Genesis 32:1-32 Preparing to Meet Esau
“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. (Two camps)
Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He instructed them, “You are to say to my master Esau, ‘Your servant Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban and have remained there until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, menservants, and maidservants. I have sent this message to inform my master, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”
When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau; he is coming to meet you—he and four hundred men with him.”
In great fear and distress, Jacob divided his people into two camps, as well as the flocks and herds and camels. He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one camp, then the other camp can escape.”
Then Jacob declared, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, the LORD who told me, ‘Go back to your country and to your kindred, and I will make you prosper,’ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, with only my staff I came across the
Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid that he may come and attack me, and also the mothers and their children with me. But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count.’”
Jacob spent the night there, and from what he had brought with him, he selected a gift for his brother Esau: 14200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 1530 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys. He entrusted them to his servants in separate herds and told them, “Go on ahead of me, and keep some distance between the herds.”
He instructed the one in the lead, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong, where are you going, and whose animals are these before you?’ then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift, sent to my lord Esau. And behold, Jacob is behind us.’”
He also instructed the second, the third, and all those following behind the herds: “When you meet Esau, you are to say the same thing to him. You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I will appease Esau with the gift that is going before me. After that I can face him, and perhaps he will accept me.(Perhaps he will lift my face.) ”
So Jacob’s gifts went on before him, while he spent the night in the camp.
Jacob Wrestles with God
During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions.
So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that He could not overpower Jacob, He struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled. Then the man said, “Let Me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let You go unless You bless me.”
“What is your name?” the man asked.
“Jacob,” he replied.
Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob,( Jacob means he grasps the heel or he deceives.) but Israel, (Israel means he struggles with God.) because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”
Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me Your name.”
“Why do you ask My name?” he replied. And He blessed Jacob there.
So Jacob named the place Peniel (Peniel means “the face of God.”) saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon at the hip socket, because the man struck Jacob’s hip socket near that tendon.”
It’s been twenty years since Jacob last saw his brother Esau. At that point, Jacob was running out of town, fleeing his brother’s wrath after stealing both Esau’s birthright and their father’s blessing on Esau as the eldest twin. Twenty years later, Jacob has changed. Uncle Laban has taught Jacob some valuable lessons in humility and honesty by being neither humble nor honest. God has prospered Jacob, despite Uncle Laban’s best attempts to use him as a slave. But now Jacob is about to encounter Esau, and Jacob is worried. Esau has always been a violent warrior; what will Esau do to Jacob and his family? To appease Esau, Jacob sends herds ahead of him. Note the numbers: 14200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 1530 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys. Wow! For a guy who originally crossed the Jordan with nothing more than his staff, Jacob has really done well if this is a present and he has more livestock than this.
How has Jacob arrived at these particular numbers of animals? Do these numbers represent the amounts Esau would have inherited from Isaac? Is Jacob trying to impress Esau? Or is Jacob merely doing everything he can to avoid Esau’s wrath? Notice the language Jacob uses to in his message to Esau, “my master, Esau,” “my Lord Esau,” “your servant Jacob.” Twenty years ago, Jacob may have thought Esau was nothing more than a brute, but he’s since learned to respect others. And there’s the small matter of Esau coming with 400 men, presumably all warriors. Little wonder that Jacob is begging God to save his life, something he did not do twenty years ago. Twenty years of suffering under Laban has driven Jacob to depend on God.
Finally, Jacob sends his wives and his sons and all his personal possessions across the Jabbok stream while he remains alone. Jacob really needs to hear from God and he needs peace and quiet to do so. In the stillness, an unknown man and Jacob wrestle all night until the man dislocates Jacob’s hip. Even then, Jacob demands that the man bless him, and the man gives Jacob a new name, Israel, meaning “he struggles with God.” God has given Jacob a singular blessing, and Jacob is content, knowing that he has seen the face of God and remains alive.
There are times in our lives when we may feel that we too are wrestling with God. In 1965 the farm on which my family was living was struck by a tornado. In a few minutes, the whirling storm demolished ten huge maple trees, a large hip-roofed barn, and the garage next to our house, sucking out most of the windows in the house and generally causing havoc. Out in the hog pasture, the winds destroyed two large pull-together hog houses; however, none of our implements nor our car were harmed. Our animals survived unscathed. Blessedly, we were already preparing to move to another farm and were in the process of renovating the house on that farm. If we needed anything to impel us to move, that tornado did it.
Why does God wrestle with Jacob and not simply show up and give him a new name? God wants Jacob to remember the name Israel and its meaning for the rest of his life. Just in case Jacob fails to remember, God also dislocates Jacob’s hip, something he will also live with for the rest of his life. While Jacob is probably in great shape after all those years of tending sheep in the wilderness, he’s no match for Esau physically. God wants Jacob to rely on Him and not on himself. Jacob’s old name is a curse while Jacob’s new name is a blessing. God doesn’t want Jacob entering into a new life bearing a cursed name.
Sometimes our families of origin can pronounce curses on us. It took me more than forty years to get over my mother’s idea that I was emotionally cold; in fact, my mother was recovering from a chronic illness when she gave birth to me and undoubtedly suffered from severe post-partum depression, something that was largely unrecognized those days. I was a normal kid born to a severely depressed mother, but I didn’t recognize that fact until years after my mother’s death. When Jacob’s family named him Jacob, or “deceiver,” they obviously did him no favors. Prior to fleeing to Haran, Jacob lived up to that name. It took twenty years of depending on God plus a personal encounter for Jacob to be transformed into Israel.
Perhaps you too have suffered from the names or nicknames your family has given you. Names are critically important. One set of friends has named their infant daughter Jean Anne Wunpini. Jean means “grace” while “Anne” means “favor,” and “Wunpini” is Dagbani for “God’s gift.” My first two names are Jean Anne, and I have since appropriated Wunpini for its lovely meaning. I have a name in another tribal language that means “God will not refuse.” Again, it is a lovely name indicating that God will hear my prayers and answer them.
You don’t have to be stuck with whatever curses your family has spoken over you. Ask God to reveal Himself and to tell you what He thinks of you. God loves you so much that He sent His son Jesus to die for your sins. Certainly, God wants to favor you and to bless you, if only you will ask.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us are struggling with hurtful things our families have spoken over us. Thank You that You are the Way-maker, that You transform people and situations. Help all those who struggle to put their trust in You. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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