Genesis 32-33

Notes compiled with my BSF group

WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF A SPIRITUAL WARFARE (Genesis 32:1-2; 2 Kings 6:8-23)
We are in a spiritual warfare. There are angels and demons. Just because we don’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there.

For a more elaborate teaching on the subject, here are my notes on the subject:
http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2012/07/angels-and-demons-and-invisible-warfare.html
http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2012/11/daniel-10.html

We need to realize that truth is not defined by what we can see. Truth is true regardless of our viewpoint, regardless of our ability to "see." When we put our own prejudice before the truth, then we will never be able to discover it. We need to let the evidence direct us to the truth as opposed to thinking we already have the truth and force everything we come into contact with to fit inside the nice little box we have created.

Read the Bible, and follow the evidence. We will find that God is the truth and that we live in a fallen world. In this world, the real war is the spiritual war that we do not see around us. In fact, Elisha had to pray for God to open the eyes of his servant so that his servant could see the spiritual warfare (2 Kings 6:17).

The sooner we open ourselves to discovering the truth, the sooner we can be sure the decisions we make are based on the correct information. God or Satan? Once we know the truth, we would see clearly that there is really only one choice. The sooner we can make that choice, the faster we can do things that are truly meaningful. Otherwise, we would all just still be lost.


JACOB FEARED MEETING ESAU (Genesis 32:3-8)

These phrases show us vividly how much Jacob feared in seeing Esau again:
Genesis 32:4-5
Genesis 32:7-8
Genesis 32:11

Jacob originally ran away from home because, through deception, Jacob not only took away Esau's birthright, he even managed to take away Esau's blessings. There was never reconciliation between the two. Now, decades later, Jacob still lived with the guilt -- He knew he deceived, and he knew what he did was sinful.


JACOB'S PRAYER CALMED HIS FEARS (Genesis 32:9-21)

Before praying his prayer (Genesis 32:9-12), Jacob had a lot of fear in terms of seeing his brother again. The solutions he thought of was to create even more deception. After praying, although Jacob was still scared, he knew he could rely on the Lord to protect him and to deliver him (Genesis 32:12), and so he trusted God and gave God his burden.

There are several components to Jacob's prayer:

1. Call on God (Genesis 32:9)
When Israelites called on God by saying, "God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac," they are calling on God to remember the covenant He has made with the forefathers of Israel. They are calling on God to remember them.

2. Remember God’s promises (Genesis 32:9, 12)

3. Repent (Genesis 32:10)

4. Give thanks to God (Genesis 32:10)

5. Ask for help (Genesis 32:11) 

6. Share with God our troubles (Genesis 32:11)

Like Jacob's prayer, ours should start out first by recognizing who God is. God is not Santa Claus. He is not just someone we turn to when we have problem. He is the maker of the universe. He is the beginning and the end! We have a covenant with God, and He has made us many promises. We need to remember those promises, so that we can rely on them when we are weak. We then repent of the sins that we have committed and give thanks to the Lord of the great things that we have received. Praying in this way allows us to put God in the center of our lives, to keep our mind focused on God, not ourselves. 

We need to be constantly aware that we live in a sinful fallen world, and that we need to remain vigilant so that we do not fall into sin. Of the good things, we need to give glory to God and never claim it as our own -- We are, after all, His creation. Knowing who God truly is, remembering His promises, we can then finally share our troubles with God, because we know He will guide us through.

All of these parts are important to a prayer because it helps guide our heart to center around God, to let go of our hold on this world. These parts remind us of the greatness of God, and how He is here to love and protect us.


JACOB WRESTLED WITH GOD (Genesis 32:20–32)

Having followed Jacob up to this point, we have seen Jacob grow, but we have also seen Jacob achieve many of his "successes" by depending on himself, by using his abilities to deceive others. He had always relied on himself to obtain blessings. He manipulated people, and he deceived people, including his own family, to get the blessings that he wanted.

Hosea 12:2-4
The Lord has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. In the womb he grasped his brother's heel; as a man he struggle with God. He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor.

We learn from Hosea that Jacob struggled with God as a man -- Jacob had an attitude problem: He relied on himself to get what he want, using whatever means necessary. He did not seek God; he did not follow God's will.

We also learn that when Jacob struggled with the angel, he wept and begged for his favor. "THE" angel is often a term reserved for appearances of the pre-incarnate Christ. What we know from Genesis 32:20-32 and Hosea 12:2-4 is that before this struggle, Jacob had an attitude problem: "I am my own God; I will take things into my own hand." However, after this struggle, we see Jacob "begging for his favor," suggesting that Jacob finally relinquished his life over to God.

BSF posed an interesting question that I never thought of before: Did Jacob force his opponent to bless him, or did Jacob realize this blessing was for him and simply claimed what was meant to be his?

Having thought about it, I believe there is something to the idea about making Jacob realize that the blessings he had to deceive to receive were already given to him since the beginning! Was it not already prophesied (Genesis 25:23), even before the birth of Jacob, that the older (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob)?

Through this struggle, it would seem that Jacob finally realized that God has always had blessings for him, that he didn’t need to deceive or con other people to receive his blessings. Jacob finally learned that his attitude was a problem, and he walked away from this wrestle a more mature believer.

By thinking we can do everything on our own, even though God has already provided the things that we need right in front of us, this is very much like Jacob thinking he had to cheat everyone to get his blessings without realizing that God had already given it all to him from the start! Perhaps if Jacob would have just stopped and listened to God, many of the tragedies between him and Esau would have not needed to happen! Imagine how the same concept could -- should -- apply to our own lives!


JACOB RECONCILED WITH ESAU (Genesis 33)

We see a different Jacob who emerged from his struggle with God. Instead of deceptive cunning, he met Esau with humility: Bowing and lower himself (Genesis 33:2), giving Esau gifts, referred to himself as "servant" (Genesis 33:5) and Esau as "lord" (Genesis 33:8).

We see also that God worked in Esau’s heart, overturning his hatred for Jacob to love. When Esau saw Jacob again after all those years, he ran toward him and embraced his brother (Genesis 33:4).