God’s *angels did not give any message to Jacob, but Jacob saw them.
So Jacob knew that God was guarding him. ‘Mahanaim’ means ‘two
armies’ or ‘two camps’. Perhaps he meant God’s army and his
own people. His own people were not strong enough to defend themselves
against Esau. But if God’s army campe... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD’S ANCIENT PEOPLE
GENESIS
_ALUN OWEN_
CHAPTER 32
JACOB PREPARES TO MEET ESAU
V1 Jacob continued his journey. God’s *angels met him V2 and Jacob
saw them. He said, ‘This is God’s army!’ So he called that place
Mahanaim.
V3 Jacob sent some of his servants to take a message to his brother
Esau... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Edom’ was another name for Esau. ‘Edom’ also means Esau’s
*descendants. And it also means the country where they lived. This
country is south and east of *Canaan.... [ Continue Reading ]
Jacob did not know whether Esau was friendly to him or not. Perhaps
Esau was bringing 400 men so as to kill Jacob and all his people.
V9 And Jacob said, ‘God of my father Abraham! God of my father
Isaac! You said to me, “Return to your country and to your
relatives. I will do good things to you.” V... [ Continue Reading ]
‘You said to me, “Return.” ‘ (See Genesis 31:3.)... [ Continue Reading ]
Jacob was greatly afraid. (See verse 7.) But he had learned to trust
God. So he prayed. These are the parts of his prayer. We might use
them as a pattern for our own prayers.
• He speaks to God. He says, ‘My father’s God’. We might say,
‘Our father in heaven’.
• He repeats God’s promise. (See the... [ Continue Reading ]
God said these words to Abraham. (See Genesis 22:17.) He said a
similar thing to Jacob but he mentioned dust instead of sand. (See
Genesis 28:14.) But the meaning is the same.
V13 So Jacob stayed there that night. And he chose from his
possessions a gift for his brother Esau. V14 He took 200 female... [ Continue Reading ]
Jacob chose the gift after he had prayed. That was the right thing to
do. We should pray before we decide. Perhaps God will answer our
prayer by helping us to make the right decision.
Jacob believed that God would protect him. But he also did sensible
things so that Esau would accept him. These wer... [ Continue Reading ]
Jacob’s servants gave messages to Esau. The messages told Esau that
Jacob was friendly to him. And Esau had enough time to think about
those messages before he met Jacob.
JACOB FIGHTS WITH GOD
V22 During the night, Jacob got up. He crossed the stream that is
called the Jabbok. He took his two wive... [ Continue Reading ]
The Jabbok is a stream that flows into the river Jordan from the east.
It is shallow and one can cross it easily. It divides the region that
is called Gilead in two parts.... [ Continue Reading ]
This was God, who appeared as a man. We know that from verse 28
(‘struggled with God’) and from verse 30 (‘seen God’s
face’).... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The man saw that he did not win.’ God is powerful. He can do
anything. But he did not overcome Jacob, because he used only a
man’s strength.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jacob’ may mean ‘one who cheats’. (See Genesis 25:26 and the
comment.) ‘Israel’ probably means ‘God struggles’ or ‘he
struggles with God’.
God said to Jacob, ‘You shall be called Israel.’ But after this
time he had two names. He was sometimes called Israel and he was
sometimes called Jacob. And ev... [ Continue Reading ]
God had appeared as a man. See the comment about verse 24. Many Bible
students believe that it was Jesus who met Jacob.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Peniel’ and ‘Penuel’ are both names of the same place. They
both mean ‘God’s face’.
‘Penuel’ became the usual name of that place but its meaning is
not quite clear. The meaning of ‘Peniel’ is clear, but it is not
the usual name of the place.
To understand this, use English words to make the name.... [ Continue Reading ]