Genesis Chapters 32-36
32:1 As Jacob journeyed southward, he met the angels of God. Seeing them probably encouraged him and reminded him of God’s promise given some twenty years previous at Bethel (28:11-15). He named this place Mahanaim (may huh NAY im), which means double camp. This can be interpreted as two bands of angels, one before and one behind him, or another camp that matched his. 32:3-6 After twenty years, Jacob takes the initiative to reconcile with Esau, but the initial report is that Esau is coming with 400 men. Jacob thinks that Esau is coming for the purpose of war and vengeance. “Nothing could be more ominous than Esau’s silence and his rapid approach in force” (Kidner p. 168). 32:7-23 Jacob immediately took action: He divided his company in case of attack, prayed humbly and earnestly to God, and finally sent a very generous present to Esau. The expression in verse 11, “the mothers with the children”, means total annihilation from which no one would escape. Like our modern expression, “no survivors”. Jacob believed that Esau was capable of all out slaughter. Unable to sleep that night, he sent his family across the Jabbok River and stayed behind.
Wrestling with the Angel
32:24-32 Suddenly, out of the darkness Jacob is attacked by “a man” (24), yet quickly we learned that this is no ordinary man, for he possessed supernatural powers (25), where the mere touch by the hand would cause a bone to be dislocated. Hosea says concerning this event, “Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept and sought His favor” (Hosea 12:4).
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Jacob is renamed “Israel”, which means “God’s fighter” or “may God strive for him”. According to Hosea (12:4), this wrestling on the part of Jacob involved weeping and supplication, as well as physical tenacity. The angel could have very easily beaten Jacob (32:25), the point of the account is that Jacob is earnestly desiring God’s fellowship and blessings. “The conflict brought to a head the battling and groping of a lifetime, and Jacob’s desperate embrace vividly expressed his ambivalent attitude to God, of love and enmity, defiance and dependence. It was against Him, not Esau and Laban, that he had been pitting his strength…yet the initiative had been God’s as it was this night, to chasten his pride and challenge his tenacity…The crippling and the naming show that God’s ends were still the same: He would have all of Jacob’s will to win, to attain and obtain, yet purged of self-sufficiency and redirected to the proper object of man’s love, God Himself….After the maiming, combativeness had turned to a dogged dependence, and Jacob emerged broken, named and blessed. His limping would be a lasting proof of the reality of the struggle: it had been no dream, and there was sharp judgment in it” (Kidner p. 169). In this struggle Jacob seems to come to a point of deep repentance, and he pleaded for God’s mercy and blessings. The angel could have easily crushed him, and if this had happened Jacob would have only received what he deserved. God seems to remind Jacob, that not only had Jacob offended Esau, but he had also offended God, for at some point in the night, Jacob realized that his opponent was a divine messenger sent to contend with him. It is here that Jacob is finally broken of his self-sufficiency and pride, he finally realizes that living by his wits had only succeeded in getting him into deep trouble—he desperately needed God in his life. His cries for a blessing make it clear that he really wanted to be part of God’s people, part of the Messianic line and the one to carry on the blessings given to Abraham. To this day Jews avoid eating the interior cord and nerve of the hind quarter of animals (32:32) “Peniel” pronounced (pih HIGH uhl), means the “face of God”. Far from feeling arrogant, Jacob is greatly humbled by this experience, he realized how easily his life could have ended in the previous struggle.
Chapter 33 Give some credit to Esau, he appears to have matured over the years (33:4). He had completely forgiven Jacob. Yet, Esau’s line will not become a godly people, because Esau had married foreign women. A person may “mellow” over time but this is never the same thing as conversion. Give credit to Jacob for making it 2
clear that it was God who had blessed him (33:5). Like Jacob, if not for the mercy and blessings of God, many of us would be dirt poor! 33:12-16 Jacob had no intention of going with Esau to the region of Seir. Sadly, even at this point, Jacob cannot be straightforward about his intentions. “He may have been wise to avoid Edom, but he did not need to deceive his brother again” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 82). “Yet the very warmth of the welcome brought a new danger of false partnership and consequent diversion” (Kidner p. 171). In time Jacob may have fully intended to pay a visit to his brother. It does appear that Jacob did live fairly close to Esau at least until Issac’s death (36:6-8). 33:17-20 “Succoth” (SUK oth) is located on the east side of the Jordan, and is a beautiful location. From there Jacob moved to Shechem, and bought a piece of property. Shechem is located directly west of the Jabbok River and about 20 miles from the Jordan in Canaan, it is situated between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. This stay in Shechem would prove very costly for Jacob and his family. “To Israel this would certainly be a warning against the defiling effect of interrelations with Canaanites” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 83).
Chapter 34 34:1-5 Dinah may have been around 16 at the time. By moving near the Canaanites Jacob was endangering the lives of those who were more vulnerable than himself. Christian husbands need to be wise about where they chose to locate their wives and children. Shechem is a classic example of a worldly minded man. He rapes a woman and then thinks that she would really like to marry him! Yet even in pagan culture, marriage was serious business and had to be arranged by the parents. “It is an interesting commentary on the Shechemite culture to note that Hamor apparently thought nothing about the moral implications of what his son had done. He neither rebuked Shechem nor apologized in any way to Jacob or Dinah’s brothers. For a young man to lie with a young woman, even by force, was apparently such a common thing in Canaanite towns that no one gave it a second thought” (Morris p. 510). People need to realize that when moral standards are loosened, innocent people end up hurt. In our own society, supposed sexual freedom has only succeeded in increasing the number of unwed mothers, rape victims, children growing up without a father, poverty and various deadly diseases.
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34:6-29 Not only did the brothers of Dinah act deceitfully, but the men of Shechem were being just as deceitful (34:23 “will not their livestock and their property and all their animals be ours?”). “Hamor’s latter appeal to his fellow citizens showed that he was deceptive all along, hoping only to take over Jacob’s possessions” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 83). Circumcision could be quite incapacitating, particularly after only two or three days (34:35). Verse 12 is a classic example of how worldly people attempt to solve everything with money. As if monetary compensation can make everything all right, or erase the fact that a rape had been committed. 34:30-31 “Should he treat our sister as a harlot?”: Simeon and Levi, along with Reuben are the eldest full brothers of Dinah. Because of their action on this occasion, Simeon and Levi will be passed over (49:5-7), even though God would select Levi as the priestly tribe. “In this story the instinct of Simeon and Levi was correct, but because of their unbridled passion they were later passed over in Jacob’s blessing. Moreover, a deceptive covenant was not to be dangled before the pagans” (Bible Knowledge Comm. pp. 83-84). And Jacob’s non-action was just as wrong as their cruelty. Dinah had been raped and to add insult to injury, the father of the rapist had actually sought to purchase Dinah, as though she were nothing but a harlot! And Jacob, had said nothing! His silence and inaction were just as sinful. “This unvarnished account, revealing such glaring moral weakness in Jacob and his family, certainly rules out any possibility of this being a prejudicially laundered history, as some have charged. If later generations of the Hebrews indulged in fantasizing about their forefathers, they most certainly would have omitted this account” (Aalders p. 159). Observe how one sin leads to another. Shechem’s actions eventually resulted in rape, deception, and slaughter. Simeon and Levi lied, stole, and murdered. Their desire for justice was appropriate, but their ways of achieving it were sinful (Genesis 49:5-7).
Chapter 35 35:2 Jacob challenged his family to destroy their idols. Obviously, we are wondering why anyone in Jacob’s family would have idols. Yet, remember Rachel had took her father’s idols. Such idols were also seen as good luck charms, and unfortunately even some professed Christians today still cling to idolatrous practices and superstitions. Yet Jacob, the new and changed man knew that such things had no place in his family. The earrings included 4
probably were cult objects, and not mere decorations. Such jewelry was often viewed as magical charms that warded off evil. This family was in dire need to being cleansed from all pagan influences. “Any impression that patriarchal worship was free and easy is dispelled by these demands…in their call for a single loyalty, ceremonial purity and the renunciation of magic (the earrings were evidently charms)” (Kidner p. 174). Joshua would issue a similar call to his generation (Joshua 24:23). “God permits no rivals; He allows only single loyalty and no magical charms” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 84). 35:6-8 This is the only reference we have to this woman by name. 35:10-12 God repeats his promises to Jacob and once again 35:10 confirms to Jacob that his wrestling match hadn’t been a dream. 35:16-20 Rachel dies. Ephrath appears to be a term describing the region around the city of Bethlehem. “It was a fine gesture of faith to re-name the ‘son of my sorrow’ ‘son of the right hand’, the positive aspect of so dark an experience” (Kidner p. 176). “As he saw Rachel leaving him, (Jacob) realized that it would be an unhealthy burden for his son to carry such a name through life” (Morris p. 522). Jacob refused to accept that this son was a child of misfortune, rather he was determined to believe that he was very fortunate to have Benjamin. Give credit to Jacob for placing none of the blame on this son for the death of his favorite wife. 35:22 “It is possible that Reuben, Jacob’s eldest, was trying to replace his father as patriarch prematurely by this pagan procedure. But in so doing, he lost his inheritance (49:3-4; 1 Chron. 5:1-2)” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 85). “A possible suggestion is that, after Rachel’s death, Bilhah wanted to take Rachel’s place in Jacob’s affections and attentions. When he failed to respond, she may have reacted by consorting with Reuben, his oldest son” (Morris p. 523). And why is it that people not only sin, but they are so tacky about the timing of their sins. Rachel has recently died, Jacob’s favorite wife (which everyone knew) and Reuben has an affair with her maid? Reuben’s sin was costly, although not right away. As the oldest son was he placed to receive a double-portion of the inheritance and assume the spiritual leadership in this extended family. No more is mentioned of this sin UNTIL Jacob is dying. On his deathbed with the family assembled around him, Jacob suddenly takes away Reuben’s double portion (49:4). The consequences of sin can plague us for a long, long time. Instead of thinking that we “can get away 5
with it”, we often learn that sin quietly breeds serious consequences that we may not be seeing, until it is too late. 35:28 Isaac dies at the age of 180. At the funeral, Esau and Jacob meet.
Chapter 36 This chapter is all about Esau and his descendants, which became the nation of Edom (36:43). “In dramatic contrast with the expanding, powerful Esau, Jacob was dwelling in the land….Jacob had no “chiefs” or kings (35:11), yet, no lands to govern, and no full tribes…A promised spiritual blessing demands patience and faith. Waiting while others prosper is a test of one’s faithfulness and perseverance” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 86).
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