Genesis chapter 32
Jacob and Laban make a covenant, continued. Jacob sends gifts to Esau. Jacob wrestles with God.
JACOB AND LABAN MAKE A COVENANT, CONTINUED
VERSE 1. Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
the angels of God met him. The word angels is plural. There is more than one angel.
Jacob is the first person in the Bible to see angels.
VERSE 2. When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s army.” He called the name of that place Mahanaim.
Mahanaim. This word means “two camps.”
JACOB SENDS GIFTS TO ESAU
VERSE 3. Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom.
VERSE 4. He commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall tell my lord, Esau: ‘This is what your servant, Jacob, says. I have lived as a foreigner with Laban, and stayed until now.
VERSE 5. I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.’ ”
VERSE 6. The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”
VERSE 7. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, along with the flocks, the herds, and the camels, into two companies.
VERSE 8. He said, “If Esau comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape.”
VERSE 9. Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD, who said to me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,’
God … who said to me. It is important to remember what the LORD God called us to do. It is good to remember what he promised us.
VERSE 10. I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I crossed over this Jordan; and now I have become two companies.
VERSE 11. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and strike me and the mothers with the children.
VERSE 12. You said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which can’t be counted because there are so many.’ ”
VERSE 13. He stayed there that night, and took from that which he had with him a present for Esau, his brother:
VERSE 14. two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
VERSE 15. thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals.
VERSE 16. He delivered them into the hands of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put a space between herd and herd.”
VERSE 17. He commanded the foremost, saying, “When Esau, my brother, meets you, and asks you, saying, ‘Whose are you? Where are you going? Whose are these before you?’
VERSE 18. Then you shall say, ‘They are your servant, Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord, Esau. Behold, he also is behind us.’ ”
VERSE 19. He commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, “This is how you shall speak to Esau, when you find him.
VERSE 20. You shall say, ‘Not only that, but 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.”
VERSE 21. So the present passed over before him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.
JACOB WRESTLES WITH GOD
VERSE 22. He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok.
VERSE 23. He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had.
VERSE 24. Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day.
For believers in the One God, praying through the whole night is a venerable part of our lives. Read more »
VERSE 25. When he saw that he didn’t prevail against him, the man touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained as he wrestled.
VERSE 26. The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.” Jacob said, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.”
VERSE 27. He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob”.
VERSE 28. He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Israel. Jacob is renamed as Israel.
This reminds us of Abram being renamed as Abraham. And Sarai being renamed as Sarah.
VERSE 29. Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” He said, “Why is it that you ask what my name is?” So he blessed him there.
VERSE 30. Jacob called the name of the place Peniel; for he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
Peniel. This word means “face of God.”
Jacob saw the LORD God face-to-face. But after that, nobody was permitted to see the face of God. Not even Moses. No one was permitted to see him and live. Read more »
VERSE 31. The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh.
The sun rose on him. Jacob has wrestled with the LORD God. Now he is a new person.
This rising of the sun signals a new beginning. And a new life.
VERSE 32. Therefore the children of Israel don’t eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.
GENESIS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50
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