Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #4 of Genesis 33, and we are reading Genesis 33:3-8:

And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant. Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord.

I will stop reading there.  The “drove” refers to the presents, and the Hebrew word for “presents” is the word translated as “offering,” so the presents that Jacob sent to his brother Esau was in order to “find grace in the sight of my lord.” 

In this account, which we know is a historical parable, we have come to understand that Esau represents the Law of God here, and, therefore, he represents God Himself, so Jacob will say, “I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God.” 

Also, we know that Jacob is a type of Christ as the intercessor going before his family, his brides and children and flocks.  And each of these represent the elect of God.  So what we are being given in this passage is a picture of the Law (typified by Esau) and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word (typified by Jacob), meeting together.  So we can see how twin brothers can accurately reflect the whole idea of Christ as the Word made flesh, and through Him God saving a people for Himself. 

We can see how the Law that had intended to smite or kill Jacob, and yet, they came together, finally, and they are now meeting, and we read in Genesis 33:4:

And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.

We have a few significant words used here.  There is the fact that Esau “ran.” Esau embraced him, and fell on his neck.  And he kissed him, and they wept.  So we have to search the Bible, to the best of our ability, to see what we can find, and this is a difficult historical parable.  It is not easy.  If you look at commentaries that theologians have written over the course of many centuries, you are not going to find that Esau represents the Law, or that Jacob represents the Lord Jesus Christ who intercedes on behalf of His family with the Law.  No – you will not find that.  You will not find much, if any, spiritual information.  The commentaries will discuss the historical situation and the separation of twin brothers, and how terrible that was, and how they finally came together once more.  And they will discuss the wisdom of Jacob sending presents to his brother to appease him, but without noticing that the word “appease” is the word for “atonement,” and without noticing that the word “presents” is the same as the word “offerings,” as in sacrificial offerings, and without noticing the (spiritual meaning) of the language used by Jacob regarding finding grace in Esau’s sight, and regarding seeing Esau’s face as the face of God, and so forth.  They did not pick up on those things, and that is because the parabolic level was a mystery, and God had hidden these things.  Even now at the time of the end, it is a struggle to understand what is going on spiritually in these last couple of chapters and, I think, in a couple of chapters yet to come.  It is very difficult, but we are seeking to follow the biblical methodology, and allow the Bible to define its own terms.  But even with that, it is hard, although we may get some idea.  We may see some Scriptures that are similar, but not quite exact, and I think we just need to work our way through and try to see what we can see.

So we see in verse 4 that Esau ran to meet Jacob.  Historically, there is no problem.  Esau has brotherly love for his brother and, certainly, since he had done well in the world…he had 400 men, which indicates they are servants, which indicates he was a rich man.  And he had said, “I have enough, my brother,” so he did not need the offerings of the animals.  But the blessing of this earth was the only blessing reserved to Esau after he lost the blessing of the firstborn and the birthright.  And yet, over time his anger had subsided, and he had apparently led a very comfortable and wealthy life.  And now he saw that Jacob was very repentant, sending him all these gifts.  Also, look at how Jacob approached him, bowing down seven times.  So historically we can understand how Esau would be ready to forgive and forget.  So he ran to meet his brother Jacob, and he fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.  It is not a problem historically, but, spiritually, what does it mean for him to run to meet him?  Let us go back to Genesis 18 where we found that Abraham ran, in Genesis 18:2:

And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him…

These “three men” are an appearance of God, and later on Abraham will call them “JEHOVAH,” so it was God making an appearance as three men.  Then it says in Genesis 18:2:

…and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,

So this is something similar, is it not?  He “ran” to meet them and bowed himself toward the ground.  It is not the same as Genesis 33.  Here, Abraham is an example of the believers, or he could be a type of Christ as he intercedes for Sodom.  That is true.  These three men are God, so it is a meeting between God and someone who could represent the Lord Jesus.  But, again, it does not seem to match up exactly.

If we go to the New Testament in Luke 15, we find a wonderful parable that Jesus told about a man that had two sons, and the younger asked his father to give him the portion of his father’s goods that would fall to him, and he took it and went away, wasting it all with riotous living.  But then he came to himself, as we read in Luke 15:17-20:

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.  And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

Again, there are some similarities.  The prodigal son is returning to his home where he had been before he took his inheritance and wasted it on riotous living.  And in Genesis 33, Jacob is returning home, and Laban had said to Jacob, “Thou sore longedst after thy father's house,” so we could relate that to the prodigal, on one level. 

But there is the fact that the father saw him a great way off, and he had compassion and ran from a distance, and that is not in view in Genesis 33, as Esau was fairly close.  Jacob made the first motion, bowing seven times, and Jacob had sent the presents (offerings) to appease his brother, and none of that is in view in Luke 15.  But I think what we see in Luke 15 has some similarity because this is describing when God would encounter an individual that is one of His elect.  This is picturing salvation, as we are saved by God’s grace as He moves within us to accomplish His purposes.  And He sees us “a great way off,” and He has compassion.  So it is really all of God.  And yet, we do see similar things such as the fact that he ran, fell on his neck, and kissed him. 

I do not think we can find an account in the Bible that matches exactly what we see in Genesis 33.  There is another account in Acts 20 with the Apostle Paul who was about to leave and go on a journey, and we read in Acts 20:36-38:

And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.

So, again, we have a couple of similarities as far as weeping, falling on his neck and kissing him.  But this is not a meeting after 40 years, or a first encounter.  It is about saying “goodbye,” as he is about to leave, and they will see him no longer, so that does not fit either. 

When it comes to Genesis 33, we know that Esau is a type of the Law of God, and the Law is the same as the Word of God.  If we go to Psalm 147, we read in Psalm 147:15:

He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.

The word “commandment” is Strong’s #565, and it is actually translated as “word.”  It is another Hebrew word that can be translated as “word” in addition to the usual word “daw-bawr'.” 

We read in Psalm 138:2:

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

And the word “word” here is the same word translated as “commandment” in Psalm 147:15.  God has magnified His word or commandment above all His name.  And that would also come into view as far as the tremendous humility that Jacob is expressing as he was approaching Esau (the Law).  He bowed down, representing the “perfection” of humility and of worship.  It is Christ, who is God, and yet, God has magnified His Law or commandment above all His name.  So the Lord Jesus became submissive to the Law of God as the Father sent Him forth and commanded Him what to do, and Christ was obedient even unto death, the death of the cross.

So we should not be surprised that Jacob is the one lowering himself, as a picture of the Lord Jesus lowering Himself before the Law.  And the Law is magnified above all God’s name or all that is God.  We can see that.

We also read of the Word of the Lord in 2Thessalonians 3:1:

Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:

The word “free” is italicized because it was not in the original text, and the word translated as “course” is a Greek word that is translated as “run” in 1Corinthians 9:24-26 where it says, “ in verse 24, “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all…”  So we could say, “…that the word of the Lord may have run, and be glorified, even as it is with you.” 

So we see that Esau ran to meet Jacob.  It is the meeting of the Law of God with the Word of God, and Christ is the essence of the Word of God, and Christ lowered Himself.  He came beneath and He submitted to the Law on every point.  He would uphold and keep the Law, and in obeying the Law…remember the Bible says that you are a servant to that which you obey, whether to sin or to righteousness.  And righteousness does identify with the Law of God.  That is, it is God’s righteous standards or His righteous, holy Law.  That is why in Judgment Day He refers to the righteous judgment of God.  It is judgment that is according to Law.  It is a just judgment, which makes it righteous.  Righteousness is keeping the Law, and Christ kept it perfectly.  So Law and righteousness go hand-in-hand. 

We are not going to look too much at this in this study, but if we go to Psalm 85, I think it is basically an illustration or tableau of what is being said.  It says in Psalm 85:10:

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Righteousness would identify with the Law of God, and peace with the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our peace, and through His atonement for our sins, He suffered and died, paying the penalty the Law demanded.  Therefore, we can have peace with God, and “mercy and truth are met together.”  I suppose we could relate mercy to Christ and truth to the Law, although they are interchangeable.  Righteousness and peace would also be interchangeable, which are twin brothers.  And righteousness and peace have kissed each other, just as Esau ran to meet Jacob, and he embraced him, and he fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 

Let us try to take this a little more slowly, and let us look at the word “embrace.”  Let us turn to Proverbs 4:7-8:

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.

 Here, it is embracing “wisdom,” and Christ is Wisdom.  And the Law of God is wisdom as well.  So they embrace and kiss in coming together, and there is the meeting of two attributes or characteristics of  God – His mercy and His judgment; His wrath and His grace; His justice and His great forgiveness.  They are coming together, and the Lord Jesus is acknowledging that the Law is above all.  The Law of God is that holy, righteous standard that must be submitted to, and He did submit Himself to the Law in all points from the foundation of the world, and to His entering into the world, and to His being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, and so forth.  It was all temptation related to the Law, but the Lord Jesus kept the Law perfectly and worshipped God through it all.

Going back to Genesis 33, it says in Genesis 33:4:

And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.

When we look up certain words, we try to search the Bible to find the spiritual meaning.  For example, the spiritual meaning of the “rock” is Christ; and the spiritual meaning of the “field” is the world, and so forth.  God sometimes makes it apparent with a clear, defining Bible verse, or even more than one verse, but at other times, it is much more difficult.

As far as the word “neck” in the Bible, I think that is a difficult word to assign a spiritual meaning to.  What does the neck represent?  At times, the Lord speaks of a yoke around one’s neck, and He likens that to being under the Law.  If you are under the Law, you are not free.  You are bound when you are under the yoke.  When the yoke is removed, you have freedom.  For example, we see this in Galatians 5:1:

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

To be at liberty is to be under grace and no longer under the Law, so the yoke is removed from your neck.  It is off.  That is understandable, and we can see that pretty clearly.  If a yoke is on your neck, that is a problem, as it points to bondage, like an animal that is under the yoke and must serve.  But if the yoke is removed, it is akin to freedom.  You are at liberty.

But what does the “neck” represent?  That is telling us more about a yoke than the neck.  So as we think about this and try to consider possibilities, we do know that the neck is part of the body.  As far as a human being’s neck, it is part of the body, and the human body is used in the Bible to typify the body of Christ.   We see that in 1Corinthians 12, and we know this body typifies the true elect people of God, and the “head” typifies Christ Himself, if we go to Ephesians 5:23-24:

For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

Christ is the saviour of the body, and since He is the “head,” that would mean that from the “neck” down, it would point to the body of Christ.  That would make sense.  We can understand that, but we wonder what that teaches us.  Remember when John the Baptist was beheaded by Herod, in Mark 6.  Herod sent an executioner, and the form of execution was to be “beheaded,” and John’s head was severed from his body.  And the Lord used a particular Greek word to describe the headless corpse of John the Baptist, and it is the Greek word “pto'-mah,” and that word is found five times in the New Testament.  It is found once in Mark 6 to describe John’s headless corpse.  And it is used once in Matthew 24:28: “For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”   Then it is used three times in Revelation 11 regarding the dead bodies of the “two witnesses.”  All three times where we read of the dead bodies of the two witnesses lying in the streets, it is the Greek word “pto'-mah,” which helps us understand that it is speaking of the body of Christ without the “head,” and that is because Christ is the head.  So it is a “headless corpse,” and the corporate church as it came under judgment was a “headless corpse.”