Book: [[Genesis]] Next chapter: [[Genesis 33]] # Overview ## [[Jacob]] meets the camp of [[God]]’s angels at [[Mahanaim]] - While heading back toward [[Canaan]], [[Jacob]] is greeted by a host of [[Angel]]s - He names the place [[Mahanaim]] (“two camps”) - perhaps because he now sees his own camp paralleled by [[God]]’s - Or perhaps it is the two camps [[Jacob]] later splits into ## [[Jacob]] prepares to face [[Esau]] - Messengers are sent to [[Esau]] in [[Edom]] (Seir) announcing [[Jacob]]’s return with wealth and family - They report that [[Esau]] is coming with 400 men, striking fear into [[Jacob]] - [[Jacob]] splits his people, servants and livestock into *two camps* so one might survive an attack - He prays to [[God]], recalling the promise at [[Bethel]] and begging deliverance from [[Esau]] Verse 7 (and 11): [[Jacob]] is greatly afraid ## Lavish gifts sent ahead to appease [[Esau]] - [[Jacob]] selects large droves of livestock and sends them ahead as sequential gifts - Each servant repeats: “They belong to your servant [[Jacob]] and are a present for my lord [[Esau]]” - His hope: “I will appease him with the gift… afterward I will see his face” ## [[Wrestling with God]] at [[Jabbok]] - After moving family across the stream, [[Jacob]] remains alone - A *man* wrestles with him until daybreak; unable to prevail, the man dislocates [[Jacob]]’s hip - [[Jacob]] refuses to release him without a blessing; the stranger renames him [[Israel]] (“he struggles with [[God]]”) - [[Jacob]] names the place [[Peniel]] (“face of [[God]]”) saying he has seen [[God]] face to face and lived - The sun rises as [[Jacob]]—now [[Israel]]—crosses over, limping; Israelites thereafter avoid the hip sinew # Details - [[Mahanaim]] and [[Bethel]] -- both places where "[[Angel]] of God" are seen (in fact the only two) - Split into two camps -- foreshadowing [[Israel]] and [[Judah]]? ## Inventory of the gifts for [[Esau]] (vv 13-15) | Kind | Quantity | | ------------------------ | -------- | | Female goats | 200 | | Male goats | 20 | | Ewes | 200 | | Rams | 20 | | Milch camels & calves | 30 | | Cows | 40 | | Bulls | 10 | | Female donkeys | 20 | | Male donkeys | 10 | > “For he thought, ‘I will appease him with the gift that goes ahead of me; **afterward I will see his face**; perhaps he will accept me.’” — [[Genesis 32]]:20 ## [[Jacob]]’s prayer (vv 9-12) - Addresses “ [[God]]Lord of my father [[Abraham]] and [[God]] of my father [[Isaac]]” - Reminds [[God]] of the command to *return* and the promise of descendants like sea-sand - Confesses unworthiness of past kindness - Pleads: “Save me… from the hand of my brother [[Esau]]” # Questions - Who was the wrestler—an [[Angel]], a theophany of [[God]], or the pre-incarnate [[Christ]]? - Why does [[God]] wound even while blessing? What is the significance of the lifelong limp? - How does [[Jacob]]’s fear of [[Esau]] reflect his earlier deception, and how does this chapter set the stage for their meeting in [[Genesis 33]]?