Exactly 150 years ago, the French writer, historian and philologist Ernest Renan wrote and published a book "Life of Jesus", in which, through vivid words and images, he was able to very accurately convey the religious worldview of his era: “No transitory phenomenon exhausts the Divinity. God revealed himself to people before Jesus, and will continue to reveal himself to them after him. The manifestations of God, hidden at the bottom of human consciousness, are all of the same order, although they are significantly different from each other, and at the same time they are all the more divine in nature, the more great and unexpected they are. Therefore, Jesus Christ cannot belong exclusively to those who call themselves his disciples. He is the pride of everyone who carries a human heart in his chest. Its glory lies not in the fact that it transcends all history; true worship of him lies in the recognition that all history without him is incomprehensible».
These words, written by Renan a century and a half ago, have not lost their relevance today! Without Jesus Christ, without his criticism expressed towards the Jews, it is really possible to understand world history impossible! Without Christ, all history really is incomprehensible.
It is noteworthy that the Jews still do not recognize Jesus of Nazareth as either a prophet or the son of God. For them, he remains an impostor who came to their ancestors as a troublemaker, as a false messiah who tried to lead the Jewish people, who owned the “God-given” teachings of Judaism - the Torah, astray from the path of the righteous.
At the same time, the words of Christ about the Jews spoken two thousand years ago are an accurate medical diagnosis made by a great psychotherapist to a whole group of people. When Jesus came to the Jews, he said to them: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:31-32). To the Jews with a capital letter he said different words: "Your father is the devil, and you want to do like your father..." (John 8:44).
These Jews, like hypnotists, manage to convince the whole world (including the Jews) from year to year, from century to century, that they are followers of Moses, and the “Mosaic Law” is not just a Law, it is the Constitution of the Jewish people! To which Jesus once said to them: (Matt. 5:17).
What is the essence of that long-standing religious conflict?
To understand the essence of Christ’s disagreements with the Jews, it is enough to look at what Law did Moses initially bring to the Jewish people?
These were the famous 10 commandments:
1. I am the Lord your God; Let you have no other gods before Me.
2. Do not make for yourself an idol or any image of anything in heaven above, or on the earth below, or in the water under the earth. Do not worship them or serve them; For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
3. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who takes His name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Work six days and do all your work; and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: on it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your maidservant, nor your livestock, nor the stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord created heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them; and on the seventh day he rested. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
6. Dont kill.
7. Don't commit adultery.
8. Don't steal.
9. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.
Reading these ten commandments, we see that the “Law of Moses” was originally a law of peace. He oriented Jews towards prudence, well-being and justice. If the Jews and the entire Jewish people followed him, would it have been necessary for God's messenger-peacemaker to come to them with the words “Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfill.” (Matt. 5:17)? Of course not! And since Jesus Christ came to the Jews, it means there were good reasons for it. This means that the Jews were doing something at that time that brought evil to humanity and went against the Ten Commandments of Moses.
It turns out that in 621 BC. the spiritual leaders of the Jewish people - the Levites - wrote another "Mosaic Law", diametrically opposed in meaning that original Law that Moses actually brought. And that was the whole problem.
The Levites named the new law "Deuteronomy" and imposed it on the Jews for strict execution. By that time they had established such a dictatorship over the Jews as history had never known. For the slightest disobedience to “Deuteronomy” there was only one punishment - death! “Whoever rejects the law of Moses, in the presence of two or three witnesses, without mercy [is punished] by death.” (Hebrews 10:28), the Bible testifies. It also testifies to the semantic and moral content of this new “Mosaic Law” for the Jews.
Judge for yourself. It was because of this “Deuteronomy”, written by the Levites (Jews) on behalf of Moses and the Lord (!), that a conflict occurred two thousand years ago between Jesus Christ and these falsifiers, preoccupied with the idea of world domination and a monopoly on the earth.
We all know that it ended with the fact that the Messiah Jesus was declared a false messiah, self-proclaimed king of the Jews, and he was executed.
And a few years later, the same Jews announced to the Jews that Jesus Christ himself (!) sacrificed himself to the Immaculate God, so that with his scarlet blood "cleanse our conscience from dead works" (Hebrews 9:14).
This is the essence of the history of the conflict and the meaning of the unprecedented feat of Jesus Christ.
The Jews today continue to lie to the whole world in the same way, that they do not bring any harm to the peoples of the earth, that they live according to "Moses' Law", keeping silent about the fact that in fact they live by misanthropic "Deuteronomy", to the writing of which the prophet Moses had nothing to do. In fact, to this day such terrible evil comes from the Jews, which no other people in the world does! Not a single revolution on the planet, be it in Ancient Rome, France, England or Russia, could have happened without their participation. And today the Jews are only concerned with how to bring even more evil to the world. Evidence of this is an article published recently on the Internet:
"Israel produces 10-15 atomic bombs a year"
According to the magazine Jane's Defense Weekly Israel, which is developing highly sophisticated chemical weapons in addition to biological and nuclear weapons, has refused to sign any international agreements that would allow UN observers to inspect its nuclear, chemical and biological arsenal.
Israeli nuclear site in the Negev desert near Dimona
In addition, the report indicates that Israel is the only nuclear power in the Middle East, which has between 100 and 300 nuclear warheads and their delivery systems (ballistic, cruise missiles and fighter-bombers).
The Stockholm Peace Research Institute estimates that Israel has so far produced 690-950 kilograms of plutonium and continues to produce enough to create 10 to 15 bombs of the same type that were dropped on Nagasaki each year.
Israel has not signed either the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or the Biological Weapons Convention.
The sign of the Israel Institute for Biological Research in Ness Ziona serves as cover research and production chemical And biological weapons.
In addition, Israel produces tritium, a radioactive gas that is used to create neutron warheads that result in less radioactive contamination but higher mortality.
According to the findings of several reports made by various international organizations, also cited by the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, biological and chemical weapons are being developed at the Institute for Biological Research, located in the city of Ness Ziona, near Tel Aviv.
Officially, part of the institute’s staff (160 researchers and 170 laboratory assistants) are engaged in research in the fields of biology, chemistry, biochemistry, biotechnology, pharmacology, physics and other scientific disciplines.
The institute, along with the Dimona nuclear center, is “one of the most secretive organizations in Israel” and is under the direct control of the prime minister.
The greatest secrecy surrounds research into biological weapons, bacteria and viruses that could be spread into enemy camps and cause epidemics. Among them are the microorganisms that cause the bubonic plague (the "Black Death" of the Middle Ages) and the hemorrhagic fever virus called Ebola - contagious, deadly and practically untreatable.
With the development of biotechnology, it has become possible to create new types of pathogens that can infect populations that do not have a special vaccine. There is compelling evidence that Israel is developing biological weapons capable of destroying the human immune system. Officially, the Israel Institute is conducting research into vaccines against bacteria and viruses such as anthrax, but in reality this Pentagon-funded research may be aimed at developing new pathogens for military purposes.
The United States and other countries have used exactly the same tricks to circumvent agreements banning the development of biological and chemical weapons. Israeli secrets surfaced partly thanks to an investigation conducted with the help of scientists by Danish journalist Karel Kniep.
In addition, it became known that toxic substances developed by this institute were used by the Mossad to assassinate Palestinian leaders.
There is medical evidence that in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, Israeli troops used a new type of weapon: this weapon leaves the victim’s body intact on the outside, but, when penetrated inside, makes muscle tissue lifeless, chars the liver and bones, and clots the blood. This is possible with the help of nanotechnology, a science that can manipulate microscopic structures.
Italy is also involved in the development of these weapons as part of a military cooperation agreement, and is Israel's number one European partner for this research and development.
In its latest State Budget Law, Italy has provided annual financial support of three million euros for Italian-Israeli joint research. As stated in one of the recent speeches at the Farnesina Palace (home to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), this is being done with the aim of finding “new approaches to combat pathogens that cannot be treated.”
This is the true face of those whom Christ called the children of the devil.
With its policies, Israel proves again and again that it is a true fighter against God and humanity! Consequently, the diagnosis of Jesus Christ, made two thousand years ago, was correct, the Jews are sick in the head humanoid creatures, from which one can only be saved in one way - by arranging for them a World Harvest. Christ's prophecy of the Harvest is preserved in the Gospels, here it is.
“...The field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the Kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Therefore, just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of this age: the Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom all who offend and those who practice iniquity, and will throw them into the fiery furnace; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; then the righteous will shine like the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 13:37-43).
May 16th, 2011 , 07:51 pm
I have long been interested in the story of the struggle of the patriarch Jacob with God, described in Genesis chapter 32. It was especially interesting for me to try to imagine how it all really happened. I tried to realize this dream of mine in a forthcoming commentary on Genesis. I'm posting an excerpt:
The Bible reports these events in terse prosaic language: Someone wrestled with him, and [Jacob] saw that he could not defeat him. However, anyone who is familiar with any type of martial arts understands how much effort, sweat and disappointment is hidden behind these words. It is worth noting that a standard bout in traditional types of wrestling lasts five minutes (judo, sambo, freestyle wrestling). If the wrestlers go the entire distance, then during these five minutes they get so tired that sometimes they can barely stand on their feet. Jacob fought with the mysterious enemy “…until the dawn rose” (32:24). One can only imagine how tired he was!
To imagine this event more vividly and imaginatively, let’s use our “holy imagination” for a moment. Suppose that Jacob first tried to go to the stream, but someone got in his way and began to hinder him. Perhaps Jacob wanted to push him away, but he could not. Then he tried to get around him, but he didn’t succeed. Perhaps Jacob became indignant and began to speak to the stranger in a raised voice, as he had done with Laban (cf. 31:36). However, he didn’t answer him - he simply didn’t let him go to the river, that’s all. Jacob rushed at him with his fists, but could not cause him any damage. Then he grappled with him in a tight clinch and tried to throw him to the ground, but the stranger easily resisted any movements and techniques, like Doctor Livesey, who waved his sword and, turning away, carefreely smelled a flower. On top of that, as soon as the stranger got tired of this fuss, he casually touched Jacob’s thigh and incapacitated him forever. Most likely, during this night Jacob experienced a full gamut of feelings from anger to despair.
Realizing that he was actually wrestling with God and “could not overcome him,” Jacob began to beg for a blessing. He humbled himself so much before God that he began to cry and beg with tears for mercy on him. The prophet Hosea points to this: “He wrestled with the Angel - and prevailed: he wept and begged Him for mercy” (Hos. 12:4). As soon as he resigned himself, he at that very moment won a victory - “overcame.” Opposition to God, cunning and deception did not lead Jacob to anything good. On the contrary, deep humility and prayer for blessing turned a loser into a winner.
(Genesis 32:24 - 33:11)
The old deception by which Jacob had obtained his brother's blessing came back to haunt him with renewed vigor, and he feared that God would allow Esau to take his life. In desperation, he cried out to the Almighty all night. I was shown how an Angel stood before Jacob, revealing to him his unrighteous deed in its true light. When the Angel was about to turn to leave Jacob, he grabbed hold of him and did not let go. With tears in his eyes, Jacob begged and begged the Angel, saying that he deeply repented of his sin and unjust actions towards his brother, which caused twenty years of separation from his parental home. He even decides to recall the promises of God and the signs of His special favor towards him, which the Almighty showed from time to time during the period of his wanderings and separation from his father’s house.
All night Jacob wrestled with the Angel, begging him to bless him. It seemed that the Angel resisted his prayer with all his might, constantly reminding him of all his sins and at the same time trying to break free. Jacob was determined to hold on to the Angel, but not by physical force, but by the power of living faith. In deep suffering, Jacob spoke of the repentance of his soul, the deep submission and humility that he felt because of the actions he had committed. The angel treated his prayer with seeming indifference, all the time trying to free himself from Jacob’s grip. He could have used His supernatural power to escape Jacob's grasp, but He did not.
When the Angel saw that he could not overcome Jacob, then, in order to convince him of His supernatural power, He touched his hip and dislocated it. However, physical pain did not cause Jacob to weaken his persistent efforts. His goal was to obtain a blessing, and bodily pain was not enough to divert his thoughts from this goal. Jacob's determination to receive the blessing was even stronger in the last moments of the struggle than at the beginning. Until the very end of the fight with the Angel, until the dawn rose and day came, Jacob’s faith grew and strengthened. He did not let go of the Angel until He blessed him. The angel said to Jacob: “Let me go, for the dawn has risen.” Jacob said, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” And he said, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” And he said, “From now on, your name will not be Jacob, but Israel; You have fought with God, and you will overcome men.”
Overcoming Faith
Jacob's strong faith prevailed. He held the Angel tightly until he received the desired blessing and the assurance that his sins were forgiven. And then, instead of the name Jacob, which means deceiver, he was given a new name: Israel, which means prince of God. “Jacob also asked, saying: Tell me Your name. And He said: Why do you ask about My name? And he blessed it there. And Jacob called the name of the place Penuel; for, he said, I have seen God face to face, and my soul is preserved." None other than Jesus Christ Himself was with Jacob all that night, and it was with Him that Jacob wrestled and held tightly until He blessed him.
Not approving of a single wrong action committed by Jacob, the Lord heard his persistent plea and changed Esau’s intention. Jacob's life was full of doubts, difficulties and remorse due to his past sin until he desperately fought with the Angel when he received proof that God had forgiven all his sins.
“He wrestled with the Angel and prevailed, wept and begged Him; in Bethel He found us, and there He spoke to us. And the Lord is the God of hosts; Jehovah is His name” (Hos. 12:4, 5).
Esau, along with an armed detachment, quickly walked towards Jacob with the intention of killing him. However, that night while Jacob was wrestling with the Angel, another angel was sent to touch Esau's heart. In a dream, his brother appeared before Esau, who had been in a foreign land for twenty years, far from his father’s house because he feared for his life. Esau saw how his heart grieved when he learned of the death of his mother, he noticed the submission and humility of Jacob, as well as the angels of God around him. In the dream, Esau also saw that when they met, he would not have the slightest intention of harming his brother. Waking up, Esau told his dream to the four hundred soldiers who accompanied him, and warned them that none of them should harm Jacob, for the God of their father was with him; and when they meet, none of them should harm him.
“Jacob looked and saw, and behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men... And he himself went before them and bowed down to the ground seven times, approaching his brother. And Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and wept." Jacob asked Esau to accept his gift, which Esau refused to take, but Jacob continued to persuade him: “Take my blessing, which I brought to you; for God has given me, and I have everything. And he asked him, and he took it.”
Object Lesson
Jacob and Esau represent two types of people: Jacob is the righteous, and Esau is the wicked. Jacob's despair when he learned that his brother Esau was marching against him with four hundred armed men can be compared to the anxiety of the righteous at the moment when the decree was issued to put them to death just before the Second Coming of the Lord. When the wicked gather together against the righteous and surround them on all sides, the righteous will experience severe mental anguish, for, like Jacob, they will not see deliverance from death. The angel stood before Jacob, who grabbed Him and held Him tightly, wrestling with Him all night. So the righteous, in anxious and painful times, will wrestle with God in prayer, like Jacob. Jacob cried out to God all night in despair, begging Him to deliver him from the hand of Esau. In mental agony, the righteous will beg God day and night to deliver them from the hand of the wicked, who will surround them on all sides.
Jacob confessed his sinfulness: “I am unworthy of all the mercies and all the good deeds that You have done for Your servant” (Gen. 32:10). When sorrow befalls the righteous, they will deeply feel their insignificance and confess it with tears in their eyes, like Jacob, they will pray to God in the name of Christ for the help promised to the weak, dependent on Him, and repentant sinners in a hopeless situation.
In desperation, Jacob held the Angel tightly and did not let Him go. When he begged Him with tears in his eyes, the Angel reminded him of all his past sins and tried to break free to test him. Likewise, the righteous will be tested during the tribulation to demonstrate the strength of their faith, perseverance and unshakable confidence in the power of God to save them.
God would not have rejected Jacob. Jacob knew that God was merciful and he cried out for His mercy. He spoke of the sorrows he had experienced because of his sins, and of his repentance for them, and urgently prayed to God to deliver him from the hand of Esau. This went on all night. When remembering past sins, he was overcome by despair. He knew that he must either receive help from God or perish. Therefore, Jacob held the Angel tightly and insisted on his request, with despair in his heart begging the Angel to bless him, until he finally prevailed over Him.
So it will be with the righteous. When the events of their past life come to life again before their eyes, their hopes will almost fade away. But when they realize that it is a matter of their life or death, they will turn to God in fervent prayer, asking Him to forgive all their sins, which they now repent of in humility of heart. The righteous will remember God's promise recorded in Isa. 27:5: “Shall he take refuge in My protection and make peace with Me? Then let him make peace with Me.” And their persistent prayers will rise to God day and night. God would not have heard Jacob's prayer and would not have graciously saved his life if Jacob had not repented of cheating himself into obtaining his father's blessing.
So the righteous, like Jacob, will show unbending faith and firm determination and will not renounce God. They will feel their insignificance, but they will not have unconfessed sins. If they had unconfessed and unrepentant sins that would surface in their consciousness at a time when they would be tormented by fear and spiritual sorrow, they would be overcome by despair at their complete sinfulness and imperfection. Disappointment would break their sincere faith, and they would no longer have sufficient confidence in the need to so persistently pray to God for salvation. Precious moments would be wasted in realizing one's hidden sins and bemoaning one's hopeless situation.
The time of trial is the time given to all people to prepare for the day of God's judgment. There will be no excuse for anyone who neglects this time and does not pay attention to the warnings given by God. Jacob's ardent and stubborn struggle with the Angel is an example for all Christians: Jacob won the victory because he was full of determination and perseverance.
All who, like Jacob, long for God's blessing, and who, like him, will persevere and hold fast to the promise of the Most High, will succeed. Because many who call themselves believers are not diligent enough in matters of their spiritual life, their faith is hardly manifested, and their knowledge of the truth is very small. They do not want to deny their self, to humble themselves before God in contrition of heart and to pray long and persistently to receive a blessing, so they do not receive the blessings of God. For faith to remain alive during tribulation, it must be exercised every day. Those who do not now make earnest effort and persevere in faith will be completely unprepared to endure the day of trouble.
Third of the great Old Testament patriarchs, Jacob born second, holding the heel of his twin brother Esau - a sign that he will have to take his place. The elder brother Esau became a hunter, a man of the fields, and the younger brother Jacob led a settled life. Their rivalry was perceived by Christian theology as a symbol of the conflict between the Church and the Synagogue, that is, between Christianity and Judaism.
The story of Jacob has been the subject of depiction in the art of different eras. Artists took subjects from it both for individual scenes and for cycles of paintings.
You can select four main plots of Jacob's story:
- Stolen birthright and blessing;
- Jacob's Ladder;
- To Jacob Laban, Leah and Rachel;
- Jacob wrestling with an angel.
"Isaac blesses Jacob"
(engraving by Julius von Schnorr)
Stolen blessing (Gen. 25: 19 - 34; 27; 28: 1 - 5).
Jacob not only took possession of Esau's birthright by deception (for lentil stew), he also succeeded, at the instigation of his mother - Rebecca , deprive Esau of his father's blessing. When Isaac was old and almost blind, he sent Esau to catch game and prepare food for him, “so that my soul may bless you before I die.” Rebekah overheard this command and told Jacob that while Esau was away, he should take his place in order to receive the blessing. She dressed Jacob in Esau's clothes and wrapped his arms and neck in goatskin, since "Esau... is a shaggy man." She prepared the food and Jacob took it to his father. Isaac was apparently very old and decrepit if he fell for such a simple trick - he mistakenly blessed Jacob instead of Esau.
Once this blessing could not be taken back, Jacob fled from his brother’s wrath, finding refuge with his uncle Lavana , brother of Rebekah in Haran in Mesopotamia.
This plot is often found in European painting of the 17th century. Usually Isaac is depicted raised up on the bed, Jacob kneeling in front of him. Rebekah stands behind Jacob, with her hands on his shoulder. The scene can be depicted in the interior of a European house. In the distance in the background Esau is sometimes depicted with hunting dogs, or he enters the room with the body of a young deer on his shoulders.
"Isaac's Blessing of Jacob"
(Bartolomeo Esteban Murillo)
"Jacob's Blessing"
(Assereto Gioacchino)
"The Blessing of Isaac"
(Govert Flink)
Mosaic in Monreale Cathedral
(Sicily, XII century)
Jacob's Ladder (Gen. 28: 10 - 22).
Stopping for the night on his way to Haran, Jacob took some stones, made a headboard out of them, and went to bed. He dreamed of a staircase that reached to the very sky, along which angels scurried up and down. God himself addressed him from above, promising to give him and his descendants the land on which he lay. Waking up, Jacob built a column of stones, poured oil on it and named this place Bethel - “House of God.”
This subject first appears in early Christian art and has since become widespread. In the Middle Ages, it was considered a symbol of the Virgin Mary, through whom the unity of heaven and earth was achieved. The top of the ladder usually rests on the edge of the clouds from which God looks down. Jacob lies asleep at its base, with a large block of stone under his head.
"Jacob's Ladder"
(icon)
"Jacob's Ladder"
(Mosaic, Sicily, 12th century)
"Jacob's Dream"
(Murillo)
"Jacob's Ladder"
(Caravaggio)
Laban's Jacob, Leah and Rachel (Gen. 29: 9 - 30; 30: 28 - 43; 31: 17 - 55; 33: 1 - 11).
Near Harran, Jacob met Rachel
who came with her flock of sheep to the well. He moved the stone away from the mouth of the spring (this episode was often depicted by artists) and watered Laban's sheep.
Jacob's uncle Laban had two daughters, who were thus Jacob's cousins - the eldest, Leah
, weak-eyed, and Rachel, who “was beautiful in figure and beautiful in face.” Jacob agreed to serve Laban as a shepherd for seven years for Rachel, whom he wished to take as his wife. But seven years later, at the wedding, Laban replaced Rachel with his eldest daughter Leah and demanded that Jacob work seven more years before he would receive Rachel.
As payment, Laban agreed to give Jacob all the spotted sheep and goats that would appear in his flock. Cunning Jacob took tree branches, partially cut off the bark from them and placed them in front of the cattle at watering places. And as if by magic, the animals began to bear spotted offspring.
Having thus become rich, Jacob secretly left Laban and went to Canaan with both his wives - Leah and Rachel, children and all his property. When leaving, Rachel stole her father’s idols - small figurines that were his “household gods.” When Laban discovered the loss, he rushed in pursuit, caught up with the fugitives and carried out a search. But Rachel hid the idols in the camel’s saddle and sat on it herself, saying to her father: “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot stand before you; for I have an ordinary woman’s.”
This scene has become widespread in painting. Laban and Jacob make peace before parting. At the end of his journey, Jacob chose the best of his flocks to send to Esau as a peace offering. He is depicted kneeling before Esau, and behind him are his entire family and servants.
"Jacob and Rachel"
(Palma Elder)
"The Meeting of Jacob and Rachel"
(William Dees)
"Rachel and Leah"
(Dante Gabriel Rossetti)
Jacob accuses Laban of giving him Leah as his wife instead of Rachel.
"The Reconciliation of Jacob and Laban"
(Pietro da Cortona)
"The Meeting of Jacob and Esau"
(Francesco Hayes)
Jacob wrestling with an angel (Gen. 32: 22 - 32).
On his way to Canaan, Jacob came to the ford of the Jabbok, which is a tributary of the Jordan. Having transported his caravan across the river, he was left alone, and “Someone fought with him until dawn appeared.” This "Someone", being unable to overcome Jacob, touched his thigh, which has since remained damaged. Jacob demanded that he bless him before he would let him go. Jacob's opponent did just that, saying: "From now on your name will not be Jacob, but Israel; for you have wrestled with God, and you will overcome men."
This mysterious event has been interpreted in many ways - in the language of religion, mythology and folklore. In early Christian art, Jacob's antagonist was God himself, later he began to be depicted as an angel - their struggle symbolizes the Christian spiritual struggle here on earth. In medieval art, Jacob's opponent is sometimes depicted as a demon, which means the theme is turned into the allegorical struggle between Good and Evil. It was also considered another example of the conflict between Christianity and Judaism - the withered thigh of Jacob symbolized the Jews who did not recognize the Messiah in Christ.
Gen.32:3. And Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, in the region of Edom,
Having received encouragement from the heavenly messengers-Angels (maleachim), Jacob sends earthly messengers (also maleachim, which is why the rabbis expressed the absurd idea about the embassy of Angels to Jacob) to Esau, to Seir. The last name, which was the nickname of Esau (based on his appearance), his other nickname is Edom (), probably due to the incident with lentils (), here is used proleptically (as in) about the mountainous and cave-rich territory of the Troglodyte Trocheans, on east of the Jordan, later occupied by the tribes of Esau (). Esau and his family moved there later (), but perhaps he was already wandering around his future possessions, which provided convenience for his pleasant pastime - hunting.
Gen.32:4. and he commanded them, saying: Thus shall you say to my master Esau: This is what your servant Jacob says: I lived with Laban and have lived until now;
The titles: “master” for Esau and “slave” for himself on the part of Jacob, who received the highest blessing and dominion over Esau, is an act of Eastern politeness (cf. ; ), and together with an indication of the possibility of gifts to Esau - and an obvious captatio benevalentiae.
Gen.32:6. And the messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went to your brother Esau; he is coming to meet you, and with him four hundred people.
No response was received to this greeting; on the contrary, alarming news was received that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men, probably from the tribe of Ishmael, with whom Esau had previously become related ().
Gen. 32:7–8. Jacob was very afraid and confused; and he divided the people who were with him, the flocks and herds, and the camels, into two camps.
And [Jacob] said: If Esau attacks one camp and defeats it, then the rest of the camp can be saved.
The fear of Jacob, despite the divine promises of protection (), - which Jewish interpreters already paid attention to not without reason - reveals, of course, the imperfection of Jacob's faith in God's Providence (his faith was extremely inferior in strength and firmness to the faith of Abraham). Accordingly, he uses, first of all, a purely human means of protecting the expected hostile actions from Esau. One might think, however, that, in addition to the natural attachment to life and fear for himself and his family, Jacob’s inner anxiety was caused by reproaches of his conscience for deceiving him in relation to Esau. This highest motive naturally turns Jacob's thoughts to God.
Gen. 32:9–11. And Jacob said: God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord [God], who said to me: return to your land, to your homeland, and I will do good to you!
I am unworthy of all the mercies and all the good deeds that You have done for Your servant, for I crossed this Jordan with my staff, and now I have two camps.
Deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him, lest he come and kill me [and] the mother and children.
Aware of the inadequacy of human strength and means as weapons of defense against the upcoming danger, Jacob turns in prayer to the God of the fathers. This prayer, the first in the Bible, except for Abraham’s intercession for the Sodomites (), has all the signs of true prayer, distinguished by sincerity, childlike simplicity, gratitude to God, humility before Him and hope in Him alone.
At the beginning of the prayer there is a confession of God as the God of salvation and an indication of the direct command () of God to Jacob to return to his homeland, with the promise to be with him (v. 9). In comparison with those great benefits that the Lord had already promised and bestowed on Jacob, he feels his insignificance and unworthiness, especially since he has tangible evidence of God’s providence for him, in the form of his enrichment in Mesopotamia, while he was heading there with one staff (Jewish interpreters, paying attention to the construction bemaqeli, with a rod, or, more precisely, by means of a rod, believed that Jacob divided the Jordan with a rod). Praying intensely for salvation, Jacob expresses fear for the integrity of the family - “lest Esau kill him and the mother and children (v. 11). The last expression is a common phrase (;), meaning completeness and at the same time cruelty, bloodthirstiness of extermination.
Gen. 32:12. You said: I will do good to you and make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
The basis of Jacob's hope is the promises of God to him and his fathers ().
To appease his brother, Jacob sends gifts to his brother and crosses the stream of Jabbok with his family.
Gen. 32:13. And spent the night there Jacob that night. And he took from what he had, [and sent] as a gift to Esau his brother:
Jacob remains overnight at the place of prayer, according to Abarbanel, waiting for an answer to it. Under the impression of prayer, Jacob cancels his initial intention - to save at least half of the camp by flight from Esau (v. 7) - and decides to go straight to meet Esau, first sending gifts to him.
Gen. 32:16–20. And he gave each flock separately into the hands of his servants and said to his servants: Go before me and leave a distance from herd to herd.
And he commanded the first, saying: When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying: Whose are you? and where are you going? and whose is it herd [walks] before you?
then say: Thy servant Jacob; this is a gift sent to my lord Esau; behold, he himself [is following us].
He commanded the same thing [as the first] to the second, and the third, and to all who followed the flocks, saying: Thus tell Esau when you meet him;
and say, Behold, thy servant Jacob [is] following us. For he said in itself: I will appease him with the gifts that go before me, and then I will see his face; maybe he will accept me.
In choosing the best of the cattle and in the order of sending them out - in separate herds, and finally, in instructing the slaves to prepare Esau for the merciful meeting of Jacob, one can see Jacob's great knowledge of the human heart and the means to act reconcilingly on the most angry heart.
Gen. 32:22–23. And he rose up that night, and took his two wives and his two handmaidens, and his eleven sons, and forded Jabbok;
and he took them and brought them across the stream, and brought all that he had was.
Having transferred the cattle and family through Jabbok - to the southern side of it, Jacob himself remained on the northern side. The Stream Jabbok, now the Zerka, rises from the mountains of Bashan and flows into the Jordan on the left side, almost half the distance between Lake Tiberias and the Dead Sea. Jacob is left alone, probably to pray.
Jacob wrestles with the Angel at Penuel and receives the name Israel from the Angel
Gen. 32:24–29. And Jacob was left alone. And someone fought with him until dawn appeared;
and when he saw that it did not prevail against him, he touched the joint of his thigh and damaged the joint of Jacob's thigh when he wrestled with Him.
And he said to [him], Let Me go, for the dawn has risen. Jacob said: I will not let you go until you bless me.
And he said: What is your name? He said: Jacob.
And he said to [him]: From now on your name will not be Jacob, but Israel, for you have fought with God, and you will overcome men.
Jacob also asked, saying: Tell [me] Your name. And He said: Why do you ask about My name? [it is wonderful.] And he blessed him there.
The mysterious wrestler who fought with Jacob at night, injured his thigh and renamed him Israel, according to the prophet Hosea (), was God. Jacob himself (v. 30) admits that he saw God, the face of God. Therefore, the Jewish and Christian interpretation of this passage equally recognize the wrestler as a phenomenon from the heavenly world - an Angel. At the same time, church teachers and many later Christian interpreters saw in this Angel an uncreated Angel - an Angel Jehovah, who previously appeared to Jacob at Bethel (chap. 28) and in Mesopotamia (chap. 36) and, according to Jacob’s belief, who protected him all his life (), the Son of God. “From the whole story we know,” says Blessed Theodoret, “here the only begotten Son of God and God appeared to Jacob” (answer to question 93).
The opinion of some rabbis that Esau's guardian angel fought with Jacob or even a demon took revenge on Jacob for Esau is, of course, strange, but contains some element of truth, since it puts the mysterious struggle of Jacob with his hostile relationship with his brother. Jacob had previously struggled with his brother, and not always with impeccable means. Now the Angel of the Lord “puts courage into Jacob, who was afraid of his brother” (Blessed Theodoret, ibid.). But Jacob achieves this gracious encouragement through a struggle with the Angel-God, a struggle that was not only a strain of Jacob’s physical strength (), (beono, “in his strength, his strength”), but also an even greater strain of spiritual strength, the prayer of faith: according to the prophet Hosea, Jacob in his struggle with the Angel-God “and prevailed,” but “wept and begged Him” (). An indication of the spiritual moment of the struggle is also contained in Moses’ narrative - in Jacob’s request to bless him (v. 26).
According to this inner side, the struggle of Jacob with the Angel of Jehovah is a type of spiritual struggle of faith that does not yield to any tests and difficulties of life; at the same time, it is also a foreshadowing of the entire future of the descendants of Jacob, who henceforth receive (v. 28) the name of Israel - the entire Old Testament theocratic history. In general, in its nature and significance, Jacob’s fight against God is reminiscent of Abraham’s night vision (), which also (but more specifically) foreshadowed the future history of the chosen people, which also consisted of the people’s opposition to the divine calling, their possession of enduring spiritual benefits and temporary trials and material losses.
That Jacob’s struggle was not a dream or even a visionary phenomenon is evident from the verb abaq used in the Hebrew text (vv. 24-25; Heb. 25-26) - to fight like an athlete (covering himself with dust), and even more from the damage to the composition of his thigh (nervus ischiadicus) and his lameness as a result (vv. 25, 31). So, “and upon Jacob’s awakening, his leg remained damaged, and he continued to limp, so as not to regard the vision as a dream, but to accurately find out the truth of the dream” (Blessed Theodoret). At the same time, this was supposed to teach Jacob that victory was granted to him only through the condescension of the mysterious Fighter. And Jacob, as if having understood the meaning of the struggle, does not want to part with the struggle and the Fighter without His blessing (v. 26). But the Angel of Jehovah - in relation to the views of the ancients that theophany visit a person only at night, tells Jacob about the need to remove Him at dawn (according to the rabbinic explanation, the Angel hurries to bring morning praise to God with the angelic hosts, Beresch. r. Par. 78, s. 378).
The blessing requested by Jacob is given to him in the change of his name, in accordance with the circumstances of the case and the inner mood of Jacob. Henceforth, his struggle with cunning stops - “stammering” in relation to people and circumstances (in receiving blessings, in relations with Laban, etc.), and the sacred struggle of his spirit for the highest God-given calling begins; therefore, instead of the former natural name “Jacob”, he and his descendants are given the sacred, theocratic name “Israel” - according to the explanation of the text itself, “fighter of God” (St. John Chrysostom interprets: “seeing God” - this explanation would also be suitable in meaning, but etymologically it is hardly possible) - through the constancy of the feat of prayer (cf.) receiving spiritual benefits from God, which at the same time will be the guarantee of the victory of Jacob-Israel over his enemies. Having received a new name from the Angel of Jehovah, Jacob asks Him about the name, but He does not name Himself, making it clear that Jacob could learn this from the case itself.
Compared with the Masoretic text, in the LXX, in glory. and Russian is in Art. 29 addition to the Hebrew text: “it is wonderful,” similar to (), confirming that he fought with the Angel of God, and apparently took place in the original list.
Gen. 32:30. And Jacob called the name of the place Penuel; for, he said I saw God face to face, and my soul was preserved.
The geographical location of Penuel is not known with certainty; mentioned later in the story of Gideon () and Jeroboam ().
Gen. 32:32. Therefore even to this day the children of Israel do not eat the sinew that is in the thigh, because Fought touched the vein on Jacob's thigh.
The custom of not using the “camel vein” of an animal, hitherto observed by the Jews, dates back to the time before Moses, who, without introducing it into his legislation, nevertheless notes its existence and makes it possible to see its importance, rooted in the importance of the historical event that served as its support.
