freely offered. 
Then look at Jacob! Note that he is wanting to share his “blessing” in verse 11. That is the same word for blessing that we saw on that fateful day of theft. Jacob is no longer clamoring for more. 
And that my friends is God’s ability to work on a heart. Jacob recognizes the grace in this moment. That may be what is behind the expression “face of God.” Jacob isn’t describing some sort of divinity for Esau, but the same life-preserving moment that Jacob experienced earlier wrestling with God is relived here (Matthews). Esau could just as easily tried to destroy Jacob just as God could have utterly destroyed Jacob in that wrestling match. But it has instead been grace upon grace. 
Don’t give up on praying for those hard hearts in your life, including your own. It may take decades, you might not even see the finished work of it, but don’t stop praying. If God can pull these brothers back together, then He can work on your situation, too. It might not come together exactly like this, but whatever happens, we know that God is behind it. 
Now you may say, “Well, this is all nice, but what about this second half of the story? It seems like Jacob is up to his old tricks again! You’ve got too rosey of a picture here.” Perhaps I do. Other commentators do indeed think that Jacob is up to his old shenanigans when he and Esau part ways. They could be right, but I want to make the case, thanks to another commentator, that this is a clean and happy ending here. I was originally in the “that rascal Jacob” camp, but Matthews I think has convinced me otherwise. 
As we round out verse 12, Esau proposes that Jacob come to Edom and live near him. Jacob tells him that the flocks and kids can’t keep up but to go on ahead. It seems as though Jacob gives Esau the slip and heads to another place. The two cities mentioned here are about 100 miles apart, so this is quite a distance. Matthews proposes that there is a “gap” in the story here that is perhaps filled in in chapter 36:7. In that chapter, it is said that they each had too many possessions to dwell together, so Esau dwelled in the land of Edom. That tells us that they at least considered the possibility, but rather than bog us down with those details here, we just mention that the brothers went their separate, yet peaceful ways.
The focus finally turns to Jacob settling in the land. Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, has been given the name Israel and has traveled the route of his grandfather. He didn’t take anything from Esau or Laban but in fact enriched them both, similar to Abraham and the kings of the valley. He has arrived at Shechem, buys some property, and then sets up an altar. The name means “God, the God of Israel.” This fulfills Jacob’s promise at Bethel when he said that God would be his God. Here, this altar finally establishes that indeed Jacob, now Israel, has trusted God to bring him to this point. In His faithfulness, God has. 
So what do we take from here? We could react to this story and say, “Well, that’s a great ending for Jacob, but real life keeps going.” Indeed, it will for Jacob as well. The next chapter is going to invite a unique pain in Jacob’s life, and the whole rest of the book is going to describe Jacob’s grief of losing his Rachel, his Joseph, and the latter by the deception of his own sons! Life will only get harder for Jacob, but this is a good moment. Be quick to notice and settle in on those moments when they arrive, and then give God the proper praise for it. That altar was only possible because of the grace of God. 
We could also respond as modern people and say, “You know, this looks like the villain getting away with it.” Esau could be seen as this poor dope whom God for no reason at all decides to cast out of the land. Jacob, on the other hand, has undermined and deceived and he still gets what he wants. 
At the end of the day, no one here in this story is innocent. Esau was a sinner with his marriages and Jacob was a sinner with his lying. Yet both at the end of this story walk away more rich than can be imagined. It turns out that God only shows mercy to bad people, because those are the only people God has to work with. The ones he shows mercy to don’t deserve that mercy any more than the next person. God should have destroyed us all. 
And here’s the thing, both Esau and you have the same option before you. If you want the mercy of God, simply ask for it. It doesn’t really matter what happened or didn’t happen in this life. Eternity is where it really counts. You will only be here for a limited time, so don’t think about who gets what here. Know that you can have the mercy from God that admits you into heaven forever.