There are two sections, both of which are rich and critical, so I will attempt to cover both without making this too long, please bear with me.
In section 1, Jacob prepares to reconcile with his brother, Esau. “Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau… He instructed them: ‘This is what you are to say to my lord Esau: “Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.” ‘ When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, ‘We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.’ ” (v3-6 abr)
Upon hearing the daunting news, Jacob does the one thing he can – prays to God for help. Then, Jacob (with God given wisdom I’m assuming) employs a brilliant strategy from both military and socioeconomic perspectives. He sends five separate large herds of animals with attendants ahead of him, each with instructions to tell Esau they are gifts from Jacob, and he will be following. Now, we’re not yet sure if the four hundred men with Esau are friend or foe, for we do not know Esau’s intent. But if we assume they have less-than-honorable intentions, this clever strategy would have worked on several levels:
– the five distinct herds would wear down Esau’s military readiness, forcing any soldiers/mercenaries to setup an ambush multiple times, wearing on their patience and decreasing their combat readiness
– as the gifts arrived, Esau’s group would become much larger, louder, and slower moving, making a sneak attack on Jacob significantly harder
– Jacob’s servants joining Esau’s group would split the attention of any soldiers, decreasing their unity, focus and effectiveness
– If Esau had employed mercenaries/soldiers, they would be receiving plenty of spoils without having to fight, and they may just choose to take the wealth and leave without any further trouble (effectively buying them off)
In section two, Jacob is spending a night by himself (a huge feat for him considering the thousands of animals, hundreds of servants, 4 wives and 11 kids he had just sent ahead) and he literally wrestles with God all night. “So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, 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 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 no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.’ Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he replied, ‘Why do you ask my name?’ 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.’ ” (v24-30)
Jacob has fought for blessing his entire life – he tricked Esau for his birthright, he tricked Isaac for the firstborn’s blessing, he tricked Laban out of thousands of animals, and God promised him numerous descendants – and now he fights with God for yet another blessing. This blessing however, is special – it’s his new name, Israel. This is where we learn that “Israel” most likely means “struggles with God” and it would be the future name of God’s chosen people. From now on, Jacob’s descendants will be know as the Nation of Israel or Israelites.
One final comment on this, I believe there is enough context to suggest this is another appearance of the “Angel of the Lord”, being the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. For one, the man conveys a powerful blessing on Jacob, the kind of blessing only God should be giving. Also, Jacob says “I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” Angels will often identify themselves as being angels, and specify they are not God, yet this “man” withheld his true identity and didn’t make any such statements. It’s more than likely Jacob literally wrestled with an incarnate form of God himself.
If I’ve learned anything from the accounts of Jacob, it’s that in this life we will have trials and troubles, but we can take heart – we serve a powerful God who has overcome the forces of evil and darkness, and we can press on toward the goal of being blessed by God in His eternal presence, through Christ Jesus. Just as Jacob pushed through many trials including a wrestling match with a dislocated hip, we too must fight the good fight and run the race with all that we have, not accepting second place (because in this battle of principalities and powers, second place is eternal death). Don’t worry, in this race there is more than one winner allowed. (Phl 3:14, Jn 16:33, 1 Tim 6:12, 2 Tim 4:7, Jam 1:12)
~ Conqueror in Training