Jacob's Return Home - Genesis 32

 

Genesis 32 – Jacob’s Return Home

 

“He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength.”  Isaiah 40:29

Jacob is going home to the land of Canaan.  He expected a battle between Esau and Himself, so his concern was escape, not reconciliation.  He saw the army of angels protecting him, but even that did not encourage his faith.  Had Jacob remembered his experience with God at Bethel, he would not have been afraid of Esau. 

One minute Jacob prayed for God’s help, and the next minute he devised some new way to appease his angry brother. 

When the messenger returned from Esau to Jacob he failed to say that Esau is coming with open arms.  Instead, he says Esau is coming with four hundred men.  That would terrify even me if I believed my brother was still out to kill me.  He reminded God of his great promises and then acted as though God never spoken.  How many times have we given our problems over to God, just to take them back again?  This is the conduct of a believer who needs to be broken before God.  He prayed to be delivered from Esau, but his greatest need was to be delivered from himself. 

Jacob was broken to be healed and weakened to be stronger.  When he surrendered, he won and became a “prince with God.”  His limp would be a constant reminder that God would be in control of his life.  When we let God have His way, it is a dawning of a new day!

 

 

 

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J. Vernon McGee commentary, James Coffman Commentary, NKJ version.

 

 

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