20260215 Genesis 32:1-33:17 You Have Striven with God and Prevailed

Genesis 32-33 teaches what John writes in 1 John 4:20, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” In the account of Jacob, Jacob's actions of deceiving people reveal the state of his relationship with God. This is true for us. If I do not get along with anyone in my family, with any of my neighbors, and with any of my colleagues, either I am the unluckiest person, or, as hard as it is to believe, I am the problem. My problematic relationships with the people I can see, reveal my broken relationship with God whom I cannot see.

Gen 32-33 is about Jacob’s return to the promised Land after 20 years in exile. When Jacob left, his twin brother, Esau, wanted to kill him in Gen 27. This was after, Jacob took advantage of him and deceitfully stole his brother’s blessing.

Our text is about Jacob’s wrestling with his world. In Gen 32:1-22, Jacob wrestles internally with the anticipation of seeing his brother again. Gen 32:23-33 is about Jacob’s famous wrestling match with God. God will help Jacob interpret his life. Jacob has spent years wrestling with his brother, then his father, and then his uncle Laban. God helps him see that this whole time, he has been wrestling with God. This new insight completely changes Jacob’s encounter with Esau in Gen 33:1-17.

The book of Genesis continually revisits the stories of Gen 1-11 stories. Gen 32-33 revisits the story of Noah and the flood. In the first movement, Jacob prepares his arc. In the second movement, the wrestling with God is like the judgment flood the de-creates to lead to new-creation. Then, third, in the same way Noah made an offering following the flood, Jacob as a new man, responds to his flood with an offering.

In three points, we will see: Jacob wrestles with the memory of his brother in Gen 32:1-22, Jacob wrestles with God in Gen 32:23-33; and Jacob wrestles differently in Gen 33:1-17.

Genesis 32:1-22 Jacob wrestles with the idea of his brother

In Gen 32:1-22, Jacob continues down the familiar path of scheming, deceit, and relying on his own strength. Jacob returns to the promised land safely as God promised him in Gen 28:15. Now, the next challenge arises. Esau, his twin bother, is coming with 400 men. The last we heard of Esau, he was set on killing Jacob. Even though God has shown himself to be faithful to Jacob, Jacob resorts to his old ways. He schemes and puts his own interests above those of others.

Text: Genesis 32:1-22

Gen 32:1 Return to Eden

According to Gen 32:1, “The angels of God met [Jacob]. When Jacob left the Promised Land in Genesis 28, Jacob had a dream with angels going up and down a ladder. Now, again, he sees angels upon his return to the land. The angels mark the border of the Promised Land in the same way angels guarded the Garden of Eden in Gen 3.

At this stage of Redemptive History, the Promised Land serves as a type of New Garden of Eden. It is where God wants to dwell with his people to bless them. This Promise Land anticipates a New Eden to come in the New Creation, where we will enjoy eternal life forever.

Gen 32:2, 7, 10 Two Camps

Jacob sees the angels and rejoices but with the coming of Esau, he is double minded. The phrase “two camps” highlights Jacob’s state of mind. First, Jacob expresses awe. In Gen 32:2, Jacob saw the angels and said, “This is God’s camp.” He calls the place “Mahanaim,” which means two camps. God's camp is next to his camp. But then, in Gen 32:7, Jacob creates two camps to deceive his brother. If Esau attacks one camp, Jacob will still have the other. In Gen 32:10, Jacob returns to praise. He thanks God for the abundance that he possesses, enough to fill two camps. With the words, “two camps” Jacob acknowledges God, but he also schemes.

Sometimes we are like this as well. We find ourselves in a desperate situation so we pray, but we may doubt God, so we sin to keep the situation under control. It would be like praying before an exam at school and then cheating to ensure success. Do we trust or do we scheme? Often, we are like Jacob, we are of two minds. We worship, then we scheme. We pray, then we cheat.

Preparing for the Flood

Gen 29-31 revisited Gen 1-4. Gen 32-33 revisit the flood of Gen 6-8. Esau was last mentioned in Gen 27:42. Esau was comforting himself following Jacob’s deceit and was plotting his judgment against Jacob. It is similar to God comforting himself in Gen 6:6 over humanity’s wickedness and planning his judgment. With the coming of Esau, Jacob and the reader expect judgment to strike. There are numerous words that connect Genesis 32 to the flood in Gen 6-8.[i] The author wants us to view Jacob as a Noah figure who prepares for a cataclysmic event with the wrath of his brother. This stressful anticipation reveals Jacob's nature. He is still a schemer who wrestles through life.

Application

As we follow Jacob's story, we can ask, "When will he change?" The answer from the text is, "Not yet." We may recognize ourselves in Jacob. The question we ask about Jacob, may also be questions we ask of ourselves.  When will I change? Our bad habits die hard. They are so deeply rooted in our families’ ways of doing things.

There can be an immaturity in us that denies the impact of our past on our present. Sometimes we fail to connect the impact of our childhoods to the present. We can claim the past no longer has an impact on us, because after all, “We are new creatures in Christ.” We can over spiritualize our problems to avoid dealing with them.

In his book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Peter Scazzero says, “Jesus may be in your heart,” but “Grandpa is in your bones.” We see this with Jacob. He has encountered God, and Grandpa Abraham is definitely in his bones. The families we grew up in affect us powerfully, often unconsciously. Our emotional patterns, our ways of coping with stress, the ways we deal with conflict, the ways we relate, our attitudes toward money and success, how we express or hide emotions like anger, sadness, and fear are often more influenced by our families than the gospel.

In Christ, we have absolutely become new creatures, and it seems that the impact of our past in ongoing. Jacob grew up in a dysfunctional home where he had to rely on himself and scheme to get what he wanted. He is decades into adulthood and still struggling and wrestling with those around him, now he wrestles with the memory of his brother.

We all wrestle like Jacob. Paul commands us in Eph 4:22, “Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life… and put on the new self.” We all need to explore how we are wrestling with our past and how that past wrestling still affects our wrestling in the present. One way of doing this is sharing stories of the past with a trusted friend, counselor, or elder and trace the themes that have shaped you.

Genesis 32:23-33 Jacob Wrestles With God.

The judgment flood moment of the story has arrived but with a twist. Jacob expects to face Esau, but he faces God. This twist reveals how Jacob has been wrong about life, his whole life. He thought people were his problem but he realizes God is the one he should fear.

Genesis 32:23-33

According to Gen 32:22-24, Jacob goes ahead as planned and sends everyone ahead of him and he is left alone. According to Gen 32:24, a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. Gen 32:25-26 highlight Jacob’s character. He is so determined. He is a fighter. He is one who perseveres, he never gives up. Jacob fought all night, even when his hip was dislocated, he kept going. Even when the mysterious man asked him to let go, he keeps going. Jacob says, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” We will see that this mysterious wrestler is God himself.

Now, Gen 32:27-28 changes Jacob’s life. God revisits the old question from Gen 27:18-19 with him. In Gen 27:18-19, Jacob deceived his father to obtain his blessing. Isaac asked, “Who are you, my son?” Jacob lied and said, “Esau.” In Gen 32:27, 20 years later, God asked, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” All these years Jacob has been scheming and deceiving men. In Gen 32:28, God offers him an interpretation of his life up to this point. He highlights his deepest problem. God says, “You will no longer be called Jacob/Deceiver/Heel Grabber, but Israel, for you have struggled with God and men and have prevailed. This new name highlights Jacob’s stubbornness and his lack of repentance. The fact that he has even prevailed against God is not a good thing. He is unable to let go. He is unable to obey. He is unable to surrender and rest in God’s goodness. God does bless him, and Jacob calls this place Peniel because he has seen God’s face. He also walks away with a limp.[ii] The more we persevere in our stubbornness, or our old styles of relating, in our wrestling, in our refusal to repent, the more we hurt the people around us and get hurt in the process. Jacob’s inability to repent is why he will walk with a limp for the rest of his life. The event that changed Jacob was his naming of Israel, because he wrestles with God. Jacob was stuck thinking he was on his own, thinking he had to scheme to get what he wanted. Here God says, "You have thought this whole time that you were scheming against men. In fact, you have been striving with me.”

Application

For us, the following are two applications.

Jacob was a schemer, but God showed him that all along he had struggled with God, and this changed him. For us, what if the way we deal with people reveals how we relate to God?

Imagine the child who was frequently dismissed or who learned that vulnerability was going to be taken advantage of. This child will grow up disconnected from their emotions. They will keep people at a distance. What if God showed this grown child, “While you think you are protecting yourself from people, you have hardened your heart against me?

What about the person who always thinks they know best. They never listen to those around them. Maybe it is because in the past they were deceived and vowed never to be fooled again. What if God revealed to that person, that while they have developed a bad habit of not listening to others, they have also not been listening to God?

What about the person who is unable to receive anything from anyone.  They are unable to stop working or stop serving others. When they find a need they try to meet it. They find their identity in helping others or saving others. What if God showed them that their inability to receive help from others also reveals that they have refused to receive God’s help and grace?

Jacob’s encounter with God revealed his problematic way of being, but it also speaks to us. The things we do with people, we do with God. We’ve been hurt by people so we protect ourselves from people. But we also protect ourselves from our loving gracious God. We are self-righteous, self-reliant, we protect ourselves. We may do these things for very good reasons. Bad relationships have taught us to be wise, to be cautious, to protect ourselves, to rely on ourselves, to scheme to get what we want and need. These practices may have helped us for a season, but they may also prevent us from enjoying deep meaningful vulnerable relationships with people and God. The goodness of God invites us to trust, to surrender, to rest and enjoy his blessings – rest, delight, joy, hope, and love.

The second application from this wrestling match comes from Jacob’s wounding. This wrestling match was a flood-like judgment. It offers a type of new creation but at a cost. It took a wounding to change Jacob. For some of us, our bad ways of relating have consequences. It could be a divorce, a firing, a child who loses his or her way that forces us to wake up.

Like Jacob, it may be that in a place of despair, a kind, gentle, curious friend shows us what we have been doing all along is wrestling with God. We all wrestle differently and have unique wounds. And, all Christians share a common wounding. For all of us, there is a wounding that completely transforms our identity. Christ’s wounding for us on the cross. God showed us all what it took to redeem our sins, our schemes, our sinful thoughts, desires, patterns. God does not have to wound us to wake us up because Jesus offered himself to be struck and cursed. Jesus took the full weight of God’s wrath against our sin. As we believe the gospel, God heals our relationship with him, and in turn, by his love, we live differently with others.

Genesis 33:1-17 Jacob Wrestles Differently

Gen 33:1-17

We turn to Jacob’s change in his human relationships. He built his arc expecting his brother’s wrath. He wrestles with God and is wounded. This is his judgment flood that transforms him. Now we see that he has changed.

In Gen 33:1, Jacob lifts his eyes and sees Esau and his 400 men. According to Gen 33:2, he puts the servants with their children in front, in the most venerable spot. Then, he places Leah the wife he hated, and her children. Finally, there is Rachel, his favorite, and Joseph. Now, Gen 33:3 reflects Jacob’s transformation. While he had divided his camps to place as much room between himself and the front, he changed his mind. According to Gen 33:3, “He himself went before them.”

This is the transformation moment we’ve waited 20 years for! He is no longer using others to protect himself. He goes to the front in the most vulnerable position. He bows seven times to the ground. Now, whereas Jacob expects judgment, according to Gen 33:4, Esau ran and embraced his brother. He fell on his neck and kissed him. In Gen 33:8, Jacob explains that he had prepared a generous gift for Esau. Esau replies in Gen 33:9, “I have enough, my brother, keep what you have for yourself.”

This is where we see that God’s blessing is not like human blessing. In Genesis 27, after blessing Jacob, Isaac claimed he did not have any blessing left to give to Esau (Gen 27:37). We see that God knows no limits in his ability to give good gifts. If God blesses one, he can keep blessing others. This ought to change how we view other people. The Christian life is never about winning over others. If others are blessed, this does not mean there is less blessing available for the rest of us. Christians can share what they have because God uses his children to bless all those around them. There is always more blessing to go around. In the text, a sign of God’s blessing is material possessions. This is not promised to all. The greatest blessing available to all is eternal life in Christ. We enjoy it by believing in the love God has shown us in Jesus to forgive us our sins and by living as a forgiven people who loves and forgives others. We share this blessing by making Jesus known.

The story ends with Esau wanting to accompany Jacob. Jacob refuses but says he will be right behind him. Jacob ends up not following Esau. This is a hint that there is still some deceit in Jacob. Overall, this encounter is very positive.

Following his encounter with God and his renaming, Jacob's spiritual transformation affects his human relationships. He put aside his scheming to protect his family and face his brother without schemes.

Application

Like Jacob, we can change. We can begin by identifying unhealthy patterns we have with people. Sometimes we need an objective outsider to notice those patterns. We can then see how our problems with people reflect a problem in our relationship with God.

We can correct our view of God with the Gospel. We have a good God who wants to be in a relationship with mankind. He so loved the world that he gave his Son that whoever would believe in him would have eternal life. God’s grace, mercy, justice, kindness, peace, rest and joy must take root in our hearts to grow fruit. Jacob had his encounter and changed. And still, he struggled to trust and deceived Esau one last time. So it will be with us. Christian growth is promised and it is a life-long journey where we will continue to struggle in areas of our lives.

Conclusion

Jacob prepared his arc for his flood. The flood struck, with Jacob’s transformative wrestling match. Finally, Jacob is transformed. Jacob’s relationships with people revealed his relationship with God. God revealed Jacob’s true spiritual problem. This revelation through the name change from Deceiver to Struggler with God, changed Jacob's relationship with people. The coward who had plotted to hide behind his family took responsibility and put himself in harm’s way. It was once God humbled him that he tasted the goodness of human relationships.

I find it so moving to read of Esau, a grown man, a grown hairy jumping on his brother’s neck to kiss him. In this room, many of us have really tough family situations with parents and siblings. The last time we met Esau, he wanted to murder his brother, but now he seems joyful, loving, peaceful, supportive, and understanding. What a story of redemption!

God chose Jacob over Esau. It means that Jacob is blessed for the sake of Esau. Those God blesses, he blesses for the sake of others. God chose Jacob means that the one who will bring a blessing to all the families of the world, Jesus, will come from the line of Jacob and not Esau. For those of us who do not have Jewish roots, we are more like Esau than Jacob. Jacob was blessed that we would be blessed in him.

Today, through Jacob’s descendant, Jesus, we receive God’s blessing. The blessing is New Eden, New Creation life, with the forgiveness of sins, a relationship with God that transforms us for our relationships with each others and we can also enjoy inner peace.

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[i] Jacob’s arrangement of his gift for Esau has striking parallels to Noah’s Ark. Noah’s ark protected him from judgment, and Jacob hopes the same with his gift. Jacob divides the gift in three. Jacob places space between each group. The word for “space” appears 4 times in the flood story (Gen 6:3, 17, 7:15, 22; 8:1). The Word remna

The three groups is parallel to the three levels of the boat connected by unique words: time the word for space that occurs in Gen 32:16 occurred with the flood in Gen 6:3, 17, 7:15, 22; 8:1. The word for remnant occurs in Gen 32:8 as the what is left after Esau’s strike, this matches Gen 7:23 to describe Noah and his family as a remnant who survived through the flood. Esau’s potential strike or attack is the same word to describe the flood in Gen 8:21.

Also, the way the three groups of animals are described in as the first (Gen 32:17) the second and third (Gen 32:19) are found nowhere else together in the whole Pentatech except in Gen 6:16 to describe the lower, second, and third decks of Noah’s arc. The word to appease in Gen 32:21 only appears one other time in Genesis, and yes it is in Gen 6:14.

[ii] Victor Hamilton