Genesis 32
Notes
Transcript
Background
Last week we saw Jacob leave Laban’s household with his wives and children and all of his possessions. They snuck away, and Laban gave chase. Rachel had stolen Laban’s idols and he accused Jacob of the theft. After all was resolved, they made a covenant and Laban went back home.
1 Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him.
2 Jacob said when he saw them, “This is God’s camp.” So he named that place Mahanaim.
3 Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
4 He also commanded them saying, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now;
5 I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.” ’ ”
In the last chapter, we saw that Jacob had traveled with all of his family and flocks and possessions over the Euphrates River as he was fleeing from Laban. Here now he is going on his way back to his father’s household.
Jacob is visited by angels of God, reminiscent of his first encounter with visitation.
12 He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.
14 “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
15 “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”
17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
In fact, Mahanaim means “two camps.” This could refer to this location and the first location in 28.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them.
There’s some speculation that this Mahanaim is the same location mentioned later on that’s located in the northeastern geography of Israel, in Gad. This is unknown with certainty but seems logical.
Jacob then sends messengers to his brother Esau. There are some thought that the angels who visited him gave Jacob this idea, but nothing in the text indicates this.
Jacob was returning to his father’s tents, and knew Esau would hear of his return.
His would also remember the reason why he was sent away in the first place: Esau wanted to kill Jacob.
Notice Jacob refers to Esau as “my lord.” This is a term of submissiveness, humbling yourself before another.
He passes along what he’s been doing for the last 20 years (though leaves out his wives and children), in an effort to “find favor” and quell Esau’s former wrath.
6 The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”
7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies;
8 for he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.”
9 Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,’
10 I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies.
11 “Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children.
12 “For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.’ ”
Esau is now traveling towards Jacob with what appears to be a fighting force of 400 men.
Knowing Esau’s temperament and former hostility, Jacob’s fear seems reasonable on the surface.
He plots to minimize the loss should Esau attack by splitting up his servants, flocks, and possessions into halves.
But he also prays, the first time Jacob does so independently of God’s communication with him.
He recalls the promises that God made to him, specifically the instruction and promise that was made when he took the vow.
He humbles himself and acknowledges that all he has came from God.
He admitted his fear and sought the Lord for deliverance.
Recall that this blessing is what he stole from Esau - he would recognize that.
4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.
If Jacob remembered all that God had promised, he ought not have been afraid.
10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
We need to recognize our fears and turn to God for protection and guidance.
We need to recognize our fears and turn to God for protection and guidance.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Notice he clings to the same promise that God made to Abraham and Isaac - the blessing of generations.
13 So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau:
14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
15 thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.
16 He delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on before me, and put a space between droves.”
17 He commanded the one in front, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?’
18 then you shall say, ‘These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a present sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.’ ”
19 Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the droves, saying, “After this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him;
20 and you shall say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.”
21 So the present passed on before him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.
22 Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
23 He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had.
Jacob is now plotting to preserve himself and what he owns by first offering up gifts to Esau.
This was a sizable gift - Jacob was willing to make his brother rich in an effort to buy him.
The servants were to deliver the same message over and over, so that the repetition might wear Esau’s anger out.
The loss of the gift is better than losing a whole company.
He separated his family from his flocks and herds by having them cross the river.
So Jacob found himself alone. He has now put the entirety of his last 20 years before him as a buffer between him and his brother, and is risking losing all of it.
Some may view this as cowardice, others as shrewdness.
24 Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
25 When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.
26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
28 He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”
29 Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.”
31 Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh.
32 Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.
In an unexpected turn of events, an unknown man came and wrestled with Jacob.
He had sent away all he had in the night, and ended up wrestling until dawn.
This is a testament to Jacob’s physical strength.
There is no explanation of the identity of the man.
The man did not prevail, so he dislocated Jacob’s hip.
This would’ve been extremely painful, and yet Jacob did not relent.
In spite of the injury, Jacob continued to struggle until the man gave up, pleading to be let go.
Jacob must have sensed that this was no ordinary man.
Perhaps he recalled earlier encounters with God/angels and thought this may be one?
Jacob sought a blessing from a man he bested in close combat, yet blessings are only sought from those greater than the recipient.
The man asks Jacob his name, and then changes his name to Israel.
This is similar to how God changed Abraham’s name:
5 “No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.
Notice how Jacob’s life is characterized by striving - it’s even in his name.
Jacob fought for every blessing he recieved - birthright, blessing, wives, children, possessions.
3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And in his maturity he contended with God.
4 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept and sought His favor. He found Him at Bethel And there He spoke with us,
5 Even the Lord, the God of hosts, The Lord is His name.
This transformative blessing changes Jacob’s identity from one who supplants to one who has striven and prevailed.
We struggle as well, against the flesh, but also have a new identity in Christ.
1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!
8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
Jacob asked for the man’s name, but was rebuffed.
Jacob identifies for us who he was wrestling against - God.
He names the location Peniel - “face of God.”
Ordinarily this would be impossible.
20 But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”
Jacob now has a limp because of the wrestling match.
Though his physical frame is now jeopardized, Jacob’s moral and ethical frame are now both transformed.
We acknowledge our imperfection and doubts, and seek God’s transformative power in our lives.
We acknowledge our imperfection and doubts, and seek God’s transformative power in our lives.
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,
10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;
11 having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
God works in us, and we live accordingly.
APPLICATION
APPLICATION
We need to recognize our fears and turn to God for protection and guidance.
We acknowledge our imperfection and doubts, and seek God’s transformative power in our lives.
Next week, we will continue with the story of Jacob.