Friday, Aug. 30
Genesis 32:1 – 33:20 Read it here
Back when we first met Jacob in Chapter 25, he was still in the womb and yet was already very much the man we read about it today’s passage. When his mother, Rebekah, was pregnant, we read this:
“The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ So she went to inquire of the Lord.
“The Lord said to her,
“‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.’”
Jacob’s whole life is a story of struggle and conflict. Perhaps it is not surprising that the people who take his new name, Israel, would also be a people for whom conflict has been a constant reality.
In the reading yesterday we saw a resolution of sorts to the conflict between Jacob and Laban—a resolution based more on distance than on reconciliation.
Today we read about the cautious reconciliation between Jacob and Esau.
Even though God had instructed Jacob to return to his home territory and promised that he would prosper there, Jacob characteristically hedges his bets by dividing up his substantial household and property into two parts to reduce losses in case he is attacked by Esau.
Then, when he learns that Esau is on his way to meet him accompanied by 400 men, he fears the worst. To placate his brother, he sends a series of servants with generous gifts of livestock. He had left home when Esau was threatening to kill him—if Esau is still hostile, he hopes that the gifts will buy some favor.
But as the journey continues, and Jacob knows he is on his way to meet his brother for good or ill, he experiences the defining struggle of his lifetime.
He sends his children and their mothers ahead of him, and remains alone for the night. In the night, he wrestles with a man who seems to enter the story out of nowhere. They wrestle all night; at daybreak the man asks Jacob to let him go. Jacob refuses to do so unless the man blesses him.
The man does, saying, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”
While it isn’t stated, I can’t help thinking that Jacob—Israel—gained either some courage or some selflessness from this. At night, he had sent his family ahead of him, putting them closer to the potential danger from Esau than he is. Now, after the night of struggle, he goes ahead of them when Esau approaches, putting himself in the position of protector.
Jacob—Israel—displays two important characteristics we will see repeatedly in people of great effectiveness in their service to God: First, he proves himself completely unworthy. Second, he surrenders to God only after a struggle.