By John S. Byerly
Genesis 32:1-2, 6-12, 22-32
Somebody once asked Winston Churchill what most prepared him to risk political suicide by speaking out against Hitler during the years of appeasement in the mid-1930s, then to lead Great Britain against Nazi Germany. Churchill said it was the time he had to repeat a grade in elementary school.
“You mean you failed a year in grade school?” he asked.
Advertisement
“I never failed anything in my life. I was given a second opportunity to get it right.”1
Jacob had a lot in common with Winston Churchill — He wouldn’t admit to failure in anything. For Jacob, it was all about coming out on top — all about winning. And Jacob usually found a way to get what he wanted. But God was about to give him a second chance to get it right.
Jacob is on his way home after being gone for twenty years. He left the house of Laban under the cover of darkness with his two wives, two maidservants, eleven sons, one daughter, sheep, goats, and a partridge in a pear tree. He leaves without telling his father-in-law what he is doing. Circumstances and God have told him it was time to go home. While he was in Haran for 20 years, Jacob had become very wealthy. He had fled his parents and brother in Beersheba with nothing, but he comes home a successful man. But going home meant he must face his brother, Esau.
As they draw closer, Jacob sends messengers ahead to his brother to say, “Good news, Esau! Your loving brother, Jacob, is coming home. Hope you’re well. Sure looking forward to seeing you again. Missed you a lot! Let’s play some golf!”
The messengers returned to Jacob with news, “Your brother is coming out to see you — along with 400 men!!”
Talk about holding a grudge. It’s been 20 years but Esau has not forgotten. The world does not forgive easily. Jacob is scared to death. 400 men! “All I have are wives and kids, and goats.”
Calvin Miller writes, “Sometimes we must deal with our past before we can hope to have any future. Just like the Rio separates Texas from Mexico, the past and the future are separated by a tiny little stream called the Jabbok. The Jabbok is a place of honesty.”2
Jacob has spent a good portion of his life getting what Jacob wants, even if it means lying, cheating, and deceiving. But now he is facing something utterly beyond his power -- a vengeful brother and 400 men. He cannot lie or deceive his way out of this. As they say in Texas — he is scared spitless! What does he do? He prays. This is the first real prayer we have seen from Jacob.