Jacob/Israel: I Have Enough

The setting.
1. God continually assured Jacob of His blessing.
2. All his life Jacob thought he had to help God realize His promise to bless him with the birthright blessing.
3. Forgetting all God’s assurances, he now fearfully anticipates meeting Esau.
  1. Jacob bows seven times seeking to impress Esau (3).
  2. Esau is unconsciously moved by God (God moved Laban consciously) to show kindness.
  3. In this unexpected kind attitude of Esau, Jacob sees God’s favor and assurance of blessing.
Note that the brothers say “I have enough” but mean quite different things.
1. Esau said, “I have enough,” i.e., “there is to me much” (8).
  1. Esau was softened toward Jacob, not in a godly sense.
  2. Esau never thought of God’s blessings, for he was only interested in the fatness of the earth (not heavenly Canaan).
2. Jacob/Israel declares, “I have enough,” i.e., all or everything.
  1. He recognized God’s grace (undeserved love) at work to change Esau’s anger into favor (10).
  2. When we have God’s blessing, then we have all things working together for our good, including a lack of earthly things.
3. We recognize that all things come to us from our heavenly Father, and we return them to Him in the spirit of humble thanks.
Note the next event reveals that Israel was still spiritually weak.
1. He reverted to his old schemes when he made an excuse of the children and flocks as reason not to travel together (13,14).
2. This is so much like us.