Jacob Meets Esau 

But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.  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.  Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down.  Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down.  Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.”  But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”  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.” Thus he urged him, and he took it. (Genesis 33: 4 to 11) 

Esau wanted to kill his brother Jacob because Jacob took away Isaac's blessing from him. Isaac's blessing to Jacob is described below. 

"... May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine.  Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you.  Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!" (Genesis 27: 28 29) 

Indeed, with the blessing, Jacob was able to turn things around to his favor and get what he wanted.  He could not only get a fortune from his uncle but also raise a big family.  He could even bargain with God to get God's blessing. 

Then under Esau's pleading, Issac blessed Esau as below. 

... “Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high.  By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck.” (Genesis 27: 39 40) 

Compared to Jacob's blessing, Esau's blessing was more like a curse than a blessing.  No wonder Esau wanted to kill Jacob.  However, when Jacob met Esau, Esau had a group of 400 men following him.  According to Esau himself, he had enough so that he didn't need what Jacob had offered him.  After Jacob's persistence, Esau took it.  Jacob also bowed himself seven times to the ground and called himself Esau's servant just to get Esau's forgiveness.  It seemed that Esau was a winner in the end.  Jacob, instead, lost a fortune and dignity.   

The reason that Jacob could give up his fortune and dignity might be because he truly met with God.  In Peniel, Jacob claimed that he had seen God face to face, and yet his life had been delivered.  He experienced a rebirth.  He experienced what it meant to connect his life with God.  He was no longer himself.  God was no longer just for getting blessings. 

In his letter, Paul wrote as below. 

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3: 7 to 11) 

Paul also wrote as below. 

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (First Corinthians 15: 19) 

With Jesus, the same experience could happen to us.  If we focus on this life, then we might not feel that we prevail compared to others.  If we believe in Jesus Christ, then the faith could bring us into the righteousness from God which is like meeting with God face to face.  That faith could also make us know the power of Jesus Christ's resurrection and how to attain the resurrection from the dead.  Then we would no longer focus on what we could gain from the world in this life but on what God has prepared for us through Jesus Christ in eternal life.  Emmanuel. 

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