Geneses Chapter 32- Biggest Challenge

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Geneses Chapter 32- Biggest Challenge

The Text from https://www.bible.com/bible/111/GEN.32.NIV

Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau

1 Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. (No interaction between Jacob and angels was recorded.)

2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim(two camps). (Jacob signified the encounter naming the place Mahanaim.)

3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. (Jacob preemptively notified Esau his coming. As the following actions of Jacob indicate, meeting Esau was the biggest challenge for Jacob.)

4 He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. (He humbled himself to be a servant of Esau. It was not a gimmick but genuine gesture of humbling.)

5 I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.’ ” (Jacob asked Esau's favor mentioning his with great assets.)

6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” (The messengers came back and reported that Esau was coming with 400 men.)

7 In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. (Jacob was in fear for possible disasters.)

8 He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.” (Jacob prepared for the possible worst case by dividing his people and asset into two.)

9 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ (Going back to Canaan was the riskiest thing for Jacob. But he must go to the land of Covenant.)

10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.

11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.

12 But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’ ” (Jacob remembered God's promise to keep him safe and prosper, 28:13-15, but he did everything he could do to secure safety, also fervently pray to God claiming his worthlessness before God. God is perfect but he is not. Being Selected doesn't mean free riding of God's grace. When we came to know the Grace of God, we must show our faith in ACTION. Jam. 2:14-26. Nobody can secure the grace of God with his/her own effort or credit. It's a literally grace of God. We just respond to God with obedience in faith.)

13 He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.

16 He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.” (After prayer, he arranged his gift for Esau.)

17 He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ 18 then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’ ”

19 He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him.

20 And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’ ” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.” (He also instructed his servants how not to offend but please Esau specifically.) (1, Why Jacob humbled to Esau?)

21 So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp. (The gifts left but he stayed there a night more.)

Jacob Wrestles With God

22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. (At night he sent his family and possessions over the ford of the Jabbok.)

24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. (Jacob, leaving behind alone by himself, wrestled with a man who was the representative of God; Manifestation of Responsibility.)

25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, (Jacob was determined not to defeated.) he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. (The man hurted Jacob's hip; the sign of desperate struggle.)

26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” (Even in daybreak, Jacob didn't let him go without some blessings from the wrestling. No Gain? No Gain!)

27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. (His name was Jacob; who grab the heel.)

28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel(who struggles with God), because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” (He had won over Esau, and the favor of God.)

29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. (Jacob asked his name for his memory but he didn't specify.)

30 So Jacob called the place Peniel(face of God), saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” (So, Jacob memorialized the place naming Peniel.)

31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. (Even winning causes injury.)

32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon. (The Israelites remember his struggles even these days, not eating the hip socket tendon.) (2, More on Jacob's Return)

(1, Why Jacob humbled to Esau?) (AI)

Jacob humbled himself to Esau to seek reconciliation, appease his brother's potential anger, and display genuine remorse for stealing his blessing twenty years prior.(?) By bowing seven times- a gesture of servitude and respect- Jacob relinquished his position as the "greater" brother, aiming to melt Esau's resentment and secure safety for his family.

Key reasons for Jacob's humility:

Fear of Retaliation: Jacob was afraid of Esau and his 400 men, leading him to humble himself in weakness rather than pride.

Repentance(?) and Reconciliation: The repeated bowing acted as a dramatic, non-verbal apology aimed at restoring their broken relationship.

Showing Submission: By calling himself "servant" and Esau "lord," Jacob reversed their roles to show he was not there to fight or take more from Esau.

Trusting God's Transformation: While Jacob took practical steps to appease Esau, he also relied on God to change Esau's heart. (doing his share.)

Ultimately, this act of submission helped transition their relationship from fear-filled animosity to a peaceful, albeit changed, reconciliation.

Jacob inherited the Covenant of God legally and spiritually, with the approval of his parents, with his own effort, and more than anything, with God's blessings but he humbled himself down to ground for the sake of the Kingdom Peace of God. (Mt. 5:9)

The story continues in his future life.

(2, More of My Thoughts about the Return of Jacob)

from https://cafe.daum.net/k331/PeqF/48

The last thing that I want to mention here is Jacob's intention to go back to his own hometown of Canaan- especially to the town of Bethel.

His hometown was one of the most dangerous places for him because that is where his hostile twin brother was living, and maybe waiting for the younger brother with a sword of vengeance.

Jacob might have wanted to live his own life with his family and wealth in some other place for his own safety and happiness.

Instead, he decided to go back to home, risking his own life and the lives of his family members, because that is the land of the promise and covenant of the family with God.

God confirmed his departure to the homeland (31:3) but the burden to go back would not be eased without agony (32:3-9).

Out of agony and fear, Jacob reminded himself in prayer to God what God promised to him (9-12).

He risked his own physical damage in his wrestling and eventually gained God's confirmation by receiving the name Israel (28-32).

It is not a small thing, but a sum of his blessing for his commitment and dedication to God's kingdom, to be the father of a nation with his own name and the father of the twelve tribes.

The return of Jacob is one of the most crucial pieces of evidence that shows Jacob's commitment to being responsible for the covenant that his grandfather and father committed to.

He had to go through much more to reach back to the town Bethel where he committed his life to God twenty years ago (35:6).