GENESIS - CHAPTER
33
A Bible Study - Commentary by Jim
Melough
Copyright
2000 James Melough
33:1.
“And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with
him four hundred men. And he divided the
children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.”
At last
the moment he dreaded had come. In this
meeting of Jacob and Esau we learn the truth that the old nature must be met on its
own ground if we ever hope to walk as “Israel” instead of as “Jacob.”
As has
been noted already, the strength of that old nature is portrayed in the four hundred
men who accompanied Esau; and there being four hundred (number of testing) reminds us
that it is by the strength of the old nature working through the flesh that the
strength of our faith is often tested. The man who walks with God will neither tremble nor retreat though
“Esau” have four hundred times four hundred men with him, for that man walks in
the assurance of God’s promise that since God is for him none can be against him.
Jacob,
however, didn’t have that assurance, for had he been walking with God he would have
been in Canaan rather than on his way to Seir. He must therefore, resort to the use of human expedient, and that
expedient was to divide his family among his wives and handmaids, in the hope that
“if Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company ... shall
escape” (Ge 32:8). Human expedient
resulted in the division, and therefore weakening, of his company. Human expedient
and spiritual strength are never found together.
The
order of Jacob’s division of his family is interesting and instructive.
Leah is mentioned first, Rachel second, and the two handmaids last.
(For a discussion of what these four women represent, see notes on chapter
29:16-30). Leah represents
submission to law-keeping, so that the mention of her and her children first speak of
the fact, that believer though he is, Jacob still gives first place to the observance
of legalistic ritual. When we remember
that this division of the children was occasioned by his fear of Esau, the spiritual
lesson becomes clear: law-keeping, as a means of justification, is dictated by
the old nature.
Since
Rachel represents the expression of Jacob’s new spiritual life, her being in the
second place would point to the truth that though he was indeed a believer, he
hadn’t yet learned to give faith its proper place. Faith comes first. Obedience
follows, not as a means of being justified, but of expressing love and gratitude to
God for “His unspeakable gift.” Obedience is the only proper way of expressing that thanksgiving.
Since
Zilpah represents mere lip service to God; and Bilhah, occupation with legalistic
ordinances, the lesson of their being in the third and last place is that in
Jacob’s life there was still much that was mere lip service, and much that was mere
outward form. This is what we might
expect from one under the dominion of the old nature.
33:2.
“And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her
children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindmost.”
Here the
order is different from that of the preceding verse.
The order in which they were to meet Esau was first the hand maids, then Leah,
and finally Rachel. As has been noted in
earlier studies, God doesn’t compile his lists capriciously: there is as much
instruction in the order as in the lists themselves.
Since
the handmaids represent mere lip service to God, and occupation with legal
ordinances, the lesson of their being placed so as to be the first to meet Esau is
that it represents concession to the old nature. That old nature won’t be offended by these things, nor will it
be offended by what Leah represents, submission to legalistic ordinances.
Rachel and Joseph were to be the last to meet Esau.
Rachel represents the expression of Jacob’s new spiritual life; and Joseph,
the fruit resulting from the activity of his will in relation to that new life.
They represent the reality of his faith, and these things would offend the old
nature. Their coming last may be the
symbolic revelation of a deceit we all practice more often than even we ourselves may
be aware of. Fear of the old nature
causes us to defer to it, and act as though our new spiritual life were of least
importance, and the activity of our will in relation to that new life, a thing of
little consequence.
But
there is another thought connected with the order in which they were to meet Esau.
As is clear from Ge 32:8, Jacob was well aware of the danger involved in this
meeting, and he arranged the order of approach so that if his fear proved to be
justified, then those most likely to escape would be those he loved most, Rachel and
Joseph. In this we learn that no matter
what the outward form may have indicated to the contrary, Jacob’s faith may have
been weak, but it was real. He was
willing to lose everything except that which represented the expression his new
spiritual life and that which belonged to it.
Finally,
we can’t consider this verse without being reminded of its antithesis in our
redemption. At Calvary God sent His only
and well-loved Son to meet the foe first, and it wasn’t to face the prospect,
but the certainty of death. “God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...” (Jn 3:16).
“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Ro 8:32).
By that death the foe has been vanquished, so that we can employ the words of
Paul, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died....
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?.... For I am persuaded, that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be
able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ro
8:34-39).
33:3.
“And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven
times, until he came near to his brother.”
In
Jacob’s being the first to meet Esau we learn the lesson that there is no way for a
believer to avoid this meeting with the old nature. No matter how long we may seek to postpone it, no matter how we
may scheme to place something between us and it, the old nature must be met and
overcome, not in our strength, but in God’s. It
was a lamed Jacob, weak, and totally dependent on God, who met Esau, and who, without
striking a blow, went from that encounter, delivered completely from fear of his
elder brother. We never read again that
Jacob had any fear of Esau.
Seven is
the number of perfection and completeness, and while at first glance it might appear
that his bowing seven times represents a believer’s total submission to the control
of the old nature, it would seem rather in Jacob’s case to mark the end of that
submission. We never read of their being
together again, except briefly at Isaac’s burial, chapter 35:29.
Having regard to all that had transpired in his wrestling with the angel,
Jacob’s bowing seven times in the presence of Esau, may also be indicative of his
acknowledgement of his own helplessness, and a total casting of himself upon God for
deliverance from this foe whom he couldn’t overcome in his own strength. It would seem to picture a believer’s acknowledgement of the
power of the old nature, and of his own helplessness against it without God’s
greater power put forth on his behalf. We
can scarcely doubt that as God kept Laban from hurting Jacob, so did He also keep
Esau. Esau’s coming with four hundred
men would indicate that his intentions toward Jacob were no different from those of
Laban. That he did Jacob no harm is very
likely to have been because God prevented him.
33:4.
“And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and
kissed him: and they wept.”
While
Esau’s running to meet Jacob, his kissing him, and their weeping together, are all
what might be expected of brothers who hadn’t seen each other in over twenty years,
we shouldn’t allow these things to blind us to the spiritual lesson.
For all Esau’s apparent goodwill, he still represents the old man, just as
Jacob does the new. Esau is flesh, Jacob is spirit, and the declaration of Scripture
is, “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and
these are contrary the one to the other....” (Ga 5:17).
Esau’s
pleasure at meeting Jacob portrays the pleasure of the old nature when the new bows
down to take the place of submission. This
submission of the new to the old eliminates the hostility, but as the old nature is
pleased with that submission, God is displeased.
He has declared that it is the old that is to bow in submission to the new.
The believer who buys peace with the old nature pays too high a price: he
forfeits his peace with God.
Jacob’s
weeping may well have been of joy that none of his company would perish at Esau’s
hand. The sequel reveals, however, that
this wasn’t a true reconciliation, but rather an encounter from which each was to
turn and walk a separate path. It seems to represent that moment when a believer, not in his own
strength, but in God’s, comes face to face with his own old nature, and realizes
that as long as he walks in the separate path marked out by God, that old nature is
powerless to harm him. The impossibility
of there being any true reconciliation between them is easily comprehended when we
remember what each represents.
33:5.
“And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said,
Who are these with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given
thy servant.”
Esau’s
ignorance of the identity of Jacob’s wives and children reflects the inability of
the old nature to discern spiritual things. “But
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned” (1 Co 2:14).
33:6.
“Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed
themselves.”
That
part of Jacob’s life consisting of what the handmaids represent (mere lip service,
and occupation with legal ordinances) bows to acknowledge the power of the old
nature.
33:7.
“And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after
came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves.”
That
part of the believer’s life involved with submission to law-keeping (which Leah
represents), must also acknowledge the power of the old nature.
The
order in which Rachel and Joseph are presented is different from that of Leah and the
handmaids. With them the mother is
placed before the children, but in the case of Rachel and Joseph, he precedes his
mother. Rachel represents the expression
of Jacob’s new spiritual life, but in the present context Joseph represents more
than the activity of Jacob’s will: he is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in
his bowing to the enemy, God would have us see the Lord’s submission to death at
Calvary, a submission which resulted in the defeat of Death.
Rachel’s
bowing to Esau is the symbolic revelation of the truth that even the believer’s new
life acknowledges the power for evil inherent in the old nature, which expresses
itself through the activity of the flesh. This acknowledgement of its power, however, should not be
construed as the submission of the new nature to the old.
It is rather the warning to the believer, who has ultimate control over the
activity of both natures, to exercise constant vigilance in restraining every
activity of the flesh.
33:8.
“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.”
Since
the servant in charge of each drove had been instructed to tell Esau that the animals
had been sent as a present by Jacob, we can only construe Esau’s question as being
more an expression of incredulity than interrogation.
Apparently he couldn’t believe that Jacob was giving him all these cattle.
The lesson in this may be that submission of any part of the new life to the
control of the old nature comes, not as an expectation of the old nature, but as a
surprise to it. This should make us all
the more reluctant to yield anything to its control.
As has
been noted already, it was to Jacob’s shame that he used what God had given him, to
enrich the man who is set before us as God’s enemy. It is a greater shame when we take what belongs to God and place
it at the disposal of the old nature.
33:9.
“And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto
thyself.”
Esau’s
initial refusal to accept the present may point to the fact that sometimes the old
nature has a greater awareness of our folly than we do ourselves.
While the old nature delights in sin, and has no pleasure in righteousness, it
is nevertheless governed by an intelligence, which though only earthly, recognizes
that in the final analysis, its best interests are served by the activity of the new
nature rather than by its own. Even the
natural man knows that drinking and gambling, for example, don’t serve his best
interests. The old nature, while it
doesn’t enjoy righteousness, recognizes that even from a natural stand point, the
moral life is better than the immoral. Just
as a man may have an inclination to squander all his money, but is restrained by
prudence, so may the old nature not only accept, but even desire to have at least
some of its affairs under the restraint of the new nature.
33:10.
“And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then
receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had
seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.”
Jacob’s
insistence that Esau accept the present confirms that in some things the old nature
can see better than we the folly of surrendering control of our lives to it, and will
accept that control reluctantly only when we insist on it. For
example, the lusts of the old nature may impel a man to commit an immoral act which
even natural intelligence knows will be attended by very serious consequences: but in
the heat of passion, the voice of even natural wisdom goes unheeded.
“...as
though I had seen the face of God” is literally “... of a God.”
Obsequious though he was, and anxious to win Esau’s favor, Jacob was not in
any sense equating Esau with God.
33:11.
“Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath
dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.
And he urged him, and he took it.”
Jacob
continued to assure Esau that he hadn’t come back to be enriched at his brother’s
expense. On the contrary, out of the
riches he had received from God, he would enrich his brother.
The type here continues to emphasize that fear sometimes impels the believer
to submit to the dominion of the old nature; but inasmuch as Esau profited by what he
received from Jacob, a further lesson is that even that which pertains to the body
benefits by its association with what pertains to the spiritual activity of the
believer.
33:12.
“And he (Esau) said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go
before thee.”
This
portrays the amity that is possible between the believer’s two natures only when
the new is submissive to the old. “...
I will go before thee.” There can be
harmony only when the old nature is “leading the way.”
When there is peace between our two natures we can be sure that “Esau is
leading the way” rather than God.
33:13.
“And he (Jacob) said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender,
and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one
day, all the flock will die.”
While
fear had induced Jacob to submit to Esau, he was clearly unwilling to continue under
that control beyond what he deemed necessary to save his life.
Having appeased his brother’s wrath, he was now anxious to go his own way,
while Esau went his.
One
lesson to be learned from this is that while fear may lead a believer to submit to
the old nature’s control, spiritual wisdom teaches him that that control is a
dangerous thing that must not be allowed to continue. The old nature and the new can’t walk together for long.
While
there may have been a measure of truth in the reasons offered by Jacob, it is obvious
that the real reason was that he was afraid to remain long in Esau’s company with
Esau leading the way. We also should be
afraid when the old nature is “leading the way.”
The believer will have peace only as long as the old nature is in subjection
to the new, and God is leading the way.
The
children and the flocks and herds represent the believer’s spiritual possessions;
the children representing the fruits produced in his life by the Holy Spirit; and the
flocks and herds, his worship and service. Jacob’s
emphasizing that they were young reminds us that in his case their spiritual
counterparts were indeed “young.” It was but lately that Jacob had manifested any willingness to
obey God.
”...
if men should overdrive them ... all of the flock will die.” Spiritual growth and spiritual service can’t be forced by human
effort. Both must be allowed to develop
at God’s pace. Man’s attempts to
hasten that growth all too often result in the “death” of what man has sought to
bring to maturity before God’s time. It
has happened sometimes that well-meaning, but unscriptural attempts to encourage a
young man to develop his spiritual gift have resulted instead in the death of that
gift. A young man’s being encouraged
to exercise, prematurely, his gift of preaching or teaching, or of sharing in the
oversight of the church, may result in what God warns against in 1 Tim 3:6 “... not
a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the
devil.” It is easy to mistake natural
ability for spiritual. We should be
careful not to push young men into spiritual work for which they may have no
spiritual gift; or, if they have, not to push them into that work before the Holy
Spirit has had time to develop their gift. One
slain Egyptian, and an Israel left in bondage, were the only results of Moses’
attempt to begin his work before God’s time. His
preparation was only half complete. He
had another forty years to spend in the desert.
There is a growing tendency today to bypass the “forty years in the
desert,” and the results are disastrous. The
more public gifts, by their very nature, must be exercised in a sphere that is all
too conducive to the development of pride, but pride and spiritual growth are
mutually exclusive. Both those giving,
and those receiving encouragement in this realm should be careful to make sure that
it isn’t “Esau” who is “leading the way and “overdriving the young.”
There is
a lesson also in connection with Jacob’s statement that “all the flocks will
die.” When those who minister to the
“flocks” are men with natural talent, but not spiritual gift, or are men lifted
up with the pride produced by their having been encouraged to exercise a spiritual
gift before the Holy Spirit’s time, then there is the very real danger that “all
the flocks will die.” Where the Holy
Spirit is left to work unhindered (either by the man possessed of spiritual gift, or
by those who would encourage him) He will bring that man forth at the right time, to
a sphere of service prepared, not by man, but by God.
Then, and only then, will God’s work be done, and “the flocks” will
flourish. We tend to forget that it is the man already in possession of the
gift who is admonished, “Neglect not the gift that is in thee” (1 Tim 4:14), and
“Stir up the gift of God which is in thee” (2 Tim 1:6).
Well-meant but misguided encouragement may result in the attempt to
exercise the gift when there has been neglect of it, and a failure to stir it up.
If the individual himself is faithful in obeying the divine injunction, then
his gift, like a cork, will “bob to the surface” in spite of every hindrance.
33:14.
“Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on
softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me, and the children be able to
endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.”
This
appears to have been a deliberate lie, for instead of continuing southward towards
Seir, Jacob went to Succoth which was directly westward.
It was also on the north bank of the Jabbok, indicating that after Esau’s
departure, Jacob must have taken his company back across the river, thus putting it
between him and Esau. This seems to
portray the struggle of the believer who is torn between a desire to please God, and
to obey the lusts of the old nature impelling him to sin.
Had
Jacob followed Esau he would have ended up in Seir, the territory ruled over by Esau.
As has been noted already, Seir means shaggy: hairy: goat-like, and it
clearly speaks of sin. The spiritual
lesson isn’t difficult to read. When
we accept the dominion of the old nature the result must always be sin.
Jacob’s
lie reveals his weakness, but the fact that he didn’t follow Esau, reveals that his
fear of God was greater than his fear of his brother. There is hope for the man whose fear of God is stronger than the
pull of his own old nature.
33:15.
“And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with
me. And he (Jacob) said, What needeth
it? let me find grace in the sight of my lord.”
If Esau
can’t personally lead Jacob, then he will at least have some of his men left with
Jacob’s company so that they may bring him to Seir. In this we learn the truth that when the old nature can’t
exercise direct control, it will seek to do so by indirect means.
The fact
that the offer was refused, and that none of Esau’s men were left against Jacob’s
wishes, would teach us that the old nature can have no more control of our lives than
we ourselves are willing to permit.
33:16.
“So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.”
This
appears to have been the final parting of the ways for Esau and Jacob, for the only
other mention of their being together again is in chapter 35:29 at the burial of
Isaac. In this we learn that the flesh
and faith can’t walk together in harmony, at least as long as faith is obedient to
God. Esau’s going to Seir reminds us
that the old nature makes its home in sin.
33:17.
“And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for
his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.”
Succoth
was on the north bank of the Jabbok, and it was directly west of Peniel.
This would indicate that Jacob did a complete turn-around.
Instead of continuing south towards Seir he must have returned over the Jabbok
and then gone west towards Canaan. This,
together with his parting from Esau, is the portrait of a believer who has finally
thrown off the yoke of the old nature, and who has at least begun to walk with
God, though his obedience was still incomplete, for Succoth was on the eastern side
of Jordan, and outside of Canaan, but it was a beginning.
Succoth
means booths, taking its name apparently from the booths which Jacob built
there for his cattle.
The tent
is always indicative of pilgrim character, so that Jacob’s building a house at
Succoth, rather than pitching his tent, implies that for the present at least, he had
abandoned his pilgrim walk. His time at
Succoth therefore, becomes a type of the experience of the believer who has also
abandoned his pilgrim walk, and who has settled down in the world.
His building booths for his cattle would speak of a believer’s becoming
occupied with this world’s business to the neglect of God’s.
There is
the temptation to be critical of Jacob, and in our occupation with his failures, to
lose sight of his progress. It
shouldn’t be forgotten that he had separated completely from Laban (self-righteous
pride). He had separated himself from
Esau (the old nature no longer controlled his life). He had been lamed (he had learned that he couldn’t put
confidence in himself or his schemes). He
had abandoned what seems to have been an intention to go to Seir, and though not yet
in Canaan, he had at least moved closer to it. His westward journey from Peniel to Succoth speaks of approach to
God. In Jacob’s faltering obedience we
may see all too clearly a picture of our own. His
striving towards a more complete obedience a striving which is but the mirror
of our own - recalls the words of the poet:
They
on the heights, are not the souls,
Who
never erred nor went astray;
Who
trod unswerving toward their goals,
Along
a smooth rose-bordered way.
Nay,
those who stand where first comes dawn,
Are
they who stumbled, but went on.
Jacob’s
path may have been circuitous, but he was drawing nearer to Canaan.
33:18.
“And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of
Canaan, when he came from Padan-Aram; and pitched his tent before the city.”
With
regard to Shalem, we quote from the New Bible Dictionary: “SHALEM.
A word treated by AV as the name of a place near Shechem, which was visited by
Jacob (Gn 33:18). RV (‘in peace’) and RSV (‘safely’), however, prefer to
take it in an adverbial sense, from the verb Salem, ‘to be complete, sound’, and
this appears to make better sense. The
word Salem, identical in form, does occur as a place-name in connection with
Melchizedek, but is given as Salem.” The
Amplified Old Testament and the New English Bible also give similar renderings:
“When Jacob came from Padan-Aram he arrived safely and in peace at the town
of Shechem....” AOT. “On his journey
from Padan-Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem....” NEB.
At last
he is back in Canaan, and it is worth noting that Shechem was the first-named
camping place of Abraham when he came from Padan-Aram into Canaan.
Shechem means shoulder, and its spiritual significance has been
discussed in detail in the notes on chapter 12:6.
“...
when he came from Padan-Aram,” indicates that in God’s sight he wasn’t
out of Padan-Aram until he was in Canaan, and in this we are reminded that in
the matter of divine things there is no room for compromise.
With God there are no “gray areas.” Everything
is black or white. We are obedient or we
are disobedient. We are saved or lost:
we have spiritual life or we are spiritually dead.
We are on God’s side or we are against Him.
“He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me
scattereth abroad” (Mt 12:30).
In the
spiritual realm compromise is simply accommodation of sin.
”...
and pitched his tent.” The house in
Succoth has been exchanged for the tent in Canaan.
Jacob is back, not as an earthdweller, but as a pilgrim passing through this
earth on his way to heaven. The man who
would enjoy fellowship with God doesn’t build himself “a house in Succoth”: he
passes through this world as a pilgrim and stranger, dwelling in “a tent,”
looking for “a (the) city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God”
(Heb 11:10).
33:19.
“And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the
hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for an hundred pieces of money.”
33:20.
“And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.”
In
Scripture the field represents the world, but here Jacob buys “a parcel (portion)
of a field,” and on it he built an altar. While
we are here in the world we are to “buy” a portion of it as a place on which to
“build an altar,” that is, we are to ensure that our occupation with the things
of this world is no more than is necessary. Many
a believer has made shipwreck of his spiritual life by giving to his job or family,
for example, time that should have been given to the strengthening of his own
spiritual life and the service of God.
Jacob
bought the portion from the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem.
Hamor means an ass, and since the ass represents the body as the
servant of the old nature, Jacob’s buying this portion of the field from Hamor’s
control, speaks of a believer’s imposing upon his body that control which will
prevent it from gratifying fleshly lust, that control thus enabling him to worship
God. The lesson isn’t difficult to
read. The price is what we are willing
to give up in order to obey God, for obedience, God says, “is better than
sacrifice” (1 Sa 15:22). That price we
are willing to give up may take many forms - time, money, pleasure, fame, ease,
the world’s approval or promotion, etc. The
price Jacob paid was a hundred pieces of money (some translations render this ‘an
hundred sheep’). The emphasis is on
the number one hundred, which is simply ten multiplied by ten, the number of divine
government. If we would “erect an
altar” to God down here in the world, then we must be obedient under His
government.
Hamor
was the father of Shechem, the Hivite prince who defiled Jacob’s daughter Dinah.
The personal name has the same meaning as the place-name Shechem, that
is shoulder, the symbol of strength, but here it represents the strength of
the old nature expressed in the lusts of the flesh.
This would teach that in order to “build an altar to God” we must assume
control of our bodies so as to prevent gratification of the lusts of the flesh, as
Paul exhorts, “I beseech you therefore, brethren by the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service (spiritual worship). And
be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Ro
12:1-2).
A
further lesson we may learn from Jacob’s having paid a hundred pieces of money for
this portion of the field on which he built his altar is that worship costs
something. There is much in Christendom
that may look like worship, but unless it costs us something, it will be to the
reality what Rehoboam’s brazen shields were to the golden ones carried away by
Shishak, (2 Ch 12:10) - a mere travesty. When
David went to the threshing floor of Araunah to build an altar, he refused
Araunah’s gift of the place, saying, “Nay, but I will surely buy it of thee at a
price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth
cost me nothing” (2 Sa 24:24). Since
worship is the presentation to God of our occupation with Christ, its value must be
in direct proportion to the time we are willing to give to that occupation.
The name
El-elohe-Israel means God, the God of Israel.
This appears to be the first instance of Jacob’s having appropriated his new
name, and it is significant that it is in the context that speaks of obedience.
It is not that God was not also the God of Jacob: He was, but the character of
the relationship between God and Jacob, up to this point, had been one in which
worship was conspicuously absent. As has
been noted in previous studies, Israel means he shall be prince of God.
The lesson we may learn therefore, from this altar is that obedience is a
prerequisite of worship.
[Genesis 34]
