Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis. Tonight is study #5 of Genesis 32, and we are going to read Genesis 32:9-21:
And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, JEHOVAH which 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 shewed 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. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother; Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams, Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals. And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove. And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee? Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us. And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him. And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me. So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.
Now we are getting to the point where we can understand this, once we did a little “digging,” and we saw that Esau, Edom, and Seir tie in with the Law of God, and with mankind being under the Law and under the curse (of the Law). Also, as we looked at this word “present,” we saw it a few different times in this passage. It is found in Genesis 32:13:
And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;
And it says in Genesis 32:18:
… it is a present sent unto my lord Esau…
And it says in Genesis 32:19:
… I will appease him with the present that goeth before me…
The word “him” refers to Esau. And it says in Genesis 32:21:
So went the present over before him…
The present went over to Esau. Esau received the present. And Esau is “Edom,” in the land of Seir. Remember, in our last study we saw how God links Edom, Seir, and Sinai, especially in Judges 5:4-5, and the Lord linked them again in Deuteronomy 3:2. And He linked “Horeb” to going the way of mount Seir in Deuteronomy 1:2:
(There are eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.)
And Horeb was where the Law of God, the Ten Commandments, was placed into the ark. So there is strong Biblical support. When you have just one verse, it may stand by itself, but if you have a second and a third, then you have strong biblical support. Then we can better understand Isaiah 63:1 and the following verses where it says, “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?” It is the Lord Jesus, made under the Law, to redeem them that are under the Law, because Edom and Seir identify with the Law. And that is the relationship here. We have to “step back” and not think of Jacob and Esau, and how Jacob represents the elect and how Esau represents the reprobate unsaved of the earth. We have to take a step back from that and look at Esau as Edom, and he is coming with 400 men, which is “10 x 40,” so it is the “completeness” of “testing.” And Jacob is fearful that he is coming to smite him and his wives and children, and to destroy or take away his flocks.
Now let us think about his wives and children and flocks that he took out of Haran from Laban, a type of Satan. Remember how we spent a lot of time looking at Laban as a figure of Satan, just as was Pharoah when Israel was in the land of Egypt. And Jacob was in Haran where he was afflicted in certain ways, but then he came out with great substance. It is a picture of deliverance again. Just as the Israelites spoiled the Egyptians, Jacob spoiled Laban’s house. So his substance – the family and flocks – point to the elect of God that were redeemed and saved by Christ. They have experienced the salvation of God.
But now comes a severe test as the Law is coming. Esau is coming with his 400, and he represents Edom and mount Seir. It is the Law of God coming to smite. The Law always comes to smite the sinner! You know, all of us that have been saved and had our sins covered are sinners that were made under the Law, and the Law condemned us because of our sins and sentenced us to death. We were children of wrath even as others because of our sins. And now we believe, and we hope God has saved us, and then comes the Law of God with a severe testing program. We are not given a timeline for these events in Genesis 32, but it seems to be happening very quickly in relationship to the coming out of Haran, so that 40-year period that ties into Judgment Day would still be ongoing in the spiritual picture. These are those that had been redeemed and saved.
And yet, we have learned that it is God’s plan to try the great multitude that was saved, and we are placed, as it were, upon the foundation as “gold, silver, precious stones” or as “wood, hay, stubble,” and the fire of Judgment Day will try both to see what we are made of, and the fire will prove that we are “gold, silver, precious stones, but it will burn up the “wood, hay, stubble,” or those who claim they are saved, but they were not. So we can see the severe testing program of God in view immediately after this multitude has come out of Haran, just like the great multitude came out of Great Tribulation. And now it is Judgment Day, and the testing has started, and this is why Jacob is pleading with God to deliver him and to remember His promise to do him good, and to make his seed as the sand of the sea that cannot be numbered for multitude. It is as if the Lord Jesus is interceding on behalf of His flocks, the elect, because they are in danger from the Law, and He is going to God and making His request.
And then we see the “present,” and I would encourage you to check out this word “present.” I will give you the Strong’s number to make it easier. It is #4503, and this is the word that was seen back in Genesis 4:3:
And in process of time it came to pass…
In the Hebrew, it literally says, “And in the end of days.”
Again, it says in Genesis 4:3:
And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto JEHOVAH.
The word “offering” is that same word translated as “present.”
Then it says in Genesis 4:4-5:
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And JEHOVAH had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
The “present” or “offering” of one was accepted, and that was Abel’s, whereas Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted, and it was based on the “works” in view because Abel was trusting in the work of Christ performed on his behalf, while Cain was trusting in his own work: “God wants an offering. I will get it together and do a good job, and God will be pleased.” But God was not pleased. It was unacceptable because it was Cain’s offering on behalf of himself, rather than the offering being a figure of the only acceptable offering of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus.
So that is the word for “present,” and it is not only here. We do not have time to read all the verses this word is found in, but I will read several verses in Leviticus 2. And when you read “meat offering,” it is a translation of the one Hebrew word translated as “present” in Genesis 32. It says in Leviticus 2:1-4:
And when any will offer a meat offering unto JEHOVAH, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon: And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto JEHOVAH: And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of JEHOVAH made by fire. And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven…
And it goes on and on, in verses 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. And throughout the chapter there is the word “offering” and it has to do with the sacrifice. All sacrifices that God describes in the Scriptures all point to the one sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, so it is very significant that Jacob is presenting an offering to Esau that he might find grace in the eyes of his lord Esau. Do you see how the picture is developing? Why the offering? What do offerings remind us of in every instance? It is the offering of Christ. That it, it is as though Christ is going to the Law of God…and, perhaps, this is the way Jacob and Esau could be understood to be twin brothers…because on one hand, the Law of God is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, who provides salvation, grace, and mercy, and He saves the sinners that are chosen. On the other hand, we could say of his brother that the very same Law (as Christ is the Word and the Bible is the Word) condemns. So Esau, who is Edom in the land of Seir that identifies with mount Sinai, the Law of God, comes to smite and kill. But Jacob, a type of Christ, sends the presents or offerings, again, and again, and again, in drove, after drove, after drove, on behalf of his wives, his children, and the greater part of the flocks, and so forth. It is pointing to the one-time offering of the Lord Jesus that was made at the foundation of the world, which was provided in order to satisfy the Law’s demand for justice.
And that is the fear Jacob has because Jacob had done Esau an injustice, historically, so the coming of Esau could be for revenge, the vengeance of the Law of God, which is what is happening in Judgment Day. It is in the day of God’s wrath that the Law is exacting vengeance for the offenses and transgressions against it, so I think all of this is in view with the presents that are being presented, or the offerings that are being made. Very humbly, Jacob was sending offering, after offering. And we think of that great multitude that the Lord Jesus Christ has saved out of the world, and how He is our Intercessor to God. So again, and again, God is bringing up the sacrifice that was made on behalf of “this sinner” and “that sinner.”
I think this spiritual understanding that we are developing in this chapter is confirmed when we look at another word. And this word is very important. Of course all the words are important, but as far as establishing the deeper spiritual meaning, this word really helps a great deal. It is in Genesis 32:20:
And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.
The word I think really brings this altogether – as far as the offerings, and the language of trying to find grace in his brother’s sight – is the word “appease.” It is Strong’s #3722, and it is most often translated as “atonement.” It is the typical Hebrew word for “atonement.” Let us go to Exodus 30:10:
And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto JEHOVAH.
And it is not just here, but this is the word that is used in Leviticus 16, where the observation of the Day of Atonement is spelled out. Remember what we were saying about the “goat,” Strong’s #8163, and what word was derived from the word “goat?” It is the land of “Seir,” which could be understand as the “land of goats,” and the Lord came from Edom, the land of Seir. And why did Christ come from Edom or the land of Seir? He is typified by the sacrificial goat in the Day of Atonement. The “goat” identifies with Seir, and it is offered up in sacrifice to atone for sins. So it says in Leviticus 16:9-11:
And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which JEHOVAH’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before JEHOVAH, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement…
There are many other verses. I will just read Leviticus 16:18:
And he shall go out unto the altar that is before JEHOVAH, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat…
Christ is typified by the goat. He cometh from Edom and out of Bozrah. He is identified with those made under the Law. Mount Seir is where the One who atones for our sins comes from, spiritually.
Of course this same word for “atonement” is found in Psalm 79. You could find places where it is translated as “merciful,” or in a couple of other ways, but it is mostly the word “atonement.” It is also translated as “pitch” in the construction of the ark when it was pitched with pitch. And there we can see that beautiful spiritual picture of going into the ark, or into the atonement that Christ provided in paying for our sins. In Psalm 79, it is translated as “purge away,” and it says in Psalm 79:9:
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.
Purge away or atone our sins. Purge them away, and rid them from us. They are upon us no more because they have been satisfactorily paid for, and the Law’s demand has been “appeased.” And that is the word that was used in Genesis 32:20 when Jacob said, “I will appease him (make atonement for him) with the present (offering) that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.” Do you see what happens after the Law has received the blood, the payment for sin, which is death in the atoning work that paid for all the filthy deeds of transgression (sin) against the Law? Then we can see the Law, can we not? Then the elect people of God can come to the Bible without fear. We can study the Word of God. We can love its truth, and we can hide the Word in our hearts and mediate upon it and ponder it. It is our delight all the day. We are accepted of it. It is not that we accept it, but the Law has now accepted us because it has been satisfied. There is no more wrath. There is no more anger. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…” In other words, we are inside the ark.