Verses 1 and 2 might appear to be disjointed from
the rest of the chapter, but they're not. Jacob was about to have a couple of
grand encounters (with God and then with Esau, his estranged twin brother). It
was fitting that, before those two meetings, he would first meet a host of
angels... the same angels (from his dream at Bethel two decades earlier) that he
had seen climbing up and down a ladder to heaven. An appearance of the
ministers of God surely must have had a sobering effect on Jacob... a timely
emotional upshot.
Jacob was nervous. He didn't know what would happen
when he met Esau again. So, he began to prepare.
He sent messengers ahead to say that he was coming
and to request a gracious reception from Esau... and perhaps to return word to
him again concerning Esau's station and disposition. The messengers reported
that Esau was coming with 400 men. That must have been rather
disconcerting. So, he split his caravan
into two groups in order to preserve at least some of his family in case the
reception proved to be violent. Jacob was scared, so he prayed.
But, he wasn't done preparing. Jacob sent a second
group of emissaries to Esau, this time with a gift of 550 choice farm animals
to give him. And, he had them strung out so that Esau would encounter one gift
after another on the way to their rendezvous. Obviously, he was hoping to
appease his brother with gifts (Genesis 32:20).
So while everyone and everything that Jacob was
responsible for was lined up between him and his brother, Jacob spent the night
wrestling with "a man." This was no ordinary man. Like the voice in
the garden with Adam, like Enoch's hiking partner, like Noah's project manager,
like Abraham’s visitors, like Isaac's apparition... Jacob was blessed with a theophany.
He wrestled with God (Genesis 32:30). During the match he demanded a blessing
from God... and, he got a new name, a permanently sore hip and a blessing
(Genesis 32:28).
No comments:
Post a Comment