Lesson 71- Preparing to Meet Esau Genesis 32:19- 32

Jacob Looks for Acceptance Vs. 19- 21

English Standard Version (Chapter 32)

19 He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, 20 and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.” 21 So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.

Jacob’s strategy is hardly by faith as he sends in waves or columns/ groups of animals, servants and family ahead to impress Esau and to deliver the reconciliation gift to him. Jacobs thoughts are hinging on 1.) making amends with the gifts and 2.) seeing Esau’s face vs.20. He then makes the statement of “Perhaps now he will accept me.” Usually we will find, acceptance is not bought, or it will not last. Acceptance is by grace or faith or both. In regards to our acceptance as believers from Jesus. That is exactly what it is: by grace through faith, and not of ourselves!

The last of the waves of presentation passed on ahead of Jacob to meet Esau, but he stayed the night in the camp and did not go with them. Interesting move or stalling technique!

Jacob Wrestles With God Himself vs.22 - 28

English Standard Version (Chapter 32)

22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

Jacob does not spend the whole night here , but he goes all the way to the half way point of the journey to reconciliation with Esau. That would be the river/ford of Jabbok.

Everything else that did not go on ahead in the waves of animals and stuff, he sent them over the river/stream. That would be all four wives with whom he had children and of course, his 11 children. At this point he is left alone. But not for long because God shows up in the form of a man with whom Jacob wrestles. I mean “is wrestling a thing for these patriarchs?” Why were they wrestling? Whatever it was God wrestled with Jacob until the breaking of the new day. Here Jacob’s hip is touched by the wrestler and it goes out of socket from this contest. The man saw he could not prevail against Jacob. The wrestling match produced a painful experience, but Jacob would not let him go. But Jacob would not let him go unless he blessed him. The day was broken and Jacob had not given up.

The exchange between the two men comes as strange as their meeting. as the stranger demands, “what is your name?” And the response is Jacob! Then the man said, Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled/contended, and been in conflict with God and have prevailed or overcome! Success! This speaks of boldness, daring, and confidence that saved the day. It also means that Jacob had come to a new level of understanding about grasping a meaning or possessing information about a subject that was never known before. This truly is the dawn of a new day for Jacob. He is now Israel. He is a man of legacy in God’s scheme of things and he has a new appreciation of what is happening in his life.

English Standard Version (Chapter 32)

29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.

Jacob asks for something that he did not get a direct answer for! But he now has a new understanding of the Lord God Himself, that he had never possessed. He is no longer a trickster but now his name means that he will be the one with whom all of Israel in the future will have descended from! The nation of Israel traces its ancestry back to Jacob’s sons and collectively they are Israel. His name is now a legacy. Because you prevailed with God and man, things are going to change, starting with your name.

Israel now wants to know what the man’s name is. He does not get an answer, but he knows. It is the place of Penuel/Peniel, east of the Jordan River. The significance is “I have seen God face to face and yet my life was delivered. Another rendition is that this is the “Princely Prevailer with God.” There was no fear after getting a face to face encounter. As he passed the river Penuel, he now limped, forever touched by the encounter with the Most High God. Verse 32 says the tradition to this day is to not each the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket because of that touch from God.

The wrestling with God is forever ingrained in the lives of the children of Israel. Hosea 12:4

Hosea 12:4 (KJV 1900)

Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed:

He wept, and made supplication unto him:

He found him in Beth-el, and there he spake with us;

The weeping, the tears, the prayers and the struggle were all a part of the weapons of Jacob and us also. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but principalities and powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take the whole armor of God.” Next, the place that is first mention for protection is the loin, close to the hips. They are to be clothed with truth, and from there the “wrestler, or the Princely Prevail-er for God” puts on His/her whole armor.

The wrestlings of the visible world prepare us mightily for the wrestlings of the invisible world. Many things seem hopeless in the flesh that are now possible with God for God’s man and his family. He must not delay any longer in reconciling with his brother. Esau has already had a reputation for a fondness of the things of the heathen Philistines, so Israel must now deal with a man who has different spiritual tastes than him.

The Significance of Jacob being touched at the hip and limping was to put him in a position of not continuing to fight, but instead Jacob clung to His Lord and demanded the blessing.

As men, we go forward each day, not knowing what waits us, the seen and the unseen, and God has given you and I the tools to prevail no matter where or what. Wrestling becomes the story of the stuff of life. The journey is hard but the struggles can be won with the Lord. Let us cling to the Lord Jesus like Jacob and proclaim the blessing in spite of the battle that looms before us. Prepare for blessing and victory!