“Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept." (v.4)
After all those decades, Jacob's past, in the form of his brother Esau, had finally caught up with him! He had done what he could to calm this inevitable meeting, and after a night of prayer in which he had "wrestled" with the Lord (or the Lord's angel) in regard to this very moment, he now went to meet his brother. Walking at the front of his family and limping badly because his hip had been recently dislocated during his night of wrestling with the LORD (or His angel at the end of Chapter 32), the two meet.
Then, here in our text, something improbable happens that God intends for us all. The two brothers, who had become mortal enemies, now would be reconciled to one another. Reconciliation is rare but wonderful, and is even greater than forgiveness. It takes just one to forgive, but BOTH must forgive to reconcile and this was a moment that God had intended for them since the time they parted three decades before.
The image of this broken and contrite Jacob was enough to touch Esau's heart and so he "embraced" his brother, hugged him around the neck and they kissed. The two openly wept because of renewed love for one another and because of the past they should have had, but was lost to them.
Sometimes family can be stubborn, cold, unforgiving and even hold a grudge for decades. But it is a beautiful thing when the LORD restores that relationship. The walls come down, forgiveness flows and all is restored. My prayer for all is the restoration of any broken relationship in your life today, and as soon as possible. For life will pass by and moments are lost, that can never be regained.
The Truth: “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue.” (Job 14:1-3)
Restore us LORD, for our days are few. Amen.
