Wrestling with the Face of God

By Terance Clark     December 14, 2024      8 Minute Read

Week 8

This Weeks Passage: Genesis 32:4 – 36:43

Parasha Name: Vayishlach (Definition – And He Sent)

The scriptures testify, “be sure your sin will find you out”.  I’ve learned something in life, not because the scripture says it, but because I’ve experienced it.  There will always be a price for the wrongs committed.  Always!  Many times we don’t even realize that what we are experiencing over here is the result of what we did over there.

This week Jacob finally has to confront his brother Esau after twenty-two years.  Dig in with me, because this story is one of the best in scripture and there are some mysteriously hidden phrases that crack open the meaning behind the meaning and allows us to see what God was not only doing with Jacob, but what He does with us.  This story is not just about reconciliation, that is a secondary piece, this story is about not just discovering, but accepting who God has made you to be and choosing to accept his purpose for your life.  Okay, I’m way ahead of myself.  Let’s look at the story.

“This story is not just about reconciliation,

that is a secondary piece.”

A Mysterious Encounter

Jacob finally heads home and sends a message to his brother that he is coming, hence the name “And he sent”.  The messenger returns to let him know that Esau is coming with four-hundred of his men.  Scripture says that Jacob was afraid and distressed.  You think!  After all these years his brother hadn’t forgot that his last words were I am going to kill him.  There is a lot to unpack here as Jacob has no idea what this means, so he prepares for every scenario possible just in case.  He divides the camp in two and prepares gifts to give his brother.  He separates the family and then he positions himself on the other side of the river.  Jewish legend says Jacob had planned to make a run for it except he got into a fight.  The bible says he wrestled with a man until daybreak, but there is more to the story, there has to be.  The prophet Hosea said it was an angel that he wrestled, but Jacob himself said it was God (32:30).  How do we make sense of it and why did it happen.

This encounter might be the most baffling and mystifying in scripture because there is little information given.  We don’t know the location or the person or why.  This encounter happens deep in the night and it seems to take the entire night, but there are some key words and phrases that Jacob uses that sheds some light and the outcome which was a new name given to him is a clear ending.  So, let’s try to understand the deep meaning behind the secrecy and the message that you and I can take away from the encounter.

When We Wrestle with the Faces of God

Let’s work our way backward from the end to see the story differently.  When Esau arrives none of the things Jacob feared occurred.  Esau runs to him, throws his arms around him, and kisses him and weeps.  Okay, didn’t see that coming.  Jacob bows down seven times prostrating himself before Esau, then each member of his family does the same.  Five times Jacob calls Esau “my lord”, twice he calls himself Esau’s servant (four times in the previous chapter).  But Jacob lavishes all these gifts upon his brother and his brother refuses the gifts saying “I have plenty”.  The key is in Jacobs response.  Jacob says to Esau, If I have found favor in your eyes accept this gift, for to see your face is like seeing the face of God.  This should ring the first bell for us and there is more.  He then says to Esau, please accept and in most translations it say “my present” but the true translation is “my blessing” for God has been gracious to me and I have everything.  Jacob is giving the blessing that he took back to Esau.  Wow, I didn’t see that coming.  There are a number of play on words in this passage.  More than we can cover in this short message, so I will try to sum up the best part for us.

“Once we stop striving with ourselves,

we will find others will stop striving with us as well.”

The Hebrew word Panim means face. Unfortunately the translations fail to convey the real message Jacob was making.  Verse 20 in the second part should read “for he thought, I will wipe his face with the gift that goes ahead of my face; afterward , when I see his face perhaps he will lift up my face”.  There is a lot of talk about face after Jacobs encounter with the face of God.  Remember, he names the place “Peniel – face of God” because he saw God face to face and his life was spared.  This encounter caused God to change his name to Israel which means “wrestled with God and men and has overcome”.

I believe the scripture is vague about the man Jacob wrestled with because he wrestled with more than one man.  It was God, but he had the face of Jacob and the face of Esau and the face of God and who knows maybe the faces of others as well.  God has a way of making us look at the faces of those we need to see, while recognizing what we really need to see within our own face.  The problem was Jacob didn’t know who he was, he had always wanted to be his older brother Esau and so he spent a lot of time trying to take the things that Esau had or would receive.  It’s hard trying to be someone else, and Jacob spent a lot of time wrestling with his problem, but on that night he finally came face to face with the real issue and recognized that he no longer needed to be someone else.  He finally accepted who he was and he also accepted the real blessing that had been given to him.  Once he did that he realized he had everything he needed.  Once we stop striving with ourselves we will find others will stop striving with us as well.  Jacob could truly give his brother back the blessing he stole and yet keep the true blessing God had given him, which was much bigger than wealth and power. 

What Do You Need to be Happy

How about you?  Do you know who you are, or are you seeking after what others possess?  Striving to be seen or known, or are you looking for respect, wealth or power in all the wrong places.  The depths to this story reach far beyond my coverage, but if we can take one thing away we should learn that Jacob was never at peace until he stopped pursuing things that he didn’t need.  God always provides us with what we need and it will always be enough and when we fail to recognize it only a wrestling match with His face will help us!