Jacob went on his way and angels of God met him. When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp.” Therefore, he called the name of the place, “Mahanaim” (camp in Hebrew). Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. Jacob told them to tell Esau that he was living with Laban all those years and he has oxen, donkeys, flocks, and servants. He sent them hoping to find favor in his sight.  Remember, Jacob with the help of his mother, Rebekah, stole the blessing that Esau was supposed to receive as the first born from Isaac. I remember that God told Rebekah that the older son would serve the younger son, but in this chapter Jacobs refers to himself as a servant while referring to Esau as “my lord”.  I think this is Jacob showing respect and some fear at the same time. God told Jacob to go back to his country knowing the circumstances under which he left.  The messengers returned to Jacob and told him that they met Esau and he is on his way to meet him with four hundred men.  Why in the world did Esau need to take four hundred men with him?  This news caused Jacob great fear and distress.   Has God ever told you to do something that caused you to be fearful and distressed? Jacob didn’t let the fear and distress paralyze him though, he started getting a plan of action in place.  He divided the people, flocks, herds and camels into two companies. His strategy was that if Esau attacks one company, then the other company will be able to escape.

Jacob’s Prayer – He said “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you.’ Isaac is still alive, but Jacob puts the words “my father” before each of their names. So, this is still not saying “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac…” In the first sentence of the prayer, Jacob acknowledges Who God is and reminds Him of His promises. In essence Jacob reminds God of His word to him. In Psalm 119:49, the psalmist prays, “Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope.” In Isaiah 43:26, God even says, “Put me in remembrance…” So, praying God’s Word back to Him is vitally important. For example, if you are sick, find healing scriptures to include in your prayers. Jacob continues in prayer saying, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies.” In this part of the prayer, Jacob shows humility and acknowledgment that he knows that his blessings are from God. He continues to pray, “Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children.”  At this point, Jacob is asking God to intervene by praying for deliverance and he’s honest with God about his feelings. Jacob again reminds God of His promises by praying, “For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.'” Jacob not only reminds God of His promise to treat him well from verse 9 of this chapter, but he also goes back to the promise that God made to Abraham and Isaac about the numerous descendants.  

Jacob stayed the night in that place and prepared the gifts that he was going to send to Esau. The presents were 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 30 camels with their nursing colts, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys. Jacob gave the herds to his servants separately. He told them to go ahead of him, keeping some distance between the herds. Then Jacob told the first servant that when Esau meets him and asks questions like “Who is your master? Where are you going? Who owns these?”, then the servant should tell him that they belong to Jacob. These are presents from him and Jacob is behind them. Jacob told the servants in charge of the second and third droves of herds and all who followed them to say the same thing. Jacob was hoping that these presents would appease Esau so that when he saw him face to face, Esau would accept him in peace. So the servants and the gifts were sent on their way and Jacob lodged in the camp that night. During the night, he got up and took his wives, female servants and his eleven sons (I’m guessing Dinah, the only daughter, was in the mix too) and crossed over the ford (shallow part of the river) of Jabbok. He got them and his possessions safely over the brook, but he stayed behind alone and the wrestling match began with the Man (an angel of God) until the breaking of day. 

When the Man saw that He did not prevail against Jacob, He touched the socket of his hip and put it out of joint as they wrestled. The Man told Jacob to let Him go for the day breaks. Jacob refused saying, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” Jacob definitely was not a pushover. Do you think you could have even survived such a wrestling match – physically or spiritually by being persistent in your prayers? I’ve heard of pressing for a blessing; here we see wrestling for a blessing.  The Man asked Jacob his name and of course he told Him. The Man said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob wanted to know the Man’s name. The Man’s response was, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” Then He blessed Jacob there. Jacob called the place Peniel because he said, “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” The meaning of Peniel is “Face or vision of God, that sees God” or a place of meeting with God (Google, of course).  In considering the latter meaning, do you have a Peniel in your life that you go to regularly?  I’m glad Jacob remained humble after the wrestling match. Just as Jacob crossed over Penuel, the sun rose and he limped on his hip. The King James and New King James Versions of the Bible have two different spellings of Peniel and Penuel. Of course, I googled and found that one possibility is that Peniel is the name of the place, whereas Penuel is the Man’s name. A second possibility is that it’s a copying/transcribing mistake. On another note, I’m guessing that when Jacob reunited with his family, they all wondered what happened to him since he now walked with a limp. Therefore, to this day, the Israelites don’t eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because the Man touched that socket of Jacob’s hip.  

Our next stop on this Biblical journey is Genesis 33.

To God Be The Glory!