Genesis 31
Jacob and his wives are leaving Laban to go back to where he came from. Rachel does an interesting thing...she steals the pagan figurines called "gods." This shows the paganism that was rampant at the time, but these teraphim also represented something else...the heir to the family estate. Whoever these false "gods" were given to, was figured to have the right to ownership of the family fortune. No wonder Laban wanted those things back desperately!!! To make sure Laban wouldn't find them, Rachel sat on them. This made the "gods" unclean, and useless.
With Laban fearing that he would never retrieve these figurines back, he made sure to set boundries between his son's land and Jacob's.
Genesis 32
Jacob is again confronted with Jesus in another theophany, and this time confesses his unworthiness and humbles himself. God then changes his name from Jacob to Israel, which means "he who strives or wrestles with God"...isn't this indicative of us and all who follow God? We have faith, but we wrestle with our flesh, and wrestle with trying to please or help God.
Another meaning of the word, Israel, is "Ruled by God" which is also applicable to His followers.
We know that this "angel" is really Jesus in the OT, because Jacob says:
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. ~Gen 32:30
Genesis 33
This chapter speaks of the reunion of Jacob and Esau. It's good to point out that even though someone has hurt you and cheated you, there is always room for forgiveness.
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