Gen 32:4–36:43; Hos11:7–12; Obad 1:1–21; John 1:19–2:12
“And Jacob sent [vayishlach] messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.” (Gen.32:4)
Jacob spent 22 years in Haran before deciding to leave, but he did so secretly by night otherwise Laban, who had consistently attempted to cheat him, would have stripped him of all his wealth accumulated over this period. This was something that Jacob well knew. Jacob the deceiver had experienced a taste of his own medicine and it was all strategically what God had lovingly allowed to happen in order to transform his character from Jacob to Israel. Jacob may well have been blind to his failings and just by looking into a mirror had done little to change what he saw in the reflection until God began to do some prodding.In Ps. 19, David wrote, “Who can understand his errors or omissions? Acquit me of hidden (unconscious, unintended) faults.” And in Ps. 139, “23 Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Here, God gave Jacob a helping hand because perhaps he was not as keen as David to seek God on his own initiative. So, what did He do? He purposefully, at the perfect time, organised events to place Jacob in Haran where He could change, mould and transform him from a ‘Jacob’ to an ‘Israel.’ (prince with God).
And in that 22-year period, Jacob never once sought his own advantage over Laban but could claim: “In the years I’ve worked for you, ewes and she-goats never miscarried. I never feasted on the rams from your flock. I never brought you a torn carcass killed by wild animals but that I paid for it out of my own pocket—actually, you made me pay whether it was my fault or not. I was out in all kinds of weather, from torrid heat to freezing cold, putting in many a sleepless night. For twenty years I’ve done this: I slaved away fourteen years for your two daughters and another six years for your flock and you changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not stuck with me, you would have sent me off penniless.”
Should you be experiencing an extended time where where you feel trapped in a no-win situation, I would encourage you to reflect upon Jacob’s time in Haran. Throughout that period Jacob never complained or blamed God for his circumstances or, criticised Laban for his many manipulations and deceptions. Rather, Jacob prospered despite Laban’s attempts to cheat and misuse him but it was no easy thing for him to experience so many disappointments and betrayals from within his very own family. But, God chose this pathway for Jacob and the best means to fulfil His eternal purposes in his life. God’s pathways may sometimes be bumpy but they always lead to a spacious place and ultimately to eternal life, (Ps119:105).
After Jacob left Haran, his past continued to pursue him on his return journey to Canaan. It first began with Rachel stealing Laban’s household gods (a primary cause why Laban chose to pursue Jacob and exact revenge upon him). Here, is revealed an underlying issue that is not immediately apparent. Among the surrounding pagan nations, it was thought that whoever was in possession of the household gods legally held the family rights of inheritance! And now, Jacob was placed in a life-threatening and precarious situation.
So here we find here a second occasion where Jacob stole another person’s birth rights although this time unintentionally through his wife Rachel, that had been her own secret initiative. Laban never reclaimed the lost items so what eventually happened to these pagan idols no-one knows but again, unknowingly Jacob placed a curse on the very person he loved the most in life that directly led to her premature death. Speaking to Laban he said: “32 The one with whom you find those gods of yours, let him not live… For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen [the images].”
And interestingly, we never hear that Jacob ever confronted Rachel about this incident even though it would appear that her her pagan influences and ungodliness were maybe little different to those of Esau?
Following this episode, Jacob faced another crisis. In order for him to reach Canaan he needed to pass through the land of Edom owned by Esau who had vowed to exact revenge against him. Had his attitude changed or remained the same since his previous encounter with him 20 years previously?
Remarkably, Jacob and Esau experienced a temporary reprieve in their antagonistic and turbulent relationship expressed one against the other in negative ways since even before their birth. Now it was in both their interests to make forge a truce in a rare moment of reconciliation. But, the conflict between them that had started in the womb of Rebecca and continued through successive generations.
Thousands of years have past, and the Jewish people (the sons of Jacob) and the Arabs (the sons of Esau and Ishmael) are still embroiled in active hostilities.
It was when God placed Jacob in yet another precarious situation as he prepared to meet his brother, not knowing what the outcome would be, that finally Jacob realised the urgency to seek for himself the God of his forefathers who until now had not yet made his own. Until that point, he had only served the God of Abraham and Isaac.
God sent ‘a man’ to Jacob who (his first face-to-face meeting with the Lord) who he ‘wrestled’ with all night. The identity of this person is something which the rabbis have puzzled over but Jacob was in no doubt who he had met with when he declared (verse 30) “I have seen God face to face and my life was spared” (Gen. 32:30). He called the place where the struggle took place ‘Peniel,’ (‘face of God’). The phrase ‘face to face’ is an idiom used in Scripture to mean someone who ‘faces’ another (i.e., comes in full contact with that person to resolve a conflict), this was exactly what Jacob was preparing to do spiritually in His struggle with God.
Who the stranger was not immediately clear to Jacob. In the text he is referred to as “a man” and in Hosea (12:4) he is referred to as an angel and there are many interpretations in Jewish literature. Although the Torah identifies Jacob’s mysterious wrestling partner as an “ish” (man) what is clear is that Jacob recognised that person as Divine and for every believer reinforces the truth of who Yeshua is: fully man and fully God. Jacob received this revelation which is why he consequently named the place Peniel “face of God,”– he had seen God face to face (panim el panim).
In John 1:18 we read: “No one has ever seen God (the Father); but the only and unique Son, who is identical with God and is at the Father’s side – he has made him known.”
It was in this place where Jacob experienced his dramatic conversion, and God changed his name from Jacob (‘trickster’ or ‘may God be your defending rear guard’) to Israel (‘Prince with God’ ‘One who has struggled with God’) from a life of utter hopelessness and despair to a new hope filled with abundance alongside the realisation of a Divine promise made good to him and for a future for his people, the Jewish people.
The fears which had haunted him all those years now dissolved in a moment in the face of redemption through Yeshua! This is the miracle of new birth! “I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see!”
Jacob wrestled with God who he grasped hold of with all his strength until daybreak refusing to let go saying, “I will not let you go until you bless me. When he (the ‘man’) saw that he did not defeat Jacob, he struck Jacob’s hip socket, so that his hip was dislocated while wrestling with him.” (Gen 32: 26-27)
What kind of blessing was that? But, for Jacob it was a physical reminder that God’s blessings are always on His terms. And we see something of immense significance here with regard to the cost of discipleship. Is it all worth it? Yes, but we must never ignore the cost factor! For example, when Paul pleaded with God to release him from the burden of some physical affliction, he was told: “My grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”
And the angel asked Jacob a strange question: “What’s your name?” and he replied, (Yaacov).” (Gen 32:27) Jacob needed to face up to what he was, his true unredeemed nature, before the Lord could transform him from ‘trickster’ to a ‘Prince with God’.
Each of us must face up to the same question before we can receive a name change through Yeshua. From sinner we become redeemed through the blood of the Lamb, changed into His likeness moment by moment, step by step!
Everything that occurred in Jacob’s life up to this point had been carefully crafted by the Living God to prepare him for this pivotal moment in time.
God is searching for those who dare to be overcomers, who are willing to pay the price for God to transform their lives into something beautiful. Jacob risked everything to come home and leave Haran behind him. When we leave behind our past and allow God to take full control of our lives, He undertakes to guide us through every obstacle and bring us safely to our Canaan – to our full reward.
Jacob’s story contains many elements that we can all relate to: our struggles: fears, darkness, loneliness, vulnerabilities, times of powerlessness, exhaustion, pain and suffering. Paul also experienced these things: “We were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within” (2 Cor7:5). Yet, at the end of his life he could boast: “7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. 8 In the future there is reserved for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not to me only, but also to everyone who has longed for His appearing.” (2Tim. 4)
