November 19, 2024 • 15 mins
Witness the extraordinary transformation of Jacob on his spiritual journey as we explore his pivotal encounters in Genesis 32. Our episode unveils Jacob's awe-inspiring meeting with God's angels at Mahanaim, symbolizing the powerful convergence of Jacob's camp and God's camp. Experience the gripping tension as Jacob, torn between faith and fear, strategizes to face his brother Esau while wrestling with his trust in God's promises. This episode promises to enrich your understanding of Jacob's growing relationship with God and the profound lessons that emerge from his struggles and triumphs.
As we navigate through the nuances of Jacob's path, a captivating story unfolds—a man grappling with the fear of an impending encounter with Esau and his internal conflict of relying on human cunning rather than trusting in God. Discover how Jacob's manipulative plans to appease his brother reflect a deeper spiritual turmoil and set the stage for his dramatic encounter with God next week. This exploration reveals not just a historical narrative but timeless insights into faith, fear, and the transformative power of divine encounters. Don't miss this engaging discussion that sheds light on the complexities of faith and family in Jacob's remarkable journey.
Email: nathan@nathandietsche.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome again to the Mysteries of God's Word.
In our last episode, thescripture described to us how
Jacob had flood from Laban andhow the Lord had delivered Jacob
from Laban, and, finally, howJacob and Laban had made a
(00:21):
covenant of peace in the hillcountry of Gilead, and the place
where they made their covenantwas called Galid and Mizpah.
This week, jacob is moving onfrom Galid and heading back
towards Bethel, towards hisfather's homeland, and we begin
(00:43):
in Genesis 32, verse 1.
Let's talk about these firsttwo verses.
(01:03):
It says let's talk about thesefirst two verses.
It says Jacob went on his wayand the angels of God met him.
Again, jacob had picked up andwent on his way from Galid or
Mizpah, where he made a covenantwith Laban, and the angels of
God met him.
The Hebrew word for angel ismessenger, and whenever we see
(01:26):
this word in the Old Testament,it's very important to note the
context of the passage.
The same word for angel ormessenger is the exact same word
that's used for a humanmessenger in the Old Testament.
So we need to make sure weexamine the context.
And here we see it's amessenger of God.
(01:49):
Angels or messengers of God onrare occasions made an
appearance to minister to God'speople and they even took on
human form.
The phrase that is often usedin scripture is a messenger of
God or messengers of God.
(02:12):
Context is also importantbecause we don't want to confuse
an angel of God with the angelof Yahweh, which is often seen
frequently in the Old Testament.
And the angel of God was atheophany or physical
manifestation of the Son of God,a pre-incarnate Christ.
(02:35):
Again, context is alwaysimportant when we see an angel
or a messenger who is sent.
In the Old Testament and hereJacob sees messengers of God.
When Jacob saw them, he saidthis is God's camp.
So he called the name of thatplace Mahanaim, not to further
(03:00):
belabor the point and what we'vealready been told.
But the fact that Jacobliterally saw angels of God may
seem astounding to some peopleand hard to believe.
The angels took on a physicalmanifestation so that Jacob saw
them.
Jacob seeing a camp of angelswas a way for God to remind
(03:26):
Jacob of the promises he hadgiven Jacob in a dream 20 years
ago when he was on his way toHaran.
It also helped to remind Jacobthat God continued to be with
him as Jacob was nowcontemplating his encounter with
his brother Esau.
(03:46):
Jacob's exclamation that this isGod's camp is much like his
response 20 years ago, back inBethel.
Jacob declares this location tobe the camp of the Lord.
Back in Genesis 28, 16, and 17,which was 20 years ago for
Jacob, jacob had awoken from hisdream and he said Surely, the
(04:12):
Lord is in this place and Ididn't know it.
Jacob was afraid and he saidhow awesome is this place.
This is none other than thehouse of God and this is the
gate of heaven, none other thanthe house of God, and this is
the gate of heaven.
So much.
Like 20 years ago, jacob is nowseeing again the angels of God
and he declares this is God'scamp.
(04:35):
Jacob associates this verylocation means double camp or
two camps.
It describes how there were twodistinct camps at this place
Jacob's camps with his wives,children and flocks, and God's
(04:59):
camp with the angels.
In verse 3, we read I havesojourned with Laban and stayed
(05:24):
until now.
I have oxen, donkeys, flocks,male servants and female
servants.
I have sent to tell my Lord inorder that I might find favor in
your sight.
Here we see Jacob's messengers.
In verse 1, we saw God'smessengers.
Now we see Jacob's messengers.
(05:46):
Now we see Jacob's messengers.
It could be better translatedhere Jacob had sent messengers.
From the context we see thatJacob had sent these messengers
even before he had arrived atMahanaim where he saw the angels
of God arrived at Mahanaimwhere he saw the angels of God.
(06:10):
As we will see, jacob'smessengers will soon return
while Jacob is still camped atthe brook of Jebrok in Gilead.
It is very likely that afterJacob's confrontation with Laban
at Galid, where they made peace, jacob quickly realized that he
would soon meet and have tomake peace with his brother Esau
(06:31):
.
So he immediately sent thesemessengers ahead of him, even
before leaving the camp at Galid.
We also see here that Esau isliving in the land of Seir now,
some 20 years after Jacob hadtaken his blessing from Isaac in
Beersheba.
Isaac, their father at thispoint, was now living near Mamre
(06:54):
or Hebron, so Esau would havehad to separate from his father,
isaac.
Sometime during the 20 yearsJacob was with Laban and Esau
had begun to settle in the hillsof Seir.
The hill country of Seir laterbecame known as the land or the
(07:14):
nation of Edom, of Edom.
The land of Seir or the nationof Edom was the mountain range
southeast of the Dead Sea thatextended all the way down to the
Gulf of Aqaba and we see thatin Jacob's message to Esau he
says my Lord, esau, twice thatphrase my Lord means my master,
(07:39):
and Jacob calls himself yourservant.
Jacob is attempting toestablish a respectful dialogue
between himself and his brother.
He's trying to make peace andseek the favor of his brother,
esau.
In verse 6, we read and themessengers return to Jacob,
(08:12):
apparently while he's stillnorth of the Jabbok River, and
they don't have a message fromEsau.
Their silence is ominous.
The only message they have isthat Esau is coming with 400 men
.
That many men suggests Esau puttogether an army and intended
(08:33):
to attack Jacob.
Back in Genesis 14, we readthat Abram had 318 men when he
went to war against Kedlaomer.
So it's not a shock to seeJacob's reaction in verse 7 and
8, where we read Then Jacob wasgreatly afraid and distressed.
(08:54):
He divided the people who werewith him and the flocks and the
herds and the camels into twocamps, thinking if Esau comes to
the one camp and attacks it,then the camp that is left will
escape.
Jacob assumed the worst, notreceiving a message back from
his brother Esau and hearing thekind of force that was coming
(09:16):
and Jacob divides his animalsand his people into two separate
groups just in case there is anattack from Esau.
It's interesting that Jacobuses two camps.
It's almost reflective of whatwe just learned, where there
were two camps earlier.
Perhaps Jacob gained the ideaof two camps from seeing God's
(09:38):
camp next to his.
Then, in verses 9 through 12, weread and Jacob said O God of my
father Abraham and God of myfather Isaac, o Lord, who said
to me Return to your country andto your kindred that I may do
you good.
I am not worthy of the least ofall the deeds of your steadfast
(10:01):
love and of all thefaithfulness that you've shown
to your servant, for with onlymy staff I crossed the Jordan
and now I've become to camps.
Please deliver me from the handof my brother, from the hand of
Esau, for I fear him that hemay come and attack me.
(10:21):
The mothers with their children.
But you said, I will surely doyou good and make your offspring
as the sand of the sea, whichcannot be numbered for multitude
.
In verses 9 through 12, we seeJacob's prayer.
Jacob prays O God of my fatherAbraham and God of my father
(10:45):
Isaac.
It's interesting in Jacob'sprayer he calls out to the God
of Abraham and Isaac.
God is not yet personal toJacob, he's the God of his
fathers.
But in his great distress,jacob begins to pray to God,
proclaiming the commands and thepromises that God has given him
(11:05):
to bring him back to his owncountry.
Jacob's reaffirming for bothhimself and as he petitions God,
knowing that the God of hisfathers is faithful, faithful to
keep his promises, faithful todeliver, jacob calls upon God,
asking him to deliver him.
(11:26):
His prayer is for the salvationand deliverance of his people,
the deliverance from the hand ofthe wrath of his warrior,
brother Esau.
In verses 13 through 21, we readso he stayed there that night
and from what he had with him hetook a present for his brother
Esau 200 female goats and 20male goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams
(11:52):
, 30 milking camels and theircalves, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20
female donkeys and 10 maledonkeys.
These he handed over to hisservants, every drove by itself,
and he said to his servantsPass on ahead of me and put a
(12:13):
space between drove and drove.
He instructed the first.
When Esau, my brother, meetsyou and asks you To whom do you
belong, where are you going andwhose are these ahead of you,
then you shall say they belongto your servant Jacob, they are
a present sent to my lord Esau.
(12:35):
Moreover, he is behind us.
He likewise instructed thesecond and the third and all who
followed the droves.
You shall say the same thing toEsau when you find him, and you
shall say Moreover, yourservant Jacob is behind us, for
he thought I may appease himwith the present that goes ahead
(12:59):
of me, and afterward I shallsee his face.
Perhaps he will accept me.
So the present passed on aheadof him, and he himself stayed
that night in the camp.
To summarize these eight verses,what we're seeing is that Jacob
stayed in his camp all night.
His camp, as we'll see nextweek, was just north of the
(13:23):
Jabbok River in Gilead.
So Jacob is staying there allnight long.
But that same night Jacob issending out servants with droves
of animals as a present to hisbrother Esau.
And this is going to put somedistance between Jacob and all
of these droves of animals, somedistance between Jacob and all
(13:47):
of these droves of animals.
And again, there's distancebetween each drove of animal.
Drove number one was 200 femalegoats and 20 male goats.
Drove number two 200 femalesheep, 20 male sheep.
Drove number three, 30 milkingcamel and their 30 young
offspring.
Drove number four, 40 femalecows and 20 male cows or bulls.
(14:12):
And drove number five, 20female donkeys and 10 male
donkeys.
So there's five droves with atotal of 550 animals.
So there's five droves with atotal of 550 animals.
And we read in verse 20 thatJacob thought he might appease
Esau with this present.
Jacob had a careful and verywell thought out plan to try and
(14:37):
change his brother's mind andhis heart through his own
scheming.
While Jacob is calling upon Godto help him, he's not quite
fully dependent and trusting onthe Lord In true form for Jacob.
He tries to manipulate hisbrother's emotions with gifts
(14:57):
before he sees him, whichhighlights how Jacob still isn't
fully trusting in God to changeEsau's heart.
We're going to pause here, andnext week we'll see the famous
story of Jacob wrestling withGod.
Thank you for joining me thisweek and God bless you this week
(15:20):
.
Welcome again to the Mysteries of God's Word.
In our last episode, thescripture described to us how
Jacob had flood from Laban andhow the Lord had delivered Jacob
from Laban, and, finally, howJacob and Laban had made a
(00:21):
covenant of peace in the hillcountry of Gilead, and the place
where they made their covenantwas called Galid and Mizpah.
This week, jacob is moving onfrom Galid and heading back
towards Bethel, towards hisfather's homeland, and we begin
(00:43):
in Genesis 32, verse 1.
Let's talk about these firsttwo verses.
(01:03):
It says let's talk about thesefirst two verses.
It says Jacob went on his wayand the angels of God met him.
Again, jacob had picked up andwent on his way from Galid or
Mizpah, where he made a covenantwith Laban, and the angels of
God met him.
The Hebrew word for angel ismessenger, and whenever we see
(01:26):
this word in the Old Testament,it's very important to note the
context of the passage.
The same word for angel ormessenger is the exact same word
that's used for a humanmessenger in the Old Testament.
So we need to make sure weexamine the context.
And here we see it's amessenger of God.
(01:49):
Angels or messengers of God onrare occasions made an
appearance to minister to God'speople and they even took on
human form.
The phrase that is often usedin scripture is a messenger of
God or messengers of God.
(02:12):
Context is also importantbecause we don't want to confuse
an angel of God with the angelof Yahweh, which is often seen
frequently in the Old Testament.
And the angel of God was atheophany or physical
manifestation of the Son of God,a pre-incarnate Christ.
(02:35):
Again, context is alwaysimportant when we see an angel
or a messenger who is sent.
In the Old Testament and hereJacob sees messengers of God.
When Jacob saw them, he saidthis is God's camp.
So he called the name of thatplace Mahanaim, not to further
(03:00):
belabor the point and what we'vealready been told.
But the fact that Jacobliterally saw angels of God may
seem astounding to some peopleand hard to believe.
The angels took on a physicalmanifestation so that Jacob saw
them.
Jacob seeing a camp of angelswas a way for God to remind
(03:26):
Jacob of the promises he hadgiven Jacob in a dream 20 years
ago when he was on his way toHaran.
It also helped to remind Jacobthat God continued to be with
him as Jacob was nowcontemplating his encounter with
his brother Esau.
(03:46):
Jacob's exclamation that this isGod's camp is much like his
response 20 years ago, back inBethel.
Jacob declares this location tobe the camp of the Lord.
Back in Genesis 28, 16, and 17,which was 20 years ago for
Jacob, jacob had awoken from hisdream and he said Surely, the
(04:12):
Lord is in this place and Ididn't know it.
Jacob was afraid and he saidhow awesome is this place.
This is none other than thehouse of God and this is the
gate of heaven, none other thanthe house of God, and this is
the gate of heaven.
So much.
Like 20 years ago, jacob is nowseeing again the angels of God
and he declares this is God'scamp.
(04:35):
Jacob associates this verylocation means double camp or
two camps.
It describes how there were twodistinct camps at this place
Jacob's camps with his wives,children and flocks, and God's
(04:59):
camp with the angels.
In verse 3, we read I havesojourned with Laban and stayed
(05:24):
until now.
I have oxen, donkeys, flocks,male servants and female
servants.
I have sent to tell my Lord inorder that I might find favor in
your sight.
Here we see Jacob's messengers.
In verse 1, we saw God'smessengers.
Now we see Jacob's messengers.
(05:46):
Now we see Jacob's messengers.
It could be better translatedhere Jacob had sent messengers.
From the context we see thatJacob had sent these messengers
even before he had arrived atMahanaim where he saw the angels
of God arrived at Mahanaimwhere he saw the angels of God.
(06:10):
As we will see, jacob'smessengers will soon return
while Jacob is still camped atthe brook of Jebrok in Gilead.
It is very likely that afterJacob's confrontation with Laban
at Galid, where they made peace, jacob quickly realized that he
would soon meet and have tomake peace with his brother Esau
(06:31):
.
So he immediately sent thesemessengers ahead of him, even
before leaving the camp at Galid.
We also see here that Esau isliving in the land of Seir now,
some 20 years after Jacob hadtaken his blessing from Isaac in
Beersheba.
Isaac, their father at thispoint, was now living near Mamre
(06:54):
or Hebron, so Esau would havehad to separate from his father,
isaac.
Sometime during the 20 yearsJacob was with Laban and Esau
had begun to settle in the hillsof Seir.
The hill country of Seir laterbecame known as the land or the
(07:14):
nation of Edom, of Edom.
The land of Seir or the nationof Edom was the mountain range
southeast of the Dead Sea thatextended all the way down to the
Gulf of Aqaba and we see thatin Jacob's message to Esau he
says my Lord, esau, twice thatphrase my Lord means my master,
(07:39):
and Jacob calls himself yourservant.
Jacob is attempting toestablish a respectful dialogue
between himself and his brother.
He's trying to make peace andseek the favor of his brother,
esau.
In verse 6, we read and themessengers return to Jacob,
(08:12):
apparently while he's stillnorth of the Jabbok River, and
they don't have a message fromEsau.
Their silence is ominous.
The only message they have isthat Esau is coming with 400 men
.
That many men suggests Esau puttogether an army and intended
(08:33):
to attack Jacob.
Back in Genesis 14, we readthat Abram had 318 men when he
went to war against Kedlaomer.
So it's not a shock to seeJacob's reaction in verse 7 and
8, where we read Then Jacob wasgreatly afraid and distressed.
(08:54):
He divided the people who werewith him and the flocks and the
herds and the camels into twocamps, thinking if Esau comes to
the one camp and attacks it,then the camp that is left will
escape.
Jacob assumed the worst, notreceiving a message back from
his brother Esau and hearing thekind of force that was coming
(09:16):
and Jacob divides his animalsand his people into two separate
groups just in case there is anattack from Esau.
It's interesting that Jacobuses two camps.
It's almost reflective of whatwe just learned, where there
were two camps earlier.
Perhaps Jacob gained the ideaof two camps from seeing God's
(09:38):
camp next to his.
Then, in verses 9 through 12, weread and Jacob said O God of my
father Abraham and God of myfather Isaac, o Lord, who said
to me Return to your country andto your kindred that I may do
you good.
I am not worthy of the least ofall the deeds of your steadfast
(10:01):
love and of all thefaithfulness that you've shown
to your servant, for with onlymy staff I crossed the Jordan
and now I've become to camps.
Please deliver me from the handof my brother, from the hand of
Esau, for I fear him that hemay come and attack me.
(10:21):
The mothers with their children.
But you said, I will surely doyou good and make your offspring
as the sand of the sea, whichcannot be numbered for multitude
.
In verses 9 through 12, we seeJacob's prayer.
Jacob prays O God of my fatherAbraham and God of my father
(10:45):
Isaac.
It's interesting in Jacob'sprayer he calls out to the God
of Abraham and Isaac.
God is not yet personal toJacob, he's the God of his
fathers.
But in his great distress,jacob begins to pray to God,
proclaiming the commands and thepromises that God has given him
(11:05):
to bring him back to his owncountry.
Jacob's reaffirming for bothhimself and as he petitions God,
knowing that the God of hisfathers is faithful, faithful to
keep his promises, faithful todeliver, jacob calls upon God,
asking him to deliver him.
(11:26):
His prayer is for the salvationand deliverance of his people,
the deliverance from the hand ofthe wrath of his warrior,
brother Esau.
In verses 13 through 21, we readso he stayed there that night
and from what he had with him hetook a present for his brother
Esau 200 female goats and 20male goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams
(11:52):
, 30 milking camels and theircalves, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20
female donkeys and 10 maledonkeys.
These he handed over to hisservants, every drove by itself,
and he said to his servantsPass on ahead of me and put a
(12:13):
space between drove and drove.
He instructed the first.
When Esau, my brother, meetsyou and asks you To whom do you
belong, where are you going andwhose are these ahead of you,
then you shall say they belongto your servant Jacob, they are
a present sent to my lord Esau.
(12:35):
Moreover, he is behind us.
He likewise instructed thesecond and the third and all who
followed the droves.
You shall say the same thing toEsau when you find him, and you
shall say Moreover, yourservant Jacob is behind us, for
he thought I may appease himwith the present that goes ahead
(12:59):
of me, and afterward I shallsee his face.
Perhaps he will accept me.
So the present passed on aheadof him, and he himself stayed
that night in the camp.
To summarize these eight verses,what we're seeing is that Jacob
stayed in his camp all night.
His camp, as we'll see nextweek, was just north of the
(13:23):
Jabbok River in Gilead.
So Jacob is staying there allnight long.
But that same night Jacob issending out servants with droves
of animals as a present to hisbrother Esau.
And this is going to put somedistance between Jacob and all
of these droves of animals, somedistance between Jacob and all
(13:47):
of these droves of animals.
And again, there's distancebetween each drove of animal.
Drove number one was 200 femalegoats and 20 male goats.
Drove number two 200 femalesheep, 20 male sheep.
Drove number three, 30 milkingcamel and their 30 young
offspring.
Drove number four, 40 femalecows and 20 male cows or bulls.
(14:12):
And drove number five, 20female donkeys and 10 male
donkeys.
So there's five droves with atotal of 550 animals.
So there's five droves with atotal of 550 animals.
And we read in verse 20 thatJacob thought he might appease
Esau with this present.
Jacob had a careful and verywell thought out plan to try and
(14:37):
change his brother's mind andhis heart through his own
scheming.
While Jacob is calling upon Godto help him, he's not quite
fully dependent and trusting onthe Lord In true form for Jacob.
He tries to manipulate hisbrother's emotions with gifts
(14:57):
before he sees him, whichhighlights how Jacob still isn't
fully trusting in God to changeEsau's heart.
We're going to pause here, andnext week we'll see the famous
story of Jacob wrestling withGod.
Thank you for joining me thisweek and God bless you this week
(15:20):
.
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