Vayishlach “And he sent”
Genesis 32:4–36:43
Hosea 11:7–12:12
Mark 12-16

The Favor of the Enemy

I do not like to use the people of scripture as spiritual punching bags, bringing out their bad points and failures to make us look good. But there are a few things about their traits and personalities that do bother me. There are times I simply want to reach into the pages of scripture and shake them to their senses. This week is one of those times.

The account of Jacob and Esau is one that is very familiar to all of us. It is so familiar that many will read it too quickly to receive the meaning for our day.

The story of Jacob and Esau is not simply one of history, but one that still rages around us today. It is a story being played out in the natural and spiritual world we live in. It is the story of the seed of Elohim and the seed of satan. (Some have asked why I do not capitalize the name satan. It is my way of making a statement to the spiritual evil world of how insignificant they are.) It is the basic story that has driven books and movies from Batman to 007 to Cinderella. It is the story of the battle of good vs evil which has its root in the fall of satan and one third of the angels. (On another note, only one third fell; our side still outnumbers them two to one. Plus the fact we have The Creator Himself as the head of our team.) Ah, that felt good!
In this account Jacob plays the good guy and Esau plays the bad guy. Jacob is the cop and Esau is the robber. In traditional church teaching many have become confused and see Jacob as the robber. Such happens when one turns from Torah. Good is called evil and evil is called good. Back to the story.
It has been a long time since the brothers have seen each other. And all this time Esau’s name has been a haunting echo in the back of Jacob’s mind, but now the echo is approaching at a rapid pace. What is Jacob to do? He could turn and run the other way, but he has far too much backbone for that, especially after his time with Laban. He could face Esau down and take the chance of a showdown and an end to the conflict once and for all. But not quit enough backbone for that one. Third option is to negotiate with his enemy. That seemed his best option. In chapter 32, verse 6 we get a glimpse into the heart of the man Jacob as he decides it is best to try and negotiate with his enemy and find favor in his sight.

Find favor in the sight of your enemy? This is the one that gets me. The main reason it drives me so quickly down the short road to crazy is because I see it not only in the life of Jacob, but in the whole world around me. I see it in those who confess to a walk of Torah, but whose lives are still filled with compromise. To make it even worse I have to confess, I see it still in the mirror every morning. That is the reason it bothers me so much. And I would venture to say I am not the only one.

Why is it we are still fighting the battle of Jacob and Esau in our lives today? It is because it is the easy way out! It is just too easy to compromise a bit here and there and buy ourselves another day of so called peace with the enemy. It is not that we do not desire victory. But we just have not quite found the anger, backbone or whatever else it may take to stare the enemy in the face and declare this to be the last day of his existence in our lives. But what ends up happening when we do not confront and conquer Esau is that with every generation Esau becomes a bit stronger, a bit more courageous and a bit harder to destroy. Which brings us to today.

In Genesis, Jacob did find the temporary favor in the eyes of Esau that he was looking for. He bought himself another day and pushed the fight to another time. Scripture tells us that the battle between Jacob and Esau will not go on forever though. That is what the Book of Revelation is all about. It tells the story of a day in which the battle will be brought to a head. The players in the battle will not have the choice to buy another day, but rather will be forced to stand and fight. The funny thing about this battle though is that we already know the outcome. We know that on that day the seed of Jacob wins and the seed of Esau is defeated once and for all.

As you know, I believe we have been chosen for that battle. We see the clouds of war all around us. We know we are being pushed into something far bigger than we can even dream of. There is an excitement of the battle that is coming forth from within, but also a bit of hesitancy. The reason for the hesitancy is many are still trying to compromise with the Esau in the mirror every morning and know that if that one cannot be defeated we do not stand a chance in the big one.

How do we defeat the personal Esau in our lives today so as to be prepared for the coming battle? First we must see him for who he is. He is one that keeps us away from the fullness of relationship with our Creator. We then must quit trying to find favor in anyone's eyes except the eyes of Elohim. We must see that to not defeat him in our own lives is to push the fight to the lives of our children. We must see the immediate victory as training for the battle and the victory that is to come.

We are part of a chosen generation. It is the generation who is being forced to the battle of the ages. Let us fight the good fight today, for it is but training for the big one yet to come.

Excuse me, but I have an appointment with the man in my mirror!