Forgiveness Brings Blessings

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

FORGIVENESS BRINGS  BLESSINGS

Gen 36:1-9

36:1 This is the account of Esau (that is, Edom). 2 Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite —  3 also Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth. 4 Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel, 5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the sons of Esau, who were born to him in Canaan. 6 Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the members of his household, as well as his livestock and all his other animals and all the goods he had acquired in Canaan, and moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob. 7 Their possessions were too great for them to remain together; the land where they were staying could not support them both because of their livestock. 8 So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir. 9 This is the account of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir.

NIV

The Hill country of Seir is modern-day Jordan. In Esau's time, it was known as Edom. It lies south of the Dead Sea, east of Israel. He moved there, or separated from Jacob, because the land could not support both their herds and flocks. This was much like with Abraham and Lot. But what does this historical account of Esau have to do with our lives? How do we find a truth to apply to how we live? The remainder of this chapter is the genealogy of all the sons of Esau from which came the eleven Dukes of Esau. At the end of the chapter, we also learn that seven kings reigned in Edom before any king reigned in Israel. We have witnessed through the life of Esau a man who went from despising his birthright for a bowl of soup to hating his brother enough to want to kill him, then to forgiveness and reconciliation, and to becoming the father of the Edomites, with his descendants becoming kings. We have to believe God did all this. The LORD blessed Esau, and we believe it was due to his change of heart toward his brother. In addition, Esau chose to leave his homeland and travel to an unknown place, giving Jacob sole rights to the land known as Israel. The Lord blesses us when we live without personal conflict. However, if conflict arises, we must reconcile any differences between ourselves and others. This reconciliation requires forgiveness. Esau forgave, and Jacob displayed humility; otherwise, there could have been bloodshed on both sides. When we experience conflict and do not settle it, there may be no physical bloodshed, but there will be spiritual bloodshed, and our spirits will be wounded. The Lord does not want us to live with a wounded spirit; he wants us to love others as we love ourselves. This would mean we would never have conflicts, but that is also idealistic. So then if or when a conflict arises, we need to seek peace, or to make every effort to live in peace, in harmony with each other. Forgiveness is at the root of all reconciliations. Through Esau's forgiveness, the peace between Esau and Jacob brought God’s blessings upon him.