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BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY
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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday January 27, 2019
JACOB SENDS
GIFTS TO ESAU
Genesis
32:1-21
In Genesis 32, after meeting with Laban and entering into a peace
treaty with him, Jacob and his family now began again, his journey on “faith”
to Canaan. Along the way, Jacob is met again by angels of GOD, which gave him
confidence and courage that he was doing the right thing (following GOD’s
instructions). When he saw the angels he declared, “This is GOD’s camp!”, and
he named the place “mahanaim”.
At this time, GOD knew that Jacob was
besieged with memories of his mistreatment of his brother, Esau, and, of Esau’s
murderous anger and desire for revenge on him. In verses 3-8, Jacob reveals to
us, “his own plan” to begin the healing and mending their damaged relationship.
And so, he sent ahead messengers and gifts to Esau, even telling them to refer
to Esau as “his master”, and to himself, as “Esau’s servant”. It was a tricky
attempt to melt the heart of his assumed, hostile brother, before their actual
encounter later on that day.
In verses 9-12, we see the continued “earthly
wisdom” of Jacob still being employed in his dealings with his brother Esau,
whom he had previously hurt very badly with he, and his mother, Rebekah’s,
schemes against him. Here we see though, that the mature Jacob is not just
relying totally on “human ingenuity” as the old Jacob would have. Now, a more
spiritually mature, but still slightly confused Jacob, decides to incorporate
“prayer” to his “plan”. The only problem here is that “his plan” came before “his
prayer”, and so, what he was asking GOD in prayer, in effect, was that GOD
allow “Jacob’s will”, not “GOD’s Will”, to be done in his situation. And so now
we can plainly see these “three great elements of wisdom” unfold, but not in
the GODly order. In Jacob we see “Faith”, “Planning”, and “Prayer”, when it
should have been “Faith”, “Prayer”, and then “Planning”.
Jacob’s journey began on his “faith in
GOD’s instructions, and he had already given legs to that faith by obediently
returning to Canaan, which he had fearfully fled from, some twenty years
earlier. And despite his fear of Esau, he continued to move forward to face the
anticipated wrath of his brother, and we see here that he will correctly ultimately
“fear GOD” more than he “fears man” (Esau), something that we should all learn
to do at the beginning of our “Christian Walk”.
In verses 13-21 Jacob puts “his plan” into
action, his only flaw thus far in his continued struggle to trust GOD. That
night he prepared his gift, called a “minhah” in the Hebrew tradition, and, “it
is a gift that is given to a superior in order to gain their favor”. This
offering of flocks of sheep, and herds of goats, camels, cattle, and donkeys
(550 animals in all), which he planned to give to Esau (Vs.13-15) was indeed
substantial.
He instructed his men to lead the flocks separately
with some distance between each group of animals because he sought to impress,
or pacify Esau with a wave of five separate gifts offerings, thinking that
maybe it would appease him, and help soften his heart and attitude about seeking
revenge against him.
Jacob was able to move forward despite his
fear of Esau, because he knew deep in his heart that GOD would protect him from
any danger that he might face from Esau or anyone else. This, in effect, was a
misuse, or abuse of his blessings from GOD. Jacob understood that his gifts to
Esau might not deliver him, but he fully trusted that GOD certainly would,
because of HIS promised blessings to his ancestors, Abraham and Isaac.
And so, Jacob’s newly-found largesse may
have, at this point, been motivated by fear, however, there is also a “subliminal
lesson” from the LORD being taught here about being concerned for the feelings
of others (namely Esau), and the protection and welfare of others (namely his
wives and his children).
A DEPICTION
OF JACOB’S STRUGGLE WITH GOD
Genesis
32:22-32
After sending his men on ahead with the minhah, Jacob went to bed
there in the camp, but rose during the night and sent his wives and children on
across the Jabok River to wait for him there. After they reached the other side
he also sent all of his possessions across the river, and he himself remained
at the camp alone. This was about to become a night where GOD would both,
cripple, and bless Jacob, and would quite literally, change his walk forever.
That night Jacob wrestled with a man that
he didn’t know was GOD all the time. Here in this actual “physical battle”, GOD
would make Jacob come face to face with his own “true spiritual self”, and he
would, from then on, learn not to resist GOD, but rather, to cling to HIM with
the greatest preservation and commitment possible. He would also learn that he
would have to leave the “old Jacob” (making his own plans) behind, and completely
embrace the “new Israel” (desiring to use GOD’s plans in the future).
In verses 22-32, Jacob is attacked by an
unidentified assailant who begins to wrestle with him fiercely. The scriptures
tells us that when the man saw that he couldn’t win (in others words, GOD saw
that Jacob wasn’t ready to put an end to his stubborn resistance of “self-will”,
or insistence on doing things his way in
his dealings with people), he struck Jacob on the hip (humbled him and took
away his “prideful strut”). Still Jacob struggled mightily to hold onto his old
way of doing things, but in the end he decides instead, to hang on to the man (cling
to the LORD) until he has received all of the blessings that HE had to give him
(Jacob tells his attacker, “I won’t let you go until you bless me”).
In those days, a lot about a person’s
nature or character could be found in their name. In the name “Jacob” we find
the description “heel catcher” because he caught on to the heel of his brother,Esau,
at birth, and throughout his whole life, he continually tried to usurp Esau’s
position in the family through trickery. And so here in verse 27 the man asks
Jacob, “What is your name?” Here GOD is forcing Jacob to “face and confess his
true self” as a conniving trickster, which is what his name actually reveals.
Jacob would not be able to enter into the “promised land” of Canaan, unless he
changed the way he dealt with his fellowman.
And so the LORD, in this epic all-night
struggle with Jacob, changed his nature and character into something that was more
pleasing and compatible to HIM. He shows him that, although it may be
acceptable to struggle with GOD in life, it is not a good idea to resist GOD’s
plans for us in life. In verse 28, the man (GOD) changes Jacob’s name to
“Israel”, which means “struggles with GOD”, or more properly “GOD fights”. It
correctly signifies how Jacob had, throughout his life, “struggled with both
man, and GOD.
The name “Israel” would forever remind
Jacob and the nations that, if we can win out in our struggles to obey the will
of GOD, it only stands to reason that we can overcome our struggles with each
other, and be able to live in peace with each other, and more importantly, at
one and the same time, be at peace with GOD.
GOD had visited Jacob many times in dreams.
These dreams, unfortunately, did not serve to make him change his approach to
how he dealt with man or GOD. In this physical encounter, GOD wanted Jacob to
understand the true reality of how HE could interfere physically and directly
into the lives of those whom HE chooses to use for HIS purpose.
GOD
wanted to, by doing physical harm to Jacob’s hip, impress upon Jacob that he
must serve HIM HIS way, and not any other way (through human ingenuity) that he
might choose. GOD not only has spiritual ways to deal with us, but HE also has
physical ways by which HE can humble us, temporarily or permanently to show us
who’s in charge. And HE won’t hesitate to use physical methods when spiritual
methods, or the spoken word, has failed to penetrate our hearts (minds).
Jacob named the place where he fought with
GOD, “Peniel”, and it means, “face of GOD”. It was there that he ended his
spiritual struggle with GOD and was spared his life, even though he had seen
GOD (only spiritually), face to face. His prayer for deliverance was answered by
GOD in this face-to-face encounter, and he was now blessed, humbled, and
spiritually ready to enter into the land that GOD had promised his grandfather,
his father, and himself, for all time.
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
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