Thursday, May 31, 2012

Thurs.’s Devo -Jacob Meets Esau



Read Gen. 33:1-20
Today is D-day.  Esau is here!  Jacob sees Esau in the distant and as they get closer Jacob bows as he walks toward Esau, giving him homage and respect.  Esau, on the other hand, ran to meet Jacob and hugged and kissed him while they both cried.  When Esau saw all the people with Jacob he asked about them.  Jacob proudly introduced him to his family.  Then Esau asked about all the cattle he met on the way.  Jacob told him they were a token gift to win his favor.  Esau tried to refuse them but Jacob insisted in sharing his blessing with Esau.  This was Jacob’s way of giving back to Esau what he had stolen from him years ago.  Esau finally accepted the gift and offered to accompany Jacob to Seir.  Seir means “rough”.  Jacob had been living in “rough” so what he needed was a little peace.   Jacob explained that his troop was too tired to continue without a rest so Esau went on ahead of him.  Jacob went to Succoth which means “booths”.  Later this would become a festival called the festival of booths or Tabernacles.  Succoth was a place of rest.  The name of the city he stayed in was Shalem which means “peace”.  Jacob had finally made peace with his past and now able to rest.  Shalem later became Jerusalem.  Here he bought some land and set up camp.  He built an altar to God and called it El-elohe which means “the mighty god of Israel”.   
Lord, thank you for being our place of peace in the midst of rough situations.  You lead us beside still waters and you restore our soul.      

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