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Full Episode
Hey Bible Readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. Yesterday, Jacob and his family fled from Laban to head back toward Canaan, which is where his brother Esau lives, the one who wanted to kill him. Obviously, Jacob has no idea how things will go if and when he encounters Esau, which would make most people a little bit nervous.
By the way, Esau lives in an area called Edom, which is why the descendants of Esau are called Edomites. We'll see that term a lot in the future. Jacob sent some messengers ahead of him to smooth things over if they encountered Esau. And the messengers came back saying, he's coming and he's got 400 guys with him. Uh-oh.
So Jacob divided every one and everything in half so that if Esau attacked, he couldn't take it all. He's strategic, he's maybe driven by fear, but there's also this really beautiful moment where he's humbled and he praises God for his provision. He acknowledges his reality. In 32.9, we see the first time Jacob addresses God by his name.
And in 32.10, he says, And in the midst of fearing the worst, Jacob remembered God's words and appealed to him with reminders of his specific promises to their family. Then he sent a present ahead to Esau to appease him. If someone sent me 550 farm animals in the mail, I would not view that as a gift, but these are different times.
Then he sent his wives and kids ahead of him and spent the night alone. During the night, he wrestled with God. Doesn't most of your wrestling with God happen when you're alone and even at night? Jacob is literally wrestling, though. He doesn't appear to be having a vision. This doesn't appear to be a metaphor, mainly because he leaves with an injury.
This instance is another theophany, an appearance of God on earth. And more specifically, since the Hebrew word here is Elohim, that implies creator and judge, I'm inclined to believe this is another encounter with God the Father, like the encounter Abraham had in chapter 18. They wrestled all night, and as the sun is rising, Jacob tells him that he won't let go until he blesses him.
The man replies, Those are literally the only kinds of questions God can ask. That's one of the perks of being omniscient. Omniscient means he knows everything. Jacob tells him his name, and the man's response clues us into the fact that he's God. First, he affirms that Jacob had not only wrestled with men, but that he'd also wrestled with God.
And second, he changes his name, which you may recall is a big God move. Sometimes when God is about to reveal a new assignment or direction in someone's life, he renames them. Here, he calls Jacob Israel. It's the first time we see this word in Scripture. The name will eventually come to refer not only to this one man, but also to all of his descendants as well. So Jacob left renamed and limping.
This was Jacob's moment of transformation, encountering God face to face like this, like his father and grandfather had. Finally, his faith is starting to become his own. Then Jacob slash Israel continues on his journey. He stacks up his people in order from least loved to most loved, and they eventually run into Esau, who actually seems excited to see him.
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