May the mumbling commence!
Jacob puts a plan together to appease his brother Esau,
who still appears to be ready to destroy him after all these years apart. There will be flattery. There will be bribery. But, would it work? Read from Peterson’s The Message:
And then Jacob prayed,
“God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, God who told me, ‘Go back to
your parents’ homeland and I’ll treat you well.’ I don’t deserve all the love and loyalty you’ve shown me. When I left here and
crossed the Jordan I only had the
clothes on my back, and now look at me – two
camps! Save me,
please, from the violence of my brother, my angry
brother! I’m
afraid he’ll come and attack us all, me, the mothers
and the children. You yourself said, ‘I will
treat you well; I’ll
make your descendants like the sands of the sea, far too many
to count.’”
He
slept the night
there. Then
he prepared a present for his brother Esau
from his possessions: two
hundred female goats, twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
thirty camels with their nursing young, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys
and ten male donkeys. He put a servant in charge of each
herd and said, “Go ahead of me and keep
a healthy space
between each herd.”
Then he instructed the first
one out: “When my brother Esau comes close and asks,
‘Who is your master? Where are you
going? Who owns these?’ – answer him like this, ‘Your
servant Jacob. They are a gift to my
master Esau. He’s on his
way.’”
He
gave the same instructions to the second servant and to
the third – to each
in turn as they set out with their herds: “Say
‘Your servant Jacob is on his way behind us.’” He
thought, “I will soften him up with the succession of
gifts.
Then when he sees me face-to-face, maybe he’ll be glad to welcome me.” (Genesis
32:9-20)
Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:
Then Jacob prayed, "O
God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac,
O Lord, who
said to me, 'Go back to your country
and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,' I
am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness
you have shown your servant. I had only
my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two
groups. Save me,
I pray, from the hand of
my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers
with their children. But you have said, 'I will surely make
you prosper and will make your descendants
like the sand of
the sea, which cannot be counted.'"
He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: two
hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
thirty female camels
with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten
male donkeys. He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself,
and said to his
servants, "Go ahead of me, and keep
some space between
the herds."
He instructed the one in the lead: "When
my brother Esau meets you and asks, 'To whom do you
belong, and where are you going, and who
owns all these
animals in front of you?' then you are to say, 'They
belong to your servant Jacob. They are a
gift sent to
my lord Esau,
and he is coming behind us.'"
He also instructed the
second, the third and all the others who
followed the herds: "You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet
him. And be sure to say, 'Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.'"
For he thought,
"I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on
ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive
me." (Genesis 32:9-20)
Jacob was frightened for his life and the lives of his
family. He was scared silly. And what was his first course of action? He prayed to God. He prayed to his Lord. God became personal to Jacob when He
spoke to Jacob at Bethel when Jacob was on his way to Paddan Aram.
Jacob acknowledges the grace he’s received from the
Lord. Was this heart knowledge or only
head knowledge? The NIV records Jacob as
calling himself a servant to God.
Peterson
omits this designation. Is Peterson
hinting at the insincerity of Jacob’s plea to God? Does Peterson believe that Jacob is trying to
appease God with false humility?
These are important questions to consider. And there’s no way to definitively know the
answer. So let’s give Jacob the benefit
of the doubt. In this case, I side with
the NIV translation.
The heart of Jacob’s prayer is save me! You said you would prosper me… or you would
treat me well. Now is your chance!
But Jacob’s preparations to reunite with his brother
Esau smack of flattery and bribery. He
calls Esau his master or lord. He
acknowledges that he’s Esau’s servant.
He sends a wealth of gifts to Esau.
Maybe this would help smooth over the fact that he took Esau’s
birthright and blessing. But what was
Jacob thinking that this flattery and bribery would accomplish? Peterson has Jacob dreaming of a warm
welcome, while the NIV had Jacob simply wanting to be received and not
destroyed.
I think the latter is truer
to Jacob’s heart, as we will see in the coming days.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
No comments:
Post a Comment