32:1 雅各仍舊行路,上帝的使者遇見他。
32:2 雅各看見他們就說:「這是上帝的軍兵」,於是給那地方起名叫瑪哈念(就是二軍兵的意思)。
32:3 雅各打發人先往西珥地去,就是以東地,見他哥哥以掃,
32:4 吩咐他們說:「你們對我主以掃說:『你的僕人雅各這樣說:我在拉班那裡寄居,直到如今。
32:5 我有牛、驢、羊群、僕婢,現在打發人來報告我主,為要在你眼前蒙恩。』」
32:6 所打發的人回到雅各那裡,說:「我們到了你哥哥以掃那裡,他帶著四百人,正迎著你來。」
32:7 雅各就甚懼怕,而且愁煩,便把那與他同在的人口和羊群、牛群、駱駝分做兩隊,
32:8 說:「以掃若來擊殺這一隊,剩下的那一隊還可以逃避。」
32:9 雅各說:「耶和華
─我祖亞伯拉罕的上帝,我父親以撒的上帝啊,你曾對我說:『回你本地本族去,我要厚待你。』
32:10 你向僕人所施的一切慈愛和誠實,我一點也不配得;我先前只拿著我的杖過這約旦河,如今我卻成了兩隊了。
32:11 求你救我脫離我哥哥以掃的手;因為我怕他來殺我,連妻子帶兒女一同殺了。
32:12 你曾說:『我必定厚待你,使你的後裔如同海邊的沙,多得不可勝數。』」
32:13 當夜,雅各在那裡住宿,就從他所有的物中拿禮物要送給他哥哥以掃:
32:14 母山羊二百隻,公山羊二十隻,母綿羊二百隻,公綿羊二十隻,
32:15 奶崽子的駱駝三十隻
─各帶著崽子,母牛四十隻,公牛十隻,母驢二十匹,驢駒十匹;
32:16 每樣各分一群,交在僕人手下,就對僕人說:「你們要在我前頭過去,使群群相離,有空閒的地方」;
32:17 又吩咐儘先走的說:「我哥哥以掃遇見你的時候,問你說:『你是哪家的人?要往哪裡去?你前頭這些是誰的?』
32:18 你就說:『是你僕人雅各的,是送給我主以掃的禮物;他自己也在我們後邊。』」
32:19 又吩咐第二、第三,和一切趕群畜的人說:「你們遇見以掃的時候也要這樣對他說;
32:20 並且你們要說:『你僕人雅各在我們後邊。』」因雅各心裡說:「我藉著在我前頭去的禮物解他的恨,然後再見他的面,或者他容納我。」
32:21 於是禮物先過去了;那夜,雅各在隊中住宿。
Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God
met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of
God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.[b]
3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land
of Seir, the country of Edom. 4 He instructed them: “This is
what you are to say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, I have been
staying with Laban and have remained there till now. 5 I have cattle and donkeys,
sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my
lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.’”
6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your
brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with
him.”
7 In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with
him into two groups,[c] and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought,
“If Esau comes and attacks one group,[d] the group[e] that is left may escape.”
9 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father
Isaac, Lord, you who said
to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you
prosper,’ 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness
you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan,
but now I have become two camps. 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau,
for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their
children. 12 But
you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants
like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”
13 He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected
a gift for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and
twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty female camels with
their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male
donkeys. 16 He
put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his
servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.”
17 He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you
and asks, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all
these animals in front of you?’ 18 then you are to say, ‘They
belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is
coming behind us.’”
19 He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who
followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 20 And be sure
to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’” For he thought, “I will
pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him,
perhaps he will receive me.” 21 So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him, but he
himself spent the night in the camp.
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雅各回到家鄉要勇敢面對與哥哥和好的問題,雖然過去得罪了哥哥,經過二十年並不能說事情就這樣過去,心裡總是覺得哥哥一定會找他算舊帳的,心中十分害怕!
所以,在沒有和哥哥碰面之前,先派人去打聽。不打聽還好,一打聽竟然發現哥哥帶了四百人向他而來,讓他更是懼怕!於是想用禮物來軟化哥哥的心,所以分了好幾批人帶禮物,希望能和平解決問題。
這也告訴我們與人和睦的重要性,即使是家人也要彼此和睦。而在此,我們要感謝主耶穌,祂在十字架上滅去了一切的冤仇,使我們與上帝、與人人都能夠恢復正確合宜的關係!所以,主耶穌的福音是一個和好的福音!