Fear, Faith, and Transformation || Genesis 32:1-23 || Session 52 || Verse by Verse Bible Study

In this verse by verse Bible study episode, we draw a powerful parallel between Jacob’s struggles and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Join us as we continue to trace Jacob's intriguing journey through Genesis, recounting his complex dealings with his uncle Laban and their climactic covenant of non-aggression. Despite God's promise of protection, Jacob's return to the land of promise is fraught with fear and uncertainty. As he encounters angels along the way, we delve into the profound themes of God's assurance and guidance that echo throughout his life. This episode is packed with insights and reflections that not only recount Jacob’s story but also challenge us to seek and trust in God's guiding hand amidst our own life's trials.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:19

In our verse-by-verse study in Genesis, we've been following Jacob, and Jacob deceived his father and his brother and God's been wringing him out, putting him through school, teaching him some lessons. In 20 years of work with Laban, his uncle, jacob, has been cheated many times, so now he has left Laban. At the end of chapter 31, they set up this heap of stones. They make an agreement not to harm each other and they set up a heap of stones. They make an agreement not to harm each other and they set up a heap of stones. What was that for Steve?

Speaker 2 0:49

Well, there, in verse 52, as we end up, it says this heap is a witness and the pillar is a witness that I will not pass by this heap to you for harm and you will not pass by this heap and this pillar to me for harm.

Speaker 2 1:03

This becomes a boundary line between the two of them and I think it's kind of a poignant ending for these two characters. Glenn, neither one can trust each other that while they've both been working with each other for 20 years, it's been in a way, a contentious relationship. Here is this pillar and it's kind of like the final meeting. They're standing there, the pillar is there and Jacob is telling them you won't go past this pillar to bring you harm. I won't go past this pillar to bring you harm. Then they turn around, they walk off. As you pointed out in our last session, we no longer hear of Laban, but yet as Jacob goes, we find his story continuing through scripture. I think it's kind of just a poignant time at the end of this chapter in 31 of these two men after 20 years of their relationship.

Speaker 1 1:55

This is a major event. Jacob is now headed back to the land, the land of promise. If you remember, back earlier in Genesis, when Jacob was running from his brother Esau, he had a vision, the vision of Jacob's ladder. At that point God promised to protect Jacob and to bring him back to the land. All these years Jacob could have relaxed and realized that God's hand was on him and that he was going to be brought back to the land. But as we see here in the next chapter chapter 32, jacob is still afraid, he's not fully trusting God because as he heads back, what's back home? What he had done before was he had cheated his brother Esau and the last he had seen his brother Esau, esau was threatening to kill him. That's in Jacob's mind. Now he's been forced to leave Laban because of all of Laban's thievery and scheming and manipulations, but he doesn't have at least in Jacob's mind. He doesn't have anything pleasant to go back to, because he's worried about his brother.

Speaker 2 3:02

It's a bittersweet moment. He's finally getting to go back home, yet he's got this cloud hanging over him of Esau's vow to kill him. That's the reason why Rachel got him out of there in the first place. So it's a joyous moment, but at the same time it's a worrisome moment trying to figure out, okay, how am I going to handle this situation.

Speaker 1 3:24

Open your Bibles to Genesis, chapter 32, and we'll start reading at the beginning of the chapter. It says this Now, as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. Jacob said when he saw them, this is God's camp. So he named that place Mahanaim. Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau, in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He commanded them, saying Thus you shall say to my lord Esau. Thus says your servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants, and I have sent to tell my Lord that I may find favor in your sight. The messengers returned to Jacob saying we came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you and 400 men are with him. So in verse one, jacob heads back to the land. Angels of God meet him. What does that tell us, steve? What would it say to Jacob when he heads back and angels are there?

Speaker 2 4:30

It gives him confidence of what God had told him. I'm going to be with you. Here it is. He's entering back into the land and guess what Angels of God, God's messengers, are there to be with him as he goes back into the land are there to be with him as he goes back into the land.

Speaker 1 4:50

This phrase angels of God. It gives us a literary clue. In fact there's several literary clues in this passage that give a parallel between the time that Jacob left and now when he's coming back. Remember, when he left was the vision of Jacob's ladder. What did he see? He saw angels. Now, as he's coming back to the land again, what does he see? Angels. In the original it actually uses this particular phrase angels of God. The only two places that phrase exactly that way is used is in these two places when the Jacob's ladder, when he's leaving the land, and here in the beginning of 32, when he's going back.

Speaker 1 5:30

The passage, the language of God's word, is drawing this very clear parallel between the time when Jacob left the land and when he's returning from the land. He saw the angels of God when he left and now he's seeing the angels of God when he comes back. When he left, the angels were telling him, speaking God's message. They were saying I will protect you, I will be with you, I will bless you. So now he gets reminded of that when he returns.

Speaker 1 6:02

It's interesting that in verse one only says angels of God met him. And then it goes on. It doesn't give any detail. I would think you know, if I had met angels I'd be telling all about it. But especially before Jacob's ladder very dramatic scene. But here it just says angels met him. And he goes on here in this passage it's a reminder to Jacob that God is with him. Will God show up for the Christian to remind us that he is with us? Because this is a point where Jacob needs God the most. He's leaving a problem, he's headed towards a problem. The last time he saw Esau then his brother was threatening to kill him. He's in a spot. At least he thinks he's in a spot. He needs God. God shows up with special messengers to remind him. So does that ever happen to Christians? Do we ever get in a spot where we really need God to show up and remind us? Hey, I'm with you.

Jacob's Fear and Faith Transition

Speaker 2 7:00

We do. We don't see it a manner of this where angels show up, because I think one reason is because we have the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is with us as believers from whenever we become believers. I don't think we always rely on that enough, but I think many of us Christians forget about the Holy Spirit and that this is something that has been given to us to bring us comfort, and that we can go to the Holy Spirit, ask for wisdom, ask for that comfort, ask for that peace that's there. It reminds me of Philippians, I think, in chapter four, which basically says worry about nothing, pray about everything, and God will give you the peace that's beyond any type of understanding. So, yes, god will show up, not as a group of angels, most likely in our day and time, but he will give you that comfort and that peace to guide you through those difficult circumstances.

Speaker 1 7:59

When he had left the first time at Jacob's ladder, god's message was I'm going to be with you, I'm going to bring you back to this land and I'm going to protect you.

Speaker 1 8:09

Jacob should have trusted that all these years, but it's been a while and Jacob's human and just like us, he sometimes forgets. It's not as real as it was in the past. He could use a reminder, and I think that's true for all of us. God has done great things for all Christians in the past and sometimes we just need a reminder. Sometimes it helps when God shows up. God is so tender and loving that he will show up and give us a reminder to say, hey, I'm with you.

Speaker 2 8:40

I want to point something out here. In verse four, jacob gives a command to his servants on how to address Esau. He says there Thus you shall say to my Lord, esau thus says your servant, jacob. Now I find this interesting from the standpoint that this is exactly reverse of what God told Rebecca back in chapter 25. God told her, said you have two nations inside of you, and the older is going to serve the younger. Here it is Jacob is coming back, the younger, and yet he's addressing the older as one, his Lord, and number two as his servant. Obviously, jacob is doing this to soften Esau up. That's the gist behind why he's doing this. But it does, I think, point out that back in 25, it's God telling Rachel or talking about two nations, because in actuality we never see these two brothers serving each other individually. The nations do later on in Scripture, but the individual brothers don't serve each other. This is just an indication here that it's backwards. Jacob's trying to butter up his brother, but it's a contrast to what chapter 25 is talking about.

Speaker 1 9:57

And what we see in Jacob when he calls his brother Lord. It's the lowercase l, it's not in the sense of I'm worshiping you, but Jacob refers to himself as his brother's servant. What that is showing is a change in Jacob. Jacob is a changed man from when he last saw Esau. Last he saw Esau, jacob was kind of full of himself and he's a schemer and he's manipulating things. Well, jacob is now humbled and he's a schemer and he's manipulating things. Well, jacob is now humbled and he's learned his lesson. God has taken them to the woodshed and is now bringing him back. He is a changed man. He's much more humble, much more contrite, much more willing to be a servant. Of course, the fear of Esau kind of helps that out a little bit, because what happens? He sends messengers out to find Esau and they come back. What's the message when they come?

Speaker 2 10:51

back. When they come back, they say that yeah, we saw Esau, but he's got 400 men with him.

Speaker 1 10:57

Remember, esau was the hunter. He knew how to use weapons quite well. The prophecy was that he was going to have to use those weapons for most of his life. Here's the brother, here's the powerful one that knows how to kill things with 400 men. At this point, jacob is shaken in his boots.

Speaker 2 11:14

It could be two things. Yes, it could be in Jacob's mind. Esau is going to follow through on his threat to me. But it also could be on Esau's part. He doesn't really know. It's been 20 years since he's seen his brother. He doesn't know whether Jacob's coming back in with a band of men behind him in a violent way. So it could be that Esau is just kind of hedging his bet against the conflict. Either way, we'll see how it unfolds here in just a little bit.

Speaker 1 11:45

Now again the previous prophecy of Jacob's ladder. God says I'm going to protect you, I will bring you back and make a great nation. Well, at this point there's no indication here that that's in Jacob's mind at all. I think he's half partially trusting God and half not, because he's doing things in this next section that shows that he has a fear of his brother Esau. He's the one who knows how to use the weapons and he's coming back with 400 men. Jacob starts to do things to show that he is quite afraid of his brothers. Let's start reading in this next section, starting in verse 7.

Jacob's Reconciliation and Prayer Transformation

Speaker 1 12:21

Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed and he divided the people who were with him and the flocks and the herds and the camels into two companies. For he said, if Esau comes to one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape. Jacob said, o God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, o Lord, who said to me, abraham and God of my father Isaac, o Lord, who said to me return to your country and to your relatives and I will prosper you. I am unworthy of all the loving kindness and all the faithfulness which you have shown to your servant, for with my staff only, I crossed this Jordan and now I have become two companies. Deliver me. I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children, for you said I, will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.

Speaker 1 13:16

So he spent the night there and then he selected, from what he had with him, a present for his brother Esau 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams, 30 milking camels and their colts, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys. He delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants pass on before me and put a space between droves. He commanded the one in front, saying when my brother Esau meets you and ask you, saying to whom do you belong and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong, then you shall say these belong to your servant Jacob. It is the present sent to my Lord Esau. And behold, he is also behind us. Then he commanded also the second and the third and all those who followed the drove, saying After this manner, you shall speak to Esau when you find him and you shall say Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goes before me, then afterwards, I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.

Speaker 1 14:27

So the present passed on before him while he himself spent that night in the camp. So he divides his people into these two groups, and then he splits the flocks into these groups. He sends several groups ahead, three or four of them. Each one of them has a herder with them to meet Esau. As he goes, and as they meet Esau, the servant was to say oh, this is just a present for Esau. The next one oh, this is another present for Esau, and this is another present for Esau. So what is Jacob doing here with Esau.

Speaker 2 15:02

He's softening Esau up. He's also sending the message to Esau that he's not coming in harm. He's not coming in a warlike fashion to come and attack Esau. He's coming in peace. It also gives you an indication of how wealthy Jacob had become. You count these up there's 580 livestock and that's only a portion of what Jacob has as he's coming back in. You can just visualize the huge, huge herds of livestock that are coming in as he comes back in to the land of Canaan. To have 580 is only a portion. You can see Jacob is really, really a wealthy man.

Speaker 1 15:45

He is very wealthy. He says in here two or three times, I am afraid. So he's afraid of Esau and he's doing this to try to soften him up. Let's look at the prayer that he prays, starting in verse 9. If we look at this prayer, the first thing we notice is one that he is praying. I think, Steve, this is the first recorded prayer of this man, Jacob, Am I right?

Speaker 2 16:09

You are right. It does show what you said earlier. He's a changed man. How many times when we go through here, we see people you bring it out all the time. I don't see anybody going to the Lord. I don't see anybody going to the Lord. Isn't it great to see Jacob now going immediately to the Lord to deal with this situation?

Speaker 1 16:32

It is great that he's going there. What did God have to do to get Jacob to the point where now he is looking to the Lord for guidance?

Speaker 2 16:40

20 years of being cheated and being scandaled against by a fellow relative to get him to that point.

Speaker 1 16:48

Again, I always point to the life of David. If we look at David, he routinely went to the Lord and said what should I do next? What should I do next? We haven't seen any of that. Jacob was trying to do things on his own and ended up with 20 years of the school of hard knocks. He was really in a bad spot and it took him a long time for God to get to the point where he is praying to the Lord for guidance and help. Will God do this to us today? He will do it to us if we require it.

Speaker 2 17:23

What I mean by that is, we should not get into the situation where he has to teach us through the school of hard knocks. We just need to stick with God and go to God in all of our situations and look to him for guidance all the time, so that we don't have to be disciplined and bring us back to this type of a place through circumstances that aren't good ones for us.

Speaker 1 17:45

Now what I'm about to say. Next, I want to be very clear that I'm not misunderstood. There's a lot of pain and suffering in the world and much of it we don't know why it's there. I'm not about to say not about to say that all of pain and suffering is brought on by God. That's not the case, but sometimes it is. Sometimes the pain and suffering is because on by God. That's not the case, but sometimes it is. Sometimes the pain and suffering is because of my own sin.

Speaker 1 18:07

That's what happened to Jacob here. Jacob did not at the very beginning, ask God, should I do this deception for my father? And therefore it brought about all this pain and suffering on himself, and at no point again this is the first he's down on his knees praying to God for guidance. This is where God wanted him. If he would have gone there in the first place, life would have been so much easier. God does indeed bring things into our life to get us to follow him and show our devotion to him.

Speaker 1 18:46

What did Jesus say in the Gospels? Those who God loves, he prunes. Prunes means to cut things away. I used to grow grapevines, and if you wanted to grow grapes and not just vines, you have to prune them. Grapevines I had would bleed sap for weeks after I pruned it. It would just ooze sap. It hurt the vine. But if you want to have grapes, you've got to prune it.

Speaker 1 19:10

That's what the message is. If you're going to have a fruitful life with spiritual fruit for the Lord God, he has to cut away some of the things that don't belong there. That's what's happened to Jacob. Jacob has finally learned his lesson. He is finally on his knees before God and my prayer is that, lord God, help me to get in that position before I go through all these years of hard knocks With this. What does he say in verse 10? I am unworthy of all the loving kindness and all the faithfulness which you have shown to your servant. Jacob realizes I'm not worthy, steve, what does the New Testament tell us about whether or not Christians are worthy of God's grace?

Speaker 2 19:56

It says that we are not worthy. Romans 3 says for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, we're definitely not worthy of the grace that God gives us.

Speaker 1 20:05

The Bible tells us that in Romans, chapter 3, that there is none righteous, no, not one. And it says in that same chapter all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So the message in the New Testament quite clear that none of us are worthy of God's grace. But why do we nevertheless get God's grace is because of his love and his mercy towards us. We also have here Steve. This prayer is kind of a foxhole prayer. The soldier in a war jumps in a foxhole and now he's praying because his life's on the line.

Speaker 2 20:38

Well, this is a foxhole prayer.

Speaker 1 20:40

if there ever was one, he's afraid for his life from his brother. Is that bad? Is foxhole prayers bad? I would say no, but we have to realize what it's under duress.

Speaker 2 20:50

So the question does come up. Well, what type of a God do you have that puts you in a situation that, under duress, you have to worship him? But you know what did we say back in chapter three when Eve was deceived and made the decision? You can control the decision, but you can't control the consequences. Jacob is reaping the consequences of the decision that he had made 20 years earlier. While it is a prayer under duress, it's one that Jacob has brought upon himself through the decisions that he had made earlier on.

Speaker 1 21:24

What we find out later and we're going to read the next section is Esau wasn't angry at all. What Esau wanted was this relationship, this love relationship, which we're going to read in a minute. When Esau meets him, esau, first thing he does is hug him and kiss him and embrace him in love. This is a picture, I think, of God, in a sense that the Christian is lost and he's had to get us to a point where, if we just realize that God wants to reconcile with us, god wants to reconcile and there's no reason to be afraid of him. Steve, there's a lot of people running around the countryside that are afraid of God, finding out their sin of God, finding out what I've done. Well, my friend, he knows all that anyway. He's standing there with open arms waiting to embrace us. That's the picture of God, is it not? Meanwhile we're sitting there afraid of God, finding out what I'm doing, when really we just need to realize that he's a loving God. If we just relax and be honest with Him, then he'll embrace us. But if we run from him and say we don't need him, that's when his wrath comes down full.

Speaker 1 22:37

I just find this situation of Jacob. Yes, it's a foxhole prayer, but I think that there's a God that's loving enough to put us in a foxhole and realize that he really is a loving God. Otherwise, jacob would have been going his own way out there, manipulating and scheming his whole life, but now he's interested in learning righteousness from God. He goes back and God shows him. I'm with you. Jacob prays and says I'm unworthy. Lord, please do what you had promised. Jacob is now a changed man. He is ready for God to mold him into a godly man and not the sinful man that he was before. I find it to be just a glorious thing for God.

Speaker 1 23:21

Jacob is very generous here in giving gifts to his brother. The motivation, of course, is to kind of soften him up. If we could go ahead and read, I think, verses 22 and 23.

Speaker 2 23:42

If we could go ahead and read, I think, verses 22 and 23.

Speaker 1 23:46

And in the next verse he's left alone. So get the picture. He sends all of his servants and livestock on ahead, Then he sends his wives and the maids and all the children on ahead. They cross the stream and Jacob is now left alone. At this point he's planning his response to Esau because he's afraid Jacob thought that he could get away with a sin, but he's still suffering for it. He doesn't realize that Esau really wants a love relationship. In verse 22, he crosses this ford of Jabbok. Several things are important here. In Hebrew, the words for the stream, jabbok and the word wrestle all are very similar. They all sound very similar. There's a word play here about Jacob crossing this river and the wrestling which is going to come up next.

Jacob's Transformation Through Wrestling

Speaker 1 24:41

God is bringing our attention in this passage to. Jacob is about to wrestle with God because of the situation that he's in. Jacob was so afraid that he hadn't really trusted God. Yes, he prayed to God, but it was a foxhole prayer, a prayer of desperation and not a prayer of love. With this we can learn that when we return to God, he's always going to deal with us. He's not going to leave us the way we were. Steve, we're just about out of time. We're not going to get to Jacob's wrestling match today. There's a lot there, but what's going to leave us the way we were? Steve, we're just about out of time. We're not going to get to Jacob's wrestling match today. There's a lot there, but what's going to happen next time when we find out that he wrestles with God? What's the point of?

Speaker 2 25:22

that exercise that God touches him, one as a reminder of who God is and a reminder of the situation. But he also changes his name.

Speaker 1 25:32

He's at his lowest point and God shows up. That's the lesson we're going to learn next time, as we continue to reason through the book of Genesis, and we trust that you'll be back here to do so as well.

Speaker 2 25:42

Thank you so much for watching and listening, as always. May God bless you.