The Brother Who Ran

A cloud of dust on the horizon. Four hundred men, coming fast. At their head is a man with every reason to be angry. And walking out to meet him, alone and limping, is the brother who wronged him.

Twenty years earlier, Jacob had tricked his twin brother Esau out of their father’s blessing. Esau had sworn to kill him, and Jacob had fled for his life. Now Jacob is coming home, with a large family and great flocks. The night before, by the river Jabbok, he wrestled with God and came away with a new name, Israel, and a limp. He has already sent hundreds of animals ahead as gifts. But gifts can only do so much. Now he lifts his eyes, and there is Esau.

Jacob arranges his family carefully. The two servant women, Zilpah and Bilhah, go first with their children, then Leah and her children, and last of all Rachel and little Joseph. Some readers wince at that order. Even now, Jacob’s favourites are kept at the back, furthest from danger. But then Jacob does something new. He doesn’t hide behind his family. He walks out in front of all of them. And as he goes, he bows to the ground. Once. Twice. Seven times, he bows low before his brother, limping forward each time.

And Esau runs. Not with a sword. Genesis says Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and they wept. Twenty years of fear and anger, and it comes out in tears. Then Esau looks up and sees the women and children. “Who are these with you?” “The children God has graciously given your servant,” Jacob says. One by one, they come forward and bow. “And what about all those animals I met on the road?” Esau asks. “They are to win your favour, my lord.” Esau shakes his head. “I have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

But Jacob insists. “Please, if I have found favour in your eyes, accept my gift. For seeing your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me so kindly. Please take my blessing.” Did you catch that word? Blessing. Years ago, Jacob stole a blessing from Esau. Now he is trying to give one back. And Jacob, who saw God face to face the night before, now sees something of God in the welcoming face of his brother. Esau accepts the gift.

Esau offers to travel with Jacob and protect him. Jacob gently says no; the children are young and the animals must go slowly. He says he will follow on to Esau’s home in Seir. But in the end Jacob goes a different way, to Succoth, and then to the town of Shechem in Canaan. Genesis doesn’t explain why. Perhaps peace was still fragile. Jacob buys a piece of land there and builds an altar. He calls it El Elohe Israel, which means God, the God of Israel. The God who had promised to be with him had brought him home.

Jacob’s seven bows are not just nerves. Bowing seven times was a known sign of deep respect in the ancient Near East. Clay tablets found at Amarna in Egypt, letters sent to Pharaoh by local rulers in Canaan in the fourteenth century before Christ, often open with the words, I fall at the feet of the king, my lord, seven times and seven times. Jacob is approaching Esau the way a servant approaches a king.

Jacob and Esau meet again. You’ll find it in Genesis chapter 33. Jacob came expecting revenge, and found a brother running toward him with open arms. So here’s a question to carry with you. Is there someone you need to make peace with, and what would it take for you to walk out in front and go first?