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Monday, June 3, 2019

Genesis 32 - Jacob Struggled With GOD and Overcame HIM










No sooner than Jacob is clear of the threat of Laban's armed band, than he hears news that is much more troubling. Jacob had sent messengers ahead to let his brother Esau know he is coming. They return with the report:


"We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him." (32:6)

Laban had only suffered loss of property; Esau has been nurturing a murder wish against Jacob for twenty years! No wonder Jacob is in "great fear and distress" (32:7).

Sign of the Angelic Army (32:1-2)


But knowing this was coming, God sends a wonderful sign to Jacob.

"Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of GOD met him. When Jacob saw them, he said, 'This is The Camp of GOD! So he named that place Mahanaim.'" (32:1-2)

In Bethel, Jacob had seen angels in his dream, ascending and descending a staircase to heaven and called the place Beth-el, "house of God" (28:17-19). Here he sees angels and exclaims, "This is the camp of God!" (32:2). God, who had promised him in Bethel to watch over him wherever he went (28:15), has not forgotten.
Jacob's small encampment of wives and children, servants and livestock, is matched by God's nearby encampment of an army of angels. When Jacob moves, the angelic army moves as well, shadowing him, protecting him from any harm. When Laban had gotten his band of men within range to threaten Jacob, God had spoken a stern warning (31:24, 29, 42), and Laban had complied. Jacob realizes that his camp is protected by God's camp, so he names the place Mahanaim, in Hebrew "two camps."1

Jacob's Travels in Canaan
Preparing to Meet Esau (32:3-21)


Jacob knows he must reconcile with Esau if he is to live in the land to which God has sent him, and so he makes careful preparations.


1. Jacob sends messengers ahead


First, Jacob sends messengers ahead so that he will not surprise Esau suddenly by word of his presence.

"This is what you are to say to my master Esau: 'Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, menservants and maidservants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.'" (32:4-5)

The messengers are to bring several things to Esau's attention:

  • Peaceful. Jacob has been with their uncle Laban for 20 years and is only now returning home. Jacob shows that his past actions constitute no threat to Esau, and that he has not secretly returned home without Esau's knowledge to somehow gain further advantage over Esau.
  • Wealthy. Jacob is wealthy and returns home with a considerable fortune. Thus he does not need what Esau has and poses no threat to Esau's goods. He does not need to exercise the birthright inheritance of double the inheritance Esau would receive. Jacob is independently wealthy. And he is not sneaking home, his tail between his legs. He comes on his own and is a person to be reckoned with.
  • Humble. Jacob comes humbly. He instructs his servants to refer to Esau as his lord, his superior. All his life Jacob had been struggling to be Esau's lord. He had tricked Esau into handing over his birthright and had deceived in order to receive the blessing of the firstborn from his father. But now he comes acknowledging Esau as his lord. This may be the formal deference of courtesy, but it is deference nevertheless.
  • Healing. Jacob comes to seek Esau's favor and heal the rift between them.


2. Jacob prays (32:9-12)



Gustave Dor� (1832-1883), "The Prayer of Jacob," engraving.
Next, Jacob prays.
9O GOD of my father Abraham, GOD of my father Isaac, O LORD, 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 groups. 11Save 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. 12But YOU Have Said, 'I Will surely Make you Prosper and Will Make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.'" (32:9-12)

Jacob reminds GOD that he is returning in obedience to GOD'S Own instructions. He acknowledges his own unworthiness of GOD'S Great Blessings to him. We see both humility and thankfulness have grown in Jacob these twenty years since he first met GOD at Bethel.

Now he asks for GOD'S Salvation (rescue) and Protection from Esau. He admits his fear for himself and for his wives and young children, all under 13 years of age. This kind of transparency in prayer is another indication that Jacob has gotten to know GOD. He concludes with a reminder of GOD'S Promise to him and his ancestors that GOD Would Prosper him and Make him fruitful.

Does Jacob remind GOD of his promises as some kind of persuasive leverage? Perhaps. But we must understand that these promises are the bedrock of Jacob's own faith. He believes and has acted on GOD'S Instructions to return home. GOD Has Confirmed the blessings of Abraham to him, and he believes them, too. I think Jacob reminds GOD of HIS Promises as a faith-statement. It is this faith that props Jacob up when he is afraid. He shares with his GOD both his fears and his faith, and so his prayer is an authentic, faith-filled prayer. How Jacob has grown!


3. Jacob prepares a succession of gifts to appease Esau(32:13-21) 



Look at the quantity of animals he gives to Esau:
1.
200 female, and 20 male goats
220
2.
200 ewes and 20 rams
220
3.
30 female camels and their young
30
4.
40 cows and 10 bulls
50
5.
20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys
30


Total
_______
550

Five hundred fifty animals, 490 of which are female and will cause Esau's herds to increase rapidly.
Jacob gives instructions that the animals are to be sent as individual groups, each with space between it and the next, so that the cumulative effect will be of one gift after another. Perhaps if Esau is angry when he encounters the first herd, his anger will have abated somewhat by the time the fifth herd reaches him. Each herder is to bring the same humble message when he meets Esau's army:
"They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us." (32:18)
Jacob's purpose is clearly stated:
"I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me." (32:20)
Jacob seeks to pacify with generous gifts a tribal chieftain whom he has offended, much as centuries later, Abigail, the wife of churlish Nabal (who insulted David), seeks to pacify David with gifts and gracious words to David who is coming with his own 400 men (1 Samuel 25:18-31).
Jacob is traveling down the east side of the Jordan, southward in the direction of Seir, Esau's lands, in Edom. He has just come to the Jabbok ravine, a small river flowing into the Jordan from the east. Jacob has sent the herds of animals ahead of him the previous afternoon, but he stays the night on the banks of the Jabbok.

4. Jacob divides his party into two groups (32:7-8; 33:1-2)


Jacob's final preparation is to divide his party into two groups to avoid a wholesale massacre.

Wrestling with God (32:22-32)


At nightfall, Jacob sends his wives and children across the ford in the Jabbok River with all their possessions, ready for an early start in the morning. But he stays behind, as the Scripture records,

"So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak." (32:24)

James J. Tissot, "Jacob Wrestles with an Angel" (c. 1896-1902), gouache on board, Jewish Museum, New York.

Who is this strange antagonist? What is the signifi�cance of this struggle? While the event is shrouded by darkness and mystery, several things emerge as we meditate on it.

GOD The Wrestler


First, we find that the "man" is a Manifestation of GOD HIMSELF. Hosea calls him both an "ANGEL" and GOD:

"In the womb he grasped his brother's heel;
as a man he struggled with GOD.
He struggled with The ANGEL and overcame HIM;
he wept and begged for HIS Favor." (Hosea 12:3-4)

Would GOD Reveal HIMSELF as a wrestler? Isn't GOD gentle and peaceful? Yes, and HE Is also just and holy and a GOD of vengeance. Both the Old and New Testaments give many indications of God's violent judgment upon the unrighteous. In his letters, Paul refers to spiritual conflict as "wrestling," both struggling with the dark powers, as well as struggling in prayer before GOD (Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 1:29; 2:1; 4:12).

Who is Jacob struggling with in the night? Is it with a ghost? A phantom? A river god guarding the ford of the Jabbok? A spirit who can only manifest itself in the darkness and must flee at dawn? All these pagan theories of Jacob's struggle ignore the text itself which clearly identifies the Wrestler as none other than GOD (32:28, 30).

Symbolism and Reality


Was this a symbolic wrestling? In the daytime, we are often too busy to dwell on the past, but at night our worries often increase. Haven't you ever struggled with your conscience at night? Agonized over problems? Been buffeted with fears of the day to come? Jacob had elements of deceit and trickery in his past. In the morning he would face the consequences of them. He had little sleep the night before.


Sir Jacob Epstein, "Jacob and the Angel (1940-1941), alabaster, 7' h x 3' w. Tate Collections, London.
So it is symbolic, you cry. Yes, I would respond, it is very symbolic, but it was physical, too. One can't spiritualize away the injury to Jacob's hip socket, and the limp that characterized his walk in later years. These were not just symbols of his encounter and humbling before GOD, they were physical remnants of the struggle, too.

Sometimes we have trouble believing in events that we can't understand on the basis of our own experience. We have experienced the mental and spiritual anguish and struggle of the night, but not the physical, and so we doubt. This event is both physical and symbolic!

GOD'S Testing


But having said that, I can't say I fully understand what was going on. Why couldn't the "man" (GOD) Overpower Jacob? Certainly, GOD'S Strength Is Infinite. What is the significance of laming Jacob at the close of the conflict?
As a father, I've wrestled with my sons and daughter on the lawn or the living room floor. I've seen their intent expressions of maximum effort to best me, and I have resisted their strength to encourage persistence and greater effort, rather than always pinning them with my obviously superior strength. Cats play with their kits in mock battles to teach them and challenge them. This must have been some kind of testing of Jacob's persistence.


Unless You Bless Me (32:26)


Somehow, Jacob recognizes that this is no human assailant. This is a divine messenger who has the power to bless him. Jacob and the "man" are locked in combat, but are at an impasse. Neither can overcome the other, but neither wants to release his grip for fear that the other will take advantage of the moment. The "man" injures Jacob's hip, but still he holds on. The "man" finally says:

"Let me go, for it is daybreak."
Jacob is tenacious and persistent:
"I will not let you go unless you bless me."
Unless the "man" will speak words of peace and blessing to him, Jacob will not release him.
"What is your name?"
"Jacob,"
"Your name will no longer be Jacob [meaning 'supplanter'], but Israel [meaning 'he struggles with God'], because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome" (32:27-28).

A New Name: Israel (32:28)


This new name from God is significant. We see several times throughout the Bible  that a new name is a sign of a new place with God, a new phase of faith.
  • Abram is renamed Abraham ("father of nations," 17:5)
  • Sarai is renamed Sarah ("princess," 17:15)
  • Simon is renamed Peter ("rock," Matthew 16:16-18)
One of the promises to people of overcoming faith in Revelation is "a new name � known only to him who receives it" (Revelation 2:17).

GOD, WHO Has Struggled with Jacob, now Bestows on him a new name to remind all that he has "struggled with GOD and with men and have overcome" (32:28). Jacob's new name now contains The Name of GOD (-el)within it. What a heritage: to be known as one who has met both GOD and Man and succeeded! What a goal for us to strive for in our own spiritual pilgrimage!

Peniel  -- The Face of GOD (32:30)


Jacob now asks the "man's" name, but receives instead a question ("Why do you ask my name?") and a blessing in return. Centuries later Manoah, Sampson's father, asks an angel his name with a similar answer. "Why do you ask my name? for it is beyond your understanding" (KJV, Hebrew "wonderful"; Judges 13:17-18). Jacob receives the blessing and calls the name of the place Peniel (Hebrew, "Face of GOD"), saying,
"It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared." (32:30)

Jacob's Limp (32:31-32)


So at dawn's light, Jacob receives yet another blessing, and walks  -- no, limps  -- into what the day will hold between him and his brother Esau. I like this verse:
"The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip." (32:31)
Twenty years before, when Jacob met GOD, he had left Bethel a new man. Today, as well, Jacob departs from his encounter a changed man, a marked man.
Jacob's limp isn't so much a mark of discipline, but a remembrance of encounter  -- a mark which reminded him ever after of the seriousness with which he served his God, a mark of faith which he carried to his grave.





Geness 32 - From Jacob To ISRAEL





Geness 32:1-32 NIV








Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau







1Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of GOD met him. 2When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is The Camp of GOD!” So he named that place Mahanaim. 


3Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4He 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. 5I 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.’ ”


6When 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.”


7In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, b and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group, c the group d that is left may escape.”


9Then 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,’ 10I 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. 11Save 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. 12But YOU Have Said, ‘I Will Surely Make you Prosper and Will Make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’ ”


13He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: 14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16He 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.”


17He 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?’ 18then 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.’ ”


19He 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. 20And 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.” 21So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.








Jacob Wrestles With GOD






22That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 









26Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”


27The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.


28Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, e because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”


29Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”


But he replied, “Why do you ask MY NAME?” Then HE Blessed him there.


30So Jacob called the place Peniel, f saying, “It is because I saw GOD Face to face, and yet my life was spared.”


31The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, g and he was limping because of his hip. 32Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.








Genesis 31- Go Back to the land of your fathers






Genesis 31:1-55 NIV





Jacob Flees From Laban







1Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” 2And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.


3Then The LORD Said to Jacob, 


“Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I Will Be With you.”





4So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. 5He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. 6You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength, 7yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, GOD Has Not Allowed him to harm me. 8If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young. 9So GOD Has Taken Away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.


10“In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. 11The ANGEL of GOD Said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’12And HE Said, ‘Look up and See that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I Have Seen all that Laban has been doing to you. 13I AM The GOD of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to ME. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’ ”


14Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate? 15Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. 16Surely all the wealth that GOD Took Away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever GOD Has Told you.”


17Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, 18and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, a to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.






19When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods. 20Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. 21So he fled with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.







Laban Pursues Jacob






22On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. 23Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. 24Then GOD Came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and Said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”


25Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. 26Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war. 27Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels and harps? 28You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You have done a foolish thing. 29I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ 30Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?”


31Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force.32But if you find anyone who has your gods, that person shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.


33So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent. 34Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.


35Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I’m having my period.” So he searched but could not find the household gods.


36Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. “What is my crime?” he asked Laban. “How have I wronged you that you hunt me down? 37Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.


38“I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. 39I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night. 40This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. 41It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. 42If The GOD of my father, The GOD of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, Had Not Been With me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But GOD Has Seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night HE Rebuked you.”


43Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? 44Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”


45So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. 47Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.













48Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” That is why it was called Galeed. 49It was also called Mizpah, c because he said, “May The LORD Keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.50If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that GOD Is A Witness between you and me.”


51Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. 52This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. 53May The GOD of Abraham and The GOD of Nahor, The GOD of their father, Judge between us.”


So Jacob took an oath in The NAME of The Fear of his father Isaac. 54He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.


55Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.