Jacob - From Worm To Worshipper Series

b) Who held a grudge against Jacob!

Genesis 27:41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

c) So what does Jacob do? Transforms into portrait #2?

II. Jacob – The Weasel!

A) Weasel?

1. A deceitful, sneaky, untrustworthy, or insincere, or treacherous person?

B) What would make me say that?

1. Plots – AGAIN!

Genesis 32: 3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4 He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, [Servant? Really?] I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. 5 I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.’”

2. Plot?

a). Bribe! That…

b) Backfires?

Genesis 32:6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”

3. Panic!

Genesis 32: 7 In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.”

a) And low and behold what is his third reaction – what should have been his first!

4. PRAYS!! (Listen to it!)

Genesis 32: 9 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’

a) Gives God platitudes! Like we often do when we are in trouble and need His help!

Genesis 32: 10 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 camps.

5. Petition?

a) Listen to how it is prioritized….

Genesis 32:11a Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, (Save me first!)

Genesis 32:11b and also the mothers with their children. (Secondly)

Genesis 32:12 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.’”

b) The prayer is a pretense of relying on the Lord, because he does not pray and trust but rather:

6. Plots again!

Genesis 32: 13 He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 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.” 17 He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ 18 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.’”19 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. 20 And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’”