Yesterday morning in my Bible study with my girlfriends, we read the story in Genesis 33 about how God saved Jacob from the wrath of his brother, Esau. Some may say that Esau was overreacting and being ridiculous in his anger towards his brother. But Jacob had twice stolen from Esau his most precious belongings - first his birthright, and then his father's blessing. This may not seem like a big deal to us nowadays, but back in Bible times, it was huge. Jacob had deceived Esau out of his livelihood, his prosperity assured since birth, and his future. And Esau wanted revenge.
Genesis 32 describes a tense scene, in which Jacob is preparing and strategizing about how best to defend himself against his brother's 400 men who were coming to attack him and his family. The scene is even more dramatic, in my opinion, because the two enemies are brothers. In chapter 33 the two families finally meet. And Esau does not want to kill Jacob!
I find the story rather ironically amusing. Jacob is so relieved that Esau has forgiven him, he insists on giving him lavish gifts - almost forcing them on him. He also seems to almost not believe that Esau is sincere; he does his best to get out of Esau's presence and far away from him as quickly as possible. Not really the best way for brothers to relate to each other, but I suppose that it was definitely understandable.
But Jacob understood that he had not delivered himself. He realized that he had wronged his brother, and that it was the Lord who had rescued him from Esau's anger. For that reason, Jacob erected an altar in honor of El Elohe, the Mighty God.
While most of us do not have such dramatic stories to relate to, we still serve El Elohe, the Mighty God. And He can still turn around seemingly impossible situations. I like that this name has to do with a broken relationship. Although most of us may not have stolen a future from someone close to us, I would venture to say that nearly all of us have a broken relationship with someone close to us. And El Elohe, the Mighty God, can fix those relationships. He can right the wrongs in our lives. He is big enough. He is mighty enough. All we have to do is ask Him.
Genesis 32 describes a tense scene, in which Jacob is preparing and strategizing about how best to defend himself against his brother's 400 men who were coming to attack him and his family. The scene is even more dramatic, in my opinion, because the two enemies are brothers. In chapter 33 the two families finally meet. And Esau does not want to kill Jacob!
I find the story rather ironically amusing. Jacob is so relieved that Esau has forgiven him, he insists on giving him lavish gifts - almost forcing them on him. He also seems to almost not believe that Esau is sincere; he does his best to get out of Esau's presence and far away from him as quickly as possible. Not really the best way for brothers to relate to each other, but I suppose that it was definitely understandable.
But Jacob understood that he had not delivered himself. He realized that he had wronged his brother, and that it was the Lord who had rescued him from Esau's anger. For that reason, Jacob erected an altar in honor of El Elohe, the Mighty God.
While most of us do not have such dramatic stories to relate to, we still serve El Elohe, the Mighty God. And He can still turn around seemingly impossible situations. I like that this name has to do with a broken relationship. Although most of us may not have stolen a future from someone close to us, I would venture to say that nearly all of us have a broken relationship with someone close to us. And El Elohe, the Mighty God, can fix those relationships. He can right the wrongs in our lives. He is big enough. He is mighty enough. All we have to do is ask Him.
Genesis 33:18-20
18 After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. 19 For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. 20 There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.
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