Genesis 33:1–20.
And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
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.
Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you.” But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.” So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.
But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.
The night of wrestling with God is over. But the limp remains. Jacob has been forever changed, and now that God has had his way with Jacob in his long time away from home, the moment Jacob has dreaded for twenty years is finally here: Esau, with four hundred men, is approaching.
Jacob arranges his family in order, still nervous, but this time he steps out front himself. The old Jacob would have stayed back and let others take the heat. The new Jacob, Israel, walks ahead, limping toward Esau. And then the unthinkable happens. Esau runs, embraces him, kisses him, and they weep together. What Jacob feared as disaster becomes a reunion of a family.
Why? Because God had already gone ahead. The Lord had promised to bring Jacob home, and here is the proof. Reconciliation is not the fruit of Jacob’s gifts or schemes—it is the fruit of God’s sovereign grace softening Esau’s heart.
Notice Jacob’s words: “The children whom God has graciously given your servant… God has dealt graciously with me, and I have enough.” Jacob is no longer boasting in his cleverness, no longer angling for advantage. He now speaks the language of grace. Even when Esau refuses his gifts, Jacob insists, “Please accept my blessing.” This is striking: years before Jacob stole the blessing from Esau; now he freely gives a blessing back, acknowledging that all he has is from God. It’s a picture of repentance worked out in real life.
The chapter ends with Jacob arriving safely in Canaan, buying land, and building an altar. The name he gives it, “El-Elohe-Israel” means “God, the God of Israel.” The new name God gave him now becomes the confession of his lips. The God who wrestled him into weakness is the God who brought him home in peace.
We should recognize the significance of this. All throughout Jacob’s story God had belonged to someone else. He was “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of his family”, but never the God of Jacob. Now here, for the first time, Jacob admits that God is his God, personally.
This passage shows us the beauty of reconciliation that only God can bring. Esau’s embrace of Jacob foreshadows the embrace of the prodigal’s father, and ultimately the embrace of our heavenly Father in Christ. What Jacob could never have engineered, God accomplished. And what we could never earn—peace with God—Christ has secured by His blood.
In Christ, God runs to us, not with four hundred men for judgment, but with open arms of mercy. At the cross He satisfied justice, and now He receives repentant sinners with joy. Like Jacob, we come limping, humbled, confessing our unworthiness. And like Jacob, we find that God’s grace has gone before us, preparing reconciliation.
And notice the end: Jacob sets up an altar. Reconciliation with Esau is wonderful, but worship of God is more important. Every gift, every mercy, every safe arrival must end with praise.
Closing Prayer
Gracious Father, we thank You that in Christ You have reconciled us to Yourself. We confess that we are unworthy of Your steadfast love, but You run to us in mercy. May our lives, like Jacob’s, end not in boasting but in worship, declaring that You are our God forever. Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.