The following is a teaching transcription. It has not been checked for complete transcription accuracy.
In our continuation through the Book of Genesis today, chapters 32-34, we’ll be looking at the story of Jacob returning to the land of promise after years on the run. And before we get into that, I just want to thank you for joining and continuing through the Book of Genesis with me.
If they're helpful to you, I pray that you send them along to other people, share this work so that others can be encouraged in the continuation through the word of God. Now, of course, and coming to Genesis chapter 32, we have to go back to the Jacob episode in general, how did his whole story began?
Deception and Return
Well, it began with deception. He deceived his father. He deceived his own brother. And here in this section before it, we saw him deceiving his father-in-law, a man named Laban. But what we'll see today is that he cannot deceive God. And that part of Jacob needs to be drawn out of him.
Also, the other theme that we're going to chase out and follow is the theme of return. We saw that a little bit in our last study in Genesis that Jacob goes on the run. And as the reader of Jacob's life and story, the people of Israel especially and us now, thousands of years removed from this story should be rooting for Jacob to get back to the place that God had for him.
It was his mother Rebecca's idea that Jacob run and flee from his brother Esau. But that turned into not just a short journey but a journey that was over 20 years in length. So, we as the readers are rejoicing because Jacob has made the decision to return back to his country and to get back into the land of promise that God had said that he would give to Abraham, Isaac and his descendants through Jacob.
But the big question, of course, is what is Esau going to do? What is Esau's condition, as Esau prosper, as Esau been blessed, as God said he would bless him. Has Esau forgiven Jacob or is he still angry with Jacob? Jacob does not know the answer to any of these questions as he comes close again to the land of promises. This would have been weighing upon his heart. There would have been great fear and concern and worry about reunifying with his brother, Esau. So, with that, let's start out chapter 32.
1 Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God's camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.”
It says Jacob went on his way. This means that he has now left his father-in-law Laban. They've set up the pillar as a pillar of witness between the two of them so that they would have peace in future years. Jacob went on his way from Laban. And the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, "This is God's camp."
So, we called the name of that place Mahanaim which likely means two camps. Now, remember what happened when Jacob departed from the land of promise, when he departed from his family. One night in a place called Bethel as he slept with a rock at his head, he received a dream or a vision where he saw the ladder from God from heaven coming down to earth and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it.
And God Himself, reiterating the promises of Abraham to Jacob. And when Jacob awoke, he said, "Surely, God is in this place," Bethel, meaning the house of God. Now, this is a bookend to that episode. He's coming back into the land and angels meet with him as he's beginning his return. And he calls the place Mahanaim which means two camp.
So, in other words, Jacob was conscious, very conscious of the fact that his camp was coming back into Israel. His people, his clan which had grown of course, he had left alone, now he has in effect four wives and 11 sons and one daughter and many serpents and much livestock and great wealth.
He's coming back as a great camp but he feels very alone. But in this moment with a vision of the angelic realm, he understands that it's not only his camp, it's also God's camp, that God is with this man. And this is a beautiful understanding for the believer as well for the Christian life.
There's, of course, this story in the Book of Second Kings where Elijah the prophet, had a servant who could not see the spiritual dimension. All he could see was the invading armies but Elijah could see the armies of Gods surrounding even their own enemies.
And Elijah prayed that God would open the eyes of his servant, that he would see the armies of the living God. In this moment, Jacob is awakened to the spiritual dimension and it is designed to set his heart at peace. So, often in the life of a believer, we have to remember and set our sights upon the reality of another dimension that if you're in Christ Jesus, there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God.
Even things that are outside of our time space continuum or outside of our dimension, none of them can separate us from him because he is with us. His principalities, his powers, they are fighting for us as God's people. And so, we have to remember that, remember who we are in Christ and the great invisible realities that exist which will help get us through our visible present-day time.
So, Jacob has this vision and calls the place two camps. And Jacob, verse three, sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them saying, "Thus show you say to my lord Esau that says your servant Jacob, I have sojourn with Laban and stayed until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants and female servants. I've sent to tell my lord in order that I may find favor in your sight."
3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, 4 instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. 5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’”
Now, remember, as Jacob sends these servants to speak with Esau before Jacob gets a chance to reunify with Esau. The big question that Jacob wonders is, is Esau still upset? Is Esau still angry with me? And he is very tactful in his language that he uses in speaking to Esau.
Notice how many calls he saw my Lord and Jacob refers to himself as Esau's servant. He takes a humble posture before Esau and that's the way that he talks to Esau all throughout the passage. But he also makes three statements through the servants to Esau and each statement is designed to communicate a specific message.
First of all, notice there in verse four he said, "Tell Esau, I have sojourned with Laban and stayed there until now." This is a way for Jacob to say to Esau, I've not been hiding from you. I've been with our uncle. I've been with a family member and I've been with him the whole time. I've not been in hiding or living in fear of you, you could have found me anytime you desire because I was there with family.
Number two, he says in verse five, I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants and female servants. This was Jacob's way of saying to Esau, "Look, I know I took from you previously, but I'm not here to take from you. Now I have plenty. I don't have need. I'm not lacking. So, I'm not here to deceive you and take from you any more than I already have."
And then, at the end of verse five, he says, "I've sent to tell my lord in order that I may find favor in your sight." What is Jacob asking there or saying there? He's saying to Esau something like, "Hey, can we move forward? Is there any chance that you could favor me and we could move forward from this day onward?"
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” 7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, 8 thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”
Now, verse six, it says, and the messengers returned to Jacob saying, "We came to your brother Esau and he is coming to meet you." And there are 400 men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him and the flocks and herds and camels into two camps thinking, if Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.
Now, Jacob response to the news that Esau is now coming out to meet him with 400 men and he jumps to a conclusion. What we're actually going to discover is that these 400 men are meant to be a temporary gift from Esau to Jacob. They're meant to protect Jacob and his livestock and possessions as they come into the land to help them move in, so to speak.
But when Jacob hears about these 400 men, he assumes the worst and he believes that these men are fighters, military men that Esau has employed to come and attack Jacob and his small, little family. And so, he in great fear and distress makes a decision.
Fear-Based Decisions
He takes his family, his belongings and he splits them down the middle into two camps. And his whole thought process at this point is, if Esau comes and attacks and demolishes one of the camps at least I'll have the second camp that has survived.
And when Jacob operated this way, I think what was happening here is he was making a fear-based decision. There are so many things in life that will cause a believer fear and trepidation and worry and concern. But some of our worst moments as human beings come when we make fear based or induced decisions especially as believers in Christ.
And here in this moment, Jacob forgot a couple of things. He forgot, first of all, who gave him these two camps in the first place. It was God that had prospered him. It is God that had blessed the work of his hands. It is God who had given him the livestock and the children.
It was God who gave them to him. So, Jacob, in one sense, had no business gambling with what God had entrusted into his care. He was a steward of both of these camps and should not have wagered one of them in order to save the other.
But the second thing that Jacob forgot was the invisible camp of God that he had just witnessed in Mahanaim. He already forgot that God was with him, that the angels were there supporting him in his effort to return. And because he forgot what God had entrusted to him and because he forgot the presence of God with him, he made a fear-based decision.
Jacob Prays to God
9 And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. 11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. 12 But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”
He panicked in this particular moment. And Jacob said in verse nine, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me return to your country and to your kindred that I may do you good. I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan."
"And now, I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau for I fear him that he may come and attack me and the mothers with the children." But you said, verse 12, "I will surely do you good and make your offspring as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered for multitude."
Now, it should be pointed out here when Jacob prays to God. And again, this is a fear induced prayer. It should be noted that this is the first real prayer that is recorded from Jacob in the Book of Genesis. In chapter 28, when he's got the vision or the dream from God at Bethel, he made a commitment to God, a vow to God and that was very much like a prayer.
But this is the first moment that he's crying out to God with a request, asking God to work in his life. And it is, I think, in many ways an imperfect prayer. There are many things that are wrong with it, there's fear all throughout this prayer, there's doubt and even some of that old Jacob manipulation inside of this prayer.
But it's also very human and very real and raw. And there's a couple things I wanted to point out about Jacob's prayer life before God. First of all, it says in verse nine, he says, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac. O Lord who said to me return to your country and do your kindred." So, the first part of Jacobs prayer is built upon the revealed will of God.
He just looks at God and he says, "God, I heard your voice. You are the one who told me to return to the land." Everything I'm doing right now, everything I'm attempting right now, everything I'm trying right now, I'm trying it because I heard you say it to me. And that is a great prayer to pray.
It says in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 as an example, this is the will of God, your sanctification that you would abstain from sexual immorality. But sanctification is God's will for his people and we would grow in increased holiness to become more and more like the people that we really are because of what Christ has done for us by His blood.
We're in Christ, we are holy in His sight, we have the position of Christ, all God wants us to behave more and more that way. He wants us to become more and more holy and sanctified, that is his revealed will. And you can imagine a child of God going to the Lord and saying, "Lord, here's something that I'm doing in response to your revealed will that I would be a holy person, yet here I am experiencing a struggle as I try to do the thing that you in your word have revealed for me to do."
And that's really in a sense what Jacob is doing before God, he says, "God, you told me to go and now this is what's happening." In verse 10, he says to the Lord, "I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant."
What is this? This is humility that Jacob demonstrates before God. He is very grateful for God's grace and mercy upon his life, he says, I'm not worthy. And then he tells the Lord, "I know that when I went that direction over the Jordan River 20 years ago and was running for my life, all I had in my hand was this staff."
And now, 20 years later coming back across the Jordan River, I have become two camps. I got all these kids and possessions and wives. You have blessed me abundantly. This is thankfulness that Jacob is giving to God. He is thanking God for what God has done in his life.
And then, in verse 11, he prays for protection. He says, "God, please deliver me from the hand of Esau, my brother." And then, in verse 12, he tells God, "I'm basing this whole prayer on the fact that I am in the covenant, that you have put the promise of Abraham onto my life."
You are the God of Abraham he began the prayer with. You are the God of my father Isaac he began the prayer with. And I think, in a sense, he's saying, "Will you be my God as well? You told me that those promises for Abraham and Isaac are now mine. Please show up during this season."
Where Is God?
13 So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.” 17 He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’” 19 He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, 20 and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.” 21 So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.
And so, he cries out to the Lord. So, verse 13, he stayed there that night and from what he had with him, he took a present for his brother Esau, 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams, 30 milking camels and their calves, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys.
These he handed over to his servants every drove by itself and said to the servants, "Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove." He instructed the first, "When Esau, my brother meets you and asked you to whom do you belong?"
"Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you? Then you shall say they belong to your servant Jacob. They are present sent to my Lord, Esau. And moreover, he is behind us." He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who follow the droves.
He said, "You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him. And you shall say, moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us, for he thought, I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me. And afterward, I shall see his face, perhaps he will accept me."
So, the present passed on ahead of him and he himself stayed that night in the camp. Here, what Jacob does is something very strategic. He sends this massive gift to his brother Esau and he sends the gift in droves, 220 goats, 220 sheep and rams, 30 camels, 50 cows and bulls, 30 donkeys, but he spaced them out so that a servant or group of servants with a drove would come to Esau.
Esau would say, "What is this? What is the meaning of this?" And they would say, "Well, this is a gift from your brother Jacob to you and moreover he is behind us. He is coming to us." But one drove turned into two and three and four and five and Jacob's whole thought and idea was that this of overabundance of gift or gifts to Esau would soften Esau's heart and perhaps prepare him to forgive Jacob of his past crimes.
A part of the reason I say this is a massive gift is because in antiquity there are records of the kinds of tribute that whole towns would pay sometimes two foreign kings. And quite often, those tributes were even smaller than what Jacob by himself, not as a whole town, but by himself gave to not a foreign king, but to his own flesh and blood, to his own brother.
And not only was Jacob trying to wear down Esau but there's probably some military strategy taking place here as well. I mean, first of all, this would have worn down any military readiness that Esau and his 400 men had come out with if that was their intention.
I mean, it's hard to get ramped up for battle five or six different times as each successive drove comes down towards them. Also, the servants would then be embedded in Esau's group, maybe informants in one way or another. And then, also, they would slow Esau down, all this livestock and then the mooing and all of that.
Jacob would have been able to hear and see from miles away that Esau had come. This might have been hardly Jacob's way to take away Esau's strategic advantage. But the real purpose is found there in verse 20. He says, "I thought, I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me."
Now, again, the question that we have to ask is, where is God in the midst of all this? Why does Jacob think that he needs to take matters into his own hands in this way? Didn't he see the second camp? Didn't he see that God was going to fight for him?
Couldn't he trust and believe that the Lord would go before him? And clearly at this point, he's still not yet fully trusting that God will fight for him. He's still in his heart believes he must fight for himself. He must defend himself. He must be the one to make peace himself.
No, I appreciate the fact that Jacob confronted a relationship that was broken the way that he was doing it, there are some hints at manipulation all throughout. But I'm not going to beat Jacob up over it too badly because, well, after all, he's just a person, just a human being.
And I find as a man and as I witness other human beings, we so often resort to tactics like these to try to make our way through life and make our way through relationships. What God needed to show Jacob was that he was for Jacob, he would fight for Jacob. He would defend Jacob. He did not need to do these things by himself.
Jacob Wrestles with God
22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.”
Now, let's go on to the story. This is a climactic moment now in Jacob's life. It says in verse 22, the same night, he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants and his 11 children and crossed the Ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream and everything else that he had and Jacob was left alone.
And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. Now, when Jacob departed from the promised land as I mentioned a moment ago, he came to Bethel where he was alone and we had an appointment with God. Here, as he comes back into the land, he is alone with another mysterious figure.
At first, all we've read up to this point, we're told that he is a man, it means an individual, a figure. Jacob is there by himself. He's even sent his family and children across to go join with those two camps and all the gifts that had been sent to Esau.
And thereby himself, this man mysteriously appears. It begins to wrestle with Jacob until the breaking of the day. You see the thing is God wanted Jacob to return to the promised land but he didn't want every part of Jacob to return to the promised land.
God wanted that self-dependence, that self-enterprising spirit that would manipulate and use other people to get his way. That part of him that trusted himself much, much more than he trusted God. That deceiving, conniving part of him.
God was trying to cut that out of Jacob's heart. He wanted to cut that out of Jacob's life. Jacob, at this point has said, "You're the God of Abraham, my grandfather. You're the God of Isaac, my father." But has he really truly felt that he has submitted now to God as his own God?
And so, God is not content to leave Jacob alone. He wants to deal with his man. And so, this man appears to Jacob and wrestles with him until the breaking of the day or the morning time. When the man, verse 25, saw that he did not prevail against Jacob he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.
Then he said, Jacob, the man said, "Let me go for the day has broken." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." Now, less we think that somehow this man was overpowered by Jacob and had no ability to defeat Jacob.
We see that in a moment, he has the supernatural strength to just touch Jacob's hip and put it out of socket. This shows us that Jacob was strong and determined but that this figure is leveling down, so to speak, to Jacob's level in that moment but Jacob is struggling for his life.
At this point, he's probably in his late 90s by the way. So, even though he lived a very long life, the reality is he's not just a 30-year-old man in the fullness of his strength, he's an older man at this point but still he is wrestling with this figure. But the man waited. This figure waited for the right moment and then touched Jacob's hip, crippled God's man.
Jacob Meets His Match
26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip on the sinew of the thigh.”
Finally, in the story of Jacob's life, Jacob encounters someone that he cannot defeat. He defeated Esau in deceiving him and taking his birthright. He defeated Isaac in receiving the blessing. He defeated Laban in getting Laban's daughters and grandsons and flocks and wealth transferred into his own family.
But here, he cannot defeat this man. Jacob has finally met his match. Now, I find that this is often something that God will do. He will often take us to the place where he has to cripple us, so to speak. He has to touch something in our nature or character that humbles us, that breaks us, so to speak, to bring us into a place of full submission to him.
And Jacob is brought to that place of brokenness of submission. He realizes, I've been striving against God Himself. But Jacob, for his part will not even let go after his hip is dislocated. And he says there at the end of verse 26, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
Now, this is a wild statement for Jacob to make. It gives us on one hand a sense that he realized he was wrestling with someone more than just an actual man. He knew that this man was somehow touching upon the divine realm and he wanted that blessing from that source for himself.
But think about who's saying this. This is not a person who has been living in poverty or who has not been obviously blessed by God in that Old Testament era. No, this is Jacob. He has been abundantly blessed by God. But still with all of those external blessings, Jacob felt that something was missing.
There was an additional blessing that he craved from the Lord. And the man, verse 27, said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed."
Here, God initiates a name change for Jacob. It starts with the man asking Jacob the question, what is your name? My name's Jacob. You of course remember that this name means deceiver or heel catcher or supplanter, it's not a positive name with positive connotations.
It reveals something about the character of the man, the person that he is. But then the Lord says, "You'll no longer be called Jacob but you'll be called Israel." Now, there is some debate and conversation about what the name Israel actually means. Does it mean the Lord reigns? That seems to be the most natural, literal understanding of what the word Israel means?
But he says, here you'll be called Israel for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed. How do you get the Lord reigns somehow means you've fought with God while others think that the name Israel also has the idea of the Lord fights and that somehow Jacob, the way he had interacted with the Lord, he had turned that battle right back against God himself and he had striven with God and of course with others and he had prevailed.
But the idea here is that God is changing fundamentally the character of this man. This is an Old Testament allusion to the gospel itself because the cross of Jesus Christ does provide a way for actual literal character shift and change to take place.
Sometimes people believe that human beings cannot change. And in our own strength and power, we really cannot. But with the help of the Holy Spirit, given a new identity in Christ, we can be different than we were before ever more so as we walk with the Lord in this life.
And so, God changes Jacob's name. Then Jacob, verse 29, asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there, he blessed him. So, Jacob called the name of the place Peniel or Peniel saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered."
The sun rose upon him as he passed Peniel limping because of his hip. So, here, Jacob realizes there's something special about this figure. I asked his name, he won't tell me his name, he won't reveal his identity. And so, Jacob feels after he's received a blessing from this figure.
But this figure is representative of God himself and he even believes I've seen God face to face. Now, of course, there are other passages throughout the Bible telling us that no man has seen God face to face and lived. In here, Jacob has wrestled with God face to face and he has lived.
But the idea in those other passages is that no man has seen the full blast of God's glory and holiness. This man wrestling with Jacob has veiled the holiness of God, has veiled the full glory of God just as the men and women who walked in talk with Jesus, were seeing an unveiling of God in one sense but not seeing the full blast of the glory of God in that moment.
So, Jacob here though says, "I've wrestled with God. I've seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered." And he came back limping on his hip. It says in verse 32, therefore, to this day, the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip on the sinew of the thigh.
I'm sure you've read a paper or a book before where there are footnotes. This is a footnote in Genesis chapter 32. The story is told about Jacob wrestling with the man, the man touches Jacob's hip. And at the end of the story, Moses inserts a footnote.
By the way, this is why the people of Israel have the custom, he writes at that time of not eating that part of the animal because God touched that part of Jacob. Now, this whole thing actually would have been really encouraging to many of the people and some of the tribes in Israel that were called to exist on the other side of the Jordan River.
They would constantly be under attack in that region because they were more exposed to the surrounding nations. But here, they would have seen God's presence, that second camp was there to protect them in the years to come. Now, let's go on to chapter 33.
Jacob Meets Esau
1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. 2 And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. 3 He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked and behold Esau was coming and 400 men with him. So, he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and two female servants. And he put the servants with their children in front. Then Leah with all her children and Rachel and Joseph, last of all.
He himself went on before them vowing himself to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother. Now, this is fascinating what Jacob does. He knows that the moment is coming where he's going to meet with Esau and he decides to divide his family up.
He takes the two servants Bilhah and Zilpah and he separates them with their sons. He then takes Leah with her sons. And then, last, Rachel with her son, Joseph. And he sends them out wave after wave. It was in one sense, an incredibly divisive thing for Jacob to do is his way of saying here's my priority structure.
Here is who is most important to me relationally. If they were to die, they would die first, here's who I would want to preserve the most. And you can only imagine being one of the tribes in Israel reading this passage in the years to come and feeling all sorts of ways about what Jacob has just done perhaps you're of Ephraim or Manasseh, the tribes which came from Joseph.
And perhaps you'd be elevated with some sense of unholy pride. Or, perhaps you came from the tribe of Asher and see that your mom and your ancestor had to go out first and we're considered less than in Jacob's estimation and you might be tempted to feel a sense of shame.
It was a divisive thing that Jacob was doing. And of course, the tribes themselves often had skirmishes against each other and perhaps the seeds of them were established there in these early years by actions like these from Jacob. But what are you seeing here? Well, you're really just witnessing this man's value system.
And I believe that it isn't all that difficult to witness a man or a woman's value system, to see what they consider is truly important in life. Esau could have seen it as wave after wave of family member came toward him from Jacob, from the first to the last, he could have known by the time he got to Rachel and Joseph that Rachel was his beloved wife, that Joseph was his beloved son.
And of course, it's not hard to imagine if you know of the life of Joseph that we're going to get into in a short order, we're going to see that these very brothers are intensely and insanely jealous of the favoritism that Jacob shows to Joseph.
So, it's not hard to see how this value system he was broadcasting was known to everybody there and very divisive. But again, like I said, I think we can look at external outward things in our lives and see what we really value. What we really think is important. What we really think we cannot live without.
Who Are These With You?
4 But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 5 And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” 6 Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. 7 Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. 8 Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.” 9 But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” 10 Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. 11 Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.
But Esau, verse four, again, remember at this point, we just don't know how Esau feels and what Esau is thinking. So, let's read it together in verse four and following. It says, but Esau random meet him and embraced him and fell in his neck and kissed him and they wept.
And when he saw lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, "Who are these with you?" Jacob said, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant." Then the servants drew near they and their children and bow down.
Leah likewise and her children drew near and bow down. And last, Joseph and Rachel drew near and they bowed down. Esau said, "What do you mean by all this company that I mean?" Jacob answered, "To find favor in the sight of my Lord." But Esau said, "I have enough my brother, keep what you have for yourself."
Jacob said, "No, please, if I found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand for I've seen your face which is like seeing the face of God and you have accepted me. Please accept my blessing that is brought to you because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have enough."
Thus, he urged him and he being Esau took it or took the gift. Now, all of this is in one sense, very surprising to us as the readers. Esau, he doesn't have any bitterness. There's no unforgiveness. He is willing to move on. He announces to Jacob that God has blessed him also that he doesn't even need the gift though he does reluctantly receive it.
He's confused by all these gifts, confused by the parade of family members. He wonders, why are you doing this? And Jacob says, "I'm fearful. I thought that you'd be upset with me and I wanted to make sure that I appease you through the way that I approached you."
But Esau is approachable to Jacob. It doesn't appear or read that he had to be softened by what Jacob did but he was already softened by God Himself. What does this tell us? Well, this tells us that all the things that Jacob was doing, to try to make amends, to try to make peace, to try to manipulate Esau, he didn't need to do any of them because the very beginning of this episode, he saw the second camp.
He saw God's camp. And he should have been confident that God was going before him, that God would take care of him. But instead, he doubted and so he took matters into his own hands and really did a lot of things that he just didn't need to do in the first place. All of that scheming, so to speak, was pointless from Jacob. And now, that he's seen the face of God at Peniel, he says to Esau, "I've seen your face which is like seeing the face of God."
You see, the reality is as human beings through the brokenness of sin, the fall of humanity, we stepped out of relationship, right relationship with God, with ourselves and with others and with the creation itself. And when Jesus comes into your life, he repairs the brokenness between your relationship with God and himself.
As Paul said in Romans, we were at enmity with God, but through the blood of Jesus that war is over with so that relationship is repaired. But the blood of Jesus and the word of God then go to work in the life of a believer to create reconciliation and health between a person's relationship not just with God but with themselves, that's what Jacob really had to face out there at the river.
Also, relationships with others which is what he had to face with Esau. And I think as well, even their relationship or our relationship with the natural order, with our work, our industry, the things that we produce with our hands in order to be good stewards as God told us to be.
Restoration With God
12 Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you.” 13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. 14 Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
All of these things find their restoration in our relationship with God made possible by the blood of Jesus. So, when Jacob sees the face of God at the river and now is reconciled to Esau, he says to Esau, "It's like I've seen the face of God in your face." Then Esau, verse 12 said, "Let us journey on our way and I will go ahead of you."
But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are frail and that the nursing flocks and herds are cared to me. If they're driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant and I will lead on slowly at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children until I come to my Lord in Seir."
So, Esau said, "Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me." But he said, "What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my Lord." So, Esau returned that day on his way to Seir but Jacob journey to Succoth and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock.
Therefore, the name of that place is called Succoth or it means literally booths. Now, here we see one last glimpse of old Jacob. You see, when you come to Christ, you receive a new nature from him. You are crucified with Christ, buried with Christ and raised to new life in Christ but you still have a body of sin that is yet to be sanctified and to grow.
You're to present your members to God, your body parts, desires, emotions, will, feelings to God so that he can sanctify them. And Jacob, in his own Old Testament version of things was going through that. He'd had a remarkable encounter with God.
He was changed by God from Jacob into Israel. But here, some of that old Jacob still comes out and he deceives Esau. Esau says, "Come with me to Seir in the land of Edom," that was his country place now. Jacob says, "I'll come with you but you don't need to join with me."
15 So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” 16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. 17 But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.”
And Esau says, "Well, let me leave some servants with you." And he says, "No, no just favor me." And once he saw departs with his servants, Jacob goes in the other direction to this place called Succoth and spends some time there. And Jacob, verse 18, came safely to the city of Shechem which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram and he camped before the city.
18 And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. 19 And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. 20 There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.”
And from the sons of Hamor, or Shechem's father, he bought for 100 pieces of money, the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. Therefore, he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel. Now, this is a little bit of a transitional paragraph.
Jacob kept going from the place where he built the booths for his livestock to a city called Shechem. He bought some land there which is really important because now you have a patriarch owning land inside of Canaan, inside of the promised Land.
Not just a cave that would be a burial ground like Abraham own but now some actual land in the land of Canaan. And so, to commemorate this important moment, Jacob builds an altar to the Lord and it's the first altar in the Book of Genesis to be named and he calls it El-Elohe-Israel which means God is here, God's presence, God the God of Israel.
So, he knows his new name is Israel and he claims now God for himself. This is a major moment. It's as if Jacobs transformation into Israel is complete. It will be finalized in a sense in chapter 35. But before chapter 35, there's a disturbing chapter with a disturbing incident inside of it and we're going to look at this chapter together before we close our time today, chapter 34.
The Defiling of Dinah
34 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. 2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. 3 And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”
Now, Dinah, the daughter of Leah whom she had born to Jacob went out to see the women of the land. Now, Dinah really has not been mentioned all that much at this point in Jacob's story. We did get the inclusion of her birth to Leah after Leah had four sons or six sons then Dinah was born.
And she is one of 12 children that Jacob had through these four different women but she is the only female because she's got 11 brothers and most of them are older than she is. It's not a position that many young women would want to find themselves in.
So, she goes out and she wants to see the women of the land, it says there in verse one. Now, this is an ominous statement. They are in the land of Canaan. The people of Israel of course know that the Canaanites were a problem. The Canaanites had upside down moral issues were a broken people, that were ripening for the judgment of God.
And so, for Dinah, to want to go see the daughters of the land, everybody reading this originally would have felt emotional about what she did, knowing that she was putting everything in danger by connecting with this totally immoral, upside down and condemned culture.
It was a dangerous thing. Her mingling with this culture could lead to defilement of God's people. And that really is going to be the theme of this chapter. Everything in a sense it will appear at least is in jeopardy for a moment. But first, there is a tragic and sad development in verse two and following.
And when Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land saw her. He seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. And his soul was drawn to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. So, Shechem spoke to his father Hamor or saying, "Get me this girl for my wife."
Now, as I said, this is a tragic and unholy moment on the pages of scripture. But it's also a very confusing moment. The text at least in English just blurts it out in progressive and accelerating moments of violence. He saw her then he seized her, then he lay with her, then he lastly, humiliated her.
What we're reading is we're reading of this man Shechem raping this young woman Dinah. But then afterwards, there is this surprise. His soul is drawn to her. He loves her it says. And tells his father, get this girl for me to be my wife. It is a confusing reaction. Now, on the one hand, this confusing reaction might just be emblematic of the upside down perverse sexual norms that the Canaanites were already experiencing.
Here you have this man who objectifies a woman to the point that he thinks he can rape her then change his mind and love her and then plead to be married to her, to bring her into likely his harem since he was a prominent man in that culture and in that region. But there is the question as to what really is occurring here.
And part of the reason for the question is definitely the response of Shechem after raping Dinah. But also, the consideration of Jacob as he wrestles with whether he should arrange a marriage for his daughter to this man named Shechem. I mean, no matter how upside down their cultures and customs were, it's hard to imagine a father even entertaining that idea or that arranged marriage.
And in those days since marriages were arranged, sometimes young couples would try to circumvent the family structure or order or way of doing things by having an illicit relationship together which would just force everyone's hand and then they would have to be married after that point.
So, some I should mention, wonder if that's what's going on in this passage, if Dinah somehow conspired with Shechem on this particular point. But for my prior, I think the language is violent and clear. She was not at fault but was violated by this man.
5 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. 6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, for such a thing must not be done.
Either way, what happened was great evil and wrong and we'll see that in the verses to come. Now, Jacob, verse five, heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah but his sons were with his livestock in the field. So, Jacob held his peace until they came.
And Hamor, the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it. And the men were indignant and very angry because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter for such a thing must not be done.
A couple things to notice there in that little paragraph, first of all, the inactivity of Jacob, we'll get back to that. But as a father defending his daughter, he was inactive when he heard this news. He waited for his sons to come back in from the field.
And when they heard it, they were all upset, they were all angry. And they said this brand-new thing that had never been said up to this point which will be said in the future, they said, "This is an outrageous thing that is done in Israel." So, now, they are the people of Israel, so to speak, and this thing that has happened should not be done among their people.
8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. 9 Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.” 11 Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 Ask me for as great a bride-price and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.”
But Hamor, verse eight, spoke with them saying, "The soul of my son, Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife, make marriages with us, give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves. You shall dwell with us and the land she'll be open to you. Dwell and trade in it and get property in it."
Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes and whatever you say to me I will give. Ask me for as great a bribe price and gift as you will and I will give whatever you say, only give me the young woman to be my wife."
So, Hamor, Shechem's father, he comes and tries to broke her a deal. And the whole thing that he wants is not merrily for his son to be able to marry Dinah but he proposes something grander than that, the merging of these two societies. The merging of Israel with Canaanite culture.
Let's marry together. Let's enter, marry together. Our daughters will be for your wives, your daughters will be for our wives, we will blend together, so to speak. This in a sense, had the sons of Israel assented to it would have killed Israel in their infancy.
13 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14 They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. 15 Only on this condition will we agree with you—that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised. 16 Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people. 17 But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.”
They would have been swallowed up by the Canaanite culture and never have been heard of ever again. This is in a sense of full on attack against the gospel itself because the Christ has to come from the family of Israel. Yet, this proposal is threatening all of it. Now, the sons of Jacob, verse 13, answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah.
They said to him, "We could not do this thing to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised for that would be a disgrace to us. Only on this condition, we will agree with you, that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised. Then we will give our daughters to you and we will take your daughters to ourselves and we will dwell with you and become one people."
"But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised and we will take our daughter and we will be gone." So, the sons of Jacob, they propose a deceitful plan to Hamor and shut them. And the deceitful plan centers around the ceremonial rite of circumcision.
Now, circumcision had been given to Abraham as an external symbol of the inward covenant that God had made with him and his offspring or his descendants. It was not to be thrown around like they were throwing it around. And clearly, the Canaanites could go through the ceremony but yet the unconverted in heart have uncircumcised heart, so to speak.
18 Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor's son Shechem. 19 And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob's daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his father's house. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21 “These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people—when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. 23 Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.” 24 And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.”
But this was the deal that they proposed deceitfully to Shechem and to Hamor. Notice that Jacob is not the one behaving deceitfully, it's now his sons that is passed on into his offspring. Their words, verse 18, pleased Hamor and Hamor's son, Shechem, and the young man did not delay to do the thing because he delighted in Jacob's daughter.
Now, he was the most honored of all his father's house. So, Hamor and his son Shechem, came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city saying, "These men are at peace with us, let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives and let us give them our daughters, only on this condition will the men agree with us to become one people."
"When every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours, only let us agree with them and they will dwell with us." And all who went out of the gate of the city, listened to Hamor and his Shechem and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
Now, of course, this proposal and the gate, this is the place where the official business would be conducted in ancient towns and they're in the gate. Hamor more persuaded the community, the men of the community particularly to be circumcised in order to basically gain wealth and sexual relationships with Jacob's family with his future offspring.
They were willing to sacrifice a lot to try to gain those two things. And I know when we read it, it sounds like a very archaic culture doing archaic kinds of things. But if you really consider the motivations of this ancient civilization, they were motivated by wealth accumulation and they were motivated by sexual acts, escapades, so to speak.
They wanted to have more relationships or more options, so to speak. And as much as our culture thinks of itself has very refined the reality is, is that so many human beings are often driven by those same desires today. But these men by and large buy into the plan because they think and know that Jacob has been blessed and all his blessings will now become theirs if they enter into this treaty together.
25 On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went away. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. 29 All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered.”
On the third day, verse 25, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came against the city well it felt secure and killed all the males. They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with a sword and took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went away.
The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plunder the city because they had defiled their sister. They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys and whatever was in the city and in the field, all their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses they captured and plunder.
Now, it's likely that Simeon and Levi, these two older brothers of Dinah through Leah, it's likely that they took household servants with them and formed a small little military strike force and went and attacked this city and its gruesome, in its depiction.
30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” 31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”
The chapter started with evil. And now, here at the end of the chapter, we see another great evil. And they took and plundered everything for themselves and brought it into their own belongings, into their own possession. Then Jacob, verse 30, said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites."
"My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed both I and my household." But they said, "Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?" In the chapter, you see two extremes when it comes to reacting to the sin that was committed against Dinah.
On one hand, you have the extreme of Jacob that he did nothing. He just watched, witnessed it, heard about it and did not respond at all. Then you have on the other side, the sons, especially Simeon and Levi, they behave on the other end of the spectrum in a drastic way by murdering, slaughtering the whole town, they did not do nothing. They instead went nuclear.
They operated with unbridled passion, taking vengeance and revenge into their own hands. And in so doing, they really did put the whole faith community in jeopardy and profaned or defiled or gave a bad reputation to the whole faith community.
And so, often for the child of God, the tragic events of life and the great sins committed against us at times, they require an even-handed approach and response to be just on the one hand but measured and holy and righteous on the other.
To not just give in and act as if nothing has occurred on one hand but not to boil over in rage on the other. But to instead with God, confront that in justice together with him, taking his word and calmly bringing it to bear in that particular situation.
Now, when Jacob died, he pronounced a blessing upon all his sons. We'll get to that in Genesis 49. It really isn't a blessing that he pronounces but more of a promise about each one of his son's prophecies, about his sons. And when he gets to Simeon and Levi, he basically promises that they will be scattered amongst the tribes.
Now, Simeon his tribe really was swallowed up by the tribe of Judah, a much greater tribe. But the tribe of Levi, they were scattered in an important way because it was through Levi that the servants of the Tabernacle and the priests through Aaron were actually raised up.
And God chose them in part because they stood up to the unholiness that the people of Israel bound themselves up in when Moses came down from the mountain with the 10 commandments. The Levites stood up. The Levites said no. And because of that the Levites who got off to a difficult start here were redeemed and used by God in great ways in the years to come.
Well, we'll pause it here. And till next week, where we will find Jacob return all the way into the land of promise. God bless you church. I'm praying for you as you endure in Christ this week.