Ready Wrestle, Genesis 32

 

Jacob’s been through some battles.

Fleeing for his life from his twin brother, Esau; had to be hard.

Enduring twenty years of working for his father in law, Laban, who deceived, and cheated and continuously changed his wages; must’ve been miserable.

Packing up wives and kids and hundreds of head of livestock, slipping out without Laban even knowing—couldn’t have been easy.

But tonight, Jacob’s in for the fight of his life.

Genesis 32:1

So Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

Angels in Hebrew is, malak. In Greek, aggelos. Both mean, messenger.

Angels are active throughout the Bible, mentioned in 17 books of the Old Testament and 17 in New Testament.

There are angels among us. At times, angels can be seen.  

Billy Graham’s book: Angels, God’s Secret Agents, tells of the Hebrides Missionaries, who were surrounded by a local tribe intending to to kill them. The missionaries prayed all night. They were never attacked. Sometime later, the tribal chief became a Christian. He asked about the large, armed warriors, dressed in brilliant white, who protected them that night.

Fiction novel, The Voice, tells that angels are made of tiny cells unseen by the human eye, that’s why they can pass through walls like smoke through a screen, or water through a sieve. Then, when they want to be seen they simply enlarge their cells and voila they are visible, and touchable to humans.

Then again, it may be that God simply opens the eyes of those who are to see, angels. Like, in 2 Kings 6:17-20, Elisha prayed for his servant to see that greater are those that be for us than those that be against us. His eyes were opened and he saw horses and chariots of fire surrounding the Syrian army, that had surrounded them.

Hebrews 13:2 reminds us to entertain strangers, for in so doing, some have entertained angels unawares.

The phrase, the Angel of the Lord, in the Old Testament often refers to an appearance of Christ, called a Christophany. Preincarnate Christ.

2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

Remember previously, Jacob saw angels when he was leaving the Promise Land, Genesis 28:12, and now he sees them again as he is returning.

The first time, while still in the Promise Land, he saw in a dream, angels ascending and descending from heaven. He called the place Bethel, (House of God).

This time, while not yet in the Promise Land, he calls the place Mahanaim, (Double Camp). They’re not staying, they’re not building a house, they’re just setting up camp, just passing through.

We too, are just passing through. This is not our Home. We’re in search of a city, whose Foundation, and Builder and Maker, is God. Hebrews 11:10. We’re just camping, this is just a tent. No wonder it gets weathered and worn and torn, and sags and leaks.

The first time Jacob saw angels, God spoke to him the Abrahamic blessing, that He’d be with him, protect him, provide for him, and that through him, all nations of the earth would be blessed.

This time certainly would’ve brought comfort remembering the promise from God that came with the first heavenly messengers.

3 Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

 Speaking of messengers (same word “malak” as in verse one).

After encountering heavenly messengers, Jacob dispatches earthly messengers. This is no coincidence.

One glimpse of heaven, encourages the soul.

One Word from God clarifies Divine Direction.

Then, you suddenly know what to do.

Even if it’s scary. It probably will be.

Even if it’s hard. It most certainly will be.

Nevertheless, somehow, someway, you know, no matter what happens—you’re going to be okay.

Now, there’s no more sneaking around for Jacob. No more scheming, no more hiding. He’s coming in with full disclosure. Esau, my brother, ready or not, I’m coming home.

4 And he commanded them, saying, “Speak thus to my lord Esau, ‘Thus your servant Jacob says: “I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now.

Gone is the entitled Jacob who thought he was the one who deserved the birthright and the blessing, even if he had to lie, cheat, and steal, to gett it.

This Jacob is humble, calls himself a servant, and Esau his lord (small l. Not LORD God, but lord, boss, master).

He’s transparent about his whereabouts; I’ve been with Laban.

5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.” ’ ”

He’s transparent about his possessions. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, servants.  

He’s transparent about his intentions. That I may find favor in your sight.

Transparency is necessary in reconciliation.

6 Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”

Twenty years prior, the last words Jacob heard about his brother Esau, was that he intended to kill him.

Esau, the great hunter, coming with 400 men, could only mean one thing. He’s about to hunt you down and skin you like you did that lamb when you pretended to be him.

Esau’s words come echoing back, too loud and too clear.

BUT…

One Word from God clarifies Divine Direction.

Then, you know what to do.

Even if it’s scary.

Even if it’s hard.

Somehow, someway, you know, no matter what—you’re going to be okay.

7 So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies.

Appropriate for the name, Mahanaim, which means, double camp.

Shakespeare said: “Conscience makes cowards of us all”. 

Jacob’s conscience made him greatly afraid and distressed. But not a coward. Not anymore. Once upon a time, he was a runner. He fled from Esau, and stole away from Laban, but not this time.

He presses forward, with eyes wide open, perhaps with trembling lip, and knees shaking, but he moves ahead, step by step.

Dear God, I’m so scared, but I know You’ve got me. So, I’m going to step out of this boat and walk on this water. I’m going to pick up some stones and face this Goliath. I’m going to go back and humble myself and say to my Esau, I’m so sorry. I’m going to hold Your hand, and walk with You through this valley of the shadow of death. With You as my Shield, I’ll swing this sword and pierce this darkness, with Your Light and Your Love, that never, ever, ever fails!

8 And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.”

Dear family, to be honest, this might get bloody.

We’ll do the best we can, but we’re not going to hide, we’re not turning back, nor will we attack.

9 Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’:

He acknowledged God for who He is. God of my fathers.

And, the Lord who said to me.

He acknowledged what God had said. His Word is powerful, irrefutable.

You told me to return; that’s what I’m doing.

You said You’d deal well with me. Well, I’m needing that now more than ever. 

10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies.

Jacob is not only exceedingly prosperous, Gen. 30:43, but also, exceedingly humble, and remembers where he came from, that lonely man on the run with nothing but a staff.

His cloak of humility is beautiful and powerful in the eyes of the Lord.

1 Peter 5:5-7
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

11 Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children.

Jacob’s powerful prayer continues.

He acknowledged God for who he is.

He acknowledged what God had said.

He humbly acknowledged who he is; unworthy of least of mercies and truth.

Now, he bares his soul, acknowledges his fear, his need, and his plea.

12 For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”

And then, he returns again, to God’s Word.

Our sure and Solid Rock foundation.

13 So he lodged there that same night, and took what came to his hand as a present for Esau his brother:

After that powerful prayer, Jacob gets to work.

Just like after the dream of the streaked, speckled and spotted, lambs and rams, when he implemented a unique breeding program.

Now, he implements a unique greeting program, using those streaked, speckled and spotted animals.

14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. 

And a partridge in a pear tree.

Big herd, 580 animals.

16 Then he delivered them to the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put some distance between successive droves.” 17 And he commanded the first one, saying, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going? Whose are these in front of you?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘They are your servant Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord Esau; and behold, he also is behind us.’ ” 

Notice the humble words, your servant… a present… my lord… he is behind us.

19 So he commanded the second, the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, “In this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him;

20 and also say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.”

Jacob repeats, make sure you don’t forget to say, “Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us.”

Some say Jacob’s efforts, and gifts, show a lack of faith. They say, he prayed a wonderful prayer, and then tried to work it out with a scheme of his own.

Respectfully, I say it shows his faith.

Faith without works is dead.

James 2:14-26. …¹⁷ Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. ¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works…  ²⁶ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Proverbs 18:16. A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.

Luke 7:35. Wisdom is justified by her children.

When the fruit of Jacob’s efforts are revealed, we’ll see if he operated in faith or in fear.

21 So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp. 22 And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. 

He lodged that night in the camp… Oh wait, he arose that night.

The pressure of the looming battle was too much to sleep. Ever had a night like that?

So, he got up, he got everybody up. Come on rise up, let’s cross the river.

The ford is a shallow, gentle current, safe place, to cross the river.

23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had.

Jacob took his immediate family and crossed the brook, in the night.

Over 1,700 years later, Jesus took His family, His disciples, and crossed the brook Cedron, to the Garden of Gethsemane, on the night in which he was betrayed. John 18.

This night is Jacob’s Gethsemane.

24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.

Jesus was left alone to wrestle earnestly in prayer over the battle that was before Him. The pressure so intense He prayed for another way. In that olive pressing garden His sweat was as great drops of blood.

But He wasn’t really left alone, an angel came to minister to Him. Luke 22:43.

Jacob was left alone to wrestle earnestly in prayer over the battle that was before him. The pressure so intense, perhaps he prayed for another way.

Perhaps Jacob’s fear and flesh was about to overcome him.

Perhaps that’s why a Man, stepped in and started wrestling with him.

Perhaps…

Jacob is pacing. Moonlight glistens off his sweating brow. I should go, disappear. My family will be better off, safer without me. I’m Jacob, heel grabber, always tripping others, now I’ve tripped my own family into a death trap. It’d be better if I were—gone.

But he wasn’t really left alone. The Man, that would wrestle in Gethsemane, stands before him.

“Jacob, you’re done running.”

“Leave me alone.” Jacob turns from the Man.

The Man stands in front of Jacob.

Jacob sidesteps. “Get out if my way, I’m leaving.”

The Man blocks his path. “No, you’re staying.”

The wrestling begins.

“You don’t understand. I’m cursed and it’s about to hurt my family, my children.”

“You don’t understand. You’re blessed, and will be a blessing to all families, all children, of all the earth.”

On and on they wrestle, through the night until the break of day.

25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed earnestly, repeatedly,
Father, if there be another way, please let this cup pass from Me… But He was quick to yield and say, Not My will but Thine.

Jacob’s not so quick to bend a knee, all night long he wrestled on.

However, finally, when it was time to go, his hip was set out of socket.

Jacob knew then and there, he wasn’t the One, running the show. And he was given a permanent reminder, that running away was no longer an option.

Jesus, was wounded in His battle, but walked away victorious, with scars to prove it.

Jacob, is wounded in this battle, but walks away victorious, with a limp to prove it.

26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”

But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

This is a puzzling verse.

The original text of Scripture is Divinely inspired, inerrant. However, the translations in the various languages, not necessarily so.

Therefore, let’s look at the original Hebrew text.

 

Let Me go,
Verb; shalach (shaw-lakh'), to send away, for, out.

According to the original text, the Man was literally sending Jacob away. A literal rendering could be: Go away, or, if you think that sounds too rude, Away you go.

the day breaks
Verb: alah (aw-law'), to go up, ascend, climb

According to the original text, the Man, wasn’t just sending Jacob away, but up.  Go up, ascend, climb, rise.  

The original text by definition can be literally rendered:

Away you go, for it’s time to rise.

But he said…

Jacob responds by saying, “lo” which simply means, no, or not.  

Then, he uses the exact same word we saw previously. Shalach meaning, to send away, for, out.

Literally Jacob says, no send away.

But then, he adds, unless You bless me.

Their conversation was short and simple. The original text by definition can be literally rendered:

 Away you go, it’s time to rise.
 I won’t go, unless You bless me.

The Lord had wonderful things for Jacob (and all the world through Jacob), but Jacob had to rise up, and walk it out.

He’s telling Jacob, rise up, go to your brother Esau, I’ll be with you, and deal well with you.

But Jacob says, I won’t go, unless You bless me. 

27 So He said to him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Jacob.”

What is your name?

Did Jacob get a lump in his throat remembering how his dear old blind dad asked him that, and he lied, and said, I’m Esau.

Did Jacob clear his throat, blinks back tears and whisper, I’m looser, heel grabber… Jacob.

28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

The word, struggled, in the original text means, persevered.

You have a new name.

You are no longer what the world calls you.

You are no longer heel grabber, tripper, trickster, supplanter, deceiver, cheater.

No, now you are Israel.

You persevere with God and with men, and prevail.

Your persistence has paid off.

Even though you wrestled long and hard all through the night, you didn’t give up, quit, run away, go back.

Well done.

Israel, literally means, one who perseveres with God.

The Christian Life, is not a vacation from the battle, but a suiting up of the armor of God and persevering in the battle, with God.

Jesus was with Jacob through the night, for the fight of His life.

Jesus was wrestling with him, not against him.

Jesus was in the fire with Shadrach Meshach and Abednego. Daniel 3:15.

Jesus doesn’t leave you in the fiery furnace.

He doesn’t abandon you in the battle.  

He’s right there with you, all the way, to the end. Amen.

29 Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.”

And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there.

Why do you ask, when you already know?

30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

See, he knew, it was God.

Peni, means face. El, means, God.

Peniel, Penuel, means face of God.

31 Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.

Jesus wears His scars.

Jacob wore his limp.

Both, are badges of honor.

32 Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.

Muscle that shrank is the term for sciatic nerve in Judaism. To this day Jews will not eat that, in honor and remembrance of Jacob.

In remembrance of Jesus, and His wounds for our sake, we do eat and drink, of the Lord’s Supper.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, we acknowledge You for who You are; Almighty God. The Word, became Flesh, and dwelt among us. You gave us Your Word, our Rock Solid foundation. We like Jacob, have lied and cheated and are unworthy of even the least of Your blessings. Yet, Your Love and amazing grace, remains with us, wrestles with us, calls us to rise up. So, with Your help, we’ll do just that. Rise up, with our eyes on You, we’ll walk on the water, face the giant, reconcile with Esau, and one glorious day, see You face to face, and be overcome with joy when we hear You say, Well done.

We love You, forever.

Amen.  

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