Jacob is soon going to meet Esau, someone known for both a long memory and a short fuse.
With Laban in his rear-view mirror, look what’s straight ahead! “Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother” (Gen 32:3). Ah, yes, brother Esau—the man from whom Jacob first wrestled his birthright, then his blessing. Mind you, Jacob exited the homestead quickly, and left behind all that wealthy Isaac had acquired. So Esau still had done very well for himself. And remember the leftover blessing Esau received from his father? “Your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above” (27:39). Nonetheless, Jacob was rightly concerned that long-simmering hatred was still in his big brother’s heart. The news he received back from the messengers was chilling: “We came to your brother Esau, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him” (32:6). Four hundred men! That doesn’t sound like a friendly reunion. So Jacob decides to minimize his losses. “He divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. And he said, ‘If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape’” (vv 7-8). A wise plan, but he thankfully doesn’t stop there. Time for a prayer meeting, and a wonderful prayer it is. First, he lays claim to God’s promise to help if he came home. Then he says, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies” (v 10). I left with my walking stick and look at me now. You have blessed me, Lord. Now please deliver me. Our next episode gives the rest of the story, but let’s notice that faith AND works, due diligence AND prayer, are the keys to life’s success.