Chapter
32 of Genesis is about crossing over. Jacob is leaving Laban after
20 years and heading home. The chapter begins, “Jacob
went on his way and the angels of God met him“.
Just as in 2 Kings 6 when the prophet Elisha prays that the eyes of
his servant would be opened and he sees the heavenly host surrounding
them, God allows Jacob to see the angelic protection he has. We are
frequently oblivious to the spiritual battle taking place around us,
but Scripture is clear that God hears our prayers. Jacob, in
preparing to see his brother Esau again, sends a messenger ahead to
the land of Edom, “Your
servant Jacob says… I have cattle and donkey and sheep and
goats…I am sending this message to my lord that I might find favor
in your eyes“.
When the messenger returned Jake is informed, “He
is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him“.
Jacob believes Esau wants revenge, “In
great fear and distress“,
Jacob divided the people into two groups. He says, “If
Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left will
escape“.
Jacob is finally at a point when he is ready to accept God, and what
a great prayer he offers, “Oh
God…I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have
shown…save me I pray”
and he recall the promise, You said,
“I will surely make you prosper and I will make your descendents
like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted“.
This is the moment in time each of us must have, individually and
personally surrendering to God and accepting His gift of salvation
with humility.
Next,
Jacob sets out to make amends with the brother he wronged and sends
ahead lavish gifts, herds of goats and sheep and camels and oxen and
donkeys. “Go
ahead of me…when my brother Esau meets you…you are to say, they
belong to your brother Jacob. They are a gift…he is coming behind
us“.
He spaces each of the flocks out, hoping that by the time Esau sees
him, he will be calmed down, “and
perhaps he will receive me“.
When we truly repent, our desire is to pay everyone back for the
wrongs we have done, but we can not. The only way we can express our
thanks is to live out our lives in a way that honors God. 1 John
3:18 says, “let
us not love with word and tongue, but in deed and truth“.
We are to live out our faith as our praise for God.
Jacob
sends everyone and everything ahead, “So
Jacob was alone and a Man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the
Man saw that He could not overpower him, He touched the socket of
Jacob’s hip so the hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the Man“.
As we read later, this Man was God Himself in human form- Jesus
Christ! But Jacob will not let go, “I
will not let you go until you bless me“.
The Man asks, “What
is your name?“.
Then the Man said, “Your
name is no longer Jacob (sneaky cheat), but Israel because you have
struggled with God and with men and you have overcome“.
Interestingly Israel can mean “Struggles
with God“,
or “Rules
along with God“.
Both are true of Jacob and both are true of you and I at various
times in our life. More accurately God rules and we follow close
behind. Jacob finally crosses over the river, from this point on
Jacob is call “Jacob” twice as often as he is called
“Israel”, yet the nation is called Israel. We will
continue to stumble along the way, but once we become children of
God, we take on His name and our inheritance is secure. If you are
wrestling with God this morning, ask Him to bless you before you
cross over to face today’s challenge.