Genesis 33

Genesis Chapter 33

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.
(Gen 33:14)

And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him a house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. 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. 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 a hundred pieces of money. And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.
(Gen 33:17-20)

Anytime we make a promise that we don’t intend to keep, it is a lie. When we say something just because we know it is what someone wants to hear, but we don’t mean it, it’s a lie. Deception can creep into our life so subtly, and once we begin to practice deception, it can be VERY difficult to stop.

Jacob is a vivid illustration of this principle here. He has just had this incredible experience with the Lord, his name has been changed and his walk has been changed. He has been reunited with his brother who wanted to kill them, and their relationship was restored. Esau wants Jacob to go to Seir with him, but for whatever reasons, Jacob simply doesn’t want to go. Instead of telling the truth, Jacob tells a lie. The old Jacob is showing his ugly head again. This is not the “new man”. This is not Israel, the one “governed by God”. This is a decision that is being made in the flesh!

He says, “we need to take it slow for the children and animals… I’ll catch up with you later.” Esau responds by basically saying, “that’s cool” and begins his journey. This is where things get sketchy, Jacob journey’s only as far as Succoth, headed the WRONG DIRECTION! Now it looks like he was here for a while… He builds a house! He builds booths for the animals… he puts down roots. It is commonly believed that Jacob stayed here for a good 5 – 7 years before heading further west (away from Edom where Esau lived) to Schechem. He had no plan of keeping his word with Esau, He was practicing deception. We will see in the next chapter that this choice cost him DEARLY.

It is so important for us to realize the importance of being men and women of our word. There will be times when the EASY thing to do is to tell a “little white lie” to avoid confrontation and get out of a sticky situation. This is exactly what Satan wants us to do… there is an old saying that goes, “oh what tangled webs we weave, when we practice to deceive.” Jacobs deception and compromise were weaving a web, and his kids were about to follow his bad example. God will always honor it when we tell the truth. No matter what circumstances we face, the truth is always the best choice. Not the easiest, but the best.