Jacob Wrestling with God

Jacob has now returned to Canaan. Ahead of him is a meeting with his brother, Esau. How will Esau react? Jacob sent messengers ahead of him bearing gifts for Esau. It was a sign of the guilty conscience that Jacob had for how he had treated his brother.

Jacob is anxious when he hears that Esau is coming with 400 men towards him. He does two things. Firstly he divides up his people into two groups and sends one group ahead of the other, so that if there is violence, then at least some of his family will survive. This is Jacob acting like his old self, with cunning. The second thing he does is to pray (vv 9 – 12). This is the first recorded prayer in the Bible and, we are to pay particular attention to it as it will teach much about the subject of, in this instance, prayer.

There is also much to learn when Jacob meets with the Lord at the brook named Jabbok. It is here that we read of the wrestling which makes this passage so significant and personal to Jacob's experience.