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Sermon preached on Genesis 32 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 2/25/2024 in Petaluma, CA.
Sermon Manuscript
Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
As we continue our series in Genesis, we pickup where we left off with Jacob. Last week, we saw he had successfully escaped the wrath of his uncle Laban. God safeguarded Jacob so he and Laban ended up making a covenant of peace. Jacob now is on the final leg of his return journey back home to the Promised Land, and he now comes to the time he has not been waiting for. He knows he will have to reunite with his brother Esau again. Thew whole reason Jacob had left some twenty years before was because of the fury of Esau. Esau had wanted to kill Jacob for how Jacob had stolen his father’s blessing. As Jacob returns to the land of Canaan, this is the question that is before us. Has Esau’s fury subsided? Will Esau greet and receive Jacob or will he be out to destroy him? Jacob had escaped Laban’s wrath, but would he now escape Esau’s wrath?
This chapter thus serves as a bookend along with chapter 28 to Jacob’s time outside of the Promised Land. In Genesis 28, he flees Esau’s wrath, going to Paddan-aram. But there, on the way out of town, God appeared to Jacob at Bethel with that stairway to heaven dream. There God assured Jacob of his blessing and how God would keep him while he was away, and ultimately safely return him back to the Promised Land. Now, on the way back into town, here in chapter 32, some two decades later, God again appears to Jacob to encourage him. In fact, our chapter itself is bookended with this. The chapter begins with the angels of God appearing to Jacob, and it ends with God appearing and wrestling Jacob and ultimately blessing him. So, on his way out of the Promised Land, Jacob experiences a theophany along with angels, and he names the place Bethel. Now, on the way back into the Promised Land, he has these experiences of a theophany along with angels, and he names the places Mahanaim and Peniel. So, God has protected him thus far. Will he now preserve Jacob as he faces Esau? That’s the question that Jacob wrestles with here.
Let us begin in our first point to see how Jacob fears Esau and the related actions he takes. I’ll have us consider at this point verses 3-8 and verses 13-21. We see first that Jacob sends messengers ahead to Esau. In other words, he lets Esau know that he is coming, and explains that he’s been sojourning with Laban. He also lets Esau know that he is not coming empty handed, but has come back with livestock and workers. His message is seeking to find favor with Esau, speaking to Esau with the respectful title of lord. Jacob commendably takes some initiative to restore the relationship with Esau, and it seems he has some measure of repentance implied here. Remember that Jacob had previously tried to steal the blessing and birthright from Esau. But regarding the blessing, Jacob’s sets himself as Esau’s servant, not the other way around, which was a key part about the blessing. And regarding the birthright, Jacob mentions all the wealth he now has, and he doesn’t say anything about coming back to collect an inheritance. Yet, rather ominously, the messengers deliver the message and report back to Jacob that Esau is coming out to meet Jacob with four hundred men.
Verse 7 tells us Jacob’s understandable response. He’s terrified. Compare this fear to last chapter. Remember, Laban had pursued Jacob, but then had a dream from God warning him not to harm Jacob. Jacob was rather bold in response, and twice described to Laban the God of his fathers as the “Fear of Isaac”. What was implied, is that Laban had good reason to fear the God of Jacob’s fathers. Yet, while Jacob had so boldly referred to God as the fear of Isaac, now we see someone Jacob fears. Jacob fears Esau. Jacob assumes the worst when he hears that Esau is coming with four hundred men, as that is no small number.
So, we see Jacob’s actions to prepare for this potential conflict with Esau. He takes actions to safeguard his house, by dividing it up into two camps, verses 7. His strategy there in verse 8 is a very practical matter, that if Esau attacks one camp, then the other could escape. So, that is a defensive action that Esau takes in case Esau does come to fight. But then the other action Jacob takes is that he attempts to propitiate Esau. What I mean is that he prepares a huge present to give to Esau, starting in verse 13. The long list of livestock in verses 14-15 represent a very generous gift. And then we see that he has a rather dramatic way he wants to present this gift. He takes the gift and divides it into a certain number of droves. He personally instructs each drove to respectfully present their portion of the gift to Esau and to let him know that Jacob is coming soon behind. So, Esau would be basically met with one gift after another after another until finally he meets Jacob. His strategy with the gifts there in verse 20 is that he would appease Esau with the presents, which really in the Hebrew is the language of making atonement before Esau. He wants to turn away any wrath in Esau through this big gift.
So, in this first point, we see Jacob’s great fear of Esau. We see Jacob taking action in advance of Esau’s arrival. He has both a defensive and offensive sort of approach in trying to prepare for Esau. These efforts by Jacob are imminently practical. But they also are Jacob’s continued effort to wrestle with Esau. We’ll see Esau’s perspective when they finally meet up. But for now, Jacob is not taking anything for granted, and does everything that he can do in his own strength to position himself for survival. To clarify, I’m not suggesting this is wrong for him to take these practical precautions. But I do want us to recognize the pattern in his life that continues here.
This leads us to our second point for today, to see Jacob then turning to pray to God for help. This is verses 9-13. A moment ago, I mentioned common patterns in Jacob’s life. But, praying to God for help has not been a prominent part of what we’ve seen of Jacob’s life. So, this is a commendable thing, and certainly shows growth for him. We could consider that Jacob’s experience in verse 1, where he meets this camp of God’s angels along the way, that such would have reminded him to be praying. I mean, normally when you think of angels, they are literally messengers of God. But, verse 1 does not record any message they gave Jacob. Yet, remember back to Bethel. There, Jacob had seen angels ascending and descending on that stairway to heaven. That was a reminder that Jacob had an access to the God of heaven. Seeing these angels again should remind Jacob of that access. And given Jacob’s great fear of Esau, prayer would be quite appropriate.
Let us consider what Jacob says in this prayer. Notice all the praise that Jacob gives God. He references God’s relationship with his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac, implying how God had been with them and blessed them and made covenant promises to them. Jacob describes how God has shown him steadfast love and faithfulness this entire time while he has been out of the Promised Land. He gives a specific example of God’s blessings by pointing to how his house had grown so large and prosperous that it could be divided into these two camps. If you recall the common parts of prayer, this would all fall under the category of adoration. Jacob’s prayer is not a long one, but it is full of adoration.
Jacob also expresses his humility in this prayer. In verse 10, he says that he has not been worthy of any of the blessings that God has given him. Indeed, how true that is, as we’ve seen his various sins that he’s committed. Too often, the problems he has faced, are ones he has contributed to. Even now, his concern with Esau is because of Jacob’s own past sins that he fears are coming back to haunt him now. Jacob’s humility is also stated in his prayer when he says that he started out with nothing but his staff when he left the Promised Land. But, it was God who made him full. It is good that he gives the credit to God for becoming rich, instead of taking the credit for himself by pointing to all his hard work. Indeed, we should work hard in light, and try to improve our circumstances, but when good results come, our prayer life should be quick to give God the glory.
Then Jacob brings his specific prayer request to God. He does this in conjunction with reminding God of his promises that were related to his prayer request. We sometimes call this praying the promises of God. In verse 9, he points out that it was God who told him to return to the Promised Land and to bring him good when he returns. He returns to this same point at the end of his prayer, in verse 12. There, he also mentions the covenant promises that he had given first to Abraham, then to Isaac, and now to him, the promise of a great people. So then, his prayer request is simple. He prays to be delivered from Esau’s hand. He is real with God about his fear for his brother. He prays not just for his own safety, but for his wives and his children. Jacob clearly loves his family that the LORD had blessed him with, and he prays here fervently for their safety.
And so, essentially, Jacob appeals to God’s continued faithfulness to all that he has promised he and his family, promises that stretch back all the way to Abraham. God had started all this with Abraham until now. All that God had done through these several generations. Surely, God wouldn’t have done all this, helped him and his forefathers so much, only for it all to end here, would he? Indeed, God’s promises would prove true, and his plans would not fail. But those plans included this critical moment in Jacob’s spiritual life where he was driven by the circumstances to such prayer. This prayer shows Jacob acknowledging how he can’t save himself and needs God to save him. I hope you each can relate to such a prayer. May it spur each of us to continue in such prayer.
Let us now turn in our third point to consider Jacob’s wrestling with God in verses 22-32. Just before he meets Esau, Jacob finds himself up at night, still trying to protect his family. He settles them in as safe of way that he can, but still finds himself awake, and then alone, probably unable to sleep. That is when God appears in theophany as the angel of the LORD, per Hosea 12:4, and wrestles with Jacob. Presumably Jacob at first didn’t even realize it was the LORD, since he even asks the man his name at the end, only to receive an answer that implied he already knew who it was. But then again, Jacob’s whole life had been one of wrestling with God which he hadn’t quite recognized either.
So then, we have this strange episode of God wrestling Jacob all night long. As if this wasn’t strange enough as it is, let us acknowledge some of the especially strange parts. The language here describes that somehow God could not prevail over Jacob in the wrestling. That somehow, Jacob in his tenacity won’t give up and yield to God in the wrestling. The mysterious man who is God tells Jacob to let him go, but he won’t, unless he blesses him. So, are we to understand that a mere man like Jacob could literally overpower God in a wrestling match? Well, the context does give us a hint. At the end of the conflict, God merely touches Jacob’s hip and puts it out of joint. That tells us something more is going on that just the surface-level details, that the one Jacob is wrestling possesses some great power. Clearly, no man can outmatch God. If Jacob wins this match, it is frankly because God lets him win. At the end, we see injured Jacob clinging to this adversary who is also his advocate. And God there declares that Jacob has overcome in verse 28, saying that Jacob has striven with God and with men, and has prevailed.
What I believe is going on is that this wrestling with God is a sort of picture to teach and encourage Jacob. It’s almost like God has Jacob wrestle him as a sort of living parable. What happens in this wrestling match tells us about what has been happening all Jacob’s life. His wrestling with God here has echoes back to his wrestling with Esau in the womb. All his life since, Jacob has been trying to wrestle men. First Esau, then Laban. Now, as he returns, he has started back up the wrestling match with Esau. Yet, even while Jacob was in the womb, God had already promised Jacob great things. If he were to but trust God, and stop trying to fight everyone to get ahead, things would surely go so much easier for him. And so here he wrestles the Lord, and we realize that this is who Jacob has really been wrestling all his life. Yet, God tells him that he has not only wrestled both God and man, but that he has also prevailed!
How has Jacob prevailed? Again, think of this wrestling match like a real-life parable. In all his life of wrestling with God and man, how has Jacob finally prevailed? I believe we already studied it in our second point for today. It was when we saw Jacob pray to God. We’ve never seen Jacob pray like that before. He finally confessed his own personal inability to save himself and expressed his complete dependence upon God. That is where Jacob needed to get to in his spiritual maturity. This literal wrestling match with God helped to see the path to victory in life is to recognize you can’t do it in your own strength. We all need to look to the overwhelming power of God to save us.
So too, in this wrestling match, he clings injured to the Almighty God who but touched him to disable him. Jacob clings to him and asks him to bless him. Finally, this is the right thing for Jacob to seek. Jacob didn’t really need his father to bless him. He’s always just needed God to bless him. So, he asks God to bless him, and he does, but first God gives Jacob a new name. I consider this as part of the blessing. God switches his name from Jacob to Israel. The name Jacob, that meant “grasps”, reflected how Jacob strove with men. But the name Israel, which means, “strives with God”, reflected Jacob’s striving with God. There’s a sense in which Jacob leaves that wrestling match in a sort of new birth. Like how he wrestled with Esau before being born and given the name Jacob, here he wrestled with God and now has the new name of Israel as he starts out his new life back in the Promised Land.
Our text ends with Jacob limping away from his encounter with God. Of course, it’s God’s grace that Jacob could even limp away from such a matchup. If he had not known God, and God had not known him, that sort of an encounter would have proved fatal. Jacob himself recognizes this in verse 30 when he rejoices that he has so seen God and yet lived. For how could any sinful human, like Jacob, or like any of us, see God and live? The answer is Jesus Christ. Jacob’s greater son Jesus would one day be born and go to the cross to atone for both Jacob and our sins. Jacob had hoped his gifts would propitiate Esau’s wrath. But Jesus’ sacrifice truly atoned for the sins of all God’s chosen people, including Jacob. And including you too, if you also believe on him. For all who repent of their sins and look to Jesus in faith, he is the propitiation for our sins to turn away God’s wrath, that we will ultimately see the face of God and live forever.
Think further with me of the cross of Jesus. Jesus also bore on his body the marks of his encounter with God at the cross. During his earthly ministry, Christ certainly wrestled with man. But ultimately Christ wrestled with God, in our place. Even as God’s wrath was poured out upon him on the cross, Jesus didn’t curse God and die. No, he clung to God in his final breath to secure a blessing, a blessing for you and me. And it left him scarred. And so, the Israelites memorialized Jacob’s wrestling with God by not eating the sinew of the thigh. We memorialize Christ’s wrestling on the cross by eating of the Lord’s Supper.
As we prepare this week to come to the table of the Lord next Sunday, let us remember the wrestling of Christ for our salvation. Let us also consider the ways we have wrestled with man and God. Let us look to trust afresh in God and his promises. Let us stop trying to fight God’s good plan for us, but find peace in resting in his blessings for us which are all ours in Christ Jesus. Let us especially express this through prayer. May this passage remind us to have a prayer life that says, “Lord, I need you, every hour I need you.”
Amen.
Copyright © 2024 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
