Genesis 33

Here is a man who is heading home after living in another country for twenty years. It will be a sad reunion because there will be one empty seat at the table. His mother has died while he was gone. And he was particularly close to her. To make matters worse, his brother had threatened to kill him as soon as their father died. This is not the Waltons and his hometown is not called Mayberry.

Verse 1 “Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him. And Jacob said when he saw them, ‘This is the camp of God,” and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.”

Imagine what this experience was like. You’re relieved to be getting away from Laban. You might be reflecting on how you left the promised land years earlier, broke, without enough money to even purchase a bride. Now, God has blessed you with wives, children, servants, livestock etc. But then you might be thinking, “I wonder if Esau is still angry?” Oh, look, a traffic stop up ahead. Are they collecting tolls? Might they be bandits? Maybe they are Welcome Wagon people greeting new arrivals. No, they are angels. When he saw them, he decided to give the place a name. It reminds of the historical markers along our highways. “Historical Marker One Mile Ahead.” You get there and the marker might say, “On this spot in 1883, nothing of importance happened.” Jacob named the spot Mahanaim. The word means “camp.” So, this spot was God’s camp and Jacob’s camp. I don’t pay much attention to geographic names in the Bible, but the commentary says that this spot became a border town between the tribes of Manasseh and Gad, then a capital of Israel, and the city to which David fled from Absalom and a district capital under Solomon. What were these angels doing? How long did they stay with Jacob’s party? Did others see them or was it just Jacob? Were they directing traffic? Protecting them? That’s it? No more story? Why were we told that he met some angels along the way and tell us nothing more? So, what were these angels doing here? The promised land was guarded at the borders by angels. Have you read of this occurring anywhere else? Remember when Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden? Angels were sent to provide security. I hope they do a better job than the security people at the airports. With their passports and visa stamped, they entered the Promised Land. Now what?

Verse 3, “Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau . . . say unto my master Esau . “Your servant Jacob says. . . I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, men servants and maidservants. Now I am sending this message to my lord that I may find favor in your eyes.”

What message is being sent? What can we read “between the lines?” Obviously, Jacob is anxious. In fact, he is scared to death (v. 7) for his safety and the safety of his family and servants. Did you notice that he refers to Esau as “my Lord?” and he refers to himself as “your servant?” This is the reverse of the birthright blessing where Jacob is the “lord” and Esau is the “servant.” Jacob says that he is sending this messenger, “that I may find favor in your eyes.” Translation: “I hope you’re not still angry with me.”

The messenger returns and the news is not good. He tells Jacob, V. 6 “He is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” Oh, oh! Four hundred men coming with Esau? This doesn’t appear to be an escort or entourage. This is an entire army. Jacob might have thought, “I think I’m in trouble.” Or, maybe Esau thought that Jacob was returning to conquer him! Verse 7, “In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups” in the hope that at least half of his people might escape.”

Jacob gets ready, preparing for the worse and hoping for the best. His second response was to pray. He reminds God of his earlier promise where He promised Jacob to “do you good.” “Hey Lord, remember what you promised me, that you’d take care of me. Now would be a good time for you step in and help me out. . . please?” Verse 11, “Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”

Then he put together a nice gift package for his brother. V. 20, “I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.” He uses the word “appease” in this passage which has the same Hebrew root as “atonement.” This means that he was seeking Esau’s forgiveness.

He prepared for the worse, prayed, prepared gifts to appease his brother and hoped for the best. What else could he do?

Jacob sends his family across the stream to protect them from what might happen and there he is all alone. Now things get weird, more weird than usual. Verse 24, “and Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” Jacob says, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.” Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name? Then he blessed him there.

Should I move on since I’m sure you have no questions at all concerning this passage? Or do you feel like one scholar who wrote, “There are many unanswered questions in this brief narrative of Jacob’s wrestling with an angel.” No kidding. I have a few questions: If it’s an angel, why couldn’t he overpower Jacob? Why did he ask Jacob his name? Did he think that perhaps he went after the wrong guy? “Oh, you’re Fred? I’m sorry I have the wrong person. Never mind.”  Why did Jacob want the angel’s name, was he going to call the Dubois County Herald with a story? “Hello, is this the Dubois County Herald? This is Jacob. Last night I ran into an angel named Bob and we wrestled all night.” Click. . . . “Hello, are you still there? Do you know a good orthopedic surgeon, my hip hurts?”

Jacob, for all the blessings he enjoyed, had a lot of struggles. The angels said he struggled with God, with men (your brother, his father, his father-in-law, Laban, etc.) and in this wrestling match, struggling for a blessing, yet he succeeded.

This may have not been an ordinary angel, but actually the second person of the Godhead. Hence the naming of the location where this wrestling match took place. He named it, Peniel, meaning, “the face of God.” Why couldn’t the “angel” prevail over Jacob? Perhaps he didn’t want to end the struggle, Jacob wasn’t ready for the blessing. Perhaps he was being tested. Like a father wresting with his young son, not using his full strength until he wanted the match to end, then he pinned him.

Did you notice that the “angel” said in verse 26, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” What is this guy, a vampire? And why did he injure Jacob’s hip? Perhaps it was to be a constant reminder of the encounter with God. As if Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome wouldn’t be reminder enough for him. Why did God not heal Paul of his thorn in the flesh? Perhaps to keep Paul humble. After all, he was a brilliant scholar and he might have had the tendency to talk down to others and get a bit arrogant.

The angel also changed Jacob’s name. Jacob means “take the place of (another), as through force, scheming, strategy, or the like. His name was changed to Israel, meaning, “champion of God.” Might this wresting match and name change sound like God giving Jacob his approval? When Jacob left the promised Land, he was a schemer. But through hardships and struggles, has become a champion for God or will become one in the future. If you recall, sometimes God gives someone a name as a prophecy of who that person will become in the future. In other words, Jacob was once a schemer, relying on his cleverness, but he will become a champion for God. And this transformation was made by was of his struggles with others.

How are we to understand this story? All we have is a brief sketch of what happened, we don’t have a transcript of the complete conversations. We don’t have a video of the “wrestling match.” The story was given in the Hebrew language and translated into English, so there can be somethings lost in translation.

I don’t know what it is, but there has to be more to the story than what is being told. Let’s think about the setting. This occurred the evening before his meeting with Esau. Was it meant to prepare him for the encounter? He struggled in this encounter and won. Was it a signal that he would win tomorrow in his struggle with Esau? Was it a way of telling Jacob that Esau was not coming to kill him? If so, why didn’t he just say it, rather than act it out in a bizarre wrestling match, hoping Jacob would get the meaning of it?

I was invited by a friend to go to a harness racing track. He had been gambling for over thirty years. He explained to me how he analyzed the statistics on the horse, the jockey’s track record and weight, the track conditions, etc. to pick the horse he was going to bet on. Most gamblers have a “system” that they follow. And they appear to be confident that they can win. They think they can outsmart the system. This reminds me of Jacob. For years he has relied on his wits, his cleverness, he was a schemer. But now, as he is about to meet up with Esau, he is very scared. He knows that he needs more than his cleverness. He is in over his head this time. He has met his match this time. This time he has more to lose, two wives, children and great wealth in the form of servants and cattle. He prepares for the worse and prays. By praying for help he acknowledges his weaknesses. His cleverness is not going to save him this time. In his mind and with his body he is wrestling with God. This is not a Road to Damascus moment, a time of conversion, that happened earlier. What this dramatic change in his life is a moment of maturity. It was one thing to come to believe in God, another to thing altogether to trust in God. He is returning to his homeland a more mature person. Jacob is not the same person who left twenty years earlier. He left as Jacob; but returns as Israel. He left as a schemer, returning as a champion. That’s the best I can do at this time. Like the commentary said, “There are many unanswered questions in this brief narrative of Jacob’s wrestling with an angel.” I looked in a Jewish commentary, an African Bible Commentary and an expository Bible commentary, and there is very little more to add to this. We’re all scratching our heads over this passage.

Next, in chapter 33, we will see the dramatic meeting of the two estranged brothers. Will it be like the Straight brothers with a reconciliation or a blood bath?