B.
Genesis
32:7 - Then Jacob was greatly
afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that [was] with him, and the
flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;
§
Divided – his
servants and possessions only, his family remained with him
§
Jacob was most
likely afraid because of the vulnerability of his family. He knew that whatever he did on his own to
prepare for Esau’s attack he would not be able to escape him.
o
What happened to
united we stand, divided we fall (I guess that saying wasn’t invented yet)
§
Yet he showed his
trust in God by not fleeing, he knew he had to obey.
C.
Genesis
32:8 - And said, If Esau come
to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall
escape.
§
Is this where the
term “half-hearted” comes from? For Jacob seems to trust God in that he
continues forward, yet he makes plans for half to escape (even though they
wouldn’t) if need be
D.
Genesis
32:9 - And Jacob said, O God
of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto
me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with
thee:
§
Here we see Jacob
taking the best course of action that he could have taken and it is certainly
always the best course of action, yet rarely the course that we choose when
under difficult circumstances.
§
Times of fear should be times of prayer; whatever
frightens us should drive us to our knees, to our God. Matthew Henry’s
Commentary on Genesis 32
§
Out of humility
and recognition that he falls short Jacob addresses God as the God of his
ancestors, for he believes he is not worthy to call Him his God. He knows that his own hope rests in the
covenant that God made with Abraham and Isaac.
o
Jacob’s life
demonstrates the refining process that believers must go through. Abraham was refined in great detail, and now
Jacob seems to traverse more of a refining process than either of Abraham or
Isaac.
o
Lamentations
4:1-2 - How is the gold
become dim! [how] is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary
are poured out in the top of every street.
The precious sons of Zion
§
Up to this point
God makes his promises to Jacob, Jacob vows a vow at Beth-el, but here we see
Jacob driven to the end of his human ability and now, facing the possibility of
annihilation at the hand of his brother, he must rely completely on the
protection of God for his entire family.
o
How often to we
come to the end of our ability so that we must rely on the provision of the
Father.
E.
Genesis
32:10 - I am not worthy of
the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto
thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become
two bands.
§
Jacob seeks God
with a humble heart
§
Jacob confesses
his lack of faith in that he split his household in two (foreshadows the
splitting of Israel
o
Jacob rightly
associated his unworthiness with his lack of faith in the Lord.
o
How often do we
make a decision based on our own fleshly emotions only to realize later that we
should have trusted in God.
o
With the enemy
bearing down it is very difficult to rely on a power which we cannot see or
touch, but that is exactly what God wants us to do.
o
Even though Jacob
does demonstrate his lack of faith, because of the covenant God will act on his
behalf.
§
If Jacob is not
worthy of the least of God’s mercies what doe that make us?
F.
Genesis
32:11 - Deliver me, I pray
thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest
he will come and smite me, [and] the mother with the children.
§
Jacob does not
seek any harm for Esau, only to be delivered from him.
§
We should be of
the same mind as Jacob when we pray for our own deliverance, not the
destruction of our enemies. God loves
our enemies as much as he loves us and it is not pleasing for him to destroy
any of them.
o
2 Peter
3:9 - The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance.
o
God’s desire is
that all turn to him; therefore, if we pray for the destruction of our enemies
we are praying against God’s will. We
should only pray to be delivered from evil as Christ himself taught us in the Lord’s
Prayer.
o
Its worth noting
that our enemy, Satan, would gladly destroy his own servants to destroy the
servants of God; whereas God not only desires to save His own servants, but
those who are against Him (though they must first come to repentance and
acceptance of His Son before He can do so)
G.
Genesis
32:12 - And thou saidst, I
will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which
cannot be numbered for multitude.
§
Jacob reminds God
of His promise
§
God heard Jacob’s
prayer just as God hears all the prayers of His children. Yet we see no mention in the Genesis account
that God heard Jacob’s prayer.
§
The book of
Jasher provides some remarkable detail here that Genesis leaves out either because
it didn’t really happen the way that Jasher explains or there was no need to
share this in the context of Genesis.
What happens before and after vs. 27-40 of Jasher are similar to the Genesis rendition, but Jasher
provides some explanation for Esau’s sudden change of heart in the following
chapter that merits consideration.
o
Jasher
32:27-40 - And the Lord heard the
prayer of Jacob on that day, and the Lord then delivered Jacob from the
hands of his brother Esau. And the Lord sent three angels of the angels of
heaven, and they went before Esau and came to him. And these angels appeared unto Esau and his people as two thousand men,
riding upon horses furnished with all sorts of war instruments, and they
appeared in the sight of Esau and all his men to be divided into four camps,
with four chiefs to them. And one camp went on and they found Esau
coming with four hundred men toward his brother Jacob, and this camp ran toward
Esau and his people and terrified them, and Esau fell off the horse in alarm,
and all his men separated from him in that place, for they were greatly afraid.
And the whole of the camp shouted after them when they fled from Esau, and all
the warlike men answered, saying, Surely we are the servants of Jacob, who is
the servant of God, and who then can stand against us? And Esau said unto them,
O then, my lord and brother Jacob is your lord, whom I have not seen for these
twenty years, and now that I have this day come to see him, do you treat me in
this manner? And the angels answered him saying, As the Lord liveth, were not
Jacob of whom thou speaketh thy brother, we had not let one remaining from thee
and thy people, but only on account of Jacob we will do nothing to them. And
this camp passed from Esau and his men and it went away, and Esau and his men
had gone from them about a league when the second camp came toward him with all
sorts of weapons, and they also did unto Esau and his men as the first camp had
done to them. And when they had left it to go on, behold the third camp came toward
him and they were all terrified, and Esau fell off the horse, and the whole
camp cried out, and said, Surely we are the servants of Jacob, who is the
servant of God, and who can stand against us? And Esau again answered them
saying, O then, Jacob my lord and your lord is my brother, and for twenty years
I have not seen his countenance and hearing this day that he was coming, I went
this day to meet him, and do you treat me in this manner? And they answered
him, and said unto him, As the Lord liveth, were not Jacob thy brother as thou
didst say, we had not left a remnant from thee and thy men, but on account of
Jacob of whom thou speakest being thy brother, we will not meddle with thee or
thy men. And the third camp also passed from them, and he still continued his
road with his men toward Jacob, when the fourth camp came toward him, and they
also did unto him and his men as the others had done. And when Esau beheld the
evil which the four angels had done to him and to his men, he became greatly
afraid of his brother Jacob, and he went to meet him in peace. And Esau concealed his hatred against Jacob,
because he was afraid of his life on account of his brother Jacob, and because
he imagined that the four camps that he had lighted upon were Jacob's servants.
H.
Genesis
32:13 - And he lodged there
that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his
brother;
§
Did Jacob flee?
Jacob demonstrates his trust in God by remaining in the land and not
retreating.
o
Jacob faith is
oscillating, one minute he’s praying and demonstrating overcoming faith, the
next he is preparing a gift to appease his brother.
§
It sure makes it
easier to trust God when He sends His angels
§
When God gives us
ground we have no reason to give it up to the enemy, God will fight for us if
we trust in Him and submit to His Will.
I.
Genesis
32:14 - Two hundred she
goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
J.
Genesis
32:15 - Thirty milch camels
with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.
§
Milch - ינק
yanaq, to suckle, nurse, suck
K.
Genesis
32:16 - And he delivered
[them] into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto
his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.
§
Here Jacob
designates the gift to be delivered by his SERVANTS, not the messengers, this
would lead the reader to believe that these servants were different from the
messengers.
§
Drove - עדר `eder, flocks and herds
§
Recall that Esau
is a hunter and may not have the number of domestic animals that Jacob has,
also the multi-colored animals would have been desirable in this region.
§
Proverbs
17:8 - A gift [is as] a
precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it
prospereth.
§
Proverbs 18:16 - A
man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
L.
Genesis
32:17 - And he commanded the
foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying,
Whose [art] thou? and whither goest thou? and whose [are] these before thee?
§
Foremost - ראשון
ri'shown, adjective, first, primary, former (most likely the senior
servant)
M.
Genesis
32:18 - Then thou shalt say,
[They be] thy servant Jacob's; it [is] a present sent unto my lord Esau: and,
behold, also he [is] behind us.
N.
Genesis
32:19 - And so commanded he
the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this
manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.
O.
Genesis
32:20 - And say ye moreover,
Behold, thy servant Jacob [is] behind us. For he said, I will appease him with
the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face;
peradventure he will accept of me.
P.
Genesis
32:21 - So went the present
over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.
§
Company - מחנה
machaneh, encampment, camp
Q.
Genesis
32:22 - And he rose up that
night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons,
and passed over the ford Jabbok.
§
Jabbok - יבק
Yabboq, "emptying"
o
a stream which
intersects the mountain range of Gilead, and falls into the Jordan on the east
about midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea
R.
Genesis
32:23 - And he took them, and
sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
II.
Jacob’s Wrestles with God; Renamed Israel
A.
Genesis
32:24 - And Jacob was left
alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
§
Left alone? Where
did his wives and children go?
§
Wrestled – אבק
'abaq, verb, to wrestle, grapple (get dusty), bedust
§
This is a very
odd interaction:
o
Where did the man
come from?
o
What started the
wrestling match?
o
Did the man just
appear and begin to wrestle or was there some sort of dispute?
o
What was the
goal?
B.
Genesis
32:25 - And when he saw that
he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the
hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
§
The first “he”
refers back to “a man” from the previous verse
§
“him” is Jacob
§
Jacob still did
not let go even after this injury was inflicted against him, he was determined
§
2
Corinthians 12:10 - Therefore
I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake: for
when I am weak, then am I strong.
o
God made Jacob
weak in his own strength so that he could become strong by His Spirit
o
Zechariah
4:6 - …Not by might, nor by
power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
C.
Genesis
32:26 - And he said, Let me
go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou
bless me.
§
Why does it
matter that the day breaks? Perhaps to keep his identity concealed?
§
See the
similarities between Jacob latching on to his brother’s heal at birth to fight
for the blessing of the firstborn and latching on to his divine opponent here
fighting for a blessing from Him.
o
It is by this
request that Jacob acknowledges his opponent as the victor for who requests a
blessing from a loser
D.
Genesis
32:27 - And he said unto him,
What [is] thy name? And he said, Jacob.
§
God knew Jacob’s
name
E.
Genesis
32:28 - And he said, Thy name
shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel
§
A name change?
That’s the blessing?
o
I dub thee Israel… this name-change could
probably be looked at as a divine commission as a royal knight of heaven, for
Jacob is no longer a “supplanter” but he is indeed a prince of God with no need
to supplant. Rather than taking power
from another, Jacob has now been given the power and authority in heaven and in
earth.
o
Matthew 18:18 - Verily I say unto you,
Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye
shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
§
Israel
o
שרה sarah, verb - contend, have power, contend
with, persist, exert oneself, persevere
a.
Same spelling and similar in meaning to שרה Sarah - "noblewoman" who was Sarai, Abraham’s
wife and her name was changed
b.
The name change
of Sarai to Sarah and Jacob to Israel
i. Genesis
3:15 - And I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy
head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
ii. What
Jacob is to Sarah is what the Messiah is to Israel
o
אל 'el - god, god-like one, mighty one (can be in reference to the
one True God)
F.
Genesis
32:29 - And Jacob asked
[him], and said, Tell [me], I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore [is]
it [that] thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
§
His name was just
changed to Israel yet the author continues to refer to him as Jacob, in fact he
is predominantly referred to as Jacob, unlike Abraham who was never again
referred to as Abram even when events are referenced that took place before his
name change.
§
Jacob knows his
name, the “man’s” answer is rhetorical, why do you ask me my name (because you
already know it) that would be the response if I asked my dad his name he would
want to know why I ask his name since I already know his name.
§
Who was this man?
o
Hosea
12:3-5 – He took his brother
by the heel in the womb and by his strength he had power with God: Yea, he had
power over the Angel, and prevailed: he wept and made supplication unto Him: He
found him in Beth-el, and there He spake with us; Even the Lord God of Hosts, the Lord is His memorial.
o
This is
referencing Jacob’s bout with the “Angel” but goes on to define who the angel
is.
a.
LORD – יהוה
Yĕhovah
b.
Memorial – זכר
zeker, memorial, remembrance
§
Revelation
19:12 - His
eyes [were] as a flame of fire, and on his head [were] many crowns; and he had
a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
§
How can it be
said that Jacob failed? Did he win? No, but he did receive a blessing from the
Lord, so is that failure? Any victory Jacob thought that he had won over the
Lord, was because God allowed it.
§
Note the timing
of this bout was just prior to Jacob’s reunion with Esau. It has already been said that Jacob was
greatly afraid of Esau, but not a coward for a coward would have fled. Could this encounter with God have been a
method employed by God to enlarge Jacob’s faith?
o
If he can go
toe-to-toe with God for an entire night why would Esau be any more of a
challenge than that?
G.
Genesis
32:30 - And Jacob called the
name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is
preserved.
§
Peniel – God’s
face פנואל Pĕnuw'el, "facing God"
§
Jacob wrestled a
man, yet it was God in a flesh body.
Just like Melchizedek before came to Abraham in the flesh, here Jacob
has a Melchizedek moment. Another instance
of a pre-incarnate Christ appearing to his servants.
§
God – אלהים
'elohiym
o
Jacob knew who it
was that he was wrestling
H.
Genesis
32:31 - And as he passed over
Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh
§
Penuel - פנואל
Pĕnuw'el, . "facing God"
§
Halted – צלע
tsala`, to limp, be lame
I.
Genesis
32:32 - Therefore the
children of Israel
§
Even though Jacob
walked with a limp for the rest of his life, this served as a constant reminder
of his encounter with a physical God who would never leave him.
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