Prince of God

"He spoke to God. He saw the angels of God. He spoke for God."

“And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.” (Genesis 32:1-2)

JACOB WAS headed home to the land of his father, Isaac, and his grandfather, Abraham. He’s got his brother, Esau, on his mind. After all, the last time they were together, Esau threatened his life. There’s his family to consider, his vast flocks and servants as well. It’s a long distance to travel. He didn’t part so amicably with his uncle Laban either, though God worked that out by giving his uncle a warning in a dream. Between Jacob’s nerves, his wives’ father, and his plans for greeting Esau, there’s these two verses where Jacob met angels on his way.

Wait. What? Why? Inquiring minds want to know, so I considered what else it says about Jacob in Genesis. Well, he’d seen them before. He was on his way toward his uncle to find a wife when he stops near Bethel, a place often visited by his grandpa, and he has this wild dream. He sees angels ascending and descending to the earth. Then God speaks and gives him the blessing he’d spoken to his grandfather, Abraham. The dream with God renaming him Israel. We’ve heard this bit in Sunday School, I know. But stop and consider it, for a moment. There is no salvation yet and won’t be for thousands of years, so he doesn’t have the Spirit of God living in him. We find it surprising then that he heard God better than we do. Stepping further back, Grandpa Abraham had had a conversation with God, an argument even. “And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? … Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir (Genesis 15:2-3).” We’re all about dignity with God nowadays, but Abraham, then Abram, just spoke his mind. God’s response was to promise him Isaac.

Looking ahead, we see Moses talking to God in a bush that didn’t burn. Not a cryptic prophecy full of symbolism, but a conversation. He also had an argument with God. “I can’t possibly speak for you. I stammer!” God chose Moses to represent Him in Egypt in order to deliver Israel, and Moses refused because he didn’t talk well (Exodus 4:10). So going back to Jacob, here’s an average man, in an average place, who hears from God that his “seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed (Genesis 28:14).” I mean, not our typical modern “three words at three a.m.” that we mull over for months. Instead, the God of heaven spoke paragraphs to an unsaved man, outside of any temple, without him making any sacrifice, without there being any written Law. And then, returning to the first verse, we find Jacob married with children and many herds, and there’s this casual remark that he saw angels.

And that’s not all because after Esau and he parted amicably, Jacob is, once again, sleeping, when an angel of God starts wrestling with him. All night. Insert disco tune.

“And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 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. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 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.” (Genesis 32:24-28)

A prince, which is the meaning of “Israel.” Jacob’s reply is, “I have seen God (Verse 30).” Spoken to God, seen the angels of God going in and out of Heaven, and more angels walking along. Anyone says they’ve seen an angel today, and we look at them funny. The apostle Paul made it clear we are not to worship angels (Colossians 2:18). See that Jacob did not worship them. But see that he saw into the Spirit clearly and was not afraid. Even greater, turning to the end of his life and his reunion with Joseph in Egypt, he speaks blessings over his children and grandchildren that are straight from God. He spoke to God. He saw the angels of God. He spoke for God.

A man with a covenant promise, who chose to believe it, poured enough truth into his son, Joseph, to give him God’s dreams, and God’s blessing while in bondage, and God’s morality when pressured by Potiphar’s wife. Joseph stood for the God of his fathers when locked in prison. When he overhears two of his fellow inmates have had a disturbing dream, he gives a wise reply: “And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you (Genesis 40:8).” He repeats this to Pharaoh, years later: “And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace (Genesis 41:16).” When living in another culture, surrounded by Egyptian deities, put there by his brothers’ hatred, he has enough God in his heart to not turn away and so fulfills God’s desires for his life. His father, Jacob, did that.

We see the nation of Israel worshiping the golden calf, turning aside from God over food, and whining about returning to Egypt. We read of their rebellion when they feared to enter the Promised Land, given to them by Abraham, their forefather. We see them wandering for forty years in the desert. After God had protected them from the plagues of Egypt and multiplied them exceedingly in Goshen, after He’d sent them out with the gold of Egypt, they looked away from the God of Abraham to idols made with hands, to selfish desires, and great fear. Then we read the prophets, who warned them about Babylon, and their coming bondage there for their sins. Who warned them about men who’d claim to be from God and speak whatever came into their heads (Jeremiah 29:9). We read the words of Jesus to the Pharisees in the gospels, when He tells them they are no better than their ancestors who murdered the prophets (Matthew 23:35). We think to ourselves, we’re glad we’re not like them. We have so much more of God now. And we miss the life of Jacob, who simply believed, and saw, and spoke, and an Old Covenant God was in all of it.

How much more will He do amidst you, New Covenant child of God?

“And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.” (Genesis 28:12-16)

Image by Karen .t from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com