Study Focus: Genesis 32–35; Hos. 12:3, 4; Jer. 30:5–7.
Part I: Overview
Introduction: Jacob is now free from Laban. Under God’s blessing, Jacob has become rich. It seems that he is at last happy. He has reached his goal and is heading home to Canaan. Yet, Jacob is profoundly worried about his future in Canaan and the threat posed by his brother. It is precisely at this moment that God chooses to approach Jacob. This extraordinary confrontation will radically change the character of Jacob. As a result, Jacob is renamed Israel. Jacob’s encounter with God at Peniel corresponds to his Bethel encounter. The two accounts echo each other in words, structure, and themes. While Bethel begins at sunset, Peniel ends at sunrise, with the prospect of a glorious future. After a night of wrestling, Jacob emerges from his encounter with a blessing and a new name. He has had a personal encounter with the God of love and lived. In turn, Jacob is able to look upon the face of his enemy, his brother, Esau, in humility and love. Then Jacob turns to his family and confronts iniquity—the rape of Dinah, the murders committed by his sons, and, finally, the idolatry that was still prevailing in his household.
Lesson Themes:
The Distress of Jacob. Jacob’s trouble before arriving in the Promised Land contains a lesson of dependence on God and prefigures the eschatological distress of the end-time people of God.
Wrestling With God. Jacob’s confrontation with God forced him to confront himself and to change. His confrontation contains lessons about the significance of conversion.
The Face of the Brother. As a result of his encounter with God, Jacob can see the face of God in the face of his brother.
Part II: Commentary
The Distress of Jacob
Jacob’s distress (tsarah) inspires the prophet Jeremiah regarding the dreadful condition of Israel in exile (Jer. 30:7). Yet, beyond this particular event, the language of the prophet clearly suggests that he has in view the future eschatological Day of the Lord (compare Zeph. 1:14–18). Daniel applies the same expression, referring to “distress,” “trouble” (tsarah), to the time of the end (Dan. 12:1; compare Matt. 24:15, 21).
Jacob’s distress derives from two causes. The first is horizontal and is related to his brother. The second is vertical and relates to God. Jacob’s first concern is with his brother, to whom he sends two companies of messengers. This initiative is a strategic operation to safeguard the second camp: in the event that the first camp is attacked, the second camp will have time to escape. Jacob decides to send “two camps of messengers” to Esau. Jacob calls his two camps of human messengers by the same name, makhaneh, “camps” (Gen. 32:7, [8]). Jacob understands that in order to recover his relationship with God, he must restore his relationship with his brother.
As his grandfather Abraham did, Jacob implores God for help. Jacob directs his plea to God alone, for it is God who commanded that he should return to Canaan (Gen. 32:9), the same God who promised to ensure his posterity (Gen. 32:12). Jacob refers to the wonder of God’s grace (Gen. 32:10). The two Hebrew words khesed (“mercy”) and ’emet (“truth”) are the very words that Abraham’s servant used when he blessed God for having heard his prayer (Gen. 24:27). After praying, Jacob then camps for the night. However, before retiring, Jacob acts again. Thus, the text moves back and forth between prayer and action. Because Jacob is not naive and his faith does not make him passive, he secures his camp. Jacob organizes wave after wave of gifts to be delivered to Esau to “appease” him (Gen. 32:20). The Hebrew verb kpr, for “appease,” means “to atone.” The association with such other words as minkhah, “present,” a word referring to the offering (Lev. 2:1–14), and nasa’ panim, “forgive,” or “accept,” attests to a religious perspective. Jacob has in mind his past reconciliation with God (Gen. 32:22–32) as he attempts to reconcile himself with his brother (compare Matt 5:23).
Wrestling With God
Jacob remains alone because he wants to pray in anguish of spirit for God’s intervention and protection. While he prays, “a Man” (Gen. 32:24, NKJV) approaches him. Jacob, thinking he is being attacked by an enemy, begins to wrestle with the man for his life. The anonymous qualification “a man” renders the mysterious identity of this person. Jacob will identify the man as God (Gen. 32:30), as will the prophet Hosea (Hos. 12:3, 4). The same language will be used by Isaiah in his description of the Suffering Servant (Isa. 53:3). That God takes human form in order to relate to humans is not unheard of (see Gen. 18:1, 17; Judg. 6:11). The same term, “a man,” is used by Daniel to designate the heavenly High Priest (Dan. 10:5; compare Dan. 8:11) and the “commander of the army” (Dan. 8:11, NIV), an expression that designates the Lord Himself (Josh. 5:14, 15).
The information that this Man (God) did not prevail contains an important theological lesson about God in His relationship with humans. God’s “weakness” in His confrontation with humans is an expression of His grace and love and of the mystery of His incarnation to save humans. The impression of weakness is immediately contradicted by the Man’s next move. A simple touch is sufficient to produce the dislocation, suggesting a superhuman power. The place of the blow, “the socket of Jacob’s hip” (Gen. 32:25, NKJV), which refers to the loin or the thigh, is a euphemism for the place associated with procreation. The divine touch is thus an implicit blessing pointing to Jacob’s descendants (Gen. 46:26, Exod. 1:5). That Jacob was hit at the organ generator of life also has been linked to the dietary prohibition against eating blood. For life is in the blood (Gen. 9:4). This practice is, therefore, more than a mere reminder of the story of Jacob; it also recalls that biblical episode and, with it, its theological lessons. It also draws the meat eater’s attention to the fundamental principle of the sacredness of life.
The prophet Hosea interprets Jacob’s struggle with God as an experience of prayer (Hos. 12:4). It is Jacob’s faith that explains his tenacious insistence (Luke 11:5–8). Thus, Jacob’s new name is “Israel.” The explanation of the “man” introduces a number of paradoxes: (1) Jacob has wrestled with God, and yet, the “man” explains that Jacob also wrestled with men; (2) the name Israel literally means “God fights,” although this explanation affirms that it is Jacob who fights; (3) Jacob has just been hit by the “man,” who dislocated his hip, and yet the narrative explains that it is Jacob who prevailed.
All of these paradoxes convey important theological lessons: (1) the quality of Jacob’s relationship with God depends on the quality of his relationship with men (in this instance, Esau) and vice versa; (2) the name Israel, “God fights,” reminds Jacob that he must learn to let God fight for him (see Exod. 14:13, 14). Jacob will prevail insofar as he will allow God to prevail over him, a principle that will be enunciated by Paul: “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10, NKJV). Jacob calls the place where God has appeared to him “Peniel,” which means “the face of God.” This name signifies Jacob’s personal experience; namely, that he was confronted by God and survived. The use of the Hebrew expression “face to face” does not mean that Jacob actually saw the physical face of God. This expression is equivalent to seeing “the form of the Lord” (Num. 12:8, NKJV) and describes, rather, the experience of a direct encounter with God (Deut. 5:4).
The Face of the Brother
To Esau’s reluctance to accept his brother’s present (Gen. 33:9), Jacob responds by explicitly connecting his relationship with him to his relationship with God: “ ‘I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God’ ” (Gen. 33:10, NKJV). Jacob has seen the “face of God” (Peniel) in the face of Esau. Jacob’s experience with Esau is a second Peniel—the first Peniel preparing for the second Peniel. Jacob’s encounter with God has helped him in his encounter with his brother, and his reconciliation with his brother will affect his relationship with God. Jacob has come to understand that his love of God and his love of his brother are dependent on each other. Jesus infers this unique theological lesson from the Scriptures:
“ ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets’ ” (Matt. 22:37–40, NKJV).
Part III: Life Application
The Distress of Jacob. “As the patriarch wrestled all night for deliverance from the hand of Esau, so the religious will cry to God day and night for deliverance from the enemies that surround them.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 201. How does Jacob’s experience of distress function as a prophecy of hope for the end times? What warning and encouragement can we learn from Jacob’s distress that can help us through the time of trouble? Have you ever personally had an experience that felt the same as a time of trouble—a period in which you prayed in anguish, only to be met with what seemed to be silence from God? How did you cope with this distress?
Wrestling With God. Remember moments in your life when you wrestled with temptations and with doubts; how did these struggles draw you nearer to God? Share your testimony with your class. How does Jacob’s bold statement “ ‘I will not let You go unless You bless me!’ ” (Gen. 32:26, NKJV) apply to prayer? Why does “losing” the fight with God mean winning the fight? How can wrestling with God change you forever? Read and comment on Romans 7:23–25. Why must we “wrestle,” and why is wrestling with God so difficult? Why is it impossible to prevail by ourselves? Read Ephesians 6:12.
The Face of the Brother. Why, and how, does your experience with God’s forgiveness help you to forgive? Why do loving, respecting, and enjoying the differences of someone of another race, culture, or religion depend upon your experience of seeing God Himself? What acts toward your brother or sister may generate in him or her the experience of seeing the face of God?
Notes
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Key Text: Genesis 32:28
Study Focus: Genesis 32–35; Hos. 12:3, 4; Jer. 30:5–7.
Part I: Overview
Introduction: Jacob is now free from Laban. Under God’s blessing, Jacob has become rich. It seems that he is at last happy. He has reached his goal and is heading home to Canaan. Yet, Jacob is profoundly worried about his future in Canaan and the threat posed by his brother. It is precisely at this moment that God chooses to approach Jacob. This extraordinary confrontation will radically change the character of Jacob. As a result, Jacob is renamed Israel. Jacob’s encounter with God at Peniel corresponds to his Bethel encounter. The two accounts echo each other in words, structure, and themes. While Bethel begins at sunset, Peniel ends at sunrise, with the prospect of a glorious future. After a night of wrestling, Jacob emerges from his encounter with a blessing and a new name. He has had a personal encounter with the God of love and lived. In turn, Jacob is able to look upon the face of his enemy, his brother, Esau, in humility and love. Then Jacob turns to his family and confronts iniquity—the rape of Dinah, the murders committed by his sons, and, finally, the idolatry that was still prevailing in his household.
Lesson Themes:
The Distress of Jacob. Jacob’s trouble before arriving in the Promised Land contains a lesson of dependence on God and prefigures the eschatological distress of the end-time people of God.
Wrestling With God. Jacob’s confrontation with God forced him to confront himself and to change. His confrontation contains lessons about the significance of conversion.
The Face of the Brother. As a result of his encounter with God, Jacob can see the face of God in the face of his brother.
Part II: Commentary
The Distress of Jacob
Jacob’s distress (tsarah) inspires the prophet Jeremiah regarding the dreadful condition of Israel in exile (Jer. 30:7). Yet, beyond this particular event, the language of the prophet clearly suggests that he has in view the future eschatological Day of the Lord (compare Zeph. 1:14–18). Daniel applies the same expression, referring to “distress,” “trouble” (tsarah), to the time of the end (Dan. 12:1; compare Matt. 24:15, 21).
Jacob’s distress derives from two causes. The first is horizontal and is related to his brother. The second is vertical and relates to God. Jacob’s first concern is with his brother, to whom he sends two companies of messengers. This initiative is a strategic operation to safeguard the second camp: in the event that the first camp is attacked, the second camp will have time to escape. Jacob decides to send “two camps of messengers” to Esau. Jacob calls his two camps of human messengers by the same name, makhaneh, “camps” (Gen. 32:7, [8]). Jacob understands that in order to recover his relationship with God, he must restore his relationship with his brother.
As his grandfather Abraham did, Jacob implores God for help. Jacob directs his plea to God alone, for it is God who commanded that he should return to Canaan (Gen. 32:9), the same God who promised to ensure his posterity (Gen. 32:12). Jacob refers to the wonder of God’s grace (Gen. 32:10). The two Hebrew words khesed (“mercy”) and ’emet (“truth”) are the very words that Abraham’s servant used when he blessed God for having heard his prayer (Gen. 24:27). After praying, Jacob then camps for the night. However, before retiring, Jacob acts again. Thus, the text moves back and forth between prayer and action. Because Jacob is not naive and his faith does not make him passive, he secures his camp. Jacob organizes wave after wave of gifts to be delivered to Esau to “appease” him (Gen. 32:20). The Hebrew verb kpr, for “appease,” means “to atone.” The association with such other words as minkhah, “present,” a word referring to the offering (Lev. 2:1–14), and nasa’ panim, “forgive,” or “accept,” attests to a religious perspective. Jacob has in mind his past reconciliation with God (Gen. 32:22–32) as he attempts to reconcile himself with his brother (compare Matt 5:23).
Wrestling With God
Jacob remains alone because he wants to pray in anguish of spirit for God’s intervention and protection. While he prays, “a Man” (Gen. 32:24, NKJV) approaches him. Jacob, thinking he is being attacked by an enemy, begins to wrestle with the man for his life. The anonymous qualification “a man” renders the mysterious identity of this person. Jacob will identify the man as God (Gen. 32:30), as will the prophet Hosea (Hos. 12:3, 4). The same language will be used by Isaiah in his description of the Suffering Servant (Isa. 53:3). That God takes human form in order to relate to humans is not unheard of (see Gen. 18:1, 17; Judg. 6:11). The same term, “a man,” is used by Daniel to designate the heavenly High Priest (Dan. 10:5; compare Dan. 8:11) and the “commander of the army” (Dan. 8:11, NIV), an expression that designates the Lord Himself (Josh. 5:14, 15).
The information that this Man (God) did not prevail contains an important theological lesson about God in His relationship with humans. God’s “weakness” in His confrontation with humans is an expression of His grace and love and of the mystery of His incarnation to save humans. The impression of weakness is immediately contradicted by the Man’s next move. A simple touch is sufficient to produce the dislocation, suggesting a superhuman power. The place of the blow, “the socket of Jacob’s hip” (Gen. 32:25, NKJV), which refers to the loin or the thigh, is a euphemism for the place associated with procreation. The divine touch is thus an implicit blessing pointing to Jacob’s descendants (Gen. 46:26, Exod. 1:5). That Jacob was hit at the organ generator of life also has been linked to the dietary prohibition against eating blood. For life is in the blood (Gen. 9:4). This practice is, therefore, more than a mere reminder of the story of Jacob; it also recalls that biblical episode and, with it, its theological lessons. It also draws the meat eater’s attention to the fundamental principle of the sacredness of life.
The prophet Hosea interprets Jacob’s struggle with God as an experience of prayer (Hos. 12:4). It is Jacob’s faith that explains his tenacious insistence (Luke 11:5–8). Thus, Jacob’s new name is “Israel.” The explanation of the “man” introduces a number of paradoxes: (1) Jacob has wrestled with God, and yet, the “man” explains that Jacob also wrestled with men; (2) the name Israel literally means “God fights,” although this explanation affirms that it is Jacob who fights; (3) Jacob has just been hit by the “man,” who dislocated his hip, and yet the narrative explains that it is Jacob who prevailed.
All of these paradoxes convey important theological lessons: (1) the quality of Jacob’s relationship with God depends on the quality of his relationship with men (in this instance, Esau) and vice versa; (2) the name Israel, “God fights,” reminds Jacob that he must learn to let God fight for him (see Exod. 14:13, 14). Jacob will prevail insofar as he will allow God to prevail over him, a principle that will be enunciated by Paul: “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10, NKJV). Jacob calls the place where God has appeared to him “Peniel,” which means “the face of God.” This name signifies Jacob’s personal experience; namely, that he was confronted by God and survived. The use of the Hebrew expression “face to face” does not mean that Jacob actually saw the physical face of God. This expression is equivalent to seeing “the form of the Lord” (Num. 12:8, NKJV) and describes, rather, the experience of a direct encounter with God (Deut. 5:4).
The Face of the Brother
To Esau’s reluctance to accept his brother’s present (Gen. 33:9), Jacob responds by explicitly connecting his relationship with him to his relationship with God: “ ‘I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God’ ” (Gen. 33:10, NKJV). Jacob has seen the “face of God” (Peniel) in the face of Esau. Jacob’s experience with Esau is a second Peniel—the first Peniel preparing for the second Peniel. Jacob’s encounter with God has helped him in his encounter with his brother, and his reconciliation with his brother will affect his relationship with God. Jacob has come to understand that his love of God and his love of his brother are dependent on each other. Jesus infers this unique theological lesson from the Scriptures:
“ ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets’ ” (Matt. 22:37–40, NKJV).
Part III: Life Application
The Distress of Jacob. “As the patriarch wrestled all night for deliverance from the hand of Esau, so the religious will cry to God day and night for deliverance from the enemies that surround them.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 201. How does Jacob’s experience of distress function as a prophecy of hope for the end times? What warning and encouragement can we learn from Jacob’s distress that can help us through the time of trouble? Have you ever personally had an experience that felt the same as a time of trouble—a period in which you prayed in anguish, only to be met with what seemed to be silence from God? How did you cope with this distress?
Wrestling With God. Remember moments in your life when you wrestled with temptations and with doubts; how did these struggles draw you nearer to God? Share your testimony with your class. How does Jacob’s bold statement “ ‘I will not let You go unless You bless me!’ ” (Gen. 32:26, NKJV) apply to prayer? Why does “losing” the fight with God mean winning the fight? How can wrestling with God change you forever? Read and comment on Romans 7:23–25. Why must we “wrestle,” and why is wrestling with God so difficult? Why is it impossible to prevail by ourselves? Read Ephesians 6:12.
The Face of the Brother. Why, and how, does your experience with God’s forgiveness help you to forgive? Why do loving, respecting, and enjoying the differences of someone of another race, culture, or religion depend upon your experience of seeing God Himself? What acts toward your brother or sister may generate in him or her the experience of seeing the face of God?
Notes