Gospel Light Christian Church Thru-The-Bible Series (21.4)

The Book of Genesis

Genesis Chapter 32:1-23 - Read this Bible passage once through before referring to the notes below.

Jacob’s Faith Shaken by a Guilty Fear of Esau

v.1-2 As Jacob journeyed southward to a location east of Jordan (on the future border between the territories of the half-tribe of Manasseh and of the tribe of Gad), he was met by the “angels of God” (v.1).  Jacob’s departure from Haran have moved him out of Laban’s territory and his re-entry into Canaan was bringing him back to face Esau.  Heavy upon his heart would have been the outcome of the brother he had wronged 20 years ago.  Jacob’s concern would have caused him to wonder if God would go with him and sustain him as He had originally promised at Bethel when he was on his way to Laban’s place (cf. 28:15).  At this crisis point in his life, a brief but significant experience in the life of Jacob is reported, where God’s invisible world openly touched Jacob’s visible world.

As Jacob approached the Promised Land, he also approached God’s encampment, where the angels of God had their base of operations.  Thus, the exceptional character of the place was revealed to him in some way.  He named the place “Mahanaim” (v.2), which means “double camp” – the camp of the angels and the camp of Jacob.  Mahanaim, like Bethel, was a spot where the heavenly world made contact with the earth!  After leaving one danger, Jacob now catches another glimpse of “God’s host” that assured him, once again, of the divine protection accompanying him on his return to the Land of Promise.  Jacob could depend on God’s powerful presence because he had been made aware of the angelic communication between heaven and earth.  It was the right reassurance at the right time with the right force.  Although Jacob was reassured by the sight of the angelic presence at this point, most of the time, God’s people have to rely on His Word that He is protecting them.

v.3-8 In spite of the reassurance from God, Jacob’s guilt over his own wrongdoing and fears of his brother’s wrath (cf. 27:41) greatly motivated his course of actions.  Jacob 1st sent messengers ahead of him to Esau with a message (v.3).  The wording of the message (v. 4, “my lord Esau…Thy servant Jacob”) appears to be minimising the blessing Jacob had received from Isaac (“be lord over thy brethren”, cf. 27:29), which was confirmed to Esau as well (“Behold, I have made him [Jacob] thy lord,” cf. 27:37).  All these suggests that his guilt over his deception to obtain the blessing was shaking his faith in the promises of God and in order to “find grace in [his] sight” (v.5), Jacob appeared to be turning over what the blessing had given to him.  This first indication of Jacob’s anxiety shows how serious he thought the situation was.

The messengers returned with the news that Esau was on his way to meet Jacob “and four hundred men with him” (v.6).  This piece of news caused Jacob to be “greatly afraid and terrified” (v.7) and he immediately jumped to the conclusion that his brother is coming to attack and slay him.  He made instant preparation to face the impending threat by dividing his people and property into two camps.  It seems that Jacob’s guilt and fear has removed the assurance of God’s camp from his heart, and he was willing to sacrifice part of his host – what God had given him – so that the others could escape (v.8).  Truly, it becomes difficult for a man who had become so used to depending on his own powers of manipulation and clever schemes to simply trust God in moments of crisis.  The assault on Jacob’s faith was further aggravated by his personal guilt and fears over his past misdeeds.  Believers must be wise to avoid developing a habit of flesh-dependence and seek to live a clean life if they desire to repel successfully the assaults on their faith in times of crisis in their life.

v.9-12 There is a curious mingling of human craftiness with the humble faith of Jacob.  Here, Jacob followed the correct procedure in the face of imminent danger – he prayed for deliverance from Esau.  Interestingly, Jacob’s prayer is a model prayer for one in distress.  Jacob first claimed the promises of God – the prayer began with an address to the God of the fathers and adds the reminder of the promise of God to him (v.9).    By reminding the LORD that he was obediently carrying out His commission, Jacob is seizing on the promises of God to “deal well with” him.  Next, he confessed his own unworthiness (v.10), which is the correct attitude for prayer.  He knew well that God would rescue him from danger out of His grace, not on account of his worth nor skill, as he recognise his increase to “two bands” from only a “staff” in his hand when he first crossed Jordan to be the result of God’s “mercies”.  Then, Jacob cried out to God to deliver him “from the hand of Esau,” honestly confessing his fears of destruction at his brother’s hand.  Finally, he rehearsed God’s promises to bless him (v.12) in this life-threatening situation not simply to remind God of His Word but to build his own confidence that God would deliver him.

v.13-21 In spite of Jacob’s dependence on God through prayer, his fear and his guilt continues to control him and shake his faith in the LORD.  As a result, his faith that shone so beautifully in this prayer was clouded and complicated by his subsequent attempt to rely on his own schemes as well to ensure his deliverance.  Jacob was a desperate man who has learnt to trust the LORD but has not fully unlearnt all his old and crafty ways yet.

In a curious mixture of fear and faith, Jacob revealed his continued reliance on his own wit by making unnecessary efforts to deliver himself from Esau.  He sent a large gift to Esau to pacify him (v.13-15).  The 550 animals that he sent as a gift were taken from the “two bands” that he had acknowledged as God’s blessing on him in his prayer (cf. v. 10).  The other contradiction in Jacob action is that he evidently wanted to buy Esau off with a “present” instead of truly seeking “grace in [his] sight” (v.5).  He made sure that there is an adequate “safety distance” between his servants who are sending the gift to Esau and himself (v.16) and persisted in the improper use of “servant” in reference to himself and “lord” in reference to Esau (v.17-19).  Clearly, Jacob was not only willing to return the blessing (“a present”), he was ready to nullify his place of leadership in the family (“servant” and “lord”).  Only fear and guilt could motivate such anxious efforts.

The point of all this elaborate schemes was to appease Esau “with the present that goeth before [him]” (v.20) so that Jacob might “see his face” and be “accepted” (i.e. “be forgiven”).  Jacob thus revealed that his intent is to engage in an act of self-abasement in order to appease the anger of his brother whom he had wronged and gain his forgiveness.  However, the attempt at self-abasement and the sending of the present was contrary to the spirit of the vision (cf. v.1-2) and the prayer (cf. v.9-12).  Since God had committed Himself to protect His people, He could be counted on to deliver them from danger, even if it meant the deployment of his angelic hosts.

v.22-23 After all the plans were laid down, Jacob dispatched the “appeasement” party over the ford of Jabbok, while the rest of his company spent the evening on the other side (v.21).  This river in eastern Canaan flows through deep-cut canyons in to the Jordan river about 37 kilometres north of the Dead Sea.  On that same night, Jacob sent his family across the brook, together with all his possessions (v.22-23) but he remained alone on the other side of Jabbok.

The difference between exercising wisdom in a difficult situation and acting out of desperation can be a fine line.  Jacob’s action, in violation of the promises and blessings of God to him, revealed that he was acting out desperate fear and guilt, rather than out of godly wisdom and a believing heart.  The lesson for us is that God’s people can pray with confidence for deliverance from their enemies because of His promises to them, and they need not seek to appease their enemies by giving away God’s blessing on them!  Believers can be strengthened in times of crisis by looking only to the Source of confidence and Means of victory so that they may avoid any anxious efforts, even those motivated by fear and guilt, to extricate themselves from a desperate situation.