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Notes on Genesis 32
- Genesis 32:1 And Jacob went on
his way, and the angels of God met him.
- 2 And when Jacob
saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of
that place Mahanaim.
I use to wonder why I never saw angels like
the Old Testament men did and came to the conclusion that if I
needed to see one, God would dispatch one to me. Jacob had a calling
inherited from Abraham. God used His angels to make sure it came to
pass just as He had promised Abraham. Nothing changes that. He was
to go back to the land promised to his grandfather. Perhaps an angel
was sent because his fear of Esau might have caused Jacob to go
settle in another place instead of returning home.
- Genesis 32:3 And Jacob sent
messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir,
the country of Edom.
- 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:
- 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.
- 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.
This story along with the story of Joseph is
really a tear jerker. Jacob feared that Esau was coming with 400 men
for vengeance but I believe Esau thought within himself that with so
much cattle and herds, his brother would need help and he sent men
to help.
- 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;
- 8 And said, If Esau
come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company
which is left shall escape.
- 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:
- 10 I am not worthy
of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which
thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed
over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.
- 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.
- 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 prayed this prayer but I believe the
Lord had already answered this prayer. Then we can think again that
perhaps Esau originally planned to attack Jacob with 400 men and God
answered the prayer of Jacob that night and Esau changed his mind
toward Jacob and longed to see him. We don't know for sure, but I
believe Esau missed his brother for years and his heart yearned to
see him for a long time. I do believe God can change a heart
instantly though. We see that when a person is converted and
believes in Jesus Christ, his heart is changed and he receives the
spirit of God into his soul instantly changing that person from
death unto life which comes by faith in Jesus.
- 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;
- 14 Two hundred she
goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
- 15 Thirty milch
camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she
asses, and ten foals.
- 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
between drove and drove.
- 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?
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 21 So went the
present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the
company.
- 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.
- 23 And he took
them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
- 24 And Jacob was
left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking
of the day.
- 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.
- 26 And he said, Let
me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee
go, except thou bless me.
- 27 And he said unto
him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
- 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.
- 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.
- 30 And Jacob called
the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face,
and my life is preserved.
Here is the famous story of Jacob wrestling
an angel of the Lord. Some believe this to be the Son of God, Jesus
Himself. Jacob was desperate in prayer and prevailed with God.
This reminds me of times when we wrestle in
prayer and seek God for something that is troubling us. I know we
can rest in God's grace and just simply trust Him but sometimes we
need to diligently seek God in prayer and not take spiritual things
lightly. The old Pentecostals used to call it "praying through".
Jacob wouldn't quit until he felt assurance
that God was going to bless Him with His favor and presence and
protect him from the wrath of his brother.
God answered his prayer but I believe God
desired Jacob to seek him and overcome the weakness of his flesh
that Jacob had before in the days when we used tricks and
deceptiveness to get what he wanted instead of waiting on God to
bring His will to pass.
Sometimes it takes prevailing in prayer to
overcome our flesh and our own desires and wants. We seem to get in the way
of God's blessings and God's will many times.
Jacob's wrestling with God could have been a
time of yielding himself to the will of God and cleansing himself
from the fears, desires and weaknesses of the flesh. He could have
feared his brother so much that he had to have God's assurance
before he went any further. He was in anguish and God met the need.
This is one reason why this person could have been the Lord Jesus
instead of an ordinary angel. We who believe in Christ today also need to prevail in
prayer.
- Ephesians 6:11 Put on the
whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil.
- 12 For we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
- 13 Wherefore
take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
We wrestle against wicked spiritual rulers of
darkness that do not want us to prevail with God. Jesus told us to
pray always. We are saved by the mercy and grace of God but our
flesh is weak. We need to pray always.
As important as prayer is, and we must pray
always diligently but without making it a ritual and simply a
religious act. Be fervent and seek the Lord with all our heart
and we will see a difference.
-
Luke 21:36 Watch ye
therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to
escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand
before the Son of man.
This kind of prayer is more than just a short
sentence prayer that we pray before a meal. I believe in Luke 21:36,
the Lord is urging us to pray that we are ready when He comes and
will escape the future tribulation that is to come upon the face of
the earth. Those that are spiritually ready will not go through the
tribulation it seems. At least not the part where the wrath of God
is poured out upon those that persecuted the believers in Jesus.
Here is what the prophet Hosea says about
Jacob:
- Hosea 12:2 The LORD hath
also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according
to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.
- 3 He took his
brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had
power with God:
- 4 Yea, he had
power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made
supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he
spoke with us;
Jacob was determined and had power with God
because he wouldn't give up. He prevailed in prayer and his prayer
was answered. Pray until the feeling of assurance is there.
- Genesis 32:31 And as he passed
over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
- 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.
Jacob's name was changed to Israel and from
that name we have today the nation of Israel. Do you think for one
moment that God will forget Israel or write Israel off. If we
persecute Israel we will bring upon ourselves the wrath of God. God
will punish Israel for their sins but we who claim to be God's
children by faith in Jesus should never raise a hand against them
because it would show that we are not who we say we are. If we kill,
persecute or even bad mouth a Jew or a born again believer in Jesus
Christ, we do not know Jesus as Lord. In fact Christians should not
be doing that to anyone. God told us to preach the gospel, not to
harm any person in doing so.
- John 16:2 They shall
put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that
whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
- 3 And these
things will they do unto you, because they have not known the
Father, nor me.
If we show harm to others for religious
reasons it shows that we have not known the Father nor the Son. DC
Genesis 33
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