God's Grace Must Change You, Too

GOD’S GRACE MUST CHANGE YOU, TOO

An Exposition of Genesis 33:1-20

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: November 26, 2023

Series: The Book of Genesis

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Holy Scripture says:

¹ And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. ² And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. ³ He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴ But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ⁵ And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶ Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. ⁷ Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. ⁸ Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.” ⁹ But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” ¹⁰ Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. ¹¹ Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you.” ¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴ Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”

¹⁵ So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” ¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.¹⁷ But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

¹⁸ And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. ¹⁹ And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. ²⁰ There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel. (Genesis 33:1-20)

INTRODUCTION

Is God’s grace to you revolutionizing your life? Is God’s favor toward you changing the way that you handle your possessions? Is God’s blessing upon you transforming the way that you treat other people? God created you in His image, and thus He designed you to live your life out of the fullness of fellowship with Him. Our sin, however, means that we have turned away from God and from God’s good and perfect design for our lives. As the Children’s Gospel Catechism says, “Sin makes us guilty and dirty in God’s sight and keeps us from knowing God.”[1] If it depended on us, we would remain forever stuck in the corrupting grip of sin. The patriarch Jacob would have remained stuck in his sin, and the apostle Paul would have remained stuck in his sin.

In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul tells us that he is “unworthy to be called an apostle, because [he] persecuted the church of God.” (1 Corinthians 15:9) Originally, Paul was an enemy of God and of God’s people. But then the Savior’s grace showed up in Paul’s life. So he goes on to say: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them [the other apostles], though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10) God’s grace toward Paul was not in vain, was not religious gobbledygook, was not empty talk, but it powerfully transformed Paul into a humble servant of the Lord – a humble servant who was willing to “gladly spend and be spent” (2 Corinthians 12:15) for the good of God’s people.

Does your relationship with the God of all grace shape the way that you live, shape the way that you relate to other people, shape the way that you worship? If God is graciously at work in your life to direct your steps and deliver you from your fears and develop your character, then surely you know that God’s grace toward you is not in vain.

Now as we examine Genesis 33, we see some beautiful snapshots of the fact that God’s grace toward Jacob was not in vain, but that the grace of God was with Jacob in order to transform his life.

WALKING THROUGH THE TEXT

The Context

Remember the situation that Jacob is in. He had fled from the land of Canaan twenty years earlier after he had deceived his father and taken the blessing that his father had intended to bestow upon Esau. Esau was furious and wanted to kill Jacob. So, Jacob left town and moved five hundred miles away to Haran, where he spent the next twenty years with his uncle-turned-father-in-law Laban. There Jacob tended Laban’s flock, married Laban’s daughters, and built a family of eleven sons and one daughter. Now, at God’s command, Jacob is in the process of returning to the land of Canaan. As is often the case in Scripture, following God on the path of obedience requires us to face difficulties and trials. In Jacob’s case, returning to Canaan means meeting his brother Esau again. Is Esau still furious? Will Esau seek vengeance?

In Genesis 32, “Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed” (Genesis 32:7) as he anticipated this meeting with Esau, for Jacob feared that Esau and Esau’s four hundred men might come against him and attack his camp. Jacob’s desire was to see Esau face to face in peace, and he prayed toward that end and he also sent ahead of him a large gift to Esau hoping thereby to appease Esau. But before Jacob came face to face with Esau, he came face to face with God (Genesis 32:24-29). This was God’s doing: God took the initiative and drew Jacob into a transformative encounter. God blessed Jacob (Genesis 32:29) and thereby prepared Jacob for his meeting with Esau.

Finally, in Genesis 33:1-15, Jacob and Esau have their anticipated meeting. Let’s reflect on their meeting and on the wonderful transformation that is revealed in Jacob’s life, in the hope that you also might be increasingly transformed by the God who blesses His people.

God transforms his people into lowly servants (v. 1-7)

As we come to verses 1-7, consider this wonderful truth: God transforms His people into lowly servants who honor others. The capacity to humbly honor others is a lesson we must learn. “Honor everyone.” (1 Peter 2:17) “Outdo one another in showing honor.” (Romans 12:10) “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3) Do you prefer to honor yourself in the sight of others? Or are you eager to bow low and honor others?

Decades earlier, Jacob had lorded it over his brother in the matter of the birthright. Esau was wrong to sell it, but Jacob was wrong to manipulate his weak and vulnerable brother. But that was all in the distant past now. Jacob had spent the previous night wrestling with God, but with the sun now shining light on a new day, “Jacob lifted up his eyes” (v. 1) and saw Esau and Esau’s four hundred men. Jacob lined up his children in procession, each child being with his or her own mother. The maidservants Zilpah and Bilhah were first in line with their children, “then Leah with her children” (v. 2), and finally Rachel with her son Joseph. Jacob walked in front of the procession as they made their way toward Esau. Jacob didn’t just walk toward his brother, but he “[bowed] himself to the ground seven times” (v. 3). By bowing to the ground, Jacob honored Esau by assuming the position of a servant before Esau. The picture here is striking in light of Genesis 25:27, which told us that Jacob was a complete man who dwelt in tents, in contrast to his brother Esau who was a skillful hunter in the field. Think about that in light of Genesis 33:3 – Jacob, the complete man, the tent-dweller, accompanied by his twelve children and their mothers, bows seven times – in Scripture seven is a number that denotes completeness – Jacob bows a complete number of times before his skillful hunter brother who is accompanied by a small army of four hundred men. It is a beautiful and striking picture. Jacob the covenant family man bows before his worldly brother who has amassed a multitude of men. Jacob honors his older brother. Jacob honors the brother he had offended.

Then comes the wonderful surprise of verse 4: Jacob walked toward his brother, but Esau ran to meet Jacob! “But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.” (v. 4). Alienated brothers, reconciled! A previously aggrieved brother and a previously fearful brother, together again in peace, shedding those tears that wash away the pain of estranged hearts and disconnected lives. Verse 4 reminds me of the famous parable of the prodigal son: when the younger son returned home, the father ran and rejoiced over his son, while the older brother remained cold-hearted, distant, and judgmental. But here, Esau the older brother is full of compassion for Jacob, the one who had sinned against him twenty years earlier. Esau demonstrates forgiveness to the brother who had sinned against him.

As this passage is much more about Jacob than it is about Esau, we have a lot of information gaps concerning Esau. We simply don’t know the details of how he became graciously disposed toward his brother. But whatever those details might be, the fact of the matter is that the Lord gave Jacob favor in Esau’s eyes. One way or another, the Lord worked it out – the Lord made a straight path for Jacob’s feet, the Lord delivered Jacob from Esau’s prior hostility by removing the hostility.

“Jacob lifted up his eyes” in verse 1, and now in verse 5 “Esau lifted up his eyes”. Thus Esau saw Jacob’s family – “the women and children” – and inquired about them. Jacob answered, referring to the children: “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” (v. 5) Then Jacob’s family followed Jacob’s example and they took turns bowing down before Esau: the servants Zilpah and Bilhah and their children “drew near… and bowed down” (v. 6); “Leah… and her children drew near and bowed down.” (v. 7) And finally Rachel and Joseph drew near and bowed down. (v. 7) In this way, Jacob and his entire family honored Esau by bowing down to him. Learn this lesson: God transforms his people into lowly servants who honor others.

God transforms his people into generous servants (v. 8-11)

As we come to verses 8-11, we see that God also transforms his people into generous servants who bless others. “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” (Ephesians 4:28) Not tightfisted and hoarding, but openhearted and generous sharing.

In Genesis 32, Jacob had prepared a large gift of 580 animals, divided into five animal groups – a group of goats, a group of rams, a group of camels, a group of oxen, and a group of donkeys. Under the care of servants, this large gift proceeded ahead of Jacob and went before Jacob into Esau’s presence. So, Esau had already encountered this large procession of animals before he met up with Jacob. Now he asks about it: “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” (v. 8) “Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.”” (v. 8) What becomes apparent, however, is that Esau has graciously accepted Jacob apart from any need to receive Jacob’s gift of appeasement. In other words, Esau is favorable to Jacob because Esau is favorable to Jacob, not because the receiving of Jacob’s large gift had purchased his favor. So for Esau’s part, Esau is happy to let Jacob keep his 580 animals: “I have enough [literally much], my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” This sets the stage for another beautiful gem from this passage to shine forth:

“Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough [literally everything].” Thus he urged him, and he took it.” (v. 10-11)

Do you see what has happened? In Genesis 32:20, Jacob hoped that the gift would appease Esau and win Esau’s favor. Now in Genesis 33:10-11 Jacob realizes that he already has Esau’s favor and that Esau doesn’t need to be appeased. But instead of selfishly taking the gift back into his own possession, he insists that Esau take the gift anyway – not in order to gain Esau’s acceptance, but in order to signify the goodwill between them and in order for Jacob to convey tangible blessing to Esau. Verses 3-11 (and especially verses 10-11) are so packed with the beauty of Jacob’s transformed life, that I’m going to return to it momentarily.

God transforms his people into faithful servants (v. 12-17)

God not only transforms His people into lowly servants who honor others (v. 1-7); God not only transforms His people into generous servants who bless others (v. 8-11); God also transforms His people into faithful servants who take good care of their own household (v. 12-17). As beautiful as the reconciliation is between Esau and Jacob, at the end of the day Esau has to live Esau’s life and Jacob has to live Jacob’s life. Esau suggests that his camp and Jacob’s camp journey together (v. 12). But Jacob is attentive to the responsibilities under his care: frail children, and nursing flocks and herds (v. 13). Esau and his men can travel like unencumbered men, whereas Jacob must travel “slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children” (v. 14). Jacob indicates that he will eventually make his way to Esau in the land of Seir (v. 14), but whether that was truly Jacob’s intention or such a visit ever came to pass, we know that Jacob’s destination was not Seir but Canaan.

Next, Esau offers to leave some of his men with Jacob, but Jacob sees no need for it (v. 15). The one thing that is important to Jacob is that Jacob continue to find favor in Esau’s sight, even to the point that Esau respect his travel needs (v. 15). Esau continues to show favor to Jacob by complying with his request, and thus Esau began his return trip to Seir (v. 16). Meanwhile, Jacob went his way, which included a temporary stay in Succoth where he built a dwelling for his household and booths for his livestock. What Jacob did in that place stuck, as indeed the place Succoth, which means booths (see ESV footnote on v. 16), was named in recognition of the booths he made for his livestock.

In all these things, Jacob is living as a man who is learning to increasingly trust the Lord and to be faithful to the responsibilities that the Lord has assigned to him. Remember, those frail children that he must care for, he has already said that they are a gracious gift from the Lord (v. 5). Remember, those nursing flocks and herds that he must care for, he has already implied that they are part of God’s gracious dealing with him (v. 11). Thus Jacob is learning not to resent God’s good but demanding gifts, but to respect them and care for them. Moreover, Jacob refuses to lean on Esau’s men for additional support. Jacob has just what he needs from the Lord, and Jacob walks accordingly.

The beauty of a transformed life (reflecting on verses 3-11)

Now we’ll get to verses 18-20 in due course. But right now, I invite you to join me in beholding Jacob’s transformed life in verses 3-11, which gives us a picture of the transformed life that God has in mind for us also.

From lording it over to serving

Twenty years ago, Jacob had lorded it over Esau in the matter of the birthright, but now he humbly honors Esau. Jacob presents himself as a servant of Esau, and Jacob regards Esau as his master. Welcome to the upside-down kingdom of God, where those like Jacob who are destined for greatness first learn the path of humble servanthood.

From self-serving to sharing

Twenty years ago, Jacob had gone to Haran as a deceiver who had just deceived his father in order to enrich himself at his brother’s expense. In Haran, the Lord graciously gave Jacob a taste of his own medicine in the form of his conniving Uncle Laban. Those wilderness years in Laban’s house did Jacob much good, not least by giving Jacob a picture of what he would become if he didn’t go God’s way. Even though Laban knew that he had been blessed and enriched by the Lord through Jacob, Laban never outgrew his selfish and deceitful ways. If Laban had been the one who had prepared a gift of 580 animals for Esau in hopes of saving his own skin, and then Esau offered to give all the animals back, we can only imagine that Laban would have jumped at the opportunity. But Jacob had experienced God’s transforming grace. Jacob didn’t jump at the opportunity to get his possessions back. Instead, he was eager to share what he had with his brother.

From selfish seeing to seeing in light of God’s image

Twenty years ago, Jacob saw his brother as an owner of valuable possessions that Jacob might seize for his own advantage. Now, he was able to see in his brother the image of God: “if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me.” (v. 10) It is impossible to read Jacob’s statement without referring back to his experience with God the previous night, when he “[saw] God face to face” (Genesis 32:30). Jacob had seen God’s face, and it was a smiling face, a gracious countenance, a favorable look – and Jacob saw that divine face in human form, as Genesis 32:24-29 showed us. Now Jacob sees his human brother showing favor and grace to him, and Jacob connects the dots: in this holy moment, Esau is reflecting the grace of God to Jacob, and thus Jacob discerns in Esau a likeness to the face of God. If Jacob discerns a rough sketch of the divine face in his physical brother, how much more should we discern that sacred sketch in our spiritual brothers and sisters? When is the last time you told a brother or sister: your face resembles the face of God; your countenance reflects His grace; your character reflects His holiness? My point at the moment is not on the possibly beneficial impact that a statement like that may have on someone else (though indeed it may). Instead, my point is that if you were to make such a statement, it would show that you yourself were being transformed: instead of sizing people up according to how they fit around your own selfish agenda, you would be seeing other people as God’s image-bearers who just might, in any particular moment, bear His image well.

God blesses Jacob, Jacob blesses Esau

There are other powerful connections between Jacob’s experience with God the previous night and his experience with Esau the next day. Genesis 32:29 told us that God blessed Jacob. Now look at what Jacob tells Esau in Genesis 33:11 – “Please accept my blessing that is brought to you”. Have you ever heard the concept that God blesses us in order that we might become a blessing to others? This is a very biblical concept that is evident in our passage and in many passages. The Lord told Abraham: “I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing…. and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2-3) The same logic is present in Psalm 67: “May God be gracious to us and bless us… that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.” (Psalm 67:1-2)

Going back twenty years, Jacob didn’t attempt to give a blessing to Esau. He actually did just the opposite: he took Esau’s blessing. But what has happened over the last twenty years? Jacob has been on the receiving end of the Lord’s steadfast love and faithfulness, as he declared in his prayer in Genesis 32:10. He had received a great promise at Bethel as he was leaving Canaan twenty years ago, and then just a few hours ago he had been blessed by the Lord. Now that Jacob was secure in the blessing, steadfast love, faithfulness, and grace of God, he didn’t have to be a taker anymore. Now he could be a giver: “Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough [literally everything].” (Genesis 33:11)

Jacob prevails upon Esau for Esau’s benefit

Also look at the end of verse 11: “Thus he urged him, and he took it.” Something beautiful is happening here. In Genesis 32:28, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, because Jacob “[had] striven with God and with men, and [had] prevailed.” Now, true to his striving and prevailing nature, Jacob prevailed upon Esau to take the gift. Jacob didn’t prevail upon Esau for Jacob’s advantage; Jacob prevailed upon Esau for Esau’s advantage. Jacob the taker becomes Jacob the giver. When you prevail upon God to receive blessing from God, you will prevail upon men to give your blessing to them. When you have a tenacious and triumphant hold on God’s grace, then you will be diligent and determined to be a conduit of His grace to those around you.

God fulfilled His earlier promise to Jacob and transformed Jacob in the process

By the time we get to verse 18, we have the other bookend to Jacob’s experience at Bethel twenty years earlier. At Bethel, God promised: “I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land.” (Genesis 28:15) In Jacob’s vow that immediately followed, he understood the Lord’s promise to bring him back to Canaan was a promise to bring him back to his father’s house in peace [in shalom] (Genesis 28:21). Now what does Genesis 33:1-15 show us? If we understand that his brother Esau is an extension of his father’s house, then Genesis 33:1-15 is showing us that Jacob returned to his father’s house in peace. Then Genesis 33:18 specifically tells us that eventually “Jacob came safely [or peacefully, the Hebrew word is shalem, similar to shalom] to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan”. So, Genesis 33:1-18 shows us and tells us that the Lord kept His promise by bringing Jacob back to his father’s house and to the land of Canaan in peace. But what this chapter loudly proclaims is the Lord kept His promise in such a way that Jacob was transformed in the process. It’s not just that Jacob was physically back home. Yes, he was physically back home, but he had been transformed in the wilderness years, the in-between years. God promised to bring Jacob back to Canaan; God promised to bring the young wilderness generation of Israelites into Canaan; God promised to bring a later generation of exiled Israelites back to Canaan; and ultimately God promises to bring His people to heavenly Canaan, the new Jerusalem, in the new heaven and the new earth. But it’s never about just getting from Point A to Point B in a physical, matter of fact way. It’s about being transformed in the wilderness years, the in-between years. It’s about being transformed in the waiting, in the trials, amid the fears and troubles that we face.

Is God’s grace changing you?

Is God’s grace toward you shaping the way that you treat other people? It is such a simple concept, and yet we can struggle. The pressures are real. Relationships are messy. Fears overwhelm us. And yet, the God who dealt graciously with Jacob also deals graciously with us, that we might learn to be humble servants, generous givers, and faithful stewards. Our Lord Jesus instructs us, “[Just] as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34) He says, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:14) The apostle Paul tells us, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32) Is the Lord’s relationship with you shaping the way that you relate to other people?

God transforms his people into grateful worshipers (v. 18-20)

Last but not least, I would like you to also see that God transforms his people into grateful worshipers who trust the Lord at all times and punctuate their lives with concrete acts of worship (v. 18-20). Just as Jacob is focused on the Lord, so we also should focus our hearts and minds on the Lord.

After a time in Succoth, Jacob eventually made his way to Shechem in the land of Canaan (v. 18). There he purchased land from the sons of Hamor (v. 19). And very importantly: “There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.” (v. 20)

We must see the obvious in terms of how Chapter 32 and Chapter 33 are put together: Jacob’s relationship with the Lord frames his relationship with Esau.  Before he met with Esau, God blessed Jacob and changed Jacob’s name to Israel. After he met with Esau, Jacob worshiped God and referred to God as the God of Israel. That’s what El-Elohe-Israel means – God is the God of Israel. But it’s not just those two before and after moments. God’s angels met Jacob at the beginning of Genesis 32. In Genesis 32:9-12 Jacob prayed to the Lord. Then in Genesis 33 Jacob confessed that God had dealt graciously with him and that his children were a gift from the Lord. Moreover, Jacob’s words and actions reveal contentment in the Lord’s provision.

It is worth noting that Hebrews 13 describes the sacrifices that are pleasing to the Lord: “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” (Hebrews 13:15-16) By God’s design, these last twenty years in Genesis 28-33, Jacob had learned to “offer up a sacrifice of praise to God” and he had also learned “to do good and to share what [he had]”. Love for the Lord, and love for people. 

There is one final glorious thing to observe from verse 20. When Jacob referred to God a few days earlier, he referred to God as “the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac” (Genesis 31:42). Then just a day ago he had addressed God in prayer this way: “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac” (Genesis 32:9). But do you see what is happening in Genesis 33:20? Jacob builds an altar and calls is ‘God is the God of Israel’. Who is Israel? Jacob is. So, though he does it subtly, this lowly servant, this generous servant, this faithful servant, and this grateful worshiper now confesses that the God of his grandfather Abraham and the God of his father Isaac is indeed his God – the God of Jacob, the God of Israel. And the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel is indeed the personal covenant-keeping God to all who are transformed by His grace. Is He your God?

ENDNOTES

[1] Jase Ely, Children’s Gospel Catechism. Published by Jase & Rebekah Ely, 2018: p. 23.