And the same thing happens with Jacob and Esau.
The first baby being born is Esau. And as they’re being in the birth process, it looks like the hand of Jacob is touching Esau’s heel. And it looks like he’s grabbing his heel and tripping him up, you see. And that’s why one Hebrew scholar ⁓ rendered the name Tripper Upper. In any case, he turns out to be the Shrewdai.
the quiet guy, the conniving kind. Esau was a better man than Jacob. So he calls his brother twice. His brother is now going out of his head and he says to the father, that’s the second time he did that to me. I’m going to put him in the ground.
But years past, about 30 years past. And in the meantime, Isaac, the father of the two boys, has not only blessed Jacob, he also blesses by faith Esau. And finally, when Jacob meets Esau and he’s frightened of Esau, so he sends all his family in front of him, sends all the flocks in front of him, so that’ll kind of ease him up.
When he finally meets Esau, he’s scared spitless and he’s on his knees and he’s bound and groveling. This is all in the book of Genesis chapter 33. And he’s all groveling in that and Esau and all the animals that were set aside, he’s given him a lot of animals. Jacob is giving Esau a lot of animals, kind of soften him up. And Esau says, and what is this all about my brother?
He said, these are all for you. said, I’ve got more than I can handle. I’m richly blessed. God blessed Esau. Yeah, but he sold his birthright and the Hebrew writer criticized him for it. Yeah, and Paul killed Christians. And Paul criticized himself about it. Of course Esau wasn’t Jesus, but he’s a better man than Jacob.
Nothing to do with whether you’re a good or a bad guy or anything like that. God chose who he wanted to choose and did what he wanted to do so that nobody in the end could brag.
And when Jacob meets Esau and he’s groveling and all that, Esau comes to him and grabs him, hugs him and kisses him. Isn’t that amazing?
You see, Esau, he gets bad press.
And Jacob says.
In seeing your face, Jacob to Esau, in seeing your face, this is in the text. It’s like seeing the face of God.
These words aren’t in the text. But he could have gone on to say, you know, I thought you were going to bury me after what I did to you. Esau none of that. Forget all of that stuff. That was, Esau, forgave that wretch.
Hugged him, kissed him, held him to be a brother.
Great man.
A great man. Sinner and all, but a great man.