Reunion of the Brothers

Put yourself in Jacob's position. He is finally leaving Laban. Yet he feels uneasy. Under the circumstances, who wouldn't? The last time Jacob saw Esau, Esau was plotting revenge, seeing Jacob as having stolen both birthright and blessing from him. Isaac thought he was on his deathbed. Rebekah was protecting Jacob from Esau. To say tensions were high would understate matters.
As Jacob heads toward his reunion with Esau, first he sees angels and recognizes God's presence. Following this encounter, Jacob sens messengers to Esau. As far as Esau knew, Jacob had settled permanently in their mother's home country. Now Jacob wisely informs Esau of where he has been and what he had gained. He is feeling out Esau's attitude. I think I would have done the same, had I been in Jacob's position
Jacob is unnerved when the messengers return and inform him, "We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him" (32:6). What does Jacob do first? See to it that the people with him, and flocks and herds and camels, are divided into two groups. What is his reasoning? "If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape" (32:7).
After that, Jacob prays.
How often do I act first and then pray?
I love Jacob's prayer in Genesis 32:9-12 as he recounts first God's command, then recognizes his unworthiness and God's fulfilled promise. Then he follows with a straightforward request, and concludes with reminding God of His promise to Jacob.
The next day (if I read this correctly), Jacob sends 5 groups of livestock as gifts to Esau--or bribes--"for he thought, 'I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me'" (32:20).
Again, after all those years had passed with no communication from or about Esau, what could Jacob think but that Esau's feelings toward him were still anger and bitterness? So he sought to soften Esau's presumed attitude by these gifts.
How often have I done something similar?
Then we come to a fascinating account. Jacob has sent his family ahead along with everything else that he had. Jacob is alone. Or thinks he is. But we read of a man who wrestles with Jacob all night. While Jacob may have been taken by surprise, he was not to be taken otherwise. We know from the text that the man did not prevail against Jacob, not even when he put Jacob's hip out of joint (32:25).
What an astonishing dialog follows in 32:26-29.
As Genesis 33 opens, we finally have the dreaded (by Jacob) reunion. Here were Esau and his four hundred men. Jacob must have felt at a significant disadvantage, disabled by the man with whom he wrestled the night away. Yet he had the presence of mind to divide his family into groups and precede them, "bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother" (33:3).
"But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept" (33:4). This was not the response which Jacob had anticipated.
Then came the introductions to the family, followed by a reasonable question from Esau regarding the livestock Jacob had sent to him. For once, Jacob answered forthrightly: "To find favor in the sight of my lord" (33:8). After some conversation, Jacob talks Esau into keeping the gift. But a sticky moment ensues. Esau suggests they travel together, but Jacob demurs. He uses as an explanation the frailty of the children and the nursing livestock. Then he falls back into his old habit and lies to Esau, implying that he will meet Esau in Seir, Esau's home territory.
Esau makes one final attempt to assist Jacob, and, when rebuffed, leaves for Seir, perhaps believing that Jacob will follow him. "But Jacob" went elsewhere, first to Succoth, then to Schechem. His decision to sojourn by Schchem would have unforeseen consequences.