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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
G E N E S I S
CHAP. XXXII.
We have here Jacob still upon his journey towards Canaan. Never
did so many memorable things occur in any march as in this of
Jacob’s little family. By the way he meets,
I. With good tidings
from his God,
II. With bad tidings from his brother,
to whom he sent a message to notify his return,
In his distress,
1. He divides his company,
2. He makes his prayer to God,
3. He sends a present to his brother,
4. He wrestles with the angel,
| Jacob Pursuing His Journey. | B. C. 1739. |
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1 And Jacob went on his way, and
the angels of God met him.
2 And when Jacob saw them, he said,
This is God’s host: and he called the
name of that place Mahanaim.
Jacob, having got clear of Laban, pursues
his journey homewards towards Canaan:
when God has helped us through difficulties
we should go on our way heaven-ward with
so much the more cheerfulness and resolution.
Now,
1. Here is Jacob’s convoy in
his journey
(v. 1):
The angels of God met
him, in a visible appearance, whether in a
vision by day or in a dream by night, as
when he saw them upon the ladder
is uncertain. Note, Those that
keep in a good way have always a good
guard; angels themselves are ministering
spirits for their safety,
Where
Jacob pitched his tents, they pitched theirs
about him,
They met him, to
bid him welcome to Canaan again; a more
honourable reception this was than ever any
prince had, that was met by the magistrates
of a city in their formalities. They met him
to congratulate him on his arrival, as well as
on his escape from Laban; for they have
pleasure in the prosperity of God’s servants.
They had invisibly attended him all along,
but now they appeared to him, because he
had greater dangers before him than those he
had hitherto encountered. Note, When
God designs his people for extraordinary
trials, he prepares them by extraordinary
comforts. We should think it had been
more seasonable for these angels to have appeared
to him amidst the perplexity and agitation
occasioned first by Laban, and afterwards
by Esau, than in this calm and quiet
interval, when he saw not himself in any
imminent peril; but God will have us, when
we are in peace, to provide for trouble, and,
when trouble comes, to live upon former observations
and experiences; for we walk by
faith, not by sight. God’s people, at death,
are returning to Canaan, to their Father’s
house; and then the angels of God will meet
them, to congratulate them on the happy
finishing of their servitude, and to carry
them to their rest.
2. The comfortable notice
he took of this convoy,
v. 2.
This is
God’s host, and therefore,
(1.) It is a powerful
host; very great is he that is thus attended,
and very safe that is thus guarded.
(2.) God must have the praise of this protection:
“This I may thank God for, for it
is his host.” A good man may with an eye
of faith see the same that Jacob saw with his
bodily eyes, by believing that promise
(Ps. xci. 11),
He shall give his angels charge over
thee. What need have we to dispute whether
every particular saint has a guardian
angel, when we are sure he has a guard of
angels about him? To preserve the remembrance
of this favour, Jacob gave a name to
the place from it, Mahanaim, two hosts, or
two camps. That is, say some of the rabbin,
one host of the guardian angels of Mesopotamia,
who conducted Jacob thence, and delivered
him safely to the other host of the
angels of Canaan, who met him upon the
borders where he now was. Rather, they
appeared to him in two hosts, one on either
side, or one in the front and the other in the
rear, to protect him from Laban behind and
Esau before, that they might be a complete
guard. Thus he is compassed with God’s
favour. Perhaps in allusion to this the
church is called Mahanaim, two armies,
Cant. vi. 13.
Here were Jacob’s family, which
made one army, representing the church
militant and itinerant on earth; and the
angels, another army, representing the church
triumphant and at rest in heaven.
3 And Jacob sent messengers before
him to Esau his brother unto the
land of Seir, the country of Edom.
4 And he commanded them, saying,
Thus shall ye speak unto my lord
Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus,
I have sojourned with Laban, and
stayed there until now:
5 And I have
oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants,
and womenservants: and I have
sent to tell my lord, that I may find
grace in thy sight.
6 And the messengers
returned to Jacob, saying, We
came to thy brother Esau, and also he
cometh to meet thee, and four hundred
men with him.
7 Then Jacob
was greatly afraid and distressed: and
he divided the people that was with
him, and the flocks, and herds, and
the camels, into two bands;
8 And
said, If Esau come to the one company,
and smite it, then the other
company which is left shall escape.
Now that Jacob was re-entering Canaan
God, by the vision of angels, reminded him
of the friends he had when he left it, and
thence he takes occasion to remind himself
of the enemies he had, particularly Esau. It
is probable that Rebekah had sent him word
of Esau’s settlement in Seir, and of the continuance
of his enmity to him. What shall
poor Jacob do? He longs to see his father,
and yet he dreads to see his brother. He
rejoices to see Canaan again, and yet cannot
but rejoice with trembling because of Esau.
I. He sends a very kind and humble
message to Esau. It does not appear that
his way lay through Esau’s country, or that
he needed to ask his leave for a passage;
but his way lay near it, and he would not
go by him without paying him the respect
due to a brother, a twin-brother, an only
brother, an elder brother, a brother offended.
Note,
1. Though our relations fail in their
duty to us, yet we must make conscience of
doing our duty to them.
2. It is a piece of
friendship and brotherly love to acquaint our
friends with our condition, and enquire into
theirs. Acts of civility may help to slay
enmities. Jacob’s message to him is very
obliging,
(1.) He calls Esau his
lord, himself his servant, to intimate that he
did not insist upon the prerogatives of the
birthright and blessing he had obtained for
himself, but left it to God to fulfil his own
purpose in his seed. Note, Yielding pacifies
great offences,
Eccl. x. 4.
We must not refuse
to speak in a respectful and submissive manner
to those that are ever so unjustly exasperated
against it.
(2.) He gives him a short account
of himself, that he was not a fugitive and a
vagabond, but, though long absent, had had a
certain dwelling-place, with his own relations:
I have sojourned with Laban, and staid there
till now; and that he was not a beggar, nor
did he come home, as the prodigal son, destitute
of necessaries and likely to be a charge
to his relations; no, I have oxen and asses.
This he knew would (if any thing) recommend
him to Esau’s good opinion. And,
(3.) He courts his favour: I have sent, that I
might find grace in thy sight. Note, It is no
disparagement to those that have the better
cause to become petitioners for reconciliation,
and to sue for peace as well as right.
II. He receives a very formidable account
of Esau’s warlike preparations against him
(v. 6),
not a word, but a blow, a very coarse
return to his kind message, and a sorry welcome
home to a poor brother: He comes to
meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
He is now weary of waiting for the days of
mourning for this good father, and even before
they come he resolves to slay his brother.
1. He remembers the old quarrel, and will now
be avenged on him for the birthright and
blessing, and, if possible, defeat Jacob’s
expectations from both. Note, malice harboured
will last long, and find an occasion to
break out with violence a great while after
the provocations given. Angry men have
good memories.
2. He envies Jacob what
little estate he had, and, though he himself
was now possessed of a much better, yet nothing
will serve him but to feed his eyes upon
Jacob’s ruin, and fill his fields with Jacob’s
spoils. Perhaps the account Jacob sent him
of his wealth did but provoke him the more.
3. He concludes it easy to destroy him, now
that he was upon the road, a poor weary
traveller, unfixed, and (as he thinks) unguarded.
Those that have the serpent’s poison
have commonly the serpent’s policy, to
take the first and fairest opportunity that offers
itself for revenge.
4. He resolves to do it suddenly,
and before Jacob had come to his father,
lest he should interpose and mediate between
them. Esau was one of those that hated peace;
when Jacob speaks, speaks peaceably, he is for
war,
Out he marches, spurred on
with rage, and intent on blood and murders;
four hundred men he had with him, probably
such as used to hunt with him, armed, no
doubt, rough and cruel like their leader, ready
to execute the word of command though ever
so barbarous, and now breathing nothing but
threatenings and slaughter. The tenth part
of these were enough to cut off poor Jacob,
and his guiltless helpless family, root and
branch. No marvel therefore that it follows
(v. 7),
then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed,
perhaps the more so from having
scarcely recovered the fright Laban had put
him in. Note, Many are the troubles of the
righteous in this world, and sometimes the
end of one is but the beginning of another.
The clouds return after the rain. Jacob,
though a man of great faith, yet was now
greatly afraid. Note, A lively apprehension
of danger, and a quickening fear arising from
it, may very well consist with a humble confidence
in God’s power and promise. Christ
himself, in his agony, was sorely amazed.
III. He puts himself into the best posture
of defence that his present circumstances will
admit. It was absurd to think of making
resistance, all his contrivance is to make an
escape,
He thinks it prudent not to
venture all in one bottom, and therefore
divides what he had into two companies, that,
if one were smitten, the other might escape.
Like a tender careful master of a family, he
is more solicitous for their safety than for his
own. He divided his company, not as Abraham
(ch. xiv. 15),
for fight, but for flight.
| Jacob’s Prayer. | B. C. 1739. |
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9 And Jacob said, O God of my
father Abraham, and God of my father
Isaac, the LORD which saidst
unto me, Return unto thy country, and
to thy kindred, and I will deal well
with thee:
10 I am not worthy of the
least of all the mercies, and of all the
truth, which thou hast showed unto
thy servant; for with my staff I passed
over this Jordan; and now I am become
two bands.
11 Deliver me, I pray
thee, from the hand of my brother, from
the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest
he will come and smite me, and the mother
with the children.
12 And thou
saidst, I will surely do thee good, and
make thy seed as the sand of the sea,
which cannot be numbered for multitude.
Our rule is to call upon God in the time of
trouble; we have here an example to this
rule, and the success encourages us to follow
this example. It was now a time of Jacob’s
trouble, but he shall be saved out of it; and
here we have him praying for that salvation,
In his distress he sought the
Lord, and he heard him. Note, Times of
fear should be times of prayer; whatever
frightens us should drive us to our knees, to
our God. Jacob had lately seen his guard of
angels, but, in this distress, he applied to
God, not to them; he knew they were his
fellow-servants,
Nor did he
consult Laban’s teraphim; it was enough for
him that he had a God to go to. To him he
addresses himself with all possible solemnity,
so running for safety into the name of the
Lord, as a strong tower,
Prov. xviii. 10.
This prayer is the more remarkable because
it won him the honour of being an Israel, a
prince with God, and the father of the praying
remnant, who are hence called the seed of Jacob,
to whom he never said, Seek you me in vain.
Now it is worth while to enquire what there
was extraordinary in this prayer, that it should
gain the petitioner all this honour.
I. The request itself is one, and very express:
Deliver me from the hand of my brother,
v. 11.
Though there was no human probability
on his side, yet he believed the power of
God could rescue him as a lamb out of the
bloody jaws of the loin. Note,
1. We have
leave to be particular in our addresses to God,
to mention the particular straits and difficulties
we are in; for the God with whom we
have to do is one we may be free with: we
have liberty of speech (parresia) at the throne
of grace.
2. When our brethren aim to be
our destroyers, it is our comfort that we have a
Father to whom we may apply as our deliverer.
II. The pleas are many, and very powerful;
never was cause better ordered,
He offers up his request with great faith, fervency,
and humility. How earnestly does
he beg! Deliver me, I pray thee,
v. 11.
His
fear made him importunate. With what
holy logic does he argue! With what divine
eloquence does he plead! Here is a noble
copy to write after.
1. He addresses himself to God as the God
of his fathers,
v. 9.
Such was the humble
self-denying sense he had of his own unworthiness
that he did not call God his own God,
but a God in covenant with his ancestors: O
God of my father Abraham, and God of my
father Isaac; and this he could the better
plead because the covenant, by divine designation,
was entailed upon him. Note, God’s
covenant with our fathers may be a comfort
to us when were are in distress. It has often
been so to the Lord’s people,
Being born in God’s house, we are taken
under his special protection.
2. He produces his warrant: Thou saidst
unto me, Return unto thy country. He did
not rashly leave his place with Laban, nor
undertake this journey out of a fickle humour,
or a foolish fondness for his native country,
but in obedience to God’s command. Note,
(1.) We may be in the way of our duty, and yet
may meet with trouble and distress in that way.
As prosperity will not prove us in the right, so
cross events will not prove us in the wrong;
we may be going whither God calls us, and
yet may think our way hedged up with thorns.
(2.) We may comfortably trust God with our
safety, while we carefully keep to our duty.
If God be our guide, he will be our guard.
3. He humbly acknowledges his own unworthiness
to receive any favour from God
(v. 10):
I am not worthy; it is an unusual
plea. Some would think he should have
pleaded that what was now in danger was his
own, against all the world, and that he had
earned it dear enough; no, he pleads, Lord,
I am not worthy of it. Note, Self-denial and
self-abasement well become us in all our addresses
to the throne of grace. Christ never
commended any of his petitioners so much as
him who said, Lord, I am not worthy
and her who said, Truth, Lord, yet
the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from
their master’s table,
Matt. xv. 27.
Now observe
here,
(1.) How magnificently and honourably
he speaks of the mercies of God to
him. We have here, mercies, in the plural
number, and inexhaustible spring, and innumerable
streams; mercies and truth, that is,
past mercies given according to the promise,
and further mercies secured by the promise.
Note, What is laid up in God’s truth, as well
as what is laid out in God’s mercies, is the
matter both of the comforts and the praises
of active believers. Nay, observe, it is all the
mercies, and all the truth; the manner of expression
is copious, and intimates that his
heart was full of God’s goodness.
(2.) How
meanly and humbly he speaks of himself, disclaiming
all thought of his own merit: “I am
not worthy of the least of all thy mercies,
much less am I worthy of so great a favour
as this I am now suing for.” Jacob was a
considerable man, and, upon many accounts,
very deserving, and, in treating with Laban,
had justly insisted on his merits, but not before
God. I am less than all thy mercies; so
the word is. Note, The best and greatest of
men are utterly unworthy of the least favour
from God, and just be ready to own it upon
all occasions. It was the excellent Mr. Herbert’s
motto, Less than the least of all God’s
mercies. Those are best prepared for the
greatest mercies that see themselves unworthy
of the least.
4. He thankfully owns God’s goodness to
him in his banishment, and how much it had
outdone his expectations: “With my staff I
passed over this Jordan, poor and desolate,
like a forlorn and despised pilgrim;” he had
no guides, no companions, no attendants, no
conveniences for travel, but his staff only,
nothing else to stay himself upon; “and now
I have become two bands, now I am surrounded
with a numerous and comfortable retinue of
children and servants:” though it was his
distress that had now obliged him to divide
his family into two bands, yet he makes use
of that for the magnifying of the mercy of his
increase. Note,
(1.) The increase of our families
is then comfortable indeed to us when
we see God’s mercies, and his truth, in it.
(2.) Those whose latter end greatly increases
ought, with humility and thankfulness, to
remember how small their beginning was.
Jacob pleads, “Lord, thou didst keep me
when I went out with only my staff, and had
but one life to lose; wilt thou not keep me
now that so many are embarked with me?”
5. He urges the extremity of the peril he
was in: Lord, deliver me from Esau, for I
fear him,
v. 11.
The people of God have not
been shy of telling God their fears; for they
know he takes cognizance of them, and considers
them. The fear that quickens prayer
is itself pleadable. It was not a robber, but
a murderer, that he was afraid of; nor was it
his own life only that lay at stake, but the
mothers’ and the children’s, that had left
their native soil to go along with him. Note,
Natural affection may furnish us with allowable
acceptable pleas in prayer.
6. He insists especially upon the promise
God had made him
(v. 9):
Thou saidst, I will
deal well with thee, and again, in the close
(v. 12):
Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good.
Note,
(1.) The best we can say to God in
prayer is what he has said to us. God’s promises,
as they are the surest guide of our desires
in prayer, and furnish us with the best
petitions, so they are the firmest ground of
our hopes, and furnish us with the best
pleas. “Lord, thou saidst thus and thus;
and wilt thou not be as good as thy word,
the word upon which thou had caused me to
hope?”
(2.) The most general
promises are applicable to particular cases.
“Thou saidst, I will do thee good; Lord, do
me good in this matter.” He pleads also a
particular promise, that of the multiplying of
his seed. “Lord, what will become of that
promise, if they be all cut off?” Note,
[1.] There are promises to the families of good
people, which are improvable in prayer for family-mercies,
ordinary and extraordinary,
ch. xvii. 7; Ps. cxii. 2; cii. 28.
[2.] The world’s
threatenings should drive us to God’s promises.
| Jacob’s Present to Esau. | B. C. 1739. |
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13 And he lodged there that same
night; and took of that which came
to his hand a present for Esau his brother;
14 Two hundred she goats, and
twenty he goats, two hundred ewes,
and twenty rams,
15 Thirty milch
camels with their colts, forty kine, and
ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten
foals.
16 And he delivered them into
the hand of his servants, every drove
by themselves; and said unto his servants,
Pass over before me, and put
a space betwixt drove and drove.
17 And he commanded the foremost, saying,
When Esau my brother meeteth
thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose
art thou? and whither goest thou?
and whose are these before thee?
18 Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant
Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto
my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is
behind us.
19 And so commanded
he the second, and the third, and all
that followed the droves, saying, On
this manner shall ye speak unto Esau,
when ye find him.
20 And say ye
moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob
is behind us. For he said, I will appease
him with the present that goeth
before me, and afterward I will see
his face; peradventure he will accept
of me.
21 So went the present over
before him: and himself lodged that
night in the company.
22 And he
rose up that night, and took his
two wives, and his two womenservants,
and his eleven sons, and passed over
the ford Jabbok.
23 And he took
them, and sent them over the brook,
and sent over that he had.
Jacob, having piously made God his friend
by a prayer, is here prudently endeavouring
to make Esau his friend by a present. He
had prayed to God to deliver him from the
hand of Esau, for he feared him; but neither
did his fear sink into such a despair as dispirits
for the use of means, nor did his prayer make
him presume upon God’s mercy, without the
use of means. Note, When we have prayed
to God for any mercy, we must second our
prayers with our endeavours; else, instead of
trusting god, we tempt him; we must so
depend upon God’s providence as to make
use of our own prudence. “Help thyself,
and God will help thee;” God answers our
prayers by teaching us to order our affairs
with discretion. To pacify Esau,
I. Jacob sent him a very noble present,
not of jewels or fine garments (he had them
not), but of cattle, to the number of 580 in
all,
Now,
1. It was an evidence
of the great increase with which God had
blessed Jacob that he could spare such a
number of cattle out of his stock.
2. It was
an evidence of his wisdom that he would
willingly part with some, to secure the rest;
some men’s covetousness loses them more
than ever it gained them, and, by grudging
a little expense, they expose themselves to
great damage; skin for skin, and all that a
man has, if he be a wise man, he will give for
his life.
3. It was a present that he thought
would be acceptable to Esau, who had traded
so much in hunting wild beasts that perhaps
he was but ill furnished with tame cattle with
which to stock his new conquests. And we
may suppose that the mixed colours of Jacob’s
cattle, ring-straked, speckled, and
spotted, would please Esau’s fancy.
4. He
promised himself that by this present
he should gain Esau’s favour; for a gift commonly
prospers, which way soever it turns
and makes room for a man
nay, it pacifies anger and
strong wrath,
Prov. xxi. 14.
Note,
[1.] We
must not despair of reconciling ourselves
even to those that have been most exasperated
against us; we ought not to judge men
unappeasable, till we have tried to appease them.
[2.] Peace and love, though purchased dearly,
will prove a good bargain to the purchaser.
Many a morose ill-natured man would have
said, in Jacob’s case, “Esau has vowed my
death without cause, and he shall never be a
farthing the better for me; I will see him far
enough before I will send him a present:”
but Jacob forgives and forgets.
II. He sent him a very humble message,
which he ordered his servants to deliver in
the best manner,
They must call
Esau their lord, and Jacob his servant; they
must tell him the cattle they had was a small
present which Jacob had sent him, as a specimen
of his acquisitions while he was abroad.
The cattle he sent were to be disposed of in
several droves, and the servants that attended
each drove were to deliver the same message,
that the present might appear the more valuable,
and his submission, so often repeated,
might be the more likely to influence Esau.
They must especially take care to tell him
that Jacob was coming after
(v. 18-20),
that he might not suspect he had fled through fear.
Note, A friendly confidence in men’s goodness
may help to prevent the mischief designed
us by their badness: if Jacob will seem
not to be afraid of Esau, Esau, it may be
hoped, will not be a terror to Jacob.
| Jacob Wrestles with an Angel. | B. C. 1739. |
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24 And Jacob was left alone; and
there wrestled a man with him until
the breaking of the day.
25 And when
he saw that he prevailed not against
him, he touched the hollow of his
thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh
was out of joint, as he wrestled with
him.
26 And he said, Let me go,
for the day breaketh. And he said, I
will not let thee go, except thou bless
me.
27 And he said unto him, What
is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be
called no more Jacob, but Israel: for
as a prince hast thou power with God
and with men, and hast prevailed.
29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell
me, I pray thee, thy name. And he
said, Wherefore is it that thou dost
ask after my name? And he blessed
him there.
30 And Jacob called the
name of the place Peniel: for I have
seen God face to face, and my life is
preserved.
31 And as he passed over
Penuel the sun rose upon him, and
he halted upon his thigh.
32 Therefore the
children of Israel eat not of
the sinew which shrank, which is upon
the hollow of the thigh, unto this day:
because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s
thigh in the sinew that shrank.
We have here the remarkable story of Jacob’s
wrestling with the angel and prevailing,
which is referred to,
Very early
in the morning, a great while before day,
Jacob had helped his wives and his children
over the river, and he desired to be private,
and was left alone, that he might again more
fully spread his cares and fears before God
in prayer. Note, We ought to continue instant
in prayer, always to pray and not to
faint: frequency and importunity in prayer
prepare us for mercy. While Jacob was
earnest in prayer, stirring up himself to take
hold on God, an angel takes hold on him.
Some think this was a created angel, the angel
of his presence
one of those that
always behold the face of our Father and attend
on the shechinah, or the divine Majesty,
which probably Jacob had also in view.
Others think it was Michael our prince, the
eternal Word, the angel of the covenant, who
is indeed the Lord of the angels, who often
appeared in a human shape before he assumed
the human nature for a perpetuity;
whichsoever it was, we are sure God’s name
was in him,
Exod. xxiii. 21.
Observe,
I. How Jacob and this angel engaged,
It was a single combat, hand to hand;
they had neither of them any seconds. Jacob
was now full of care and fear about the interview
he expected, next day, with his brother,
and, to aggravate the trial, God himself
seemed to come forth against him as an
enemy, to oppose his entrance into the land
of promise, and to dispute the pass with him,
not suffering him to follow his wives and
children whom he had sent before. Note,
Strong believers must expect divers temptations,
and strong ones. We are told by the
prophet
how Jacob wrestled: he
wept, and made supplication; prayers and
tears were his weapons. It was not only a corporal,
but a spiritual, wrestling, by the vigorous
actings of faith and holy desire; and
thus all the spiritual seed of Jacob, that pray
in praying, still wrestle with God.
II. What was the success of the engagement.
1. Jacob kept his ground; though
the struggle continued long, the angel, prevailed
not against him
(v. 25),
that is, this
discouragement did not shake his faith, nor
silence his prayer. It was not in his own
strength that he wrestled, nor by his own
strength that he prevailed, but in and by
strength derived from Heaven. That of
Job illustrates this
(Job xxiii. 6),
Will he
plead against me with his great power? No
(had the angel done so, Jacob had been
crushed), but he will put strength in me; and
by that strength Jacob had power over the
angel,
Hos. xii. 4.
Note, We cannot prevail
with God but in his own strength. It is his
Spirit that intercedes in us, and helps our infirmities,
Rom. viii. 26.
2. The angel put
out Jacob’s thigh, to show him what he
could do, and that it was God he was wrestling
with, for no man could disjoint his thigh
with a touch. Some think that Jacob felt
little or no pain from this hurt; it is probable
that he did not, for he did not so much
as halt till the struggle was over
(v. 31),
and,
if so, this was an evidence of a divine touch
indeed, which wounded and healed at the
same time. Jacob prevailed, and yet had
his thigh put out. Note, Wrestling believers
may obtain glorious victories, and yet come
off with broken bones; for when they are
weak then are they strong, weak in themselves,
but strong in Christ,
Our honours and comforts in this world have
their alloys.
3. The angel, by an admirable
condescension, mildly requests Jacob to let
him go
(v. 26),
as God said to Moses
Let me alone. Could not a mighty
angel get clear of Jacob’s grapples? He
could; but thus he would put an honour on
Jacob’s faith and prayer, and further try his
constancy. The king is held in the galleries
(Cant. vii. 5);
I held him (says the spouse)
and would not let him go,
Cant. iii. 4.
The
reason the angel gives why he would be gone
is because the day breaks, and therefore he
would not any longer detain Jacob, who had
business to do, a journey to go, a family to
look after, which, especially in this critical
juncture, called for his attendance. Note,
Every thing is beautiful in its season; even
the business of religion, and the comforts of
communion with God, must sometimes give
way to the necessary affairs of this life: God
will have mercy, and not sacrifice.
4. Jacob
persists in his holy importunity: I will not
let thee go, except thou bless me; whatever
becomes of his family and journey, he resolves
to make the best he can of this opportunity,
and not to lose the advantage of his
victory: he does not mean to wrestle all
night for nothing, but humbly resolves he
will have a blessing, and rather shall all his
bones be put out of joint than he will go
away without one. The credit of a conquest
will do him no good without the comfort of
a blessing. In begging this blessing he owns
his inferiority, though he seemed to have the
upper hand in the struggle; for the less is
blessed of the better. Note, Those that would
have the blessing of Christ must be in good
earnest, and be importunate for it, as those
that resolve to have no denial. It is the fervent
prayer that is the effectual prayer.
5. The angel puts a perpetual mark of honour
upon him, by changing his name
(v. 27, 28):
“Thou art a brave combatant” (says the
angel), “a man of heroic resolution; what
is thy name?” “Jacob,” says he, a supplanter;
so Jacob signifies: “Well,” says
the angel, “be thou never so called any more;
henceforth thou shalt be celebrated, not for
craft and artful management, but for true
valour; thou shalt be called Israel, a prince
with God, a name greater than those of the
great men of the earth.” He is a prince indeed
that is a prince with God, and those
are truly honourable that are mighty in
prayer, Israels, Israelites indeed. Jacob is
here knighted in the field, as it were, and
has a title of honour given him by him that
is the fountain of honour, which will remain,
to his praise, to the end of time. Yet this
was not all; having power with God, he shall
have power with men too. Having prevailed
for a blessing from heaven, he shall, no
doubt, prevail for Esau’s favour. Note,
Whatever enemies we have, if we can but
make God our friend, we are well off; those
that by faith have power in heaven have
thereby as much on earth as they
have occasion for.
6. He dismisses him
with a blessing,
Jacob desired to
know the angel’s name, that he might, according
to his capacity, do him honour,
But that request was denied,
that he might not be too proud of his conquest,
nor think he had the angel at such an
advantage as to oblige him to what he
pleased. No, “Wherefore dost thou ask after
my name? What good will it do thee to
know that?” The discovery of that was reserved
for his death-bed, upon which he was
taught to call him Shiloh. But, instead of
telling him his name, he gave him his blessing,
which was the thing he wrestled for:
He blessed him there, repeated and ratified
the blessing formerly given him. Note, Spiritual
blessings, which secure our felicity, are
better and much more desirable than fine
notions which satisfy our curiosity. An interest
in the angel’s blessing is better than
an acquaintance with his name. The tree of
life is better than the tree of knowledge.
Thus Jacob carried his point; a blessing he
wrestled for, and a blessing he had; nor did
ever any of his praying seed seek in vain.
See how wonderfully God condescends to
countenance and crown importunate prayer:
those that resolve, though God slay them,
yet to trust in him, will, at length, be more
than conquerors.
7. Jacob gives a new name
to the place; he calls it Peniel, the face of
God
(v. 30),
because there he had seen the
appearance of God, and obtained the favour
of God. Observe, The name he gives to the
place preserves and perpetuates, not the honour
of his valour or victory, but only the
honour of God’s free grace. He does not
say, “In this place I wrestled with God, and
prevailed;” but, “In this place I saw God
face to face, and my life was preserved;” not,
“It was my praise that I came off a conqueror,
but it was God’s mercy that I escaped
with my life.” Note, It becomes those whom
God honours to take shame to themselves,
and to admire the condescensions of his grace
to them. Thus David did, after God had
sent him a gracious message
Who am I, O Lord God?
8. The memorandum
Jacob carried of this in his bones:
He halted on his thigh
(v. 31);
some think he
continued to do so to his dying-day; and, if
he did, he had no reason to complain,
for the honour and comfort he obtained by
this struggle were abundantly sufficient to
countervail the damage, though he went
limping to his grave. He had no reason to
look upon it as his reproach thus to bear in
his body the marks of the Lord Jesus
(Gal. vi. 17);
yet it might serve, like Paul’s thorn in
the flesh, to keep him from being lifted up
with the abundance of the revelations. Notice
is taken of the sun’s rising upon him
when he passed over Penuel; for it is sunrise
with that soul that has communion with
God. The inspired penman mentions a traditional
custom which the seed of Jacob had,
in remembrance of this, never to eat of that
sinew, or muscle, in any beast, by which the
hip-bone is fixed in its cup: thus they preserved
the memorial of this story, and gave
occasion to their children to enquire concerning
it; they also did honour to the memory of
Jacob. And this use we may still make of it,
to acknowledge the mercy of God, and our
obligations to Jesus Christ, that we may now
keep up our communion with God, in faith,
hope, and love, without peril either of life or limb.
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