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Father
Jacob is a very special man. He is the heir of
Isaac, who is the heir of Abraham, with whom God
made a very special agreement that would bring
salvation and blessing to the world. The Lord
promised that through Jacob, He would create the
Chosen People, through whom the knowledge of God
that leads to salvation will come to the world.
God's blessing of reconciliation, redemption and
life will come to the world through Jacob.
After
20 years of being away from his land and his immediate
family, Jacob is heading back west, returning
home to his family and the land of Canaan. He
left with only the clothes on his back and a staff
in his hand, but now he returns with wives, concubines,
children, servants, and flocks. But, Jacob had
not left his brother Esau good terms. In fact,
Esau, who believed that Jacob had cheated him
out of his birthright and blessing, had threatened
to kill his brother.
Jacob
is east of the Jordan River, and on the way, some
of God's angels appeared to him and met him. Jacob
named the place of that special encounter, "Mahanaim
- Twin Camps" - referring to Jacob's group, and
the group of the angels. It must have been very
reassuring for Jacob to know that a whole group
of angels were close to him, in light of the fact
that Jacob was about to encounter his brother
Esau.
Then Jacob
sent messengers south to the land of Seir, the
country of Edom, where Esau was living. Jacob
instructed his messengers to inform Esau that
his "servant" - a title showing humility, was
returning home, and wanted Esau's favor. He wanted
to be well-received and treated well by his brother.
The messengers
found Esau, and returned to Jacob - not with a
message from Esau of brotherly love and acceptance
and welcome, but with the news that Esau was coming
to meet him - with 400 men! 400 men was a small
army, and Jacob thought that meant trouble, and
was very afraid.
Jacob
took several precautions to deal with his estranged
relative. First, he divided his group into two
groups, figuring that if Esau came and killed
one group, he might not discover the second group,
and they would survive.
Next,
Jacob prayed. He reminded the Lord that He had
told him to return home, so he was following the
Lord's instructions (see 31:3, 13), and shouldn't
be harmed for being obedient.
He also
reminded the Lord that He had promised to make
his descendants as numerous as the sand of the
sea, so the Lord had better protect Jacob from
Esau, lest the word of the faithful God not be
fulfilled. Jacob also acknowledged the Lord's
grace shown toward Jacob - making him prosperous,
and also Jacob's unworthiness - implying that
it would be good if the Lord would continue being
gracious to Jacob in this conflict with Esau.
This is
a good lesson on prayer. When we pray, we should
pray with humility. We mention the Lord's attributes,
like His grace. We should remind Him of His Word
and His promises to us, asking Him to fulfill
them. "Lord, You began a good work in me. Please
bring me to the final goal." Lord, be gracious
to me, since You promised that Your grace would
be sufficient for me. Lord, Your word says that
all thing work togther for good. Therefore, help
me understand that nothing truly evil can harm
me. Lord, with every temptation there is a way
of escape, that I may be able to endure each trial
successfully, so bring me through this trial.
Lord, You promised divine wisdom to face every
difficult situation I will ever face, so please
give me the wisdom I need! Lord, You promised
that if we confess our sins, You are faithful
and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness, so Lord I confess
my sins to You, please forgive me for all my sins!
Then Jacob
did something else - he gave a princely gift to
his brother, hoping to reduce Esau's anger. He
gave him goats and sheep and camels and cows and
donkeys. And, he divided the animals into groups,
and instructed his servants to present each group
of animals to Esau as a gift from his servant
Jacob. It stretched out the giving of the gift,
so that it seemed like there were many gifts -
gift after gift after gift.
The night
before he was to meet Esau, Jacob was alone, and
a man appeared to Jacob; but this was no ordinary
man. Hosea 12:4 tells us that this was an angel
("he wrestled with the angel"). But, this is more
than an ordinary angel. This seems to be a manifestation
of God Himself - the Preincarnate Messiah, and
the Son of God.
Jacob
and God's messenger wrestled until daybreak. They
wrestled until the angel touched Jacob's thigh,
and his leg became dislocated. In spite of the
pain, Jacob continued wrestling. Jacob knew that
this was a very special being, and would not stop
wrestling until he extracted a promise from the
messenger to bless him. This also tells us that
Jacob had a heart for God, and tried to cling
to God, get close to God, and not let go of God.
Jacob is a good example for us to follow.
The angel
agreed, and blessed him and gave him a new name
- Yisrael - a prince of God, "you have become
great, or you have become a prince - sar - before
God and man. You have won.
"The name
is clearly a title of victory; probably ‘a champion
of God.' The children of the Patriarchs are Israelites,
Champions of God, Contenders for the Divine, conquering
by strength from Above" (Hertz). Jacob wrestled
with God and won. Jacob struggled with his brother,
and would be victorious. He would struggle with
the Canaanites and be victorious. He would struggle
with his children and would win. But when Jacob
asked the angel for his name, the angel answered
his question with a question: why do you ask my
name? He never directly answered Jacob's question,
since I think he had already told him who He was
- by the "El" - God, in Yisrael (Ryrie).
Jacob
seems to have understood, because he named the
place of this encounter Peniel - the Face of God.
Jacob must have understood that in some way, he
had seen God, and he was pleasantly surprised
that he remained alive, because it was known that
God is so holy, and so powerful, and we are so
weak, and so unholy compared to Him, that coming
too close to Him would mean death for us - like
a frail, fragile moth being attracted by a huge
candle and coming too closed and being incinerated.
Although
Jacob was victorious, he suffered, as would his
descendants. This wrestling match foreshadow's
the struggles that the descendants of Jacob would
have with God throughout our history. We have
fought with God (see Acts 7), but at the end we
will be victorious, and be blessed. Yet, there
would be much suffering for the children of Israel,
just as Jacob himself suffered.
To remember
this amazing encounter between Jacob and the angel,
the sciatic nerve, along with the other arteries
and tendons, is removed from the slaughtered animal,
before that portion of the animal is fit for consumption
by the Jewish people. This command is a constant
reminder of the Divine Providence to Israel as
exemplified in the experience of the Patriarch
(Hertz).
Chapter
33 describes the encounter between Jacob and Esau.
Jacob divides his family, in what seems to be
the order of importance to him. First to face
Esau and his 400 men are his two concubines, Bilhah
and Zilpah along with their children, followed
by Leah and her children, with Rachel and her
son Joseph coming last. If Esau wants to kill
them, maybe he will tire of killing and spare
the last group or groups.
Jacob,
being a good man and the protector of his family,
went first and approached Esau, bowing seven times
before his brother, which was a way showing great
honor to his brother.
Twenty
years of time, and Jacob's various acts of respect
that he had shown toward his brother, and the
generous gifts that he gave his brother had healed
the anger that Esau had felt for his brother.
Esau ran to meet Jacob, and the brothers embraced
and cried, and were reconciled.
Like a
good brother, not wanting to take from his brother,
Esau initially wanted to refuse Jacob's gifts,
claiming that he had plenty of his own, but Jacob
insisted, and so Esau took the gifts. Let's review
how Jacob dealt with an offended brother, so we
can better deal with people we have offended:
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First, pray: pray that
God would help you deal with the situation,
and that He would intervene.
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Second, humble yourself
and show the one you have offended honor:
"your servant Jacob," "Lord Esau," Jacob bowed
seven times.
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Third, do something nice,
give him something good, and be generous.
Our gifts can make men and perhaps even God,
more inclined to help us.
Esau offered
to travel further south together with Jacob, but
Jacob refused his offer, telling his brother that
he would have to travel at a much slower pace,
due to the flocks and herds and children that
were in his care. So, Esau and his men departed.
The Lord had been good to Jacob, and had indeed
protected him from the anger of Esau.
Jacob
continued south, and entered the land of Canaan,
and settled near the city of Shechem, which is
about 30 miles north of Jerusalem. Jacob bought
some land there, and built an altar, to sacrifice
animals to the Lord, enabling him to draw near
to the Lord. He called the altar, "El Elohay Yisrael"
- "a Mighty One is the God of Israel," emphasizing
the Lord's power, might and strength. God had
shown Himself strong on Jacob's behalf, protecting
him and being generous with him.
Chapter
34 describes the rape of Dinah and the massacre
at Shechem. While Dinah, Jacob's daughter through
Leah, was out visiting the women of the area,
Shechem, one of the leaders of the area, saw her,
and took her by force, and raped her. He also
became deeply attached to her, and loved her,
and wanted to marry her. Jacob and his sons were
grieved and very angry. When Shechem and his father
Chamor and came to them, to make a proposal for
a marriage, Jacob's sons deceived them. They would
be willing to give Dinah to Shechem as a wife.
In fact, they would be willing to make all their
daughters available to the people of Shechem,
and they would be willing to marry the women of
Shechem, but only if the men of Shechem would
become like them, and be circumcised. Chamor and
Shechem brought this proposal to the men of their
city, and they agreed, and all the men of the
city were circumcised. On the third day, while
they were still recuperating from the circumcisions,
and while they were in pain, two of Dinah's brothers
- Simeon and Levi, launched a surprise attack
on the men of the city, and killed every man,
including Shechem and Chamor. They rescued their
sister Dinah. Then Jacob's sons looted the city,
and took all their wealth, and also captured the
women and children.
Jacob
had been unaware of the massacre that his sons
had planned, and he complained to Simeon and Levi
that this massacre would anger the rest of the
Canaanites, who outnumbered them, and who might
unite and destroy them. Simeon and Levi responded
that they had to do something to respond to the
rape of their sister. However, deceiving the people
of Shechem about circumcision, which is the sign
between God and Israel, and is connected to the
Covenant that brings salvation, and launching
a sneak attack, and killing all the men of a city
for the crime of one was not justified.
To the
end of his life, Jacob considered the actions
of Simeon and Levi to be wrong. Before he died,
when it came time to bless his sons, Jacob rebuked
these two sons them for their anger and violence
displayed at Shechem. As a result, they would
not have their own distinct tribal areas within
the Land of Israel. Their tribes would be dispersed
and scattered among the other tribes - which is
exactly what happened. The descendants of Simeon
lived in the midst of the area given to the tribe
of Judah. The Levites were given cities scattered
throughout the areas allotted to the other tribes
of Israel. This is a warning to us about violence,
and cruelty, and deception, and that what we do
can affect our children and grandchildren. In
chapter 35 the wonderful and extremely important
covenant between Jacob and the Lord is renewed.
The Lord spoke to Jacob, and instructed him to
go to Bethel, about 15 miles south of Shechem,
where God had appeared to him while he was fleeing
from Esau, and given him the vision of the ladder,
and promised the blessing of Abraham and Isaac
to Jacob. Israel was to live at Bethel, and make
an altar where he could offer sacrifices which
enable the worshiper to draw close to God.
Jacob
acted on the Lord's instructions, and instructed
his household to prepare themselves to draw near
to God: they needed to remove all foreign gods,
purify themselves, perhaps by bathing, and from
abstaining that might make them unclean, and also
change their clothes.
When we
join ourselves to Messiah, who is joined to God,
the Lord is always near us, but there are times
when we want to draw even closer to God. We too
need to purify ourselves from defilement, confess
our sins, and offer the sacrifice of praise. I
like the idea of changing into special clothes
when we publically draw near to God. It shows
respect, and makes worship more special.
As they
journeyed south, a great terror came upon the
Canaanite cities, and they did not attempt to
harm Jacob's family for the massacre at Shechem.
They arrived
at Bethel, and Jacob built an altar, and called
it El Bethel - the God of Bethel (the House of
God), and it was dedicated to the worship of the
God who had appeared to him there.
Then God
appeared to the Patriarch once again. What an
honor, to have the Creator of the universe appear
to a person! Not only did El Shaddai - God the
Almighty, appear to Jacob, but He blessed him,
promising to do good things to him.
The Lord
confirmed that his name was changed from Jacob
- he will heel, to Israel - a prince of God -
one of God's leaders. El Shaddai also told him
to do his part to be fruitful and multiply, and
the Lord would do his part. He would cause him
to become a nation, with enough greatness to bring
forth kings. The land of Israel, this special
land in the center of the Earth, at the crossroads
of Europe, Africa and Asia, would be given to
this holy nation.
Jacob
wanted to remember this special encounter with
the Lord, and so he set up a pillar of stone in
the place where this encounter took place. He
poured a libation of wine on the pillar - a symbol
of joy and prosperity, and oil - a symbol of the
presence of God and of richness. The pouring of
the wine and oil on the pillar dedicated it to
God, and set it apart as a special memorial.
After
this Jacob's family traveled south, toward Bethlehem.
Rachel gave birth to another son - whom Jacob
called Benjamin - "Son of the Right" because the
right is a place of honor, his father wanted to
honor his last and youngest son from the woman
he loved most of all. Rachel died as a result
of childbirth, and was buried on the way to Bethlehem.
Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. The Jewish
people have continued this custom, making monuments
of stone on graves to help us remember the dead.
Rachel's Tomb was still in existence in the time
of Samuel (1 Kings 10:2) and is a familiar site
to this very day.
A terrible
incident is detailed for us in verse 22. Reuben,
Jacob's firstborn son, committed adultery with
his father's concubine Bilhah. Jacob found out
about this shameful act, and this sin will have
its consequences. Reuben the firstborn, the beginning
of Jacob's might and strength, who could have
been preeminent among the tribes of Israel, was
disqualified from leadership.
The chapter
concludes with Isaac's death at Chevron at the
age of 180. His two sons, Jacob and Esau, buried
him, and Isaac was "gathered to his people." This
is "an indication that those who had died were
regarded as people still existing. This is an
early testimony to belief in life after death
(Ryrie).
Thus end
the life of Isaac, a man of God, and the middle
of the three Patriarchs. "Isaac is a less active
character than either Abraham or Jacob. ‘Abraham
was an epoch-maker; his life, therefore, was an
eventful one. Jacob closes the Patriarchal period,
and his life was both rough and eventful. Not
so Isaac. He inherits the true belief in God;
his is merely the task of loyally transmitting
it'" (Hoffman - quoted by Hertz). And that's an
important and necessary task. Not all of us are
Abrahams and Jacobs. Many of us are Isaacs, called
to be faithful transmitters of the truth that
we have received. "Isaac, a patient, meditative
man, strong in affection and love, is typical
of the domestic virtues for which his descendants
have throughout the ages been remarkable. He stands
as a type of the passive virtues, which have a
strength of their own (The Study Bible - quoted
by Hertz).
In chapter
36 we have information about Esau. Esau separated
himself from Jacob. He moved south to the hill
country of the Horites, who lived south of the
Dead Sea. The descendants of Esau destroyed the
Horites, the original inhabitants of that area,
and took over their land. Esau's descendants became
the nation of Edom. They were a mixture of Semites
and Canaanites. Esau married Canaanite women,
as well as the daughter of Ishmael.
Esau was
not a spiritual man, nor were most of his descendants.
An exception may be Eliphaz, who is mentioned
in verse 10. This may be the same Eliphaz who
was the wise friend of Job. But, for most of their
history, the Edomites were hostile to the people
of the Spirit. At the time of the Exodus, the
Edomites refused permission to the Jewish people
to pass through their land (Numbers 20:14-21),
and ever afterwards maintained an attitude of
hostility toward us. They were conquered by David
(2 Samuel 8:14) and afterwards by Amaziah (2 Chronicles
25:11-12). But they regained again their independence,
and in later years, made war against Israel. They
took part with the Babylonians when Nebuchadnezzar
captured Jerusalem, and afterwards they invaded
and held possession of the south of Israel as
far as Chevron. At length, however, Edom fell
under the growing Babylonian power (Jeremiah 27:3-
6). After an existence as a people for more than
seventeen hundred years, they finally disappeared.
(This information about the Edomites comes from
the WebBible
Encyclopaedia.)
What a
contrast to the children of Israel, who although
we too have sinned many times throughout or history,
and like Jacob, wrestled with God, nevertheless
we managed, with the grace of God, to remain and
endure, and even bring the Word of God, and the
knowledge of God, and the salvation of God, to
the rest of the nations of the world.
That tells
me that your heart for God, or your lack of interest
in God, can make a tremendous difference - not
only in your own life, but in the lives of your
children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
This should motivate us to cling to God, and love
the Lord our God with the totality of our being
- all our heart, soul, mind and strength!
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