King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 15 notes
1And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
Indeed, the 🔮 was working for Jacob. The blessing was speaking and loudly 📢.
Jacob seemed ordinary until the need for the supernatural, and suddenly the blessing is provoked to speak for him.
Here the host of God came to usher and protect their interest.
I believe they came as men just as they had done in the days of Abraham and Lot.
We are not told how many, but Jacob recognized them.
This entrance into Seir was to meet the profane Esau, who had refused and downplayed the sacred.
And now he was a nation and a possible threat.
God protects his interests.
The divine indeed was working for Jacob. The blessings spoke for him.
He seemed ordinary until the need for the extraordinary came, and then suddenly things changed for his favour.
See this host of angels.... I suspect they came in the form of men, like in the days of Abraham.
They had come to secure 🔐 God’s covenant and to protect it.
Indeed, to protect it from the man who despised it and could now pose as a threat to the covenant.
But no fears for Jacob; a host of two bands had come to protect and strengthen 💪 him.
3And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
I’m sure probably at this time, Jacob had sent spies to spy out the condition of his brother Esau and had been told how great Esau had become.
I wonder though, was the country at this time called Edom, or was it that it later became known by this name and thus the author referred to the name though in the past (I think there is some literary name given to such construction in literature).
Ah, twenty years down the line and Edom was already a nation, a nation born out of restlessness and the sword ⚔, and Mount Seir was his.
4And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
5And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.
6And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
What was Esau doing with 400 men if not for intimidation and malice?
Abraham had 300 trained soldiers 💂 and Esau has 400.
Esau has become a great man indeed. Taking advantage of every situation and not letting any pass him by.
7Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;
8And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.
9And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:
10I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.
Over the course of 20 years, this man had become a blessed man. The blessing was indeed upon his head. Mind you, it was just the beginning of greater things to come.
11Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.
12And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
13And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;
14Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
15Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.
16And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.
17And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?
18Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.
Here, Jacob’s nemesis was here.
After he prayed, Jacob still took all possible practicable steps to appease Esau. Am not implying anything — like trying to help out God. I’m just saying what he did.
19And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.
20And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.
I wonder what it might have felt like that night for the entire family as they prepared to meet their fate, not knowing what would befall them. They were to face the consequences of their father/husband’s past errors.
I wonder how Jacob went about the story of his past life with Esau; how he stole Esau’s birthright. Again, I wonder what words of encouragement he gave them. Maybe he said that God, who had been with him, would rescue them all.
Despite this, Jacob also took practical physical measures to appease Esau.
Whilst taking steps in prayer, Jacob was also taking pragmatic measures.
Practical steps to appease Esau.
21So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.
22And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.
23And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
24And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
How did Jacob know who this was? How did he discern it was the angel of the Lord? And how did he discern to ask for blessings?
Why was he time-bound... It seemed the man-God had to make his escape before the day dawned.
Why was that so?
27And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
It's interesting where this great nation of Israel, as we now know currently in world affairs, trace their source from. They were supplanters, cheaters; Jacob.
Before becoming Israel. And well, what God has changed is changed. They are no longer cheaters but princes: of power with God.
29And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
How did Jacob know this man was no man and divine, and how did he know to ask for a blessing?
Also at this time the name of the angel was not revealed. The angel whom I believe is YAHWEH, the covenant name of God which was not yet to be revealed to man.
30And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
31And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
32Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank.
Oh my God, men have touched God. Interacted with Him.
Spoken face 😔 to face with him and lived.
These men!!!
Oh Lord, give me grace I pray.
How come Israel 🇮🇱 could fight with God, except that God came as a man 👨 with the limited strength 💪 of a man?
Though he “cheated” by dislocating the hip of Jacob miraculously. But God was fully man and fully God.
So Jacob could prevail over him. And Jacob was indeed a fighter. He had fought all his life and he was not going to lose all he had gained through being laid back.
He was going to prevail.