Gen. 33 - Very awkward. Jacob is going to meet Esau for the first time since they parted ways. As Jacob goes out to meet him, he puts some servants in the front of the group, then Leah and her kids. Rebekah, Joseph and all their kids are behind Jacob (read: more safe). Again, how do you feel if you're Leah? "Hey, you're expendable, but your sis isn't." You would think someone who came from a family where they played favorites and saw how that turned out might not be so open with his allegiances.
Esau shows himself to be the more likable brother (again), by putting aside the differences and warmly embracing Jacob. Can you imagine the collective sigh of relief from everyone standing around? Isn't this true of most altercations/confrontations - we should always start with an assurance to the other party that we love them. This is so disarming and usually allows for much better interaction.
Gen. 34 - Why do we love revenge stories so much? I think it's because we have a sense of right and wrong and the result of that knowledge is a sense that justice must take place if there is a wrong. None of this is bad. Where we screw it up is when we feel that we should mete out the justice, instead of trusting the Judge. To me, this is a humorous story and part of me really likes it. However, the scheme that Jacob's sons draw up to get back at these guys for what they did to their sister probably wasn't from God. This could possibly be the hardest thing for a human to do - entrust the handing out of justice to God.
Jacob, in his passivity, didn't react strongly enough (in his sons' eyes), so they took matters into their own hands. The irony is Jacob's strong reaction at the end of the chapter, his fear that he "will be a stench" to the surrounding nations (since when has he cared about the effects of deceiving other people?), and his big concern for the welfare of his family (where was his concern for Dinah?).
Simeon and Levi's bad decision is part of a bigger plan for the line of the Messiah. When blessing them at the end of his life, Jacob passes over these two older brothers and gives the primary blessing to Judah ("Lion of Judah"). All that to say, God is still driving this thing where ever He wants - even if crazy, sinful people keep trying to screw things up. This is why He is called Sovereign.
Gen. 35 - Name Change - I've always thought this concept was cool. We see it occasionally in the Bible (Silas - Peter; Levi - Matthew; Abram - Abraham, etc.) and I believe converts to Islam do this as well. It sounds weird in 21st century America, but it really makes sense to me. I've said this before, but imagine how much better we would understand the concept that we are new creations and that our old life is dead (in other words, our identity in Christ) if people referred to us by another name. Our initial reaction would be, "No, I'm..." And then you'd catch yourself with this thought, "...well, that's not really true anymore...I'm not the old [fill in your name here]...I've been changed...from the inside out and this new name just reflects what has taken place on the inside."
At any rate, Jacob becomes Israel in this chapter. I think it's a step up from "deceiver" to "wrestles with God." Nobody wants to be known as a liar, but everyone can identify with "wrestling with God." It's not like going from "deceiver" to "always obedient" or "child of mine I'm most proud of" or "really got things turned around," but it's a step in the right direction. By the way, if you look at Israel's relationship with God over the years, you'll see this name choice may have been appropriate.
One final thing from Genesis 35 - Jacob does make a sweet move at the beginning of this chapter by aggressively dealing with foreign gods. Remember, however, that the 10 commandments have not been handed down, so everyone in the family may not know that it's uncool to worship any God other than Yahweh. Jacob (in contrast to his normal handling of things) makes a bold and correct move of demanding people give up these other gods they've acquired. This totally reminds me of Matthew 5:30: "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." God really hates sin and will not tolerate it at all. I, on the other hand, sometimes get into thinking that says, "sure, it's bad, but let's not over-react." I wonder what in my life needs to be buried and left behind for good?
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