Sermon # 41 - The Power Of Reconciliation Series

Esau reconciled with Jacob

We read in Genesis 33:4, “When Esau saw Jacob, he ran to meet him. He put his arms around Jacob, hugged his neck, and kissed him. Then they both cried.” (ERV)

The above mentioned verse portrays what transpired between Esau and Jacob who were twin brothers, when they met after many long years. In haste Esau ran to meet his brother, put his arms around him, hugged his neck, kissed him and they both cried. In order to comprehend the importance of this meeting, we must go back in time to almost twenty years, when the two brothers parted ways, as a result of adverse circumstances.

It is recorded in Genesis 27:41, “So Esau was full of hate for Jacob because of his father's blessing; and he said in his heart, The days of weeping for my father are near; then I will put my brother Jacob to death.” (BBE)

Esau and Jacob were twin brothers, but instead of love being the cord that bound them, they were separated by hate, the hatred that Esau felt strongly towards his brother Jacob, because Jacob deceived their father Isaac, and deprived Esau of blessings that were rightfully his. Esau therefore schemed that once his father died, which was close at hand, he would then take revenge on Jacob, and put him to death. The key word to note here is hate which implies being at enmity with someone.

When hatred takes control of a person, it will be expressed in various ways. Some people will avoid or stop talking to the person they hate, there are others who will directly confront the person and quarrel with them, while there are those who spread rumors about the person whom they at enmity with. One of the latest ways people handle hatred, is to vent their feelings of animosity through social media, sometimes using WhatsApp status or a Face Book post. Hatred therefore that is concealed in the heart, will certainly disclose itself one way or the other.

Often when someone is hurt by another, instead of choosing to deal with it, and setting things right, they harbor a deep sense of resentment, which manifests itself in diverse ways. We must instead ask the Lord to deal with this, and when aggrieved by someone, we must know how to handle hurt the right way.

The word of God teaches us how to handle hurt, and how to be rid of hatred from our lives. This hatred generally is not with someone who is a stranger, but is something that develops between brothers and sisters.

There are three things we need to understand about hatred.

1. There is a reason for the hatred.

Sometimes the reason for the hurt are valid and justifiable, because a person actually offended us with their words or actions very deliberately. There are however times when there are no authentic reasons, and the hatred is a result of misunderstanding or miscommunication with the other person, who genuinely meant no harm.

In my experience this is a fifty-fifty chance that some hurts are intentional, and others unintentional. For instance, it is possible that sometimes a person may overlook someone on the street inadvertently, while the person who was ignored could take this as a personal insult, and try to avoid them, when they meet the next time. Sadly, sometimes even believers in church bypass fellow believers, failing to realize that all of us are gathering together to fellowship, and one day we will all be in heaven, where there will be no room for such avoidance of anyone.

If we truly desire to inherit the kingdom of God, we must be reminded that the kingdom belongs to the children of the king, and He will not entertain anyone who harbors hatred or bitterness against another. The kingdom of heaven is a place where there is no room for hatred, animosity, bitterness, cursing or un-forgiveness.

The reason for Jacob being hated by Esau was that he obtained their father’s blessings by deception. Jacob pretended to be Esau, and acquired all the blessings that were due to his brother Esau. Esau was therefore angry, bitter and hated his brother Jacob intensely.

These blessings of elders on the younger still holds true today. When anyone in authority, like parents over children, employer over the employee, the pastor over his flock, pronounce a blessing on the ones who are under their authority, it will be established as they have spoken, because the Lord has placed them in that position of authority.

2. The result of hatred

If hatred is not handled as it should be, there will most certainly be ramifications. In Esau’s case he decided that the way he would handle this enmity is wait for an opportune time to murder his brother Jacob. When hatred took over Esau, he even lost his humaneness.