Title: Grace of Peace, June 26
Genesis 33:1-17
grace of peace
Jacob and Esau
Now, when Jacob heard the news that his brother Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men, he was so sore that it was hard to walk. Before confronting Esau in person, he placed his family in different locations. Originally he had four wives. Two were daughters of his uncle Laban, and the other two were his daughters' servants. The two maidservants and the children born to them were placed first, the older sister Leah and the children born to her second, and Rachel and Joseph born to her last. Why did he put Rachel, whom he loved the most among his four wives, and Joseph, whom he loved the most among his eleven sons? (At that time, the youngest child, Benjamin, was still born, so there were only eleven sons.) The reason is probably in case the older brother Esau does something wrong with his family.
There is a story behind Jacob's fear of his brother Esau. It has already been 20 years ago, but Jacob stole the blessing of the eldest son, which was supposed to be bestowed on Esau, the eldest son, by his father Isaac. Esau then went with a sword, saying that he would kill Jacob. Even now, it is something similar to a court battle or even a sword fight between children over an inheritance dispute. Although Jacob was originally a person with many ambitions, his mother Rebekah's desire for Jacob's favoritism was also one of the causes of this unhappiness. Now, 20 years have passed, but Jacob had no choice but to fear his brother because of the image that was engraved on his heart at that time.
It seems that a person's emotions and worldview are determined by what experiences he or she has when they are young. If he grew up in a family where competition was his top priority, he would only see others as the object of that competition for the rest of his life. A child who grew up in an elitist family will not escape that elitist consciousness until the day he dies. It is said that one's consciousness automatically works that way, regardless of whether a person has morals or not. In order to overcome the wrong worldview and values acquired at a young age, we must constantly try to introspect ourselves when we are young. However, in general, it is not easy to overcome this because we focus our life only on reinforcing the values given once rather than on self-reflection. In this regard, the Christian faith seems to be the most important when you are young or when you first start your life of faith. There seems to be some truth to the saying that a person can recognize a cotyledon first.
sea scene
After doing his best to win the favor of his older brother Esau, such as sending many gifts earlier, and providing safety measures for emergencies, Jacob met his older brother Esau. The biblical writer describes the scene this way: “And Jacob went ahead and walked, and fell to the ground seven times, bowing down, and going out to his brother” (verse 3). Now Jacob stood before Esau with the highest respect he could ever have when he met the Pharaoh of Egypt. All kinds of thoughts must have crossed Jacob's mind at this moment. In the first place, fear must have filled him from head to toe, and on the other hand, it must have been pity for himself, who humbled himself to the point of being humble. In addition to that, if you say ‘Yeocha’, you have to go through the 36th commandment line, so I had to keep an eye on my older brother Esao.
The Bible writer describes Esau's actions when he met his younger brother Jacob after 20 years of stealing the blessing of his firstborn son. “Esau ran to meet him, took Jacob’s neck, kissed him, and wept” (v. 4). This scene is like the reunion of separated families between the two Koreas. This is the kind of meeting of blood and flesh where there is no room for any conflict of interest to intervene. The emotion and joy that emanated from the depths of emotion made me cry. In the meeting of the twin brothers Esau and Jacob, we can read the contrast between the two. While Jacob's attitude was indescribably polite, yet still formal, Esau's attitude exuded a primal family spirit.
When we think of Esau and Jacob in general, we often think of Esau as a poor man, while Jacob is quite good in that Israel's history is passed down to his descendants. Even if the evaluation of these biblical writers is correct, if you look at the character of these two men alone, Esau is far superior to Jacob. Esao doesn't seem to remember anything from 20 years ago. Although his attitude may seem like a frivolity of ignoring the birthright's cause, on the other hand, it must be acknowledged that human beauty is very important in human relationships.
First of all, the scene after Jacob and Esau was dramatic. After that, the brother's conversation continues in such detail that it seems a bit boring. Seeing Jacob's party, Esau asks who they are. Jacob introduces his wives and children one by one, and has them greet his brother. Esau also asks about the herd he met before Jacob's party. When asked if it was a present for his brother, Esao replied: “Jacob! My living is good too. Yours shall be yours” (verse 9). Just like our old story, “Good Brothers,” we are arguing to each other to have so much wealth.
After the herd story was over, Esau was planning to take his brother to his estate. However, Jacob refuses to do so. Did Jacob still not trust his brother? Esau then says that he will leave some of his men behind to help his younger brother. But Jacob refuses even that. The biblical writer concludes this dramatic encounter: “On that day Esau left the road and returned to Seir, and Jacob went to Sukot and built a house there, and built several penns for the herds. That is why the name of the place was called Sukot” (verses 16 and 17).
For the reunion of brothers who met after 20 years, the end is not very refreshing. They had to hold a feast and hang out together to get rid of hoepo, but they broke up without a promise to meet again. The biblical writer does not judge whether Esau's attitude toward Jacob was sincere. The biblical writer is not interested in whether Esau had a heart for Jacob, who politely refused his favor. This story aroused readers' curiosity as if something great was about to happen, but ended up being too bland. Why?
Peace is God's grace.
The reason Jacob and Esau's death ended in a brisk way is that Jacob's and Esau's attitudes were completely different. As we saw above, Jacob showed the utmost courtesy for his own survival, but Esau showed brotherly affection. Meetings between people with different ideas like this will eventually wither. Perhaps the will of South and North Korea for unification is similar. North Koreans may be brainwashed, but they are based on a desperate brotherhood, while South Korea takes a relatively formal stance. In such a situation, you will find an excuse to avoid each other by any means.
Also, it is a very natural phenomenon in human history that Jacob and Esau met with great expectations and then withered away. Overcoming the 20-year time period is of course exciting and thrilling, but it soon comes to us as a daily reality. Painful things happen that you didn't experience when you were separated. If we do not overcome such differences, we have no choice but to break up again with much greater scars. It may seem sobering at that time, but it may be wise to organize things from the beginning as if you had never met your brother like Jacob. 55 years have passed since the division of South and North Korea, and 50 years since the outbreak of the Yuk-Io outbreak. Our unification is not an option but a necessity. However, in some respects, a more cautious approach is needed, as unification can cause unexpected harm to both the South and the North. Even if we look at the example of Germany, which achieved reunification 15 years ago, unification must not end with just emotion and joy, but it must also create very realistic problems.
I explained above the two reasons why the death of Jacob and Esau ended unexpectedly and flat. One is that Jacob's and Esau's positions were very different, and the other is that practical issues were far more important than the joy that comes after 20 years. This point of view deserves to be analyzed at the level of social science or psychology. We must not stop here, but ask the theological reason why. Why does the biblical writer organize the meeting between Jacob and Esau in this way? Is the Bible trying to teach us that life is usually the way it is? With what intention does the biblical writer close this story as if nothing happened?
We must solve this problem with the question of how Jacob prepared to meet his brother Esau. In Genesis 32, the process of preparing Jacob to meet his brother Esau is described in detail. There is no need to repeat it here again. The point is that the gifts to his brother Esau are very numerous, and the messages he conveyed to him through his servants are very respectful. There are a lot of South Koreans who are dissatisfied with North Korea’s provision of food and fertilizers, saying “spreading”. It means that the most things that Jacob can prepare have been prepared. The reason he prepared that way was that he thought that there was a high possibility that his brother Esau would die. Jacob had no choice but to prepare for that, not only because Jacob was originally a deceitful man, and because he was a suspicious person, but because the situation was clearly more likely for war than for peace.
But what about the results? Regardless of those preparations, it turned out that Esau had no intention of making war with Jacob. This means that the peace between Jacob and his brother Esau was God's grace. Peace is a gift from God. It is a gift that God grants to those who seek peace.
So, is there nothing we can do for peace? Herein lies the tension of the Christian faith. Ultimately, peace is God's grace, but between the fact that we must earnestly pursue a peace-oriented life, we are responsible in the face of history. After making peace with his brother Esau, Jacob soon goes to war with the locals again because of the violent behavior of his sons. In the process of human warfare, God is trying to give us peace as a gift. Those who know that fact live toward peace. We live by fighting for “peace” in the home, in the north and in the south, in the midst of world conflicts. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Happy are those who work for peace” (Matthew 5:9). Celebrating the 55th anniversary of the 6th, is the church in Korea fulfilling its role as a community working for peace between the two Koreas?