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Genesis 32:9-12: A great prayer.

⁹ Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ ¹⁰ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. ¹¹ Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. ¹² But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’” NIV

As Jacob prepared to meet his brother Esau, he took some pragmatic steps. Whether or not he needed to do all he did is not clear, but he definitely did the right thing when he prayed. At the heart of chapter 32 we find this great prayer. In a few words it teaches us a lot about some of the essentials of prayer. Note a number of features:

• Humility (10a): Jacob recognised that God had been good to him and he didn’t deserve any of the blessings he’d received. If he had to earn God’s kindness, Jacob could have staked no claim, and he knew it. It is the same for you and me;
• Gratitude (10b): God had blessed him. It’s true that Jacob had worked hard, and he could have said that, but he gave all the glory to God for the good things which had happened to him;
• Faith (9, 12): Jacob appealed to what God Himself had said. It is a powerful thing when we take hold of the Bible and turn it into prayer. We are on solid ground when we plead the promises of God. Of course, we must ensure we are not taking them out of context, or twisting them;
• Definite (11): At the centre of the prayer there is a specific request. Jacob confessed his fear for himself and his family, and asked to be saved from Esau’s hand. There was nothing vague about this; it was not a hazy request. Jacob knew exactly what he was asking and so did God.

Did the Lord answer this great prayer? Well read on. But I think you know the answer already.

Genesis 32:3-8: What fear does.

³ Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. ⁴ He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lordEsau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. ⁵ I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.’” ⁶ When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” ⁷ In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. ⁸ He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.” NIV

It is undoubtedly true that fear distorts perspective. Because of anxiety we can put a wrong construction on things. We can fill in the gaps with our own thoughts about what is going on, and we are not always right. Sir Winston Churchill commented that he knew a man who told him he had known many problems in his life – most of which never happened! We can smile at that and identify with it. Most of us, if not all of us, have been there at some point. But I think Jacob had every reason to fear his brother (6,7).

I sometimes wonder if this story is a case of someone worrying unnecessarily. Yet I think the implication is that things changed in Esau after Jacob met with God in prayer. Don’t underestimate the power of prayer, nor the need, sometimes, to wrestle.

Genesis 32:1-2: ‘Two camps.’

“Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ² When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.” NIV

Thank God for the ministry of angels. Jacob was afraid of meeting his brother Esau, but he had an angelic encounter which encouraged him. He called the place ‘Mahanaim’, which means ‘two camps’. He came to see that he was not alone. Yes, there was his camp; but angels also were camped around him and his family.  We are usually unaware of the ministry of angels. Their activity is regularly invisible – but no less real for being unseen. However, from to time, someone may recognise (or at least have an inkling) that they have met an angel. If the curtain could be pulled back, so that we were able to see all that is happening in the unseen realm of spiritual reality, we would be amazed, I’m sure.

Angels, or no angels, God knows when we need encouragement and the best way to send it. This morning I met a friend who bought me a coffee and took interest in my life. I can’t tell you what a gift that is. But if you have such a friend – and I hope you do – you will know well enough what I mean.

PRAYER: Lord, you are the God of all encouragement. Thank you for the tangible ways you bring encouragement to me.

Genesis 31: 54: Fellowship meal.

⁵⁴ He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there. NIV

This little statement, towards the end of the chapter, seems to me to foreshadow the death of Jesus on the cross, and the establishing of Communion, the Lord’s Supper, as the memorial of what He did. It reminds me of a poster I saw a long time ago. It depicted a chalice of wine and some bread. The wording on it read:

‘Jesus of Nazareth invites you to a meal to be given in His honour.’

Jesus still invites ‘’his relatives to a meal’’.

Genesis 31: 43-55: Truce

^“43 Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? ⁴⁴ Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.” ⁴⁵ So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. ⁴⁶ He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷ Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed. ⁴⁸ Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” That is why it was called Galeed. ⁴⁹ It was also called Mizpah, because he said, “May the Lordkeep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. ⁵⁰ If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.” ⁵¹ Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. ⁵² This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. ⁵³ May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴ He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there. ⁵⁵ Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.” NIV

Someone pointed out that Jacob and Laban called a truce, which is better than all out war. But it is best of all when brothers ‘’dwell together in unity!’’ (Psalm 133:1). It wasn’t that these two men were now going to pursue friendly relations. They just agreed not to harm each other, and recognised that God was watching/listening to their commitment. It is a good thing to try to live consciously before God, recognising that He is the unseen observer of our thoughts, motives, actions…of everything.

‘Though these two men were far below the Christian ideal of character, it is evident that they lived in an habitual recognition of God and the eternal sanction of his presence. The Lord was to watch between them. God was to be witness and judge. They looked back on the days of Abraham with reverential awe and loyalty, and commemorated Abraham’s God.’ F.B.Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.27.

Genesis 31:38-42: Telling it like it is.

^“38 “I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. ³⁹ I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night. ⁴⁰ This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes.⁴¹ It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. ⁴² If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.”NIV

Maybe Jacob cast himself in the best light possible, but it is an insight into his suffering under the hand of Laban. He was put into a furnace, but God had a purpose for him being there. He was in a refining process and the Lord was changing him.

That didn’t justify Laban’s dodgy behaviour though, and there is a time for laying it on the line; for telling someone the unpalatable and (maybe) unwanted truth. May God give us courage for direct speech when it is necessary, and wisdom to know the right time and the correct way. Truth delivered badly may not receive the hearing we would wish.

When people treat you unfairly, remember that God knows and cares, and He is able to intervene. We have seen this before, and it’s good to be reminded afresh this day, because it’s a tough world out there.

Genesis 31:30-37: ‘Be careful little lips…’

^“30 Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?” ³¹ Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force. ³² But if you find anyone who has your gods, that person shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods. ³³ So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent. ³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing. ³⁵ Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I’m having my period.” So he searched but could not find the household gods. ³⁶ Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. “What is my crime?” he asked Laban. “How have I wronged you that you hunt me down? ³⁷ Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.” NIV

A children’s chorus, probably from my Sunday School days, comes back to me:

‘Be careful little eyes what you see…be careful little ears what you hear…be careful little hands what you do…be careful little feet where you go…’ Each line is repeated twice, then followed by the words: ‘There’s a Father up above who is looking down in love, so be careful little….etc.’

But there is another line which goes: ‘Be careful little lips what you say…’  Words are powerful. Once spoken they cannot be unspoken. They can bless, but they can also blow up in your face. When Jacob asserted his innocence he was of course expressing a clean conscience re the theft of the gods (By the way, who would find much security in a god that could be nicked?!!) However the extreme statement in (32a) might have come back to haunt him. But for Rachel duping her father, who knows what the outcome might have been? The story of discreditable behaviour goes on, but in it all God was working out His eternal purposes and looking after His own. It clearly was a matter of grace, because they weren’t earning his His goodness by exemplary conduct.

Thought: ‘God has given us one mouth that closes and two ears that don’t; this should tell us something!’

PRAYER: Lord, please help me to ‘’be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry’’ (James 1:19)

Genesis 31: 25-30: Divine protection.

^“25 Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. ²⁶ Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war. ²⁷ Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrelsand harps? ²⁸ You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You have done a foolish thing. ²⁹ I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ ³⁰ Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?” NIV

I had a conversation with a friend recently, and we were talking about how God’s protection is real, but we are only protected from death for as long as God wants us to remain in the world. In this story, Jacob experienced the very real protection of God.

Now it has to be admitted that, although Jacob suffered much at the hands of his wily old fox of an uncle, he was not entirely innocent. He himself, as we’ve seen, could be duplicitous. It seems he tried to match Laban chess move for chess move. But when he ran away, he wasn’t thinking that his uncle would send him on his way with music and the popping of champagne corks (27)! It was more that he knew that this man had ‘’the power to harm’’ him (29). He was aware of the threat.

Nevertheless, God’s hand was heavily upon Laban to hold him back, and we can take comfort from this knowledge (29b).

Genesis 31:22-24: God in control.

^“22 On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. ²³ Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴ Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” NIV

We fear people partly because we do not fear God more. In the story of Jacob’s return home, we have seen, and we now see again, God’s Hand firmly on circumstances to make this possible. It was a journey the Lord wanted Jacob to make, and He ensured that the man could make it. I want to say again, God is REAL. He is there, even though we can’t see Him. Like the wind, or like electricity, He is invisible, but we can see something of what He does. He can speak to surprising people in surprising ways. He can restrain individuals if He chooses to do so. Perhaps we believe over much in bad men, and not enough in the good God.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, when you have made the path clear to me, may I not fail to take it.