And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men. And he distributed the children to Leah, and to Rachel, and to the two maidservants
Jacob has just wrestled all night at Peniel and come away with a new name, Israel. Now he looks up and sees the brother he wronged coming toward him with four hundred men. What he does next — sorting wives and children into ranks — shows whether that night changed him.
The order Jacob puts his family in shows what he expected. He came away from that night limping, and still the planning goes on.
Here we may see how groundless all Jacob's fears were, and how useless all his plans. Despite the wrestling, the touch to his thigh, and the limp, we find Jacob still planning… This arrangement proved that his fears continued. He still expected vengeance from Esau's hand, and he put those he cared least about in the way of the first blow. How amazing the depths of the human heart are! How slow it is to trust God! If Jacob had truly been leaning on God, he could never have expected destruction for himself and his family.
Jacob looks up, and at once starts planning for either outcome. God is at work behind what he sees.
The bringing of Jacob into communion with God was not yet complete… He lifted up his eyes and looked. But God was greater than his fears, though he still planned the best he could, whether Esau came as a friend or as an enemy. Here Jacob hardly walks by faith; he walks by sight. But God was faithful in His providence.
Everything Jacob braced for failed to happen. The four hundred men brought no sword with them.
But notice now how empty the heart's anxiety was. "But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept." The present was quite unnecessary — the plan, useless. God calmed Esau, as He had already calmed Laban. This is how He always delights to rebuke our poor, cowardly, unbelieving hearts and put all our fears to flight. Instead of Esau's dreaded sword, Jacob meets his embrace and kiss. Instead of strife and conflict, they weep together.
The same writer names the root of the fear: we do not know God well enough.
Commentators differ on how to judge Jacob here. Some read this meeting as the lowest point of his life. Wrestling at the brook Jabbok did not stop the old habits returning the moment he faced a man.
A person may be deeply stirred before God, and still make little progress in the strength his soul needs for its fight with the world. At no point in his history does Jacob appear morally lower than in what follows Peniel. He is in no way cleansed from himself. He calculates, he twists the truth, he puts on charm and confidence, he lies, he flatters. He stood firm against the stranger at Jabbok… But in front of Esau he plays the old man to shameful perfection. It is all miserable. It is a humbling picture of how low a believer can sink, for a time, when he lets his old nature have its way.
Others see a man who has gained something. On this reading the new name has begun to tell: Jacob no longer hides behind the women and children, but walks out in front.
Still there is progress. For now his little faith was enough to give him courage. Esau is in sight. But this is no longer Jacob terrified, sending women and children ahead of him. It is Israel going out in front — the prince who had power with men and prevailed.
Jacob's dread came from his own past wrong against Esau. That kind of fear has an answer too.
It may be that we are in circumstances our own wrongdoing has brought us into, and that we rightly dread the consequences. Even that we can take to God, if we have honestly confessed our sin. All the anxiety of it, all the care, we may cast on Him… The case of Jacob and Esau shows how God can and will turn dreaded events into blessing for us, when we wait on Him in brokenness.
- Sight — Jacob lifts his eyes and sees four hundred men. Everything he does next flows from what his eyes report, not from trust in God.
- Scheming — The order of his family proves his fear outlived Peniel. He put the ones he cared least about in front of the first blow.
- Sovereignty — God was greater than his fears. He calmed Esau, just as He had already calmed Laban.
- Surprise — The sword never came. Esau ran and embraced him, and they wept. The whole plan proved useless.
- Substance — The root of such fear is simple: we do not know God well enough. Even dread we have earned by our own wrong we can hand to Him.
and he put the maidservants and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindmost.
Jacob has just come from Peniel, where he met God, and now he looks up and sees Esau coming with four hundred men. What he does next tells us more about his heart than his words do — he sorts his wives and children into ranks and puts the ones he loves least in front.
The marching order was not military strategy. It ranked the family by who Jacob could most afford to lose:
This arrangement proved the continuance of his fears. He still expected Esau to take revenge, and he put those he cared least about where the first blow would fall. How astonishing are the depths of the human heart! How slow it is to trust God! If Jacob had truly been leaning on God, he could never have expected destruction for himself and his family.
The verse before this one begins with Jacob lifting up his eyes. What he sees sets the whole arrangement in motion:
Whether first or last, it is Jacob still, with the lust of the eyes at work. So Jacob acts as his eyes guide him. He arranges his circumstances himself, instead of making the Lord his centre. "He put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all, and he went first." Then he bowed to the ground seven times, forgetting the word of God and the blessing he had schemed to get.
One writer weighs the whole scene that follows Peniel:
A person can have a real dealing with God, and yet gain little of the strength the soul needs for its conflict with the world. In no part of his history does Jacob look morally lower than in the stage right after Peniel. He is not in any way purified from himself. He calculates, he twists the truth, he puts on a show of warmth and confidence, he lies, he flatters. It is all miserable. It is a humbling picture of the moral condition a believer may come to, for a time, if nature is allowed to act.
Reverse the line and you get Jacob's own ranking of his affections. The rear position is the safest, and that is where Rachel and Joseph are placed:
He even divides his family at this time, putting the maids and their children first, then Leah and her children, followed by Rachel and Joseph, for whom he was plainly the most concerned.
The same writer points out that trust would have reversed the order. If Jacob had believed Esau meant no harm, the ones he treasured would have led the way:
If he had more confidence in Esau, he would have presented Rachel and Joseph first. They were the most important to him.
Jacob planned as if nothing could change Esau's mind. One writer points to what he left out of his reckoning:
None of the patriarchs went through such unrest as Jacob. So it must be when someone is out of communion with God — who uses the anxiety, the change and the danger to do us good and restore the soul at last… He never thought of God's power over every heart. He never thought that God meant to overrule Esau's resentment and fill his heart with warm natural affection. Jacob passed before the carefully arranged company of women and children, bowing to the ground in a cringing way until he came near his brother. Then Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Jacob had also sent a present on ahead of him. It turned out to be as needless as the marching order:
The present was quite unnecessary — the plan, useless. God appeased Esau, as He had already appeased Laban. This is how He always delights to rebuke our poor, cowardly, unbelieving hearts, and put all our fears to flight. Instead of the dreaded sword of Esau, Jacob meets his embrace and kiss. Instead of strife and conflict, they mingle their tears. He gives such sweet evidence of His faithfulness to those who put their trust in Him. Why, then, are we so ready to doubt and hesitate at every fresh occasion? The answer is simple: we do not know God well enough.
- Fear plans. The marching order shows his fear. Those Jacob cared least about went first, to take the blow he expected.
- Fear ranks. Trust would have sent Rachel and Joseph to the front. Putting them last showed exactly where his heart was.
- Fear looks. Jacob acted on what his eyes saw and arranged everything around himself instead of the Lord.
- Fear forgets. He never once reckoned with God's power over Esau's heart — a heart God had already turned toward him.
- Faith rests. The present was unnecessary and the plan useless. The cure for fear is not a better strategy. It is knowing God better.