Prompt: Jacob and Esau, HDR, UHD, 64K
Note: This article is the second part and serves as the first main point in the sermon that I will be delivering in our Chapel Service this coming 12 September 2023. For the first part, you can check here. The argument in this first point is that your past experience as a Christian with the grace of God removing hostility in your life is proof that God is able to heal and restore a family with a broken relationship. We find a historical basis for saying this in the life of a biblical character, Jacob.
And here how's our story starts:
There is a kind of family feud going on here that began in a mother’s womb. This hostility is between twin brothers, Jacob and Esau. And such hostility goes beyond their personalities and life span. It reaches even their posterity.
Imagine the kind of conflict living in such a home receiving a divine oracle like that. Imagine the pain in the heart of a mother who conceived and gave birth to these sons.
Reading the story, we read that Rebekah had been barren for 20 years. The patriarchs were given the promise that their descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and yet here is a situation that is so desperate, a situation that is beyond hope. This situation reminds me of the “tohu” and “bohu” that describe the original condition of the earth before creation, a situation that is chaotic and empty, a picture of a barren land, the exact opposite of order and productivity.
This also reminds me of the situation of the Jews in Egypt during Moses’ time under tyranny. A free and productive nation turned into slaves, a situation where life is the exact opposite of order and meaning.
And then finally, Isaac’s prayer has been answered, and yet the answer to his prayer is accompanied by a message of hostility and strife.
If there is any vital lesson we can learn from desperate and dark situations in life like this I think it should teach us not to place our trust in human strength and natural abilities but in the demonstration of God’s power and grace. Moreover, this should also teach us that no matter how dark the situation is, we should not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow and grief when the affairs in our personal lives do not go as we expect.
The hostility between Jacob and his brother started while both of them were still in their mother's womb. Both of them, have not done anything good or right. But according to Romans 9:11-12, Jacob already received mercy from God. From a human point of view, Esau is better than Jacob. However, God decides whom he wants to grant his mercy.
Similarly, Israel as a nation also experienced this prior grace. In Deuteronomy 7:7-8, Moses told Israel that their election was not based on their number but because God decided to love them.
Seeing how the grace of God worked in the life of Jacob before his birth and in the life of Israel as a nation, we should also see that as Christians living in the 21st century, the coming of Jesus in the flesh is a historical proof of God's work of grace in the past. Without the incarnation, the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, there is no way we can find peace with God, within ourselves and with our fellow human beings. But with the mighty grace of God displayed on the cross such hostility has already been removed. We have been reconciled to God through that grace. We are now at peace with ourselves and our brothers and sisters in Christ as well as our fellow human beings because of the same grace.
And so, if you are a child of God, you can testify that the grace of God is indeed powerful to heal all forms of hostility that afflicted you in the past. Every one of us has a story to tell that demonstrates the power of God’s grace.
You know, I grew up to be a very violent boy. My first day at school testifies to this. Since age 7, I usually had an average of one fight every month. When I was in high school, the frequency reduced, but still, from time to time, I was in serious riots and fights. My roads at that time were getting narrow due to the increasing number of enemies. At the age of 19, I praised God for at the proper time, He showed mercy and delivered me from a violent life. God came at the right time in 1986. If not, I could have ended up either in prison, hospital, or cemetery. That’s proof of the power of God’s grace that healed my hostility in the past.