Genesis 32:1-22 (ESV)
Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.”
And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”
And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”
So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.” He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’ then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’” He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”
So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp. The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had.
Have you ever faced a moment where all your cleverness, all your planning, all your strength simply wasn’t enough? That’s where Jacob finds himself here. He’s about to meet Esau, the brother he cheated and deceived years earlier. And now Esau is coming with four hundred men. Jacob is terrified. He knows that, left to himself, he cannot fix this.
But notice how the passage begins. Before Jacob even knows what’s coming, God reminds him that His angels are near. Jacob sees God’s camp, Mahanaim, a visible reminder that the Lord’s armies are with him. What a grace God has given to Jacob here! Even when Jacob trembles, God is already surrounding him with His presence.
Still, Jacob slips into old habits. He schemes, divides his camp, sends extravagant gifts, hoping to buy Esau’s forgiveness. We can sympathize, can’t we? How often do we rely on our own strategies instead of simply resting in God’s promises? But what is remarkable is that, for the first time, Jacob really prays. Listen to his words: “I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant.” He is starting to develop a heart of faith. He confesses his unworthiness and is throwing himself on God’s mercy.
Jacob clings to God’s covenant promise. “You said, ‘I will surely do you good.’” That’s what faith does, it holds God to His Word. Not arrogantly, but humbly, with confidence that the Lord cannot lie.
And here’s where this story touches us. Like Jacob, we all have worries and fears don’t we? We all have sins from the past that we cannot undo. And we all face moments when the future seems uncertain. But the God who promised Jacob is the same God who has spoken to us in Christ. He has promised never to leave us or forsake us. He has promised forgiveness through the cross and eternal life through the resurrection. Our confidence isn’t in our clever plans, our strategies, or our good works—it rests entirely on His grace.
Jacob will wrestle with God in the night that follows this story, but even here we see him beginning to learn what grace really means. It’s not about what we can secure for ourselves. It’s about trusting the God who fights for us, who surrounds us with His angels, who keeps covenant love forever.
So, friends, where are you tempted to rely on your own plans today? What fear presses in on your heart? Bring it to the Lord in prayer. Confess, like Jacob, “I am not worthy.” And then hold fast to God’s promises in Christ. Because when we are weak, He is strong.
Closing Prayer
Father, we confess that so often we are like Jacob, quick to scheme, slow to trust. Yet You are faithful. You have surrounded us with Your presence and given us Your Son, who has secured our salvation forever. Teach us to rest in Your promises, to cling to Your Word, and to walk forward in faith even when we are afraid. Strengthen us by Your Spirit, and remind us that in Christ we are Yours forever. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.