Gospel Light Christian Church Thru-The-Bible Series (21.5)

The Book of Genesis

Genesis Chapter 32:24 to 33:1-20 - Read this Bible passage once through before referring to the notes below.

Jacob’s transformation to Israel

v.24 Why do the people of God attempt to gain the blessing of God by their own efforts?  Faced with a great opportunity or a challenging task, believers are prone to take matters into their own hands and use whatever means at their disposal.  The result?  There may be a flirtation even with unscrupulous and deceptive practices, especially when things become desperate, and all the while deceiving others and oneself that it is for a greater spiritual cause!  Jacob had displayed these tendencies.  He cleverly outwitted his stupid brother twice (1st, birthright; 2nd, blessing); he eventually overcame Laban and emerged a wealthy man.  Only occasionally did he realise that it was God who worked through it all, but finally this truth was pressed on him most graphically in the night struggle at the ford Jabbok.

While Jacob was left alone on the other side of the brook, he was assailed by a man and caught in a match (v.24).  The fight was real and physical as attested by the record of Israel’s limping away from the night that gave rise to the dietary restriction of the nation.  The Hebrew word “a man,” who wrestled with Jacob, is fittingly ambiguous for the “man” refuses to reveal himself directly.  Jacob only knew that it was a male assailant and would gradually discover his identity by his words and actions.  The darkness of the night also aided in the concealment of the assailant’s identity.  The fact that he wishes to be done by “the breaking of day” (cf. v.26) indicated that he planned the night visit because if Jacob should have recognised his special identity, he would not have started the fight, let alone continue with his peculiar tenacity! 

v.25-26 Additionally, the fact the wrestling lasted till dawn suggests a long and indecisive bout.  The point is that the “man” could not defeat Jacob until he resorted to something extraordinary.  The turning point of the match came when the man “touched the hollow of…Jacob’s thigh” (v.25) – a blow that dislocated Jacob’s hip.  A mild term is used to demonstrate a supernatural activity that had occurred (cf. Is. 6:7).  The effect of this blow was that Jacob was crippled (“thigh was out of joint”).

The true nature of the nameless adversary began to dawn on Jacob as the physical darkness began to lift – it is the One who had power over the affairs of humankind!  He intended to leave but Jacob had been changed from a devious fighter into a determined and forthright pleader!  He may have lost the match but when he knew who it was he had fought, he persisted tenaciously to plead for a blessing – “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me” (v.26)!  What Jacob realised he cannot gain by fighting in his own strength, he persisted to gain by “wrestling” in dependence on Victorious One!  Brought to an end of himself, Jacob casts his hope, his dreams, and his future on the true Source of blessing in his life.

v.27  The Victorious One first asked the patriarch, “What is thy name?” (v.27) – which was clearly a rhetorical question.  When we remember the significance of names in the Old Testament and the history of the meaning of Jacob’s name, the purpose becomes evident.  Jacob had to confess his real nature, which was expressed in his name as a crafty overreacher, a heel-catcher, a supplanter.  Here, the best that he could accomplished by his nature – Jacob – was crippled, and he had to confess its folly and futility before he could be bless.  The rich and full blessings of God on the life of believers today is hindered not by the lack of willingness with God but by the lack of honesty (i.e. humility) with us, in confessing the folly and futility of our own powers. (cf. Ja. 4:6).

Upon Jacob’s broken and humble confession, “he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel” (v.28).   This renaming of Jacob asserted the authority of the assailant to impart a new life and new status (cf. 17:5, 15).  The new name “Israel” (i.e. may God rule) is given with the explanation “for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.”  In other words, the reason for the name change is because you have struggled with God, and with men have you succeeded.  The new name focuses on the Israel’s tenacity – his ability to cling to his stronger assailant despite his injury; his persistent desire for his opponent’s blessing.  It would retain the memory of how and with whom Israel had obtained God’s blessing.

v.29-30 Jacob afterward attempted to discover his assailant’s name.  As the “man” had acted with full powers, had spoken with authority, and had gotten to the bottom of Jacob’s identity, he could not be mortal.  The answer was cautious, “Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?” (v.29).  Jacob had to be content with a visitation from a “man” whom he realised was Divine.

Jacob named the place “Peniel” (i.e. face of God) because he had “seen God face to face” (v.30).  The impact of the encounter was shocking for Jacob – seeing God was something no one survived (cf. 48:16; Ex. 19:21; 24:10) but this appearance of the “man” guaranteed deliverance for him (“and my life is preserved”).  His prayer for deliverance was answered.  Meeting God face to face meant that he could now look Esau directly in the eye.

v.30-31 As “the sun rose upon him” (v.30), Jacob crossed Peniel with a limp (“he halted upon his thigh”).  On account of this event, the children of Israel observed a dietary restriction (v.31) – they would not eat of the sciatic nerve (“the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh”).  This does not form a part of the Sinaitic code and was merely a custom in Israel.

The special significance of Jacob’s becoming Israel is the purification of character – the triumph of the higher qualities of his life over the lower elements.  When God touched the strongest sinew of Jacob, the wrestler, his strength shriveled, and with it, Jacob’s persistent self-confidence.  He had always been sure of the result when he helped himself, but his trust in the naked forced of his own weapons was now without value.  With a crippling touch, Jacob’s struggle took a new direction – he clung to his opponent for a blessing instead.  God confronted Jacob at the frontier of the land promised to the seed of Abraham with the truth that if it were a merely matter of his own strength, he would never enter the land.  Similarly, if believers today are to accomplish what God wants us to do, they need to be crippled in the natural strength of their flesh (i.e. be rid of their self-sufficiency) so that they might receive the blessings of God by faith alone.

Chapter 33

The Reconciliation with Esau – The Rebuke of Jacob’s Fears

v.1-11 When Jacob saw Esau approaching with four hundred men (v.1), he lined up the children and the wives in the order of their importance to him, with Joseph and Rachel at the back (v.2).  This was the continuation of the scheme hatched in 32:8.  The evident show of favouritism must have hurt the family and might have fueled the jealousy over Joseph that emerged later (cf. 37:2-11).

The change in Jacob can be detected in his courageously taking the lead (v.3, “he passed over before them”) instead of staying “behind” (v.32:18).  Jacob approached his elder brother with the ceremonial conduct of a court (“he bowed himself to the ground seven times”) but Esau warmly welcomed him as a brother (v. 4, “ran to meet him,” “embraced him,” “fell on his neck,” “kissed him”).  Esau’s conduct revealed that he had forgiven and held no grudges against his brother, whereas Jacob’s behaviour revealed how much the guilt and fears of his past misdeeds grated on his soul – to the point that he could not reciprocate Esau’s brotherly affections.

The sight of Jacob’s company prompted Esau to inquire after them (v.5) and Jacob explained them as the blessings of God upon his life.  The wives and children of Jacob approached and bowed in a similar stiff and cautious manner (v.6-7).  When Esau asked about the purpose of the “drove” (v.8) he met, Jacob was now honest enough to be forthright about his intention to buy Esau’s forgiveness.  When Esau generously declined the gift (v.9), Jacob, who now knew that the change in Esau was the work of God and not a result of his schemes, pressed Esau to accept the gift as a token of their reconciliation (v.10).  Jacob’s statement “I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God” ties his meeting with God at Peniel with his meeting with Esau here – having seen God’s face, he could see Esau; God dealt graciously with him, and thus Esau favourable received him.  Jacob is as insistent with Esau as he was with the “man” at Peniel – “he urged” (v.11) Esau to accept the present, whose acceptance convinced Jacob that they were reconciled.

v.12-17 Esau offered to travel with Jacob (v.12) but Jacob, once again, smoothly and deceptively avoided travelling with Esau to Seir (v.13-15).  There was no need for Jacob to go to Seir because such a journey would have interrupted his completing his vow to return to the land of promise but he did not need to deceive his brother that he “will come unto [him] unto Seir”.  The reconciliation need not result in communal living and they can go their separate way in peacefully as brothers.  Evidently, the learned habits of deceit still need to be refined from Jacob.   Esau thus returned to Seir (v.16) and Jacob proceeded to “Succoth”, where Jacob “made booths [i.e. shelters] for his cattle” (v.17), indicating that he was settling down to a sedentary life.

v.18-20 Jacob is reported as having moved to Shechem in peace (v.18), bought land from the sons of Hamor (v.19), and erecting an altar to the LORD (v.20).  Whatever guilty fears Jacob had that shook his faith and cause him to make false maneuvers, in the end he truly acknowledged that God had faithfully reconciled him to his brother and brought him back to the land.  He expressed his acknowledgement in worship through by setting up an altar to the LORD.  The name “El-elohe-Israel” (i.e. “the altar of God, the God of Israel”) was designed to signify and affirm that the God who appeared to him first at Bethel and recently at Peniel was indeed his strong Deliverer.  Thus, Israel declared his faith in God in the presence of the pagans in Canaan by his worship at Shechem.

Reconciliation is a work of God.  Jacob may have had difficulty appreciating this truth at the time he was preparing to meet Esau because of his guilty fears but he eventually realised that God, not his own crafty devices, had delivered him and brought him safely back to the land of promise.  When believers would trust the LORD to deliver them, they need not be overly anxious but they may face the difficulties with the expectation that the LORD would resolve the matter.  It would be appropriate to make restitution but one should not attempt to seek appeasement through gifts, instead of trusting the LORD to work.  Jacob’s reconciliation with Esau was a rebuke of his deep-seated fears.  Now, he knew, as we should learn too, that reconciliation is a work of grace, to be sought by faith and acknowledged in praise and worship of God.