Esau and
Jacob
Conclusion
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(Note: It
is ironic that Isaac thought he
was going to die more than twenty
years before he actually died. In
fact, it was Isaac who sent Esau
on a mission to capture wild game
because he thought he was near
death. (Genesis 27:2-4)
Isaac’s action alerted
Rebekah and she conspired with
Jacob to seize Esau’s
birthright. (Genesis 27:6-13)
Rebekah died during Jacob’s
absence, but Isaac lived on and
he must have been overjoyed when
Jacob returned home. He must have
been very pleased when he learned
that God Himself had passed His
covenant to Jacob and of all
things, there is no evidence that
Esau was unhappy about it!)
Jacob’s
Time of Trouble
“[After
hearing that Esau was coming
toward him with four hundred
men,] … Jacob got up and
took his two wives, his
maidservants and his eleven sons
and crossed the ford of the
Jabbok. After he had sent
them across the stream, he sent
over all his possessions.
“So
Jacob was left alone, and [sometime
during the night, Jacob was
ambushed by a man who he thought
was a spy from Esau’s army] a
man wrestled with him till
daybreak. When the man saw that
he could not overpower him[that
is, the 90 year old Jacob would
not give up], he touched the
socket of Jacob’s hip so
that his hip was wrenched as he
wrestled with the man. Then the
man said, ‘Let me go, for it
is daybreak.’ But Jacob [realizing
the man in his grasp was The
Angel of the Lord] replied,
‘I will not let you go
unless you bless me.’ The
man asked him, ‘What is your
name?’ ‘Jacob,’ he
answered. Then the man said,
‘Your name will be no longer
Jacob, but Israel, because you
have struggled with God and
with men and have
overcome.’
“Jacob
said, ‘Please tell me your
name.’ But he replied,
“Why do you ask my
name?’ [You already know
Me!]Then he blessed him there. So
Jacob called the place Peniel,
saying, ‘It is because I saw
God face to face, and yet my life
was spared.’ The sun rose
above him as he passed Peniel,
and he was limping because of his
hip. Therefore to this day the
Israelites do not eat the tendon
attached to the socket of the
hip, because the socket of
Jacob’s hip was touched near
the tendon.” (Genesis
32:22-32, insertions and italics
mine)
There are
several interesting aspects in
this story. First, Jacob
discovered the consequences of
greed when he was separated from
his doting mother. She had
spoiled Jacob from the realities
of life by giving him everything
he wanted. Second, Jacob’s
sins against his brother and
father forced him into exile, a
situation where the Holy Spirit
could bring about
“sin-sorrow.” Third,
Jacob repented of his sins and at
seventy years of age, God put a
right spirit and a clean heart
within him. Fourth, to purify
Jacob’s character, God gave
Jacob a harsh master (Laban). His
father-in-law was a member of the
“religious wicked”
group and he mirrored
Jacob’s previous ways.
Finally, God in His infinite
wisdom knew that Jacob needed an
“extreme makeover” and
once Jacob became repentant, the
Holly Spirit made it happen!
At the
Jabbok River that night, Jacob
soberly faced an old sin. Esau,
the warrior brother he had
defrauded twenty years ago, was
coming toward him with 400 men.
Jacob knew this day would come
and he made several deliberate
actions. He had forwarded a large
portion (maybe half) of the herds
to Esau in an effort to appease
his brother, but was it enough?
Would Esau forgive him or kill
him? Jacob was troubled because
he wanted peace with Esau. Even
more, he wanted to know that God
was pleased with his efforts to
appease Esau. (See Matthew
5:23,24.)
I can
imagine that Jacob was sitting on
a rock, scanning and listening
through the darkness for any
evidence of movement. Suddenly,
Jacob was attacked from behind.
Instinctively, Jacob fought back.
At first, Jacob may have thought
that he was struggling with a spy
from Esau’s camp. As the
battle continued, Jacob realized
that he was not wrestling with an
ordinary man. It dawned on him
that he was wrestling with The
Angel of the Lord! God struggled
with Jacob because He wanted to
see if this ninety-year-old man
truly wanted His approval. When
Jacob realized that he was
wrestling with God, his struggle
changed. Instead of fending off
his attacker, Jacob did
everything possible to hang on to
Him! This is why the angel said, “Let
me go, for it is daybreak.” (Genesis
32:26) In my mind’s eye, I
can see an exhausted Jacob being
pulled about on the ground and
his arms were wrapped around one
leg of the angel. The angel said,
“Let me go!” But Jacob
would not let go because he knew
that once God left, his question
would remain. So, Jacob said, “I
will not let you go unless you
bless me.” Jacob had done
his best to make restitution with
Esau, and the only thing left
that mattered now was the
assurance that God was pleased.
The angel
said, “Your name will no
longer be Jacob [the cheater],
but Israel [the over comer],
because you have struggled with
God and with men and have over
come.” (Genesis 32:28)
The moral of this story is that
God honored Jacob with a name
change because Jacob had overcome
his defects. It was a struggle
for Jacob to be honest with Laban
because Laban was a thief, but it
was the right thing to do. It was
a struggle for Jacob to give Esau
the restitution he deserved, but
Jacob did so because it was the
right thing to do. It was a
struggle for Jacob to wrestle
with God until he received the
assurance that his sin’s had
been forgiven, but he did so. The
good news is this: Everyone who
struggles to live right and make
things right, as necessary, will
receive God’s blessing and
approval. God will also give each
person a new name! “…
To him who overcomes, I will give
some of the hidden manna. I will
also give him a white stone with
a new name written on it, known
only to him who receives
it.” (Revelation 2:17)
John
wrote, “For everyone born of
God overcomes the world. This is
the victory that has overcome the
world, even our faith.” (1
John 5:4) Every saint has to
experience Jacob’s time of
trouble. Every saint has a carnal
nature and this nature wars
against our efforts to live right
in God’s sight and make
things right as needed. The Bible
predicts that a day is coming
when Jesus will remove the carnal
nature from His saints* and
“the children of
Israel” will be free from
sin at last. (Hebrews 8:10) Jesus
said, “So if the Son sets
you free, you will be free
indeed.” (John 8:36)
God
considers each born again person
to be a child of Abraham and
Israel. (Galatians 3:28,29) Paul
wrote, “…. For not all
who are descended from Israel
[that is, biology cannot make you
a descendant of Israel]. Nor
because they are his descendants
are they all Abraham’s
children… In other words, it
is not the natural children [born
of the flesh] who are God’s
children…” (Romans
9:6-8. See also Galatians 3:26
and Romans 8:14.)
If you
have grown weary of struggling
with sin, don’t give up!
Jacob didn’t give up. Ask
the Lord to renew your
determination. Ask the Lord for
courage to fight the good fight
of faith. Ask the Lord for
strength to do what is right and
the determination to make wrongs
right as far as possible. Hang on
to the Lord’s leg until you
get the blessing that you want!
If we follow Jacob’s
example, we will receive a peace
that passes understanding, and a
crown of righteousness awaits us.
(2 Timothy 4:8) Paul understood
the importance of struggling
forward. He wrote, “I press
on toward the goal to win the
prize for which God has called me
heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 3:14)
*Note: For
further study on the sealing that
occurs during the Great
tribulation, please read Chapters
4-6 (Justification,
Predestination and The Sealing,
respectively) in my book, Jesus:
The Alpha and The Omega, or
you can download these articles
at http://www.wake-up.org/Alpha/Subjindex.htm.
Press on,
Larry
Wilson
