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The Power of Realignment

Mon, 10/01/2011
Genesis Chapters 28 to 30

GENESIS 28

Commentary

In a brace of chapters dominated by the very public outplaying of the life of Jacob, we find tucked away an equally important quartet of verses which have a lot to say to a people at the beginning of a new year.  Esau is rarely presented as a person of model character, his flaws have spawned a range of sermons over the years and this can obscure the fact that he actually turned his life around. We meet him after his very vocal plans of vengeance; have caused the departure of his brother swathed in the blessings of his father.  Reading from Genesis 28:6 – 9 we see his response to this event and from this we get some very timely encouragement at a time like this.

For many of us stand on the threshold of the New Year with the backdrop of last year’s dreams in tatters at best and in pieces at worst. Not all of us are starting the year on a high like Jacob to the accolades of friends and family and bouncing off the springboard of past successes into a season with higher than average expectations. So evaluating Esau’s response in similar if not worse circumstances will hopefully put us in good stead.

  1. He finally began to see things differently – Many times it takes the jolt of a devastating event for us to see clearly that things were not working. We may have been getting by but realisation hits when we realise we could have more. Esau now clearly understands the impact a blessing can have but he also realises that it comes at the price of obedience. (28:6)

  2. He gets information outside of his experience – Change will only come when we do something differently which effectively means there is something we don’t know. This will require a level of humility so that we can learn what others already know. (28:7)

  3. He did something with what he learned – This is the point where the best of intentions live or die; for they either become the actions that create our dreams or they become the regrets that fuel our nightmares. (28:8)

  4. He took responsibility for his past – Mistakes made have consequences and there is no guarantee that these will be wiped away when we get it right. It is to Esau’s credit that this shows up in verse 9. As the culture allowed back then, he takes a wife pleasing to his parents and in line with the covenant made with Abraham, but he doesn’t drive away the wives he already has. This is instructive to us in that we may have to deal with the consequences of our actions long after our turnaround comes.

  5. He steps into a season of obscurity – Change will always take a period of time, so one’s year will rarely be judged by the actions of January alone and rarely is recovery made in the full glare of public approval. For we realise that in the 20 odd years covered in today’s reading Esau isn’t mentioned again.


The good thing about this is it is only the initiation of Esau’s turnaround, so as with us the encouragement really now is to begin. We will catch up with Esau in the next couple of days as we read and then we can assess whether or not it worked.  For us the assessment will probably be best made this time next year.

Pastor Bajo Akisanya

PSALM 24:

 1 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

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