Old Testament: Gen 27.42–45

To read the Bible in a year, read Genesis 27–28 on January 11, In the year of our Lord Christ 2023

By Don Ruhl 

Jacob supplanted his brother Esau twice on major matters. After the second one, Esau determined to kill his brother, but their mother found out about it, and have Jacob flee far away: 

And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran. And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away, until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?”

– Genesis 27.42–45 

A few days turned into 20 years, but when Jacob returned he humbled himself before his brother, offering a gift, bowing down to him, and calling himself a servant to his older brother. Those things coupled with 20 years of not seeing one another, persuaded Esau to accept his brother and not to harm him. 

Questions: 

• Have something like this happened to you? 
• Who was Laban to Jacob? 

To subscribe go to EmailDevotionals.com and click “Follow”