Jacob and Esau were twins. God told their mother that the blessing would go to Jacob, the younger brother. But when Jacob and his mother conspired to deceit-fully take the blessing, his brother Esau vowed to kill him. Jacob ran for his life. After years apart, Jacob was about to meet his brother for the first time since Jacob fled. Both of these brothers had wronged the other. Would they be able to reconcile past wrongs? Could they find forgiveness?

Watch your assumptions
Read Genesis 32:6-8 and 33:1-4.

• 1. What assumptions did Jacob make about Esau?  Were they well founded?
  
• 2. How did those assumptions color Jacob’s understanding of the situation?
  
• 3. How did Esau immediately prove Jacob’s assumptions wrong? What do Esau’s actions tell you about him and his relationship with Jacob?
  
• 4. What was the reality behind the assumptions that Jacob made?
  
• 5. What danger do you see in making assumptions in your relationship with others? How can you keep yourself from making unfounded assumptions about your family, friends, or coworkers?

Forgive as God forgives
Read Genesis 33:5-20.

• 1. Imagine that you have wronged someone. You know it; they know it. You want to be forgiven. Define what forgiveness means to you in that situation.
  
• 2. Where do we get the power to forgive like that?
  
• 3. Agree or disagree: There is nothing fair about forgiveness.
  
• 4. When we have been wronged, we often have the following emotionally charged attitudes:

a. How can I forgive them if they’re not even sorry?

b. They need to learn a lesson. 

c. It’s not up to me to make the first move. 

d. I don’t want to encourage bad behavior.

How does God address each attitude?

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