Vayishlach, וַיִּשְׁל - And He Sent
Torah Portion: Genesis 32:4-36:43
Genesis 32:14–30
32:14 "... two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. 16 He delivered them into the hands of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put a space between herd and herd.” 17 He commanded the foremost, saying, “When Esau, my brother, meets you, and asks you, saying, ‘Whose are you? Where are you going? Whose are these before you?’ 18 Then you shall say, ‘They are your servant, Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord, Esau. Behold, he also is behind us.’” 19 He commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, “This is how you shall speak to Esau, when you find him. 20 You shall say, ‘Not only that, but behold, your servant, Jacob, is behind us.’” For, he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”
21 So the present passed over before him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.
22 He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had. 24 Jacob was left alone and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day. 25 When he saw that he didn’t prevail against him, the man touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained as he wrestled. 26 The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.”
Jacob said, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.”
27 He said to him, “What is your name?”
He said, “Jacob”.
28 He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with Elohim and with men, and have prevailed.”
29 Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”
He said, “Why is it that you ask what my name is?” So he blessed him there.
30 Jacob called the name of the place Peniel; for he said, “I have seen Elohim face to face, and my life is preserved.”
Today’s Meditation:
A strange story, Jacob wrestling with Hashem. Why did they have that type of meeting? Why not just meet over a campfire? Was it that the actual wrestling was Jacob’s fear of meeting with his brother, and whether he should even meet him? In verse 30, Jacob says, “I have seen Elohim face to face, and my life is preserved.” He is wrestling with the Father of Lights, face-to-face, and his life is spared. I suppose the solution to Jacob’s fears has been found. He proceeds and meets his brother. Contemplate why Jacob physically wrestled with G-d. And believe in the outcome.
Today’s Challenge:
Are you currently wrestling with a decision? Are you unsure what to do? If you are wrestling with Hashem regarding this issue, it may be that you are not listening to Him. Because if you were doing what He was telling you to do, there would not be a fight. You would succumb to His suggestion and clearly see His excellent plan and its results. I challenge you today to surrender the fight and do what the Lord is telling you to do.
