This blog serves as an outreach for Pastor Randy Powell of the First Baptist Church of Franklin, PA. Feel free to ask questions or send me an e-mail at pastorpowell@hotmail.com
As the moment of truth approaches, Jacob prepares to meet his estranged brother with a multi-step plan designed to mollify Esau's anger. But will it work, or does Esau intend to kill his brother as he vowed twenty years ago?
In the end, it isn't Jacob's planning that makes a difference, but the change in Esau's heart that God wrought. When Esau sees Jacob he rushes to embrace him (as in the Prodigal Son) with tears.
We have been given the ministry of reconciliation by Jesus, the forgiveness that Esau gave to Jacob reminds us how powerful this task can be.
"How the Gospels Should Have Ended" - rebuttal part 1 (of 2)
If the Gospel story was we know it God's "Plan B"? Daniel Lancaster of First Fruits of Zion thinks so. In this pro-Torah fan fiction version of the Gospels, Lancaster imagines a better version of Jesus' story that sees him crowned King Messiah by a people who follow him back to Torah observance.
Chief among the many questions this perversion of the Gospel story raises is this: It has not time for Gospel proclamation to the Gentiles. No Great Commission, no giving of the Holy Spirit. What does Lancaster envision instead for the Gentiles? God's wrath, immediately poured forth after the resurrection of Jesus (killed by the Romans after God lets them slaughter the Jewish people who had trusted in Jesus).
In the end, FFOZ hopes that guilt over the "failure" of Jesus' generation to embrace the Torah (i.e. the better version of the Gospel story) will prompt people today to take up Torah observance as the means of "hastening" the return of Christ. The hubris to think they can change the timing of God's plan is astounding.
Jacob's choice to abruptly leave with his family and property without even informing Laban prompts Jacob's father-in-law to pursue him. When Laban catches-up with Jacob he confronts him and both men air their grievances with each other.
In the end, the relationship between Jacob and Laban is beyond repair, especially when both men continue to insist they are in the right. God intervenes to prevent the situation from ending in violence, but sadly not harming each other is the only thing they will commit to.
The episode serves as a reminder of the consequences of schemes, deception, and grudges. For Jacob, it serves as a stark reminder of what might await him when he is confronted by Esau.
In this chapter of his life story, Jacob's relationship with his father-in-law Laban deteriorates, eventually breaking. Both men are to blame, as both seek to cheat the other. In the end, Jacob is successful in obtaining most of Laban's wealth, and then leaves with his wives and children to head back to Canaan.
In a soap opera worthy long-running tragedy, the family of Jacob is repeatedly convulsed by jealous rivalry between his wives who happen to be sisters. That this was entirely foreseeable, by both their father Laban and husband Jacob, doesn't make it any less tragic for these women.
In the end, the passage sees Jacob fathering 11 sons with 4 wives, all whilst the sibling rivalry rages and everyone is negatively impacted by going along with cultural expectations.
