Jacob Wrestled and Prevailed
Pastor Martin Saine teaches on Genesis 32.
Gen 31:51 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Here is this heap and here is this pillar, which I have placed between you and me.
Gen 31:52 This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm.
Gen 31:53 The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.
Gen 31:54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread. And they ate bread and stayed all night on the mountain.
Gen 31:55 And early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.
Gen 32:1 So Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
Gen 32:2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” And he called the name of that place Mahanaim. double camp, or two camps
What happened at this meeting???
SPECULATIONS:
With one threat behind him (Laban), and another before him (Esau) it is possible that this meeting was to remind Jacob of God’s promise and protection from Genesis 28:10-15;
Gen 28:10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.
Gen 28:11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.
Gen 28:12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
Gen 28:13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.
Gen 28:14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Gen 28:15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
It’s also possible that this meeting set the stage for reconciliation with Esau.
Gen 32:3 Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
Gen 32:4 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.
Gen 32:5 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.” ‘ ”
Jacob still fears his brother Esau, with legitimate reason! Even after 20 years Esau may still be murderous and furious with his brother Jacob.
Remember, personality wise, Esau was a hunter, a man of the field, a man’s man while Jacob was a “tent dweller” preferring to stay in the tents of the camp.
It appears that Esau was aggressive and physically warlike, while Jacob’s aggression was more subtile tactical.
Jacob’s message to Esau was a demonstration of his personality. He didn’t outright challenge Esau because that would have been a mistake. Was his apparent obedience a ploy or genuine? I would posit that it was genuine. Jacob did want to be reconciled with his brother and as a side benefit, not get killed! So he sent a message of his return with prosperity, from a humble posture, asking for favor.
Gen 32:6 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.”
Remember what 387 trained men of Abraham’s house did to the 5 kings who took his Nephew Lot? A troop of 400 men of war is a fearful thing for sure!
Gen 32:7 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.
Gen 32:8 And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.”
Survivalist move… Jacob is not physically equipped for war.
Gen 32:9 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’:
Gen 32:10 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.
Gen 32:11 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.
Gen 32:12 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.’ ”
This is where Jacob is equipped! He sees the potential threat, and knows where his protection comes from, so immediately he goes to prayer seeking deliverance, reminding God of His promise to bless and multiply him.
Pro 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.
Pro 29:26 Many seek the ruler’s favor, But justice for man comes from the LORD.
Gen 32:13 So he lodged there that same night, and took what came to his hand as a present for Esau his brother:
Gen 32:14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
Gen 32:15 thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals.
Gen 32:16 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 drives.”
Gen 32:17 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?’
Gen 32:18 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.’ ”
Gen 32:19 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;
Gen 32:20 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.”
Here’s where things get interesting! Although Jacob prays and seeks deliverance, he still keeps planning survival tactics. Did he divide his possessions and send presents because God told him to or because he wasn’t sure God would change Esau’s heart?
Was he preparing for God’s faithfulness, or God’s desertion?
Gen 32:20 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.”
Gen 32:21 So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.
Gen 32:22 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.
Gen 32:23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had.
“Then Jacob was left alone”
Jacob has put everything he has, including his wives and children, between himself and the danger. He has shielded himself with everything he has, and now he is alone at the back of the pack, hoping his efforts will save him.
Gen 32:24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.
This is a very strange verse!!! It always strikes me that there is no introduction, no build-up, no prep work, just BOOM, “a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day”. It seems to come out of nowhere, and that’s just how God did it!
Jacob has sent everything ahead of him in his defensive strategy, now he is left alone with his thoughts, plans, and fears. There is nothing and no one to help him against this “Man”
In this place of vulnerability, God met him as an advisory (although at the time Jacob didn’t know it was God) to face him one on one. No tricks, no plans, no gimmicks, no schemes, just one to one.
What would Jacob do when there was nothing left to shield himself with? Would he give up? Would he run away? How would he react??
Why here? And why now?
Jacob is on the bank of the brook preparing to pass into the land God told him to return to;the land of promise, the land of his fathers, the land of his inheritance, and the land of God’s blessing.
This is not just a border crossing, it’s a new phase in God’s plan for Jacob’s life. Changes need to be made at the border before crossing over.
He had to get to the place where he realized there was nothing he could do to save himself or claim God’s blessing except to rely on the Lord for deliverance and blessing.
Jacob needed a change so as not to drag his baggage into the land!
The nation faced the same issues in Numbers 13 & 14. They were faced with unconquerable foes, giants, warriors who would swallow them up like gnats, yet God had promised to go in with them. Did they wrestle and prevail? Obviously not! It took them 40 years to learn the lesson Jacob learned in this one night face to face with God.
As a reminder and some perspective, Jacob is 97 years old when he wrestled with God!
Gen 32:24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.
Who is this man?
Jesus!
Jacob himself identifies the man as God in verse 30 below, and Hosea identifies this man as the Angel of the Lord:
Hos 12:3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, And in his strength he struggled with God.
Hos 12:4 Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; He wept, and sought favor from Him. He found Him in Bethel, And there He spoke to us—
Hos 12:5 That is, the LORD God of hosts. The LORD is His memorable name.
Gen 32:25 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.
Interesting phrase “did not prevail against him”. In my mind, if I made this comment it would mean “couldn’t win”. If someone doesn’t prevail, they can’t win.
Here, it’s not that the Lord couldn’t win, it was that Jacob didn’t give up! He kept pressing and pressing and going and going. He was not going to quit!
Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, (biazo- to force, to crowd into, to seize) and the violent (biastes- forcer, energetic) take it by force.
Jacob’s victory was in refusing to give up!
Gen 32:26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” This would indicate that Jacob knew he was wrestling for something other than a trophy! He would not let go (even after being injured) unless the Lord blessed him.
Gen 32:27 So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” heel-catcher
Gen 32:28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob (heel catcher), but Israel; (struggler with God, or Princes of God, or combination as “princely wrestlers with God”) for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Gen 32:29 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.
Gen 32:30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: (Face of God)“For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
Jacob had wrestled and prevailed.
He prevailed against his brother, he prevailed with his father Isaac, he prevailed over Laban, his father in law, and he prevailed with God.
In the first three instances he prevailed in spite of his deceit and trickery and not because of it.
He prevailed with God because he refused to let go and give up.
We have many examples to remember:
Paul wrestled with Jesus: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It’s hard to kick against the goads…”
Peter wrestled with Jesus: “Not so Lord, far be it from you…” and again when he denied Jesus three times saying “I do not know the man”.
All of these examples ended up with a name change.
Jacob became Israel
Saul became Paul
Simon became Peter
The goal with Jacob, Saul, and Simon was the same as the goal is for us; a name change!
Who have you become? Who WILL you become? What are you wrestling with today?
Rev 2:16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
Rev 2:17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” ‘
Gen 32:31 Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.
Gen 32:32 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.
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