Answers for a study in the book of Genesis: Chapters 30-32, The Patriarch Jacob and his family journey

“Answers for a study in the book of Genesis” is a weekly post in addition to the regular “apologetics” posts on the weekend where the original questions can be found at the bottom of the study, and then answers appear here mid-week. This gives you time to do your own research, and then check your answers. Keep in mind these will be basic answers with a little depth, but you can go much deeper for discussion if you’d like.

Always remember to pray before you study and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and lead you into the truth found in God’s Word – pray for protection from the evil one who will try to discourage, distract and deceive us when we commit to growing closer to the LORD.

Note: Questions are taken directly from the chapters, and answers should be found and cited from the Scripture text in order to be Biblically accurate (unless asked to summarize in your own words). Study Bibles, commentaries and your own thoughts can be used for Discussion or Going Deeper questions. If you use these kinds of sources share them with your group.

 1.  Review of Class Topic:  Before getting into the Bible study questions, discuss today’s class presentation by summarizing what you learned, commenting or asking any questions.

Answers will vary…

Read Genesis Chapter 30 through Chapter 32, then answer the following questions:

2.  (Genesis 30:1-24) In the first part of this chapter Leah and Rachel continue their competition for Jacob’s affection, and in having children. What did Rachel do when she saw Leah had so many children while she had none at this point, and how did Leah respond in kind? Going Deeper: Make a chart that show the twelve sons of Jacob in order of their birth, who their moms were, and the meaning of each of their names.

30 Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.” ² Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³ She said, “Here is my maid Bilhah, go in to her that she may bear on my knees, that through her I too may have children.” ⁴ So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵ Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore she named him Dan. ⁷ Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ So Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali. ⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad. ¹² Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Then Leah said, “Happy am I! For women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.

¹⁴ Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵ But she said to her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁶ When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, then Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. ¹⁷ God gave heed to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Then Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. ¹⁹ Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ²¹ Afterward she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.

²² Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb. ²³ So she conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” ²⁴ She named him Joseph, saying, “May the Lord give me another son.” 

Rachel and Leah – the competition:

• Rachel became jealous of her sister because Leah was able to bear children so easily.
• Rachel said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.” This is ironic because she does die giving birth to her second child Benjamin.
• Rachel then gives Bilhah, her maid, as a concubine to Jacob so that she could have children through her (reminiscent again of Abraham and Sarah’s mistake)
• Note: Concubines were wives without the privilege of family statis and were subject to their master, in this case Rachel as Hagar was to Sarah.
• Leah responds in kind to the competition and gives her maid Zilpah to Jacob.
• Both concubines had two children each.
• Note: As was previously said, it is Leah who seems to have been the best choice for Jacob and the one who seemed strong and able enough to bear God’s plan for the twelve sons, instead Jacob and his family suffer the consequences of jealousy and competition within the family.

Jacob’s wives and their children (the numbers reference their order of birth)

Leah:

1. Reuben – “behold a son” 

2. Simeon – “because I am unloved/God is listening/God hears”. 

3. Levi – “joined/attached/now this time my husband will become attached to me” 

4. Judah – “praise/let him [God] be praised” 

9. Issachar – “man of hire/there is a reward” 

10. Zebulun – “prince/to dwell/gift-dowry”

(Dinah)

Zilpah (Leah’s Maid):

7. Gad – “good fortune/luck” 

8. Asher – “happy/blessed”

Rachel:

11. Joseph – “he will add/may God add”.

12. Benjamin – (first named Ben-oni “son of my sorrow”) “son of my right hand/son of the south”

Bilhah (Rachel’s Maid):

5. Dan – “judge/he judged” 

6. Naphtali – “my wrestling/my struggle/my strife”

3.  (Genesis 30:25-43) In this section of the chapter, Jacob asks Laban to give him what he owed him so he could leave with his family. How did Laban try to get Jacob to stay, and what offer did Jacob make to Laban? Discuss: Jacob is said to be the first “Geneticist.” What did he do with the flocks to get them to reproduce and flourish, and how do you see God’s hand in this?

²⁵ Now it came about when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me depart; for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you.” ²⁷ But Laban said to him, “If now it pleases you, stay with me; I have divined that the Lord has blessed me on your account.” ²⁸ He continued, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.” ²⁹ But he said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you and how your cattle have fared with me. ³⁰ For you had little before I came and it has increased to a multitude, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?” ³¹ So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock: ³² let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted sheep and every black one among the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages. ³³ So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my wages. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.” ³⁴ Laban said, “Good, let it be according to your word.” ³⁵ So he removed on that day the striped and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, every one with white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the care of his sons. ³⁶ And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks. ³⁷ Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white which was in the rods. ³⁸ He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the gutters, even in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink. ³⁹ So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰ Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock. ⁴¹ Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so that they might mate by the rods; ⁴² but when the flock was feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. ⁴³ So the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys.

Jacob’s demand and Laban’s offer:

• Laban said: “If now it pleases you, stay with me; I have divined that the LORD has blessed me on your account. Name your wages, and I will give it.” Notice it says that Laban “divined it” – that means he was using satanic means to determine things. Laban was pagan – so it makes sense that this would be the way he would do things.
• Note: It is important to remember that, since the Fall, Satan will always try to deter God’s Covenant and Promise, therefore he would use Laban to keep Jacob from going back to the Promised Land.
• Instead of wages, Jacob offered to take the speckled, spotted and black goats and lambs – which were rare among the flocks. This would separate what was Jacob’s from that of Laban’s, and this would be the beginning of Jacob’s own possessions and riches.

Jacob, the geneticist:

• Jacob had figured out how to get the flocks to mate with certain enticements, and he would make sure to separate out when the flocks produced the imperfect, thus his flocks he would be segregated from Laban’s group and then mate with the stronger ones producing more of the imperfect, yet strong, flocks for Jacob: “Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so that they might mate by the rods; but when the flock was feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s”
• Note: Scholars are not sure what was in the rods and peelings – special chemistry or supernatural intervention?!

God’s hand:

• Even though Jacob seemed to have devised a method, it was ultimately God’s hand that miraculously helped produce more of the mixed color flocks than the white.
• As we know from modern genetics, Jacob’s method was not the thing that produced the colors, however, God put in place the right setting for the right animals to breed with the right DNA to make just the right offspring to help Jacob prosper.

4.  (Genesis 31:1-21) In the first part of this chapter, Jacob makes a decision to flee from Laban. Why did Jacob decide it was time to leave, and who did he council with in making that decision? How did Jacob follow through on the decision to leave, and do you think Jacob was trusting in the LORD at this time (why, or why not)?

31 Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what belonged to our father he has made all this wealth.” ² Jacob saw the attitude of Laban, and behold, it was not friendly toward him as formerly. ³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” ⁴ So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field, ⁵ and said to them, “I see your father’s attitude, that it is not friendly toward me as formerly, but the God of my father has been with me. ⁶ You know that I have served your father with all my strength. ⁷ Yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times; however, God did not allow him to hurt me. ⁸ If he spoke thus, ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flock brought forth speckled; and if he spoke thus, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock brought forth striped. ⁹ Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me. ¹⁰ And it came about at the time when the flock were mating that I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which were mating were striped, speckled, and mottled. ¹¹ Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’ ¹² He said, ‘Lift up now your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. ¹³ I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.’” ¹⁴ Rachel and Leah said to him, “Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father’s house? ¹⁵ Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also entirely consumed our purchase price. ¹⁶ Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you.”

¹⁷ Then Jacob arose and put his children and his wives upon camels; ¹⁸ and he drove away all his livestock and all his property which he had gathered, his acquired livestock which he had gathered in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. ¹⁹ When Laban had gone to shear his flock, then Rachel stole the household idols that were her father’s. ²⁰ And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was fleeing. ²¹ So he fled with all that he had; and he arose and crossed the Euphrates River, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

Jacob’s council:

• Jacob overhead Laban’s sons talking about Jacob taking away “all that their father had worked for.” This, of course, would have been their inheritance and they were becoming increasingly more hostile towards Jacob, as Laban was as well.
• At this time the LORD also spoke to Jacob and told his to return to the land of his fathers and relatives, and that He would be with him.
• Jacob then consulted his wives, Leah and Rachel, and told them all that had been happening with the flocks, and with their father’s attitude; he also told them about the Angel of the LORD (Jesus) appearing to him in a dream and telling him to return to his homeland – Rachel and Leah agreed with Jacob saying, “Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our faither’s house? Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also entirely consumed our purchase price. Surely the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you.”
• Note: (From the Life Application Bible) “According to custom, they were supposed to receive the benefits of the dowry Jacob paid for them, which was 14 years of hard work. When Laban did not give them what was rightfully theirs, they knew they would never inherit anything from their father. This they wholeheartedly approved of Jacob’s plan to take the wealth he had gained and leave.”

Jacob’s decision to leave and his relationship with God at this point:

• Jacob deceived Laban by not telling him that he was leaving, and he took all that he had acquired and sent them out towards hill country of Gilead. He got a 3-day head start before it was told to Laban that he had left.
• Jacob was growing in his relationship with God, but he was not fully trusting in the LORD yet, and this is evident in the way he talked about God. In 31:5: “but the God of my father has been with me.” Notice he says “the God of my father” not my God. He will make a confession of faith later in chapter 32.

5.  (Genesis 31:22-55) In the second half of the chapter, Jacob and his family take off without telling Laban. What did Laban do when he discovered Jacob was gone, and what did God say to Laban in a dream? What happened between Laban and Jacob when Laban caught up with them, including what Rachel had done to make things worse? What agreement, or covenant, did Laban and Jacob make with each other, and how did they confirm it?

²² When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, ²³ then he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴ God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night and said to him, “Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad.” ²⁵ Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁶ Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? ²⁷ Why did you flee secretly and deceive me, and did not tell me so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with timbrel and with lyre; ²⁸ and did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly. ²⁹ It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.’ ³⁰ Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house; but why did you steal my gods?” ³¹ Then Jacob replied to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. ³² The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our ^[t]kinsmen point out what is yours among my belongings and take it for yourself.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. ³³ So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. ³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel’s saddle, and she sat on them. And Laban felt through all the tent but did not find them. ³⁵ She said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household idols. ³⁶ Then Jacob became angry and contended with Laban; and Jacob said to Laban, “What is my transgression? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? ³⁷ Though you have felt through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. ³⁸ These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks. ³⁹ That which was torn of beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself. You required it of my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night. ⁴⁰ Thus I was: by day the heat consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. ⁴¹ These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, 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 for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He rendered judgment last night.”

The Covenant of Mizpah

⁴³ Then Laban replied to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne? ⁴⁴ So now come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.” ⁴⁵ Then Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. ⁴⁶ Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷ Now Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. ⁴⁸ Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore it was named Galeed, ⁴⁹ and Mizpah, for he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other. ⁵⁰ If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.” ⁵¹ Laban said to Jacob, “Behold this heap and behold the pillar which I have set between you and me. ⁵² This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass by this heap to you for harm, and you will not pass by this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. ⁵³ The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴ Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his kinsmen to the meal; and they ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain. ⁵⁵ Early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.

Laban and God:

• When Laban found out that Jacob left, he took his men and pursued him, catching up to them in a distance of seven days.
• But, God spoke to Laban in a dream telling him: “Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad.” God was warning Laban not to try to talk him into staying (talking good) or bad by attacking him or abusing him verbally.

Laban, Jacob and Rachel:

• Laban lectured Jacob when he caught up to him, telling him that all Jacob owned was really his, including his wives and grandchildren.
• Laban also told Jacob, that “it was in his power to do him harm but that God had spoken to him in a dream and warned him not to do good or bad to him.”
• Laban accused Jacob of stealing his idols, but in reality, it was Rachel who had done it, and she lied about it by saying she couldn’t get up because she was on her period, when she was actually sitting on the idols covering them up. Thankfully for Jacob, they never found them as he would have had to make good on his oath to kill the one responsible.
• Note: (From the Life Application Bible) “Household idols were everything to Pagans such as Laban because they represented protection and advice in times of need, and they had legal significance as well, for when they were passed on to an heir, the person who received them could rightfully claim the greatest part of the family inheritance. No wonder Laban was concerned when he realized his idols were missing. Most likely Rachel stole her father’s idols because she was afraid Laban would consult them and learn where she and Jacob had gone, or perhaps she wanted to claim the family inheritance sometime in the future.”

Jacob and Laban’s Covenant:

• They gathered stones and made a pillar to stand as a monument to their agreement, or covenant between each other that they would not pass across the monument to cause harm to either side.
• The monument was called Galeed, and Mizpah = May the LORD watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other.
• Note: In making this covenant, Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac (not by God).

6.  (Genesis 32:1-32) In this chapter, Jacob is on his way home, but he fears his brother Esau’s reception. What did Jacob do to appease his brother Esau before he got there? Going Deeper: Who did Jacob wrestle with, what was the outcome and why was this important?

32 Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. ² Jacob said when he saw them, “This is God’s camp.” So he named that place Mahanaim. ³ Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. ⁴ He also commanded them saying, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; ⁵ I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.”’” ⁶ The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” ⁷ Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies; ⁸ for he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.” ⁹ Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,’ ¹⁰ I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. ¹¹ Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. ¹² For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.’” ¹³ So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ He delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on before me, and put a space between droves.” ¹⁷ He commanded the one in front, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?’ ¹⁸ then you shall say, ‘These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a present sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.’” ¹⁹ Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the droves, saying, “After this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him; ²⁰ and you shall say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.’” For he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” ²¹ So the present passed on before him, while he himself spent that night in the camp. ²² Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had.

Jacob Wrestles

²⁴ Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵ When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” ²⁷ So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” ²⁹ Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. ³⁰ So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.” ³¹ Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. ³² Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.

Jacob prepares to meet Esau:

• First, he sent messengers ahead to inform Esau he was coming, and to show him that he had his own animals, flocks, servants etc. (this was probably to let Esau know that he didn’t come to take anything from him).
• The messengers returned saying that Esau was coming, and with 400 men (this of course frightened Jacob).
• Jacob then divided the people into two companies in order to save one if the other was attacked.
• THEN FINALLY, JACOB PRAYED TO GOD, which he should have done first (notice he still said “O God of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac”), but this is a turning point for Jacob, because now he is coming to God, instead of God coming to him.
• He then sent gifts to Esau, in waves, so that each time something new was given to him, and he put a space between these waves of people and gifts – lastly, he also did this with his wives and children, of course sending Rachel last – all of this in hopes that Esau would not kill him or his family.

Jacob wrestles with God:

• Jacob wrestled with a “man” and we know from Scripture that human appearances of God are always the pre-incarnate Jesus known as a Christophany (Note: according to Scripture, no one see God’s full glory and lives – the closest is Moses who got to see God’s glory pass by from a distance behind, and he had to wear a veil for some time because he glowed from the experience).
• Evidence for the Christophany is in verses 28-30 where the man says “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” This man blessed him, and Jacob named the place “Peniel” for he said, “I have seen God face to face.”
• The people of Israel later institute the tradition of not eating the sinew of the hip, which is on the socket of the thigh, because God touched the socket of Jacob’s hip there.
• God gave Jacob the name Israel, which means: “Struggle with God,” or “he struggles with God,” and as we will see throughout the upcoming history of the nation of Israel, they will constantly struggle with God.
• Jacob prevailed in the sense that he became a believer in God and from here on out would trust God as the one and only God (and not part of the Pagan religions around him, like Laban’s).
• God reaffirms his name change again in chapter 35 when he also reconfirms the covenant promise made to his fathers, Abraham and Isaac, and this includes the seed promise.
• The Abrahamic Covenant would continue to unfold as the nation and land promise was now Jacob’s and would play out through his sons, especially Judah, in future time.

7.  Discussion and Application: We have seen some definite relationship issues in Jacob’s story. How does deception, favoritism and competition affect families or other relationships, and how do you think God would want us to handle those kinds of situations better?

Answers will vary…

It is important to note that at this point in time, we see Jacob/Israel begin to call upon the name of the LORD as his own God. Jacob went through, and will continue to go through, a lot of lessons that teach him he could not do things on his own, or on his own terms, and he needs to trust God, however, this does not, and will not, nullify the consequences of his mistakes and those of his family.

Please join us each week as we continue our case for the Old Testament, and a study in the book of Genesis!

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You will not find this material in the public school curriculum even though it is based on solid evidence and grounded in research. It is ironic that following the evidence to where it leads stops at the door of our public schools as they will not let a “Divine footprint” in!  Join us as we examine evidence for Christianity and learn how to become a thoughtful defender and ambassador of your faith.

Click into the resource page of this website to view many of the top Christian thinkers and apologists along with some of their work; connecting to these types of resources is essential in your Christian growth.

Please let me know what you think: Give feedback, ask questions or send concerns in the comment section of the blog.

Teri Dugan

TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com

1 Peter 3:15