Read Genesis 32
Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau
1 Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.
3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4 He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. 5 I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.’”
6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”
7 In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.”
9 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. 12 But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”
13 He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.”
17 He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ 18 then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’”
19 He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him.20 And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.” 21 So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.
Jacob Wrestles With God
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.
Go Deeper
Jacob, having resolved one family conflict, finds himself in the midst of another—this time with his brother, Esau. It’s been two decades since Jacob last saw Esau and deceived him for his birthright. Now, returning to his homeland, Jacob is uncertain if Esau has forgiven him. After all, family dynamics are complex. Time doesn’t always heal wounds. Bitterness and unforgiveness can fester with time and anger. Time can either heal grudges or fuel them.
So, like many of us, Jacob begins to scheme when faced with an unknown future. He starts working on a plan he hopes ensures peace with Esau. He tries to appease, please, entice, and control because he’s afraid. He’s anxious. He’s out of options. Powerless to control his future.
Alone in the dark, uncertain of the future, Jacob’s wrestling begins. His life, as he knew it, ends. Physically and spiritually, he is forever changed. A face-to-face encounter with God Almighty does that to a person. The God of his father and grandfather becomes his God, the God of Jacob. His name, his future, everything is redefined. What was once a mere recognition of God now becomes a profound relationship. Isn’t that how it goes for us sometimes? Alone, afraid, powerless to control our future, in the dark, unable to see what we are wrestling with until the light breaks through and gives sight to our struggle.
No one wrestles with God and expects to win. God is too kind to allow that to happen. We can expect that God will change us if we struggle long enough to the point where our wrestling turns to embrace. We will walk differently. A new name will define us. The God we know about from friends or family will become the God we worship and experience. Be kind today. The sun is rising on some of us, limping out of an all-night wrestling match with God.
Questions
- What do you learn about God in this chapter?
- Jacob means “deceiver” and “cheater.” God changed his name to Israel, which means “he struggles with God,” “he is ruled by God,” or “having power with God.” Why do you think this name change is significant?
- How have you wrestled with God? How has a face-to-face wrestling match with God Almighty changed you?
Did You Know?
There is a beautiful illustration in Genesis 32 that points back to Jesus: the picture of Jacob resting his head on the rock. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. And Israel is the nation of God’s people. Several places in Scripture, Jesus is called the cornerstone—the foundation the church is built on. Here we get a picture, or foreshadowing, of God’s people (Israel/the church) resting on the firm foundation of Christ (the cornerstone).
7 thoughts on “Genesis 32”
God continually meets you!
God never gives up on us! Profound!! All the mess-ups, hiccups, doubts, worries, fears, anixiety, untruths, longings, and other adjectives, God never quites. He HESED us!! He loves with a never ending, without fail, beyond total and complete LOVE. He writes our story and even when we fall short of all the mess-ups it is a BUT GOD situation over and over. This story shows us how much God is serious about helping us get through our hurts, habits, and hang-ups. Our roller coaster ride is really an amazing love story. God will never give up.
God thank You that You never give up on me. Thank You for each minute of this day, that YOu are for me not against me. You have given me perfect peace as I stay my mind on You. You have given armor to fight through the stongholds of this world. God thank You for Your word and how I can claim, walk and speak it over my life and circumstances. Thank You for Your grace and mercy with peace that is new every morning. Thank You for Your HESED love so that I can see others through Your love goggles and AGAPE them. God help me not to lean on my own understanding but to acknowledge You and You shall direct my path. God my vocabulary falls so short on how I want to praise You. Thank You that I can, with my actions, express my love for You today in these minutes in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m far too much like Jacob than I would like to admit. Manipulation & control tend to be my default setting when left to my own sinful nature. However, I’m learning this is never the pathway to peace, and I must constantly check the status of my heart to see if these tendencies are lurking in my heart. Then, I must carefully take every thought captive to the authority of scripture, leaving the outcome in the hands of sovereign God. Every intrusive, sinful thought must bow to holy God, the One who leads me beside still waters and restores my soul.
26 “But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.””
Wow! Jacob was certainly a tenacious personality! Let me
seek to be tenacious likewise in my pursuit of God!
I yield my will to God every morning surrendering my pride and control which is my norm. I trust God’s will for my life through faith. Faith and obedience to my Sovereign God will strengthen me in times of trial.
I’m so confused. If the man is too weak, how is it god then wrestling him? Was this Jesus? I’m so confused…
This is all strange. I wrestle w god all the time tho. Like it’s hard to hear when he speaks sometimes. Seams like it is just my own thoughts
I was curious to this point as well. Then I remembered wrestling with my sons when they were young. As an adult, I could easily overpower their four year old strength. But there was bonding in the wrestling and eventually, I let them win or conceded it was a draw.
The best thing about wrestling with God is that it requires connecting with him.
There are a lot of instances in the OT that reference “an angel of the Lord” that is an actual man. There are a lot of great commentaries that discuss that it could be, one of them is called a Theophany which is a physical representation of God. The being unable to prevail against Jacob could just reflect the almost stubborn relationship of Jacob lol, and showing how he just won’t quit. I have so many of those “im so confused” moments in the OT, definitely use those as fuel to dig deeper! FiInd out more! It can be so fun, you learn a lot, and your affections for God and His word can be stirred!