Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 33 & 34.
And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau
came… And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and
kissed him: and they wept (Genesis 33:1, 4).
The LORD chose Jacob to bear his covenant with Abraham, not
because of any inherent merit in him, but only, as Paul said in Romans 9:11,
that “the purpose of God according to election might stand.”
Indeed, early on it seemed that there was little in Jacob
that appeared spiritually commendable. He manipulated his brother Esau into
giving him the birthright (Genesis 25). He deceived his father Isaac,
pretending to be Esau, to receive his father’s blessing (Genesis 27).
But, as Jacob’s story unfolds, we begin to see evidence that
the God who chose this man also worked to change and sanctify him.
We see this especially in Jacob’s prayer for deliverance in
Genesis 32 as he prepares to meet his estranged brother Esau. Jacob humbles
himself, telling the LORD, “I am not worthy
of the least of all thy mercies,” before he petitions, “Deliver me, I
pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau” (32:10-11).
It is there in Jacob’s wrestling with the Angel of the LORD,
and his being given a new name, Israel, and a new identity as a prince of God
(32:28).
And it will continue in Genesis 33 as Jacob meets and is
reconciled with Esau (33:1-4)
There is something of the gospel in this. The man chosen by
God who humbles himself, and seeks deliverance from the Lord, wrestles with God
in prayer, will be made, by God’s grace, a new creature in Christ, given a new
name, a new identity, and reconciled with his brethren.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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