Genesis 32:12 Commentary and Bible Study

Jacob again reminds himself of the promise God has given him. Why? Because the situation is looking difficult and it is becoming harder to see how the promise can be kept. He therefore takes steps to strengthen his own faith by going back to the promise and feeding on it again. He sets God’s word over against all the difficulties as one who wants God to overcome those difficulties himself, and to have zeal for his own promise so that it does not fail. Jacob’s task is to maintain his confidence in God even when things start to look difficult. God who gives us his promises knows all the situation which will arise that seem to call them into question. It is his work to turn his providence this way and that to circumvent the obstacles; it is our work to trust him to do so. Not a word is to be lost, and it helps Jacob’s faith for him to become very specific about what God has said. No detail can fail and therefore he rehearses the detail in all its marvellous richness. Jacob rightly reasons that none of this can be fulfilled if his life is taken away and his family and the promised seed destroyed. This is spiritual logic applied to the case in hand.Jacob prayed a wonderful prayer but there was a further lesson to be learned at this important milestone in his life. His trust in God was still not as strong as it ought to have been. He trusted in the strategy. It was not wrong to send presents, but he trusted in it too much. He did everything right, yet his prayer was not accompanied by faith and complete submission. It is possible for someone to repent and pray and yet without fully yielding. So how does God put it right? The mysterious event that occurs next gives us the answer.