Read: Genesis 32
Jacob was on
his way back to the land of his kin when he had another experience with God (v.
1-2). The story now shifts from the
difficulties of leaving Laban to the difficulties of seeing Esau again. So, Jacob sent messengers before him to scope
things out a bit and to see if he will find favor with his brother (v.
3-5). The messengers returned to Jacob
and told him that Esau is coming with 400 men (v. 6). This yields fear in Jacob so he divided his
people and possessions into two camps so that if one was destroyed the other could
escape (v. 7-8). Jacob was not trusting
the Lord, who had originally told him to return to Canaan. Jacob had assumed that Esau was coming with
hostile intentions but in reality Esau was planning to honour his brother. Jacob then turned to the Lord in prayer and
expressed his gratitude to God and his unworthiness of God’s love and
faithfulness (v. 10). He recognized that
all he had was a gift from God. He then
pleaded for deliverance from Esau and referred to the promise of being a great
multitude (v. 12). Jacob was slowly
starting to understand God’s plans and purposes! Jacob then sent various droves of animals as
gifts to his brother Esau (v. 13-21).
The next
section of the chapter gives the account of an encounter between God and
Jacob. His life was transformed by this
encounter which included the changing of his name. Jacob sent his wives, their servants and his
eleven children across the river, leaving him alone (v. 22-23). A man wrestled with Jacob until the breaking
of the day (v. 24) and there is no doubt that this man is Jesus Christ. The wrestling was not just a physical
exercise but a spiritual one. The man
did not prevail against Jacob so He touched his hip socket and it was put out
of joint (v. 25). The man then requested
to be let go but Jacob would not let go unless he was blessed by this man (v.
26). The man then changed his name from
Jacob to Israel signifying that Jacob had wrestled with God and had prevailed
(v. 28). Jacob received a blessing from
this man and called the place Peniel saying, “I have seen God face to face and yet my life has been delivered”
(v. 30). This is why the people of
Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the bone socket (v.
32). This account is the climax of
Jacob’s life. All through his life he had
been struggling with others and now he struggled with God. Through this he finally realized the
importance of being blessed by God. The
past events of his life had changed Jacob for the better as the God of his
father had now become his God. It wasn’t
until after he had a severe struggle that he got his name, his heart and his
character changed. He was no longer
Jacob the deceiver but Israel – the man who prevailed with God.
Prayer and Journaling
1. Jacob
reconciled with Laban and proceeded to Canaan – God was continually watching
over his welfare. Here we see God’s
omniscience – He knows, He remembers, He sees our trials and difficulties. Spend some time in thanksgiving prayer
praising God for watching over you! Ask
Him to show you 8-10 things that you can be thankful for today.
2. The
thought of meeting Esau, whom Jacob had treated with unkindness and injustice,
filled him with fear and helplessness.
Sometimes as Christians we may feel this way but try to hide it, we
don’t want anyone to think that there is something wrong with us. But, if we keep pretending that life is good
and keep hiding our problems from God and others, then we won’t experience the
freedom that we could have. Ask the Lord
to show you a few things that you like to keep a secret from others. Is this something that you should be sharing
with your table group and praying with them about? What does God want to say to you about
becoming more vulnerable around others?
3. Jacob
had an encounter with Jesus that transformed his life. We love and serve a living God who can
transform lives! He can transform you,
your spouse, your kids and even your biggest foe. Who do you need to pray for today? Take a moment to listen in prayer for this
person; ask the Lord to show you how to pray for this person. Then pray those things for this person.
