“A man is known by the company he keeps.”
“The Donkey and Its Purchaser,” Aesop’s fables
“make a distinction between the holy and the profane”
Leviticus 10:10 NASB
By the time Jacob arrives to meet Esau (Genesis 33), he is in his mid-90s. Jacob was about 93 when Joseph was born, and this occurred before Benjamin was born, when Jacob was 100. When we look at how Jacob prepared to meet Esau, we see his actions were based on fear of Esau, rather than trust in God.
Jacob divides his camp into two main groups: one with servants and flocks and one with his family (Genesis 32). This would seem to be a fear-based decision on Jacob’s part, but there’s a clue of a deeper lesson in the prior Torah reading וַיִּשְׁלַח Vayishlach (“and he sent,” Gen. 32:3–36:43).
When Jacob leaves Laban, he has a vision of two camps (Gen. 32:2). There was an angelic camp near Jacob’s camp, which I believe was there to protect Jacob from Laban.
‘Do not fear’: Angels again come to help Israel (2Kings 6)
This is not the last time that God sent a host of angels to protect one of His servants from harm.
So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and take him.” And it was told him, saying, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” He sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
2Kings 6:13–17 NASB
An Aramean army had come to kidnap and arrest Elisha, but God sent His angelic host to camp nearby to protect Elisha from harm. The angels were sent to do a job, which is to protect His servants. God also sent an angelic camp to protect Jacob. The presence of these angelic hosts were a reassurance to Elisha and to Jacob of God’s protection and provision.
Is Jacob simply splitting his camp in half based on a vision from God or just his own personal fear?
When division in God’s people is a good thing
There’s a pattern of division throughout the Torah. And that pattern seems to Heaven’s separating — making holy — certain people from others to create better servants of humanity.
| Promise (faith) | Flesh (fear) | What is Heaven trying to teach? |
|---|---|---|
| Abraham | Terah | God told Abraham to separate himself from his family because Terah was an idolator. |
| Abraham | Lot | God separated Uncle Abraham from Nephew Lot because Lot was easily distracted by his attraction to Sodom. Lot was righteous but didn’t have the follow through to teach his family how to be righteous. |
| Sarah | Hagar | God separated these two women because Sarah’s son was the son of promise while Hagar’s son was a son of flesh. |
| Isaac | Ishmael | God separated these two men because Isaac was the son of promise and God didn’t want Ishmael’s undue influence on Isaac. |
| Rebekah | Laban | God separated Rebecca from Laban and her family to live with and create a family with a man she had never met. |
| Jacob | Esau | God divided Jacob and Esau even before they were born. |
| Jacob | Laban | God separated Jacob from Laban, specifically commanding Jacob to leave. His wives supported Jacob in this separation. |
| Leah | Rachel | One was the first wife, and one was the preferred wife. |
| Israel | Jacob | God renamed the man to focus him upward toward the eternal blessings on his life and descendants, rather than downward toward fear and ambition. |
Who is God separating, and why? The spirit cannot inherit the flesh, and the flesh can’t inherit the spirit (1Cor. 15:50). It’s all about where
We see this epitomized with Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel after he wrested with a divine being and succeeded. God changed his name from Jacob, which means “thief,” to Israel, which means “prince of God” or “given by God.” This shows that God acknowledging Jacobs’ rightful status as the physical and spiritual heir of Abraham and Isaac.
Does God divide His people from others out of fear? God fears nothing. It’s not so much about division as it is about elevation. God elevated Abraham above his family, Sarah above Hagar, etc.
People of the Spirit; people of the flesh (Romans 8)
The overall message of Romans 8 is that God separates the righteous from the wicked because what is happening in the character of each group is important. Those who live in the Spirit from those who live in their flesh. God divides His heirs from those who aren’t heirs.
When Jacob separated his servants and his possessions from his wives and children, he was not acting in the flesh but in the spirit. He can loose his possessions, he can loose his own life but he placed a high value on his wives and children. God said he would take care of Lot, Ishmael and Esau but He chose Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
If Jacob and Esau had such a great reunion, why did Jacob decline Esau’s offer of hospitality in Seir? Jacob knew that their joy and reunion could not last the test of time because they were such different people. Spirit and flesh can’t co-exist for a long time. Jacob and Esau didn’t see each other again until Isaac’s death and this is not a bad thing. Their physical separation was ordained by God. God separates the righteous from the wicked, and those who walk in the spirit from those who walk in the flesh. This is a good thing. This kind of separation is hurtful, but necessary.
You will know a man by his friends, as teaches Aesop’s fable “The Donkey and Its Purchaser.” God fulfilled His part of the bargain with Jacob. He kept him safe as Jacob fled his brother Esau, kept him safe while he lived with his relative Laban and safely brought him back to the land of his inheritance. Now, Jacob had to fulfill his end of the bargain and live in righteousness and teach his children to do the same.
Jacob kept his family separate from his possessions, as God keeps the righteous separate from the wicked.
Summary: Tammy