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Transcript:

Welcome to the Beyond the Basics Bible Study Podcast. My name is Dan Snyder and I am your host. Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of Beyond the Basics where we are exploring the Bible from Genesis to Revelation one chapter at a time.

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You can also click the subscribe button which will bring you to my Patreon page. For $4 a month you can receive access to the full uncut episode which will include between 10 and 30 minutes of additional audio. You will also receive access to all past episodes starting with Genesis chapter 24. Now on to the show.

Well, have you ever felt completely alone? Maybe you felt literally alone. For example when my wife and I first got married I was traveling for work and I had to leave and go on the road for three weeks at a time. And so literally we were alone apart from each other and it was terrible. We hated it and thankfully that only lasted a few months. But maybe you felt more emotionally alone. You’ve been in a room full of people and felt completely alone. Or maybe you felt spiritually alone, whether because of persecution or attack or doubts or fears, but we’ve all felt alone at times and think back on those times. How did God meet you in those times when you felt alone?

In Genesis chapter 32, we’re gonna find that in the beginning of the chapter, Jacob is completely surrounded by family and an army of angels and as we go through the chapter, he’s gonna slowly become more and more alone until at the end, he’s completely alone on the side of the river and this is where God meets him.

So in Genesis 32 verse 1 remember Jacob had been fleeing from Laban. They had made a covenant to never cross into each other’s territory. So now Jacob was returning to the land of Canaan. God had told him to go back to the city of Bethel. And so in verse 1 it says Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him.

So that word angels also means messengers. That’s the same word that’s going to be used in verse 3, where it says Jacob sent messengers. So there’s two possibilities for why Jacob would be met by angels on his way back to Bethel. The first possibility would be to encourage Jacob. I mean, Jacob was leaving one man, Laban, who wanted to kill him, and as we’re going to find out, he’s on his way to another man who wants to kill him, because he’s going to be intercepted by Esau, as we’re going to find out here in a couple verses. He’s gonna need some encouragement. And previously when Jacob had left the land of Canaan, the Promised Land, he had received a vision of angels at Bethel, and he had faced uncertainty and fear at that time as well. In fact, he was fleeing from Esau, who was trying to kill him at that time. Clearly these visions of angels are happening at a time when Jacob is greatly distressed, when he’s running away from somebody who’s trying to kill him, or who wants to kill him.

The other possibility is that the author is giving us a clue as to the importance of the land that Jacob is entering back into. In Genesis chapter 3 verse 24, we found out that after God drove out Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, he placed a cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the way back into the Garden to the Tree of Life. So that cherubim guarded the east gate of Eden to keep people out. But now Jacob is meeting angels at the eastern border of the promised land and this time they’re letting him in. So there’s a clear comparison here to the Garden of Eden showing that this land that promised is an Eden land. It is a land that one day would be like Eden. And Jacob, by returning, is foreshadowing the return of mankind to that Eden state, to that paradise state with God.

That doesn’t mean Jacob is perfect at this point, of course. But I think that the author is giving us a subtle message here to say, this is a good thing that Jacob is returning. This is where Jacob is supposed to be. He’s going back to where God had placed man, to where God had communed with man. Either possibility here, of course, would hopefully have had a strengthening effect on Jacob. And I don’t think it’s an either or in this case. They would have been there just to encourage Jacob but also to represent that gate that Eden gate back into the promised land or back into the Garden of God

So in verse 2, when Jacob saw them, he said, this is God’s camp. So he called the name of that place, Mahaneim, which means two camps. There’s God’s camp and there’s Jacob’s camp. In other words, there’s God’s army and there’s Jacob’s army. That’s what that word camp is really referring to. It’s kind of a military word. So he’s saying, this is a strong place. This is a fortified place. Two camps, two armies here.

In verse 3, Jacob sent messengers before him. Now, God’s messengers had just came to him, that camp of angels, and now Jacob is sending messengers to Esau. And he’s sending them to Esau to notify him of his coming, so that Esau wouldn’t think that Jacob was coming to attack him, because, again, last time Jacob had been here, Esau was trying to kill him. And Jacob didn’t want Esau to think that he was returning just to try and pick a fight. So he sent these messengers to Esau to say, I’m coming, but I’m coming in peace.

Now in verse 3, we find out that Esau is living in the land of Seir, or the country of Edom. And this is a mountain range southeast of the land of Canaan. Esau had driven out the Horites who originally lived there. We found out in Genesis 14 verse 6 that the Horites had lived in the hill country of Seir. This was Esau’s inheritance. Remember that Esau was so upset that he didn’t receive a blessing and begged Isaac, his father, to give him a blessing. So Isaac did give him a blessing. It wasn’t quite the blessing that Jacob received, but he did receive a blessing and he received a bit of an inheritance. In Deuteronomy chapter 2 verses 3 through 5, we found out that this land, Mount Seir, was given to Esau by God, Himself.

So God gave Mount Seir to Esau, which means that Esau was no longer living in the land of Canaan. And he could have stayed there. He could have stayed in Canaan to make it difficult for Jacob to claim his inheritance. I mean, Esau wanted this inheritance. Esau wanted this blessing so bad. And Jacob had left. So Esau could have just stayed. And at the very least, Jacob would have to fight him for the land. But instead he left. And God preserved the land for Jacob and Esau went to Mount Seir.

So in verse 4, Jacob tells his messengers to say, You shall say to my lord Esau, thus says your servant Jacob. Jacob was the patriarch of the family by birthright, but here he humbles himself to be Esau’s servant. So again, he’s trying to take a non-confrontational tone. He’s trying to make it clear that he’s not here for a fight. He says, I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants and female servants. So Jacob wanted Esau to know that he already had plenty. He already had great wealth and he wasn’t there to take anything from Esau. He already had enough. He had already taken the birthright when he was younger and now he was coming back to claim his inheritance but he wasn’t trying to take anything from Esau anymore. That’s why he told Esau that he had all this wealth.

So then he goes on, he says, I have sent to tell my lord in order that I may find favor in your sight. So Jacob wants to make amends here. Jacob knew that he had alienated his brother. He knew his brother was angry. He’s trying to make amends. But we’re starting to see a bit of a problem here because Jacob already has God’s favor. So he shouldn’t need to seek Esau’s favor.

See, when we already have God on our side, we shouldn’t need to grovel and seek the favor of other people. We should remain confident in God’s protection and in His faithfulness. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be humble. We should always seek to remain humble in every situation and every dealing with human beings. We should always seek humility. But there’s a difference between Jacob telling his brother, Esau, “I’m back. I have enough. I’m not here to start a fight,” and trying to win his favor. Trying to make Esau like him again. Trying to manipulate Esau into thinking that he was okay. Jacob didn’t need to do that. He already had God’s favor. He already had God’s protection. He doesn’t need to seek the favor and protection of another person, even his brother. When we have God’s protection and favor, we don’t need to seek the protection and favor of anyone else.

So in verse 6, the messengers return to Jacob saying, We came to your brother Esau and he is coming to meet you, and there are 400 men with him. This is actually the largest army that we’ve seen so far in the Bible. Remember Abraham took 318 men to fight against that powerful king, Chedorlaomer, who was the pagan king of kings. Esau has even more men with him than that. So Jacob would have seen this as a very fearful thing. He would hear that Esau has 400 men coming towards him and he would assume the worst.

In verse 7, it tells us that Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed.