Jacob's Conversion
Notes
Transcript
Text: Genesis 32-33
1 Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2 And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom,
4 instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now.
5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’ ”
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.”
7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps,
8 thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”
9 And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’
10 I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.
11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children.
12 But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”
13 So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau,
14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
15 thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.
16 These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.”
17 He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’
18 then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’ ”
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.
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.”
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.
1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants.
2 And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all.
3 He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
5 And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”
6 Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down.
7 Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down.
8 Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.”
9 But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”
10 Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me.
11 Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.
12 Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you.”
13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die.
14 Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
15 So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”
16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.
17 But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
18 And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city.
19 And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent.
20 There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.
Introduction:
God is perfectly holy, righteous, and good. In the beginning when He made all things, all of creation was also holy, righteous, and good, including mankind — Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve could live and walk in God’s presence and enjoy fellowship with Him, because like God, they were holy.
But then something terrible happened. An unclean, unholy, snake entered the garden of Eden, God’s holy sanctuary, and tempted the man and woman to sin — to live for their own glory instead of God’s — to find satisfaction in created things instead of in the Creator. Adam and Eve rebelled against their holy, righteous, and good Creator, and they became unholy, unrighteous, and sinful.
Their biggest problem in that moment is that they had broken the once perfect relationship with God. Unholy people cannot live in the presence of a holy God.
“Because of their sin, Adam and Eve are now exiled. They are no longer allowed back into the Garden. They are prohibited from remaining in the presence of God. Guarding the way back to the Garden were cherubim. Cherubim were a class of angels who are always associated with the holiness of God. In Genesis 3, they guard the way to the tree of life as a way of preserving God’s standard for holiness.
The cherubim are here given a flaming sword—an instrument of execution. The implication is that if they attempt to come back into the Garden—if they attempt to return into God’s presence—they will face the wrath of this sword. They will be executed.
But contextually, God has just provided animal skins to cover the man and woman. Perhaps someone can intervene and bear the sword for them. Perhaps someone can help restore the broken fellowship for them and grant them access back to the presence of God.” (source: https://themajestysmen.com/tjdaugherty/the-gospel-according-to-the-cherubim/)
In our story today, Jacob is an unholy man who (as of yet) has no concept of the holiness of God. The only danger that Jacob can see is his brother Esau; the one Jacob really needs to see is God. Jacob still needs to submit to the LORD, to surrender himself to God — Jacob still needs to be converted. And by God’s grace, that’s what happens in this story.
Before we get into the story, I want to ask some questions to draw a contrast between Jacob’s actual response and actions here and the response and actions he should have had. First, …
Whom does Jacob fear?
Whom does Jacob fear?
Near the end of Genesis 31, twice (Gen 31:42, 53) Jacob refers to the LORD as “The Fear of Isaac” — the God whom his father fears. But clearly Jacob does not fear the LORD.
And now here in Genesis 32, it’s clear that Jacob does fear someone — Esau.
But whom should Jacob fear? He should fear the LORD. God is holy, and Jacob is not. Our God is a consuming fire, and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
To whom does Jacob show respect?
To whom does Jacob show respect?
Along the same lines, up to this point in his life, Jacob has shown very little respect or honor towards the LORD.
In this passage we find him showing great respect toward his brother Esau. He refers to Esau multiple times as “my lord” and he refers to himself as “your servant Jacob.” And when he meets Esau, he bows down before him 7 times.
But to whom does Jacob owe respect? He should be referring to himself as the LORD’s servant and referring to God as his Lord or Master and bowing before Him. Instead, when God shows up, Jacob tackles Him.
Whom does Jacob seek to appease?
Whom does Jacob seek to appease?
Jacob says to Esau, I want to “find favor in your sight” and says that he wants to “appease him” by sending a gift so that Esau will accept him. Appeasing is the same idea later on in Scripture translated atonement — providing a covering or satisfaction for sin.
Whom does Jacob really need to appease? Jacob needs an atonement before God. He needs God’s wrath against his sin to be appeased more than he needs his brother’s anger at him to be appeased.
To whom does Jacob give a gift?
To whom does Jacob give a gift?
He sends with his servants a gift of enormous size to give to Esau. He gives this gift to Esau in hopes of gaining Esau’s favor.
To whom should Jacob give a gift? Remember that Jacob had vowed back in Genesis 28 that he would give God a tenth of everything? To fulfill his vow, Jacob should be making a gift to the LORD, but instead he’s giving this extremely large gift to his brother. As far as I know, there is no record of Jacob paying a tithe to the LORD later on either.
All of these things that should be directed toward the LORD — fear, respect, the desire for atonement and favor, and giving a gift — Jacob directs these things to Esau instead.
But in the middle of this story is a turning point. Jacob’s wrestling with God is the turning point in his life. I believe this is Jacob’s conversion — when he was born again (to use the NT language) or when his heart was circumcised (to use OT language). Jacob becomes a new man and receives a new name.
Jacob Encounters God’s Angels (32:1-2)
Jacob Encounters God’s Angels (32:1-2)
1 Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2 And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
COMMENTS:
Jacob encountered God’s angels when he left the Promised Land, and he encounters them when he returns to the Promised Land. It is as if these angels of God are guarding the Promised Land as the place of God’s holy presence.
Similar to his experience in Genesis 28, he seems focused on the place, and he gives a new name to the place here just as he did back in chapter 28. Later on in this chapter, Jacob himself will receive a new name.
Jacob Sends Messengers to Esau (32:3-6)
Jacob Sends Messengers to Esau (32:3-6)
3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom,
4 instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now.
5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’ ”
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.”
COMMENTS:
The word “angels” in v. 1 is the same Hebrew word translated “messengers” in v. 3. God is sending His messengers to Jacob, and Jacob is sending his own messengers to Esau.
Jacob is submitting himself as a servant under the lordship of his brother Esau — an attitude that he should have toward the LORD instead.
And God has already said that Jacob will be master over his older brother and that Esau would be Jacob’s servant — so in reality, Jacob is refusing to submit to God’s word.
Jacob is all concerned about obtaining Esau’s favor, but it is God’s favor that he really needs.
Jacob Fears Esau (32:7-8)
Jacob Fears Esau (32:7-8)
7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps,
8 thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”
COMMENTS:
He assumes that Esau and his 400 men are not coming to greet him, but to destroy him. This may be a legitimate concern, and yet, Jacob needs to trust God’s promises.
Jacob Prays (32:9-12)
Jacob Prays (32:9-12)
9 And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’
10 I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.
11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children.
12 But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”
COMMENTS:
Jacob’s interpretation of God’s promise in Gen 28 and in Gen 31:3 is that for God to be with him is for God to do him good. God’s presence with His people is for the good of His people (we see this later on with Joseph in Genesis 39).
There are some positive signs in this prayer:
Jacob is turning to God in this time of crisis.
He addresses God by His covenant name, Yahweh (the LORD)
He remembers and repeats God’s promises.
Jacob is humbling himself — “I am not worthy” (I am small, insignificant)
He’s recognizing God’s character — His steadfast love and faithfulness.
He hasn’t wholeheartedly turned to the LORD yet, but this seems to be a sign that God is at work in him, softening his heart and preparing him for his full surrender later on.
Jacob Prepares a Present for Esau (32:13-15)
Jacob Prepares a Present for Esau (32:13-15)
13 So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau,
14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
15 thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.
COMMENTS:
The word translated “present” is the word used later on to refer to the offerings that the Israelites would bring to the Tabernacle. This is an offering or gift meant to appease Esau’s anger, just as the offerings prescribed in Leviticus are to make atonement for wrongdoing.
Consider the magnitude of this gift. I did not grow up around animals, and these are details I’ve read over dozens of times without thinking about how large of a gift this is, but it’s huge.
200 female goats and 20 male goats
200 ewes (female sheep) and 20 rams (male sheep)
30 milking camels and their calves (30?)
40 cows and 10 bulls
20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys
Assuming there is at least 1 camel calf per milking camel, this is 580+ animals. And for those of you who own or have owned animals, you know this is not a small cost.
Healthy, quality sheep and goats are probably going for at least $200 each
Cows and Donkeys are $1000 to $1500 each
Camels are about $8000 each (they’re basically the Middle Eastern equivalent of cars)
In our modern currency, this gift is probably valued at about $500,000 and may be closer to $1 million.
Jacob is enormously wealthy and is sparing no expense as he seeks to reconcile with Esau.
Jacob Sends the Gift to Appease Esau (32:16-21)
Jacob Sends the Gift to Appease Esau (32:16-21)
16 These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.”
17 He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’
18 then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’ ”
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.
COMMENTS:
Perhaps at this point, Jacob is trusting in his wealth and ingenuity in coming up with this plan to keep Esau from killing him.
Jacob Sends His Family Ahead (32:22-23)
Jacob Sends His Family Ahead (32:22-23)
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.
COMMENTS:
Right here it seems that Jacob is kind of acting like a coward. He’s not only sending the gift ahead of him, but he’s sending all his wives and kids in front of him too, while he stays behind. He seems to be mostly concerned about himself.
But then…
Jacob Meets God (32:24-32)
Jacob Meets God (32:24-32)
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.”
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.
COMMENTS:
This appears to be Jacob’s conversion. He meets God — whether we take this as a literal encounter with God in human form, or perhaps with a representative of God such as an angel, in this way God has met with Jacob, and Jacob’s life will never be the same after this.
Two helpful comments from “Dominion and Dynasty” by Stephen Dempster
Dominion and Dynasty: A Biblical Theology of the Hebrew Bible The Jacob Story: The Merging of Geography and Genealogy
In what amounts to a second-birth experience, he fights in the darkness not with his brother but with God. He wins the fight by losing—by being broken—and facing up to his identity. Consequently, he tells God who he is (Jacob the deceiver, the heel-grabber) and has his name changed to Israel (God’s fighter).
Dominion and Dynasty: A Biblical Theology of the Hebrew Bible The Jacob Story: The Merging of Geography and Genealogy
Two birth scenes frame Jacob’s life: the struggle with Esau in the darkness of the womb, when he is born ‘Jacob’ (
This is the turning point for Jacob — when God wrestles Jacob into submission. How much better would Jacob’s life have been if he had submitted willingly and much earlier in his life.
But this encounter with God does change his life, and it changes the way that he encounters Esau.
Jacob Meets Esau (33:1-3)
Jacob Meets Esau (33:1-3)
1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants.
2 And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all.
3 He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
COMMENTS:
Previously, it seemed that Jacob was sending everyone else ahead of him, but now he leads the way. He puts himself in the vulnerable place in front of his family. It seems that he’s a changed man.
And he’s still going to show respect to Esau and give him the gift he planned, but it seems that Jacob’s motives have changed. It seems that he’s no longer acting out of fear and a desire to appease Esau, but instead Jacob genuinely desires to make restitution for the wrong he committed 20 years earlier.
Jacob Gives the Gift to Esau (33:4-11)
Jacob Gives the Gift to Esau (33:4-11)
4 But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
5 And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”
6 Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down.
7 Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down.
8 Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.”
9 But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”
10 Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me.
11 Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.
COMMENTS:
Twice here Jacob speaks of God’s grace or kindness to him in providing more than enough. Jacob is not as proud, selfish, and self-sufficient as he once was. And Stephen Dempster comments on this passage,
The NIV Grace and Truth Study Bible Chapter 33
Jacob is no longer a coward driven by fear. Now he puts himself in front of his family and humbly approaches his brother. Jacob meets Esau face to face as he had met God face to face. Any hostility that Esau may have harbored has vanished as both brothers embrace each other weeping. The events of the previous night have changed everything. In fact, the narrative contains an echo of the evening before when Jacob saw God’s face. Now he sees the same God in his brother’s face (v. 10). Later, the apostle John will declare that it is impossible to love God, whom we cannot see, while hating a brother or sister, whom we can see (
Jacob shows genuine love by seeking to right the wrong he had done earlier. But while he is seeking to restore a peaceful relationship, he recognizes that Esau is not the kind of man he can trust or beside whom he should live, so even as Esau urges Jacob to settle next to him, Jacob politely refuses:
Jacob Refuses to Settle Near Esau (33:12-17)
Jacob Refuses to Settle Near Esau (33:12-17)
12 Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you.”
13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die.
14 Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
15 So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”
16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.
17 But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
COMMENTS:
Even though Jacob made restitution for the wrong he had done, there is still not a close relationship between these brothers, and we see the hostility between their descendants play out later on in the biblical storyline many times.
Jacob Settles Near Shechem (33:18-19)
Jacob Settles Near Shechem (33:18-19)
18 And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city.
19 And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent.
COMMENTS:
Shechem is significant in the next chapter, but it’s also a place we’ve seen one time before.
Shechem is the first place where Abraham built an altar and worshiped the LORD after arriving to the promised land in Genesis 12, and now it’s the first place Jacob builds an altar. So Moses is connecting Jacob’s act of worship here in v. 20 to Abraham’s worship in Genesis 12. And we only wish that Jacob had responded like Abraham in the beginning, instead of waiting so long to submit himself to God.
But now, perhaps the greatest evidence that Jacob has truly been converted, in v. 20:
Jacob Submits to God (33:20)
Jacob Submits to God (33:20)
20 There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.
COMMENTS:
El-Elohe-Israel — God is the God of Israel
Jacob’s embracing his new name, his new identity as Israel, the one who strives with God.
And he’s fulfilling his vow — if God keeps His promises to me, “then the LORD will be my God.” God kept his promises, and now Jacob is keeping his vow and committing himself to the LORD as his God.
How different would his life have been if he had embraced the LORD from his youth? How much of the heartache and the consequences of sin could he have avoided if he had submitted himself to the LORD much earlier?
APPLICATION:
Where do you see yourself in the life of Jacob?
Have you truly encountered God?
Have you turned from your sins and submitted yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ?
Have you embraced Him as your LORD and God?
The good news we see from Jacob’s life is that as long as you’re alive, it’s never to late to surrender to God. Your life will be better if you willingly submit yourself to God’s lordship in your life. Don’t keep fighting against God. Surrender yourself to Him.
