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This week’s parasha is Vayishlach, which translates to “and he sent”, and covers Genesis 32:4–36:43.  Our parasha begins with Jacob sending messengers to his brother Esau in the land of Edom, with hopes of reconciling with him before they come together and meet.  The messengers arrive to meet with Esau and are instructed to let him know that Jacob considers Esau to be his lord and that Jacob considers himself a servant of Esau.  Jacob has hopes of influencing Esau by coming back to him humble and bearing many gifts.  When the messengers return and see Jacob, they tell him that Esau is coming with his 400 men.  You can imagine that poor Jacob is nervously wondering what will happen.  His guilty conscience has caught up to him and he wonders what will his brother do.  Understandably, he has much to fear.

Twenty years has passed and Esau has been blessed and has many possessions.  He is not in need of new things, but Jacob does not know that. All Jacob knows is that he has treated his brother poorly and now it is time to meet him.  Jacob cannot go forward or backward; he is between a rock and a hard place.  He decides to divide his camp into two.  He sends one group ahead with flocks, herds, and camels, thinking that if Esau comes and seeks to hurt him, he would see these gifts and it might soften his heart.  Jacob has now reached the moment when he needs to reach out to the God of Abraham and his father Isaac.  So he calls out to God and says, “I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds and steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant”.

Here we have Jacob at his lowest spot.  He doesn’t know what to do and finally calls on God, much like we do when we are having troubles that we can no longer find our way out of.  Our last resort?  Ask God.  We wait until we have nowhere else to turn but to God.  This is not the way God designs it, but God can surely take us there when we do not look to Him for help.

Interestingly, this is the first time we hear Jacob say he is not worthy of anything in the sight of God, much like when we realize that we are, in fact, unworthy sinners.  Jacob realizes that this is who he is.  God has brought Jacob where he needed him and he is dealing with Jacob directly.  He is going to turn Jacob’s heart, but this is a process.  Jacob will begin to do some things right.  After Jacob sends everybody in his entourage ahead of him, including the wives and children, he spends the night on the other side of the river by himself.  At this point, Jacob is greeted by a man.  The man wrestles with Jacob through the night.  When the man has had enough, he touches Jacob’s hip socket and puts it out of place.  Jacob says, “I will not let you go unless you bless me”.  The man asks Jacob what his name is, and then tells him, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed”.  Jacob asked the man what his name was, but the man would not say.  So Jacob called the place “Peniel”, saying, “for I have seen God face to face and yet my life has been preserved”.

I am sure that when Jacob said he contended with God face to face, he knew that the man was no ordinary man.  In fact, I do not believe that Jacob wrestled with him as we think of wrestling today, but Jacob held onto God himself.  He would not let go of God.  He needed God’s help.

I believe this is a Christophany, a pre-incarnation of Yeshua himself in the flesh.  Others might look at this as a theophany, seeing the Father Elohim, but we never see Elohim face to face or in the form of a body.  Therefore, I believe this is a Christophany, the pre-incarnate Yeshua, who is actually contending with Jacob.

Jacob is not wrestling to get away from God, but instead he is holding onto God.  Jacob is down to his last straw, and he holds onto Yeshua fearing that God is his only answer for help.  In the past, when the Lord said that he would bless him, Jacob did not wait for the Lord’s blessing.  He took matters into his own hands, as we remember from the birth rite and his father’s blessing.

The morning has arrived and it is time for Jacob to move back across the river.  Here is where we see the first sign of Jacob the deceiver becoming Israel (“one who contends with God”).  I always enjoy this part of scripture.  Here comes Jacob, who is a strong man, limping across the river, and yet he says he is blessed by God.  What might his family be thinking?

Jacob can see Esau coming.  He puts his maidservants and their children up front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last.

Then we see a change in Jacob.  Instead of being behind them all, he goes on before them and bows to the ground seven times until he comes near to Esau.  Esau runs to meet Jacob, embraces him, and kisses him.  They weep. Jacob had so much worry and fear in his heart, and rightfully so after he had wronged his brother, yet Esau forgave him.

Esau asks Jacob who the people were with him, and Jacob responds, “the children whom God has graciously given your servant.  Jacob is still concerned because he calls Esau his lord.  Jacob offers many gifts to Esau. Esau has plenty and declines, but Jacob insists until Esau finally accepts.

After having spent some time with Esau, Jacob convinces his brother to go back to his home in Seir and says he will meet him there later because of his slower group.  Esau agrees, but Jacob makes a turn and goes to the city of Shechem.

In Chapter 34, Israel and his family settle in Shechem.  While they are there, King Hamar’s son Shechem rapes Israel’s (Jacob) daughter Dinah.  Shechem wants to marry Dinah, but Dinah’s two brothers, Simeon and Levi, are outraged at this and tell King Hamar’s men to be circumcised as part of the agreement for Shechem to marry Dinah.  The men agree to do it.  While they are healing and in distress, Simeon and Levi slay all of the men.  Jacob’s other sons go plunder the city and take the women and their belongings as well.

This brings a dark day on Jacob, who did not want this to happen.  Jacob’s sons had learned all too well how to deceive others from their father.

In Chapter 35, we see the death of Israel’s beloved wife Rachel, who dies giving birth to Benjamin.  Later Israel’s father Isaac will die and Esau and Israel will come together and bury their father.

In Chapter 36, we receive the genealogy of Esau and his family.

Our prayers should be sincere prayers that would bring glory to God. This should not be our last straw, but instead our first thought.  If we want to walk with God, then we must know His word and communicate with Him, and prayer is how we do that.

We are what we do.  If we spend time doing worldly things, then that is where our heart will be.  If we spend time doing the things of God, then that is where our heart will be.  We do that in prayer.  We spend more time in prayer asking God to change our heart to focus on Him and to follow Him in a better way.

We should remember that when we commit sins in the presence of our family, it should not be a surprise to us when our children commit the same sins. They see and hear the things we do.  We should be careful once we turn our life over to the Lord  – we are responsible for our actions and for our children when they are young.  Spend more time in the Word and not the world.

The example that we set has a powerful influence on those around us.  Our moral failures can have a tragic impact on the lives of others.

If we spend our time daily in the Word (in His light), it will make a difference in our lives tomorrow.   Brother and sisters, I pray that we will have a desire to do the Lord’s will.  We come to Shema to hear the Word and to worship the Lord.  Let us commit ourselves to following the Lord more wholeheartedly today.