The last section ended with the dawn rising after Jacob’s night of wrestling with the God-man (32:31). Having been chastened and renamed, Jacob was now ready to face his brother Esau. The long-awaited confrontation was one, not of violence, but of affection and reconciliation; Esau greeting his estranged brother with tears. After delicately declining Esau’s offer to settle in his land, Jacob instead settled in Shechem and there built an altar.

The radical change of Esau’s orientation toward his brother from hatred to affection is not explained. Ultimately, we can conclude that this is to be taken as the Lord’s grace working through Jacob’s own prayers. Should we be surprised that the LORD honored the prayers of his servant Jacob? Once again, God granted favor to his chosen servant.

The region in which Jacob chose to settle was an unfortunate choice which was likely driven by the region’s fertility and proximity to trade routes. The problem is that Jacob had vowed to return to Bethel and build an altar there. While that may seem to contemporary readers as an inconsequential compromise, for the patriarch the question of vows and sacred space was of enormous importance. Jacob’s decision to settle in Schechem rather than Bethel represented, at best, halfway obedience. This reassertion of Jacob’s stubborn willfulness will have grave consequences. Later, Jacob will return to Bethel, chastened further. In the end, God will have his way. This is grace to suborn sinners like us who often believe we can bend the will of God to fit our own. But God, in all his gracious tenacity, will not leave us to ourselves.