We will begin this lesson in Genesis 32:1 “And Jacob went on his way,
and the angels of God met him.”
Genesis 32:2 “And when Jacob saw them, he said, This [is] God’s
host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.”
“Mahanaim” means double camp.
In lesson 46, the last thing Jacob did was to build an altar and
worship. God is pleased by this kind of action. We see, here, angels,
ministering spirits, meeting Jacob. Jacob recognized who they were.
Genesis 32:3 “And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his
brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.”
Genesis 32:4 “And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak
unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with
Laban, and stayed there until now:”
Genesis 32:5 “And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and
menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that
I may find grace in thy sight.”
As you remember, Esau had threatened to kill Jacob and he had
fled. Twenty years was a long time. Many hurts have gone away in that
period of time. Jacob humbled himself before his brother and even
called him lord (not capitalized). He quickly told his brother that he
would not be dependant on him for a living, that God had abundantly
blessed him while he was gone. He was asking Esau to forgive and
forget. Grace means unmerited favor. That was what he was asking for.
Jacob, in all of this, is being very humble.
Genesis 32:6 “And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We
came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four
hundred men with him.”
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;”
Genesis 32:8 “And said, If Esau come to the one company, and
smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.”
Jacob felt near panic when he found that Esau and 400 of his men
were coming out to meet them. Jacob felt that this was an army coming
to destroy him and his family. He prepared a battle plan, and knew
that his little group was no match for Esau and four hundred of his
men. Jacob had a plan of retreat.
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:”
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.”
The best thing to do when a person has this kind of problem is to
call on God, and that was what Jacob did. Jacob reminded God of his
ancestry Through Abraham and Isaac. He thinks they might have more
influence with God than he would. Then he reminded God that it was He
who told him to come back home. Jacob humbled himself and reminded
God that when he left his homeland, the only thing he had was a staff.
Now he had been so blessed, that he had two bands of people and all this
wealth God had blessed him with. He was not ungrateful. Now we see the
prayer Jacob prayed to God.
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.”
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 realized his only chance was with God’s help. He remembered
that God spared him from Laban, and he knew God could do this, also.
Jacob was not only concerned for himself, but for his family as well.
God likes for us to remind Him of His Word. Jacob reminded God of His
promise to make his seed so innumerable as the sands of the sea.
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;”
Genesis 32:14 “Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two
hundred ewes, and twenty rams,”
Genesis 32:15 “Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine,
and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.”
Jacob had chosen a large gift of animals for his brother. Perhaps,
to soften him up before he got to the family. You can see, just from
this gift,how wealthy Jacob had become.
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.”
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?”
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.”
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.”
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.”
Genesis 32:21 “So went the present over before him: and himself
lodged that night in the company.”
Notice, Jacob did not send the gifts, until after he had heard
that Esau and four hundred men were coming toward him. Jacob planned
this scheme to soften up Esau. He gave him one group at a time,
rather than all at once, so that each gift would make Esau a little
more tender hearted toward Jacob. He felt that, perhaps, by the time
Esau had
received all these gifts, he would accept him.
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.”
Genesis 32:23 “And he took them, and sent them over the brook,
and sent over that he had.”
Jacob sent his family over the river, and he stayed behind alone.
He was afraid his brother was coming to destroy all of them. Jabbok was
half way up the Jordan river. This Scripture does not say, but we may
assume that he was crying out to God. God was the only one that can help
him now.
Genesis 32:24 “And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a
man with him until the breaking of the day.”
This was an interesting statement. How can you be alone and
wrestle with someone at the same time? This man that Jacob wrestled
with had to be a spirit. We heard earlier that angeles had met Jacob
on the road. It was certainly possible that they never left. In fact,
even now, Christians have angels who minister to them daily. At any
rate this man spoken of, here, was either the Spirit of God, or an
angel representing God to Jacob.
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.”
Have you ever been in prayer all night and wrestled with God?
Sometimes, when we need an answer to a prayer, we will keep on
praying, just like Jacob did here, even unto the breaking of day.
The fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. When we pray in
earnest without doubt, our prayers will be answered. Jacob needed God
desperately. He felt that all was lost, Unless God intervened. He just
would not give up. He had to have God’s help. This touch would effect
the walk of Jacob. Jacob would never be the same again.
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.”
Again, this was prayer that would not be stopped without an answer
from God.
Genesis 32:27 “And he said unto him, What [is] thy name? And he
said, Jacob.”
Genesis 32:28 “And he said, Thy name shall be called no more
Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with
men, and hast prevailed.”
These Scriptures convince me, even though I cannot prove it,
that this “man” he wrestled with, was the Spirit of the Lord. Only God
can pronounce blessings. Only God can change our name to suit the job
He has ordained us for. He will no longer be a trickster, but father
of the twelve tribes of Israel.
“Israel” means having power with God, or God’s fighter.
Jacob’s tenacity, or hanging on to God in the face of all odds,
had won him favor with God. All believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are
spiritual Israel (God’s fighters). We also, Will be princes and
princesses, when we reign with the King of kings and Lord of lords.
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.”
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.”
No one can look upon the face of God the Father and live. This
truly was an appearance of God, I say again, probably,the Lord, God the
Word, or some form of His Spirit. The second one of the Trinity is the
doer of God. I believe this struggle was a prayer struggle, and Jacob
prayed through and reached God.
Many times we will find in the Scriptures That God changed the
name of those who were chosen by Him to do a specific job, as God
changed Abram to Abraham, The name would correspond with the job.
” Peniel” means face of God.
Genesis 32:31 “And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon
him, and he halted upon his thigh.”
The thing that stands out in this to me is that, the darkest hour
is just before dawn. This was the case, here, with Jacob. Just as God
allowed Paul to have a thorn in his flesh to keep him humble, this limp
of Jacob’s would remind him of this encounter with God. He would realize
without God, there was no victory.
Genesis 32:32 “Therefore the children of Israel eat not [of] the
sinew which shrank, which [is] upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this
day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that
shrank.”
This abstaining from eating the sinew is a reminder, even now, to
Jacob’s descendants of his encounter with God. .
We will be in Genesis chapter 33 in the next lesson.