“But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.”
~ Genesis 33:4
Hi James and Ellen,
Has your dad and ma ever taken you to a reunion? Reunions can be family get-togethers to formal meetings. A reunion can be a time when an extended family gets together. A family reunion may happen once every year or every other year or every five years or . . . when your grandpaa was a kid, your grandpaa’s ma’s extended family had a reunion every year. Your grandpaa had cousins on his ma’s side of the family who lived in the Chicago area and in Michigan who your grandpaa only saw just this one time of the year – at his ma’s extended family reunion. Your grandpaa’s ma’s extended family still has a reunion every other year. Your grandpaa’s grandma on his ma’s side of the family had sixty-six grandkids – which means that your grandpaa has sixty-five first cousins on his ma’s side of the family. Your grandpaa does not begin to know the names of all of his first cousins on his ma’s side of the family. Your grandpaa’s ma was one of thirteen kids in her family. Your grandpaa’s dad was one of eight kids in his family. One of your grandpaa’s dad’s little sisters died when she was still really young during a flu epidemic. Your grandpaa’s dad had three sisters who never got married. Your grandpaa has fifteen first cousins on his dad’s side of the family. When your grandpaa was a kid, your grandpaa’s dad’s side of the family would get together each year at McKennon Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with the extended families who were related to your grandpaa’s dad’s ma. Sioux Falls to your grandpaa when he was a kid was a really big city. Your grandpaa when he was a kid lived on a farm that is located a mile west and two miles north of Volga, South Dakota. Sioux Falls was about sixty miles due south of Volga. The drive to Sioux Falls was always really interesting to your grandpaa. Your grandpaa’s dad was not a fast driver. The drive would sometimes seem to your grandpaa like it would take forever. Your grandpaa really looked forward to going to Sioux Falls to McKennon Park each summer for the reunion of his dad’s uncles, aunts and cousins on his ma’s side of the family. McKennon Park was a really pretty and fun place to run and play.
Esau and Jacob had a reunion. Esau and Jacob’s reunion took place over 3900 years ago. Moses in Genesis 33 recounts the reunion that Esau and Jacob had. Esau and Jacob were twins. Esau was born seconds before Jacob. As his families oldest boy, Esau was to get the family birthright – meaning that Esau was to get a double share of his dad’s land, livestock – which were his dad’s sheep, goats, cattle, etc., and possessions. One day before his dad died, Esau came home from a hunting trip feeling really hungry. The stew that Jacob was fixing when Esau arrived back at his home after having gone hunting smelled really good to him. Jacob told Esau that he could have some of the stew that he was fixing if Esau would give him the family birthright. Esau told Jacob that the family birthright was his if . . . because he now had the family birthright, Jacob was the kid now – instead of Esau, who would get a double portion of his dad’s land, livestock and possessions. With the help of his ma – Rebekah, Jacob was able to trick his blind, dying dad – Isaac, into passing on the birthright blessing to him instead of to Esau. When Esau found out that he had not gotten the birthright blessing from his dad, Esau was one mad dude. Esau was ready to kill Jacob. Jacob had to run for his life or . . . Jacob headed for Haran where Laban – a brother of his ma, lived. Jacob ended up staying in Haran for years.
The time had finally come for Esau and Jacob to see each other again. It had been years since Jacob had run for his life from Esau – knowing that Esau would kill him if . . . because Jacob had been blessed by his dad with the family birthright blessing instead of Esau – who was to be given the family birthright. Jacob had no way of knowing if Esau was still mad enough at him to still want to kill him. When Jacob saw Esau coming with four hundred guys, Jacob thought that Esau still wanted to kill him. Jacob divided up his family. Jacob had two wives – Leah and Rachel. Because Jacob liked Rachel the most and because Joseph was his favorite kid, Jacob put Rachel and Joseph behind everyone else. Jacob also had kids by Leah’s maidservant and Rachel’s maidservant. Even before Jacob saw Esau, Jacob sent ahead sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys and camels to Esau to try to appease Esau if Esau still harbored a wish to see him dead. Jacob was always thinking – conniving, trying to figure out a way to one up his big bro. If you had been Esau, how would you have felt after your kid bro had figured out a way to take or to get a double portion that you were supposed to get as the oldest boy in your family from your dad when your dad died? If you had been Jacob, how would you have felt after you had tricked your big bro into giving you the family birthright and after you had tricked your blind, dying dad into giving you the family blessing which was supposed to go to your big bro? If your grandpaa had been Esau, your grandpaa would probably still have wanted to find some way to . . . if your grandpaa had been Jacob, your grandpaa would have been really nervous about seeing Esau again. Moses in verse 4 describes what happened when Esau and Jacob met again after years of not seeing each other, “But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.” Esau forgave Jacob. Jacob knew God as His God. God blessed Jacob and his extended family by making Jacob’s extended family His specially chosen guys, gals and kids but . . . it was Esau who God really blessed. Over the years that Jacob and Esau were separated, God took away the grudge that Esau had against Jacob. As Esau lost his grudge against his kid bro, God blessed Esau with land, animals and plenty of wealth. A reunion can be a time to fix a broken relationship.
Genesis 33 (314)