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Patriarchs and Prophets
brother. He instructed them as to the exact words in which they were to
address Esau. It had been foretold before the birth of the two brothers
that the elder should serve the younger, and, lest the memory of this
should be a cause of bitterness, Jacob told the servants they were sent
to “my lord Esau;” when brought before him, they were to refer to
their master as “thy servant Jacob;” and to remove the fear that he was
returning, a destitute wanderer, to claim the paternal inheritance, Jacob
was careful to state in his message, “I have oxen, and asses, flocks,
and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord,
that I may find grace in thy sight.”
But the servants returned with the tidings that Esau was approach-
ing with four hundred men, and no response was sent to the friendly
message. It appeared certain that he was coming to seek revenge. Ter-
ror pervaded the camp. “Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed.” He
could not go back, and he feared to advance. His company, unarmed
and defenseless, were wholly unprepared for a hostile encounter. He
accordingly divided them into two bands, so that if one should be
attacked, the other might have an opportunity to escape. He sent from
his vast flocks generous presents to Esau, with a friendly message.
He did all in his power to atone for the wrong to his brother and to
avert the threatened danger, and then in humiliation and repentance
he pleaded for divine protection: Thou “saidst unto me, Return unto
thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am
not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which
Thou hast showed unto Thy servant; for with my staff I passed over
this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray Thee,
from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him,
lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.”
They had now reached the river Jabbok, and as night came on,
Jacob sent his family across the ford of the river, while he alone
remained behind. He had decided to spend the night in prayer, and he
desired to be alone with God. God could soften the heart of Esau. In
Him was the patriarch’s only hope.
It was in a lonely, mountainous region, the haunt of wild beasts and
the lurking place of robbers and murderers. Solitary and unprotected,
Jacob bowed in deep distress upon the earth. It was midnight. All
that made life dear to him were at a distance, exposed to danger and
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death. Bitterest of all was the thought that it was his own sin which