Jacob’s first meeting with the God of his
fathers at Bethel and the impress of grace he there received is to have yet
more and abiding fruit. In a night
vision some twenty years afterwards the Lord again speaks to him saying:--
“I am the God of Bethel … now arise, get
thee out of this land and return unto the land of thy kindred” (Gen. xxxi. 13).
We have no means of determining whether
Jacob’s silent flight was dictated by natural cunning or by Divine instruction,
nor are we called upon to pass judgment.
The action itself could be right or wrong, according to the will of the
Lord at the time. Laban however gives
chase, but before he can come up with the fugitives God came to Laban the
Syrian in a dream by night saying, “Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob
either good or bad”. Laban’s search for
his stolen gods proves fruitless, and Jacob, knowing nothing of Rachel’s
action, takes the opportunity of forcing upon the conscience of Laban his own
dishonest dealings during the time when Jacob served him faithfully and well
(Genesis.xxxi.37-42). Laban and Jacob build a
“witness heap” and a “watch tower”, for Laban said, “the Lord watch between me
and thee when we are absent one from another”.
At the close of the solemn covenanting
Laban departed and “Jacob went on his way, and the angel of God met him”. Upon hearing of the approach of Esau with a
company of four hundred men Jacob does two things: he first disposed of his forces, with
foresight and wisdom taking the “two bands” of angels as his guide, and
secondly he prayed. Here is the first
real prayer recorded in the Bible.
Abraham’s intercession for Sodom is more like an argument. Abraham’s servant’s words in Genesis xxiv.
are the expression of a desire for a sign. Here is a real prayer. It commences and ends with a reference to the
covenant. Jacob’s conception of his
claim on God is not based upon his worthiness or his need, but upon the
covenant made with his fathers. The
reference to the covenant made unto the fathers is followed by a remembrance of
a personal promise, which in its turn is echoed by a confessed fear and felt
need; in the center comes the
repudiation of all worthiness echoed by an acknowledgment of God’s
faithfulness:--
A | xxxii. 9-. The God of the covenant with Abraham and Isaac.
B | -9. Reminder of promise.
C | 10-. Confession of utter unworthiness.
C | -10. Acknowledgment of overflowing blessing.
B | 11-. Prayer for deliverance.
A | -11. Reference to covenant blessing.
Jacob after this prayer arranges a present
to pass over the ford that Esau may be appeased and accept his returning
brother in peace. His two wives and his
two women servants together with his eleven sons pass over the ford, “and Jacob
was left alone”. If Jacob could say of
Bethel “how dreadful is this place”, what shall he say of this all-night
wrestling with the angel of God? “And
there wrestled a Man with him.” This
wrestler is called God in verse 30.
There is a division of opinion regarding
the meaning of this midnight wrestling.
Some see in it a picture of overcoming prayer — but it does not say
Jacob wrestled, but the Man wrestled — Jacob’s attitude was one of
resistance. This passage, coupled with
the strange supplanting act at his birth, is referred to in Hosea xii.,
and possibly the reference there will aid us in understanding the
purport of Genesis xxxii. The
passage in the A.V. reads as follows:--
“He took his brother by the heel in the
womb, and by strength he had power with God (margin ‘was a prince, or
behaved himself princely’), yea, he had power over the angel, and
prevailed, he wept and made supplication unto him, he found him in Bethel, and
there he spake with us, even the Lord God of hosts; the Lord is his memorial.”
The Companion Bible differs from
the majority of commentators, both in the passage in Genesis.xxxii. and in
Hosea xii. In Genesis xxxii. the changed name Israel is
interpreted, “God commands, orders or rules”, and the additional remark is made
that “out of some forty Hebrew names compounded with El or Jah
God is always the doer of what the verb means (cf. Dan-el, God
judges). “The name” (continues the note)
“is used here not to dignify but to reproach”, and the references are
given. The words “hast thou power with
God and with men and hast prevailed” are explained to mean that Jacob had
contended with Esau at birth, for the birthright, for the blessing, and with
Laban. In contending with men he had
succeeded, but now contending with God he fails, and receives the name Isra-el,
(God commands) to teach him the greatly needed lesson of dependence upon
God.
The notes of the Companion Bible
to Hosea xii. 4, 5 are even more complicated. The words “by his strength” (in his manhood)
referring to another occasion of strife;
“had power with” (contended with), Heb. Sarah (hence his name
Israel). The word “prevailed” is not to
be referred to the result of Jacob’s contending, but means that He (the angel)
prevailed. “He found him in Bethel”, i.e.,
God found Jacob. If Jacob’s new name
Israel indicates “God commands” it cannot at the same time have any connection
with Jacob’s own “contending” — see note above — it must be one or the
other, yet the Companion Bible emphasizes both.
We cannot say that the note on Genesis xxxii. appeals to us as being the true meaning, and
therefore we have no help for it but an independent search into what is
confessedly a difficult passage. One
interpretation makes Israel a Prince with God, because he had power with God
and prevailed, the other makes the name Israel mean God commands, and supposes
it used as a reproach not a dignity. Let
us turn again to Gen. xxxii. 24, 25. “WRESTLED.” — This word occurs nowhere else
in the O.T. A substantive derived from
this word is translated five times “dust” and twice “powder”. This would show the idea to be more “pounding”,
“crushing”, or “pulverizing”
than “wrestling”. It does not seem possible that an ordinary
man could in his own strength “wrestle” with the Angel of God for hours, but
from what we have gathered of Jacob’s character we can understand that it was
not a trifling thing to reduce his old nature to powder.
“PREVAIL.” — This word suits well the idea
of wrestling, but when connected with reducing anything to powder it is not so
fitting; it is translated “could”
in Genesis xiii. 6, xxxvi. 7,
xxxvii. 4, xlv. 1, 3; “can” in
Gen. xiii. 16, xix. 19, 22, xxiv. 50,
xxix. 8, xxxi. 35, and as this is the usual rendering we are
under no necessity to translate the passage other than “was not able”, or
“could not”. One suggestive use of the
word is found in II Sam. xvii. 20, “they be gone over the brook of water”. In II Sam. xvii. 20 we have mee-chal, when joined with the
word for water it means, “manageable water”, “fordable water”, “water that can
be overcome”. Jacob, by the ford Jabbok,
was not so manageable. As the dawn of
day approached it became imperative that the reduction of Jacob should be
accomplished, and the angel touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh, and he limped
the remainder of his pilgrimage. Jacob
now clings tight to the angel and says, “I will not let thee go, except thou
bless me”.
Now, do the words that follow indicate a
blessing for Jacob, or otherwise? First
of all his name is changed, “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob but
Israel”. Now if Israel be a term of
reproach, we are faced with a problem indeed;
we are further told that Jacob had succeeded in his contending with men,
but had failed with God. Neither
statement is true, Jacob miserably failed in the scheme to get the blessing and
Scripture settles the other statement by saying of Jacob, “as a prince hast
thou power with GOD and with men, and hast prevailed”.
We have other evidences of the purport of
a change of name in Genesis, e.g., Abraham instead of Abram, Sarah
instead of Sarai. In both cases the
change is to a higher plane and the result of a blessing. The name Sarah means Princess and contains
the word which gives us I-sra-el. SAR. — Sar is rendered “prince” 208
times, and “captain” 125 times, hence chief, ruler, governor, etc., and seen in
connection with Sarah Jacob’s new name seems to echo its meaning, she the
Princess, he the Prince. One feature of
great importance must now be noted which links together the changed names
of Abraham, Sarah, and Israel, and also substantiates the meaning of Prince in
the name Israel.
“As for Sarai thy wife, thou shall not
call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name … KINGS of people shall be of
her” (Gen. xvii. 15, 16).
“Thy name shall not be called any more
Jacob, but Israel … KINGS shall come out of thy loins” (Gen. xxxv. 10).
We must by this evidence retain the kingly
thought in the word Israel. Here, in
each instance, the change of name is associated with blessing, and a promise of
a royal seed. Newburry interprets Isra-El
by a prince of God, just as we translate Peni-El, face of God, or Beth-El,
house of God. The change of name was
given for a revealed reason, “FOR thou wast as a prince”, saritha, “as a
prince hast thou power”, being but one word.
This word occurs nowhere else, but in Hosea x. 11. Bethel
in the days of Hosea had become notorious for its idolatry. Israel is exhorted to consider the typical
history of their father Israel, how from being a supplanter he was changed to a
Prince of God, and how from being a keeper of sheep (xii.12) he became a Prince
of God, or, as the parallel is written turning from the type to the antitype,
the captive bondman Israel in Egypt brought out of Egypt by a prophet (xii. 13)
to become when at last they see God face to face “kings and priests unto
God”. Ephraim or Israel had become
idolators, they had fallen by their iniquity, yet, saith the Lord, “I will heal
their backsliding, I will love them freely”.
Jacob’s experience at Jabbok is an O.T. parallel to Paul’s experience
spoken of in II Cor. xii. 9, 10:--
“And He said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee: for My strength is
made perfect in weakness. Most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmity that the power of Christ may rest
upon me … for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
Jacob’s human frame ever afterwards showed
evidence of his weakness and the need to distrust the flesh, but it would ever
be associated with a gracious blessing, a princely name and a consciousness
that henceforth his strength was to be found in God. Jacob’s experience anticipates that day soon
to dawn, when the night shall have passed away for ever, when his descendants
shall look upon Him whom they pierced (Peniel) and shall say:--
“Unto Him that loved us and loosed us from
our sins by His own blood, and hath made us KINGS and priests unto God” (Rev.
i. 5, 6).
Who is this One upon whom they look? “PRINCE of the KINGS of the earth.” Sar of Sars, the true and antitypical Israel, Prince of
God. Saviour and saved are both
foreshadowed. He the great King-Priest after the Order of Melchisedek,
they the kingdom of priests, a royal priesthood. Israel like Jacob could not attain this by
creature strength, it was when the hollow of his thigh was touched that he
asked a blessing and received his princely name.
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