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sau and Jacob – Preparing to Face Danger

Genesis 32: 1-22

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Facing danger is a part and parcel of life. In the UK we are fortunate enough not to have to face many dangers when it comes to nature or natural disaster. One source of danger is nature, but there are dangers outside of nature, there are dangers from people. Sometimes that can be nothing more than an car accident or sometimes it could be somebody intending to harm you in some way.

I grew up in the 70’s in Northern Ireland whereas a child the danger of a terrorist incident was ever present. As a teenager being attack or been beaten up by a sectarian gang was a very real possibility particularly if I took a wrong turn and ended up in the wrong part of the city in which I lived. My question is simply this, what do you do when you are faced with a danger, a danger that’s perhaps could even take your life?

What I have to say and answer to that is going to sound rather straightforward when I get to it and most of you will think I probably know that already. However, some scripture is written not to give us new information, but to remind us of things that we should already know or should help us not to forget. Maybe that’s the case here. 

In going through the Book of Genesis, as we’ve been doing we’ve come upon a story of a man who was facing an imminent danger and he knew it. He had warning, so the question is, how did he handle it?  I’m talking about the man we've been looking at lately called Jacob. 

Let me catch you up with where we are up to in the story of this rather interesting some might say maverick character. 20 years prior to this chapter, Jacob had deceived his father and his older brother Esau, by tricking Esau out of his birth right. Jacob tricked his father in giving Esau’s inheritance to him, instead of to his older brother.  As you can imagine that didn’t sit well with his older brother and he threatened to kill him. So, Jacob. left town, he left what was then called Palestine and went to Haran, which would be in modern day Iraq.  He spent 20 years there and, in the process, got four wives and became very wealthy, then the Lord appears to him and says, look, my will for your life is that you be back in Palestine. So, in essence, he says, go home.  As we open this chapter, Jacob is facing an imminent personal danger because there was real chance his brother would still want to take his life. The question is, how does he handle it?  It’s a rather interesting story that contains some significant spiritual principles on how to approach danger. So, let’s pick up the story at verse one. 

“So, Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.  When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” And he called the name of that place Mahanaim”.

(Genesis 32: 1-2)

Keep in mind he was in Heron, which is in modern day Iraq, and he’s moving toward what is modern day Israel or the Holy Land. Most commentators who look at this verse conclude that it indicates that he’s crossed the border, so to speak. So, he’s back in the land of Israel, and the first thing that happens is he’s met by. And Angel of God. Now we’re not told anything about this particular meeting, but it is interesting that when he left the land, he was met with the Lord at Bethel, and now he comes back to the land, and he meets the Lord again. This is probably to give him some reassurance, God has made it very clear that it is his will that Jacob will have a lot of descendants, which seems to indicate he is not going to be killed just yet. Perhaps this meeting with one of the angels of the Lord was to reassure him.  At any rate, we’re told Jacob said I met with the Lord here and both he and I set up camp here and he gives the place a name which means two camps. I think these opening verses are telling us that the Lord is reassuring him by meeting him with there and I can only think that that’s to reassure him. Let me just pause and say that what God promised him he was going to do, to be with him and I’m going to protect him.

I can’t help but make the point that the Lord tells us the same thing. In Hebrews chapter 13 he says.

“…be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”. 

(Hebrews 13: 5b)

If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ and you know him as your saviour, he has promised he will never, under any circumstances, leave you.  That’s the kind of thing that’s going on here.

 “Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the [b]country of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, “Speak thus to my lord Esau, ‘Thus your servant Jacob says: “I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favour in your sight.”

(Genesis 32: 3-5)

At this point, we are told in verse three that Jacob sent messengers ahead of him. He’s just crossed the border and he’s in his homeland and he sends messengers to his older brother?  Notice what he says to the messengers, he says to them to, “tell my Lord Esau”.  This is a very strategic significant statement because earlier we were told that the older was going to serve the younger and those were fighting words for Esau. Jacob is flipping it and he’s saying I accept that in this situation you’re my Lord and master, as a matter of fact, he calls himself a servant. He’s trying to be as diplomatic as he possibly can with his older brother but why does he bring up all this stuff about having oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants? I believe he’s signalling to him that he’s not coming for a handout. I am self-sufficient, he says,  I’ve gained a lot of wealth in the 20 years that I’ve been gone and don’t come to be a burden upon you and your family.  He’s asking permission to come back and sort things out. That’s why he sends the messengers ahead, and the messenger comes back, and they say verse six. 

“Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”

(Genesis 32: 6)

The messengers come back and they say, we met him, we told him your coming and he’s coming to see you, and by the way he’s bringing 400 men with him. Then he says, the messenger say he’s coming to see you, Good. And he’s bringing 400 men with him., not so good. This is Jacob’s worst fear a very real danger that Jacob feared might happen. As  a matter of fact, the next verse confirms this is how Jacob felt.

“So, Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies”. And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and]attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.”

(Genesis 32: 7-8)

Prior to this chapter, the Lord has appeared to Jacob and said I’m going to be with you and I’m going to protect you. At the beginning of this very chapter, an Angel of the Lord appears to him again, to reassure him. The one thing he should have known is that the Lords was going to protect him, right. He must have forgotten that already because the text says in verse seven, he was not just afraid, he was greatly afraid and distressed perhaps even close to panic. What am I going to do here, and why is he bringing 400 men with him, this can’t be good, he thinks?  The Lord had said trust me and Jacob appears to have forgotten that for a moment. So does he panic, now we get into the interesting part of the story. What did Jacob do?  What should we do when you’re facing danger? Well, in the verses that follow, it seems to me Jacob did three things. You .

Number one, he came up with a plan to protect himself and his family.  Look at verse 7 again. He divided the people that were with him along with the flocks and the herds and all the animals into two groups. He probably thinks if Esau attacks one group, then the other group can escape. That’s not a stupid thing to do, I mean, if we’re facing danger, maybe the first thing we need to do is have a plan, right?  If we’re facing danger, maybe we should try and come up with a plan, a response. The second thing he did is he prayed. So, let’s look at the prayer.

“Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies.  Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children.  For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”

(Genesis 32: 9-12)

He’s praying that’s good, but notice what he does in the prayer, he reminds the Lord of what he said. He says, Lord. “you promised me that if I went back home, you’d protect me. So, very important remind God of his promises. Jacob says, I’m just reminding you Lord, I’m scared at the moment, but I’m reminding you that you said if I came back home, you would protect me. Third thing he does is he praises God, he counts his blessings and says, “You’ve revealed truth to me. You’ve been merciful to me. You have blessed me. You have taken care of me”.  He’s not coming and saying you owe this to me Lord,  because You promised it to him, that’s not his attitude.  Rather, on the one hand, he says, you promised me, but at the same time he says, “I humbly admit I am not worthy of your promise. He acknowledged that the Lord promised, but at the same time says that he isn’t worthy.  After that he then gets his requests in. “Deliver me, please, Lord. Deliver me. I pray from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he might attack me and my wives and children. I am fearful that he might could come and destroy us all, even the women and children.  So, Lord, I’m afraid. It’s not a bad idea to honestly tell the Lord how you feel.  He then concludes in verse 12 by reminding him again of His promise to treat him well and make his descendants as numerous as the sand of the seashore. That’s what God promised Jacob, so he begins and ends the prayer with reminding himself and God of His promise and sandwiches in between is the acknowledgement that he is not worthy of all that God has bestowed upon him. 

I submit we need to learn to pray more like that. More than once we will encounter in the Bible people praying by simply reciting back to the Lord what he said he would do. You said you would take care of me. You said you would provide for me, so. I’m just reminding you that’s what you said.  You said it Lord, I’m not worthy of it, I didn’t earn it, but you said it, please do as you promised Lord. 

One of the greatest prayers in all of church history was a fellow named George Mueller.  He was famous for praying. He’s well known for building orphanages and feeding 1000’s of orphans. 

In his biography, he tells  how he when praying just reminded the Lord those orphans were his children, and it was his promise in his Word that he would take care for them. He reminded him that it said, in His word, You said you’d be the father of the fatherless”.  So, one of the things George Mueller did is he simply told the Lord, now, Lord, I'm just trying to do your work here, but it is always your work really. Help Lord, our cupboards are bare, we need food. There are all kinds of stories of how God provided for that ministry. Pearson, who wrote the original Muller biography, said, “of course, God does not need to be convinced”. The claims Muller made in prayer were just petitions based upon God’s word and his oath. 

That’s the biblical way to pray. Lord, you said in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving. Let our request be made known. Lord, I’m just doing what you told me to do and asking for what you promised, and it’s your work Lord, not mine. So, the first thing Jacob does is he divides the group into 2 camps and the second thing he does is he prays.  Third final he does is real interesting, and we will pick up the story next time.