05.037. Chapter 32
En route to Canaan, Jacob met a host of angels and called the place Mahanaim, meaning two hosts (Genesis 32:1-2). The two hosts may be God’s army (Genesis 32:2) and Jacob’s entourage. Or two hosts may be a figurative expression for a great multitude (Genesis 32:10). As Jacob neared the land, he remembered his brother Esau and feared revenge. Would Esau still be angry at the way he had been cheated out of the blessing? First, Jacob sent messengers to Esau with greetings of peace (Genesis 32:3-5). Then when he heard that Esau was coming to meet him with a band of 400 men, he was so terrified that he divided his family into two companies, so that if the first group was destroyed, the second could flee (Genesis 32:6-8). Jacob’s prayer (Genesis 32:9-12) was born out of a desperate sense of need for divine protection. It was based on the ground of covenant relationship which the Lord had established with him and his forefathers (Genesis 32:9), and it was prayed in humility of spirit Genesis 32:10). He based his plea on the word of the Lord (Genesis 32:12) and claimed the promises of God. Jacob next sent three different droves of animals totaling 580 head as gifts for Esau, hoping to appease him (Genesis 32:13-21). Esau would get the gift in three install- ments. Jacob’s maneuvers manifested his unbelief or at least a mixture of faith and unbelief.
After sending his immediate family across the stream Jabbok (“he will empty”), Jacob spent the night alone at Peniel for what was to be one of the great experiences of his life. A man wrestled with him (Genesis 32:24). That man was an angel (Hosea 12:4), the angel of Jehovah, the Lord Himself. The Lord put Jacob’s thigh out of joint, causing him to walk with a limp the rest of his life. Although Jacob lost the encounter physically, he won a great spiritual victory. He learned to triumph through defeat and to be strong through weakness. Emptied of self, he confessed he was “Jacob,” a supplanter. God then changed his name to Israel (“one who strives with God” or “a prince of God”). Jacob called the name of the place Peniel (“the face of God”) because he realized he had seen the Lord (Genesis 32:30).
Genesis 32:32 is still true among Jews today. “The sciatic nerve, or thigh vein, must be removed from the slaughtered animal before that portion of the animal may be prepared for consumption by orthodox Jews.”21