The Study of Genesis: Post Thirteen
***Note – We have completed the book of Job. Now, as we continue our journey through the Bible in chronological order, this is our 13th devotion in Genesis. Though we’re in Week 25 overall, we’ll be in Genesis for the next several weeks.
Focus: Genesis 32 – 34
Tip: I highly recommend journaling your responses to the questions, prompts, and reflections. Writing them out can help you process more deeply and see how God is working in your life.
This week’s devotion includes:
Chapter 32 – “Not Walking Alone”
Chapter 33 – “God Goes Before Us”
Chapter 34 – “Responding to Wrong”
(Remember: This is a once-a-week devotional that can be broken up over several days.)
Bible Memory:
Did you memorize last week’s Bible verse?
Hiding God’s Word in our hearts is such a valuable practice. Since I’ve been memorizing Scripture, I’ve experienced so many moments where God brings a specific verse to mind just when I need it most. It’s amazing how He uses His Word to speak into our lives right where we are.
This Week’s Memory Verse — Genesis 32:10
“I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.”
Genesis Chapter 32
“Not Walking Alone”
(Read Genesis Chapter 32 First)
Genesis 32 opens with Jacob encountering the angels of God. Scripture doesn’t give us details about what happened, but I think Jacob’s reaction tells us a lot. He calls the place Mahanaim, meaning “two camps.” It made me think of two army camps and I wonder if Jacob suddenly realized that he’s not walking toward danger alone and he felt God’s army beside him.
I think Jacob needed that reminder. He feared meeting his brother Esau. Remember Jacob fled from him 20 years earlier because Esau wanted to kill him. Jacob sends messengers ahead of him with news of his wealth, but when the messengers return and report that Esau is coming with 400 men, Jacob’s fear explodes. He immediately begins strategizing, dividing his people and livestock into two groups so at least one might survive.
In his fear and scrambling, Jacob finally cries out to God:
“You told me to return… and You said You would deal well with me.”
Jacob reminds himself of God’s promise..something he could have rested in from the beginning.
Real-life application:
When we feel scared, overwhelmed, or facing something scary, it’s easy to try to fix things ourselves. We try to plan, strategize, and overthink. But instead we can let this be a moment to pray, trust, and remember God’s faithfulness. We don’t have to face fear alone.
I love how Jacob humbly acknowledges the mercy God has shown him. When he first crossed the Jordan, he carried nothing but a staff. Now he is returning with two camps of people, animals, and many blessings. Everything he has is evidence of God’s faithfulness. Even so, he still pours out his fear before the Lord: Deliver me from Esau.
Jacob sends an enormous gift of 550 animals in hopes of softening Esau’s heart. One herd after another was sent ahead to greet Esau with the same message: “These belong to your servant Jacob… he is behind us.”
Real-life application:
Sometimes in order to reconcile with someone we have to have to act in humility and intention. We may need to take the first step like reaching out, apologizing, offering peace even when we feel fearful or wronged. Trust that God can work through your efforts.
That night, Jacob sends his family ahead and he’s alone. I can imagine that in the quiet he’s even more fearful. That night God meets with him in an unusual way. Jacob wrestles with a man until daybreak. When his opponent touches his thigh and dislocates it, Jacob still refuses to let go. “I will not let You go unless You bless me.”
God asks his name then God gives him a new name. The name is Israel which means, “God prevails.”
Jacob suddenly understands who he has been wrestling with. He names the place Peniel, meaning “facing God,” saying, “My life has been preserved.” When the sun rises, Jacob limps away.
Real-life application:
Sometimes God lets us wrestle with our fears, doubts, or past mistakes until we cling to Him with all our heart.
The chapter closes with a small historical detail. Israel’s descendants chose not to eat the sinew (tendon) of the thigh as a way of remembering Jacob’s encounter with God.
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Genesis Chapter 33
“God Goes Before Us”
(Read Genesis Chapter 33 First)
Genesis 33 is such a beautiful picture of reconciliation, humility, and the way God goes before us even when we’re scared. This is the moment Jacob and Esau finally meet again after all those years apart. Those years were no doubt filled with anger and hurt. When Jacob looks up and sees Esau coming with four hundred men, you know he had to be terrified. Everything in him probably expected the worst.
Jacob lines up his wives and children from least important in the culture of that time to the most precious to him, Rachel and Joseph, who he places last. Then he steps out in front of everyone and bows seven times as he approaches Esau. He was showing deep humility. That was Jacob’s way of saying, “I know what I did. I was wrong. And I am not here to fight.”
What a lesson for us today.
If we want to reconcile with someone we’ve wronged, the first step is real humility without excuses and without defending ourselves and saying,“Well, you did this to me too.” True reconciliation starts with a soft heart and a willingness to admit where we failed. Jacob models that beautifully here.
Then comes my favorite part and one of the most tender moments in all of Genesis.
The Bible says:
“And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.” (Genesis 33:4)
What a picture of grace.
God can soften even the hardest hearts. Jacob had feared Esau’s anger for years, but God had already gone ahead of him and changed everything. Back in Genesis 32:12, God told Jacob, “I will surely do thee good.” And that is exactly what the Lord does here.
When Esau asks who all the women and children are, Jacob answers,
“The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.” (Genesis 33:5)
I love that.
People still say today, “And who do we have here?” when they see our kids.
What a testimony it would be if our answer was like Jacob’s:
“These are the children God has graciously given me.”
Because that is what they are…a gracious gift from God.
Esau then asks about all the animals Jacob had sent ahead. Jacob explains they are a gift and a peace offering. Esau insists he doesn’t need them, but Jacob begs him to take them. Why? Because accepting the gift sealed their reconciliation in that culture. Jacob wanted to make things right, and he wanted Esau to know he truly meant it.
After this emotional reunion, Esau invites Jacob to travel with him. But Jacob knows the pace would be too hard on his children and his flocks, so he gently declines and tells Esau he will follow slowly. Esau understands and goes on ahead to Seir, leaving some of his men behind to stay with Jacob.
Jacob journeys to Succoth. Then eventually he purchases land, settles down, makes a home, builds booths for his cattle… and most importantly, he builds an altar. I can hear him saying, “God brought me safely here. God kept His promise. God has been faithful.”
Genesis Chapter 34
“Responding to Wrong ”
(Read Genesis Chapter 34 First)
Genesis 34 is one of those chapters that makes you uncomfortable.
Jacob and his family have finally settled in Shalem. Life may be starting to feel stable after all the moving. Dinah, Leah and Jacob’s daughter, goes out, probably doing what any young girl would do, trying to make friends. And then something horrible happens.
Shechem, the prince’s son, sees her, takes her, and violates her. Scripture says she is defiled, and what makes it worse is that after the damage is done, he decides he wants her as his wife.
Hamor, Shechem’s father, comes to Jacob’s house to negotiate. He talks about marriage, unity, trade, peace, and prosperity. He says, Name your price, but notice what’s missing: repentance. There’s no justice or no apology for the wrong that was done unto Dinah.
When Dinah’s brothers hear what happened, they are furious. And honestly who wouldn’t be. Their sister was violated. Something inside them says that this cannot go unanswered.
So when Hamor and Shechem ask for peace and unity they agree, but inwardly they are plotting something deceiving, and when the men are weakest, Simeon and Levi slaughter all the men in the city.
They rescue Dinah from Shechem’s house, but the cost is devastating. Women and children are taken captive. The city is plundered. So much violence has taken place.
Next, we hear what Jacob has to say about what has transpired. He doesn’t defend Shechem, but he doesn’t praise his sons either. In fact, he tells his sons they have troubled him. He’s afraid of retaliation and consequences. He’s afraid for his family.
And the sons respond simply:
Should he have dealt with our sister as with a harlot?
The chapter ends there.
This chapter was hard to relate to everyday life, but there is this…
This chapter confronts something we all wrestle with and that is… What do we do when our anger feels justified?
Because sometimes it is.
Someone crosses a line or hurts someone we love. Something unjust happens, and we feel that fire rise up inside us. And in those moments, we feel weak if we restrain from saying or doing something. Retaliation can feel good in the moment.
Genesis 34 shows us how easily justified anger can turn bad.
The brothers weren’t wrong to be angry.
But they were wrong in how they responded.
One thing we can be sure of is God is working even if we don’t see it in the moments we first feel wronged. Later, Jacob will address this moment again. God does not forget Dinah. And God does not excuse Simeon and Levi either.
When I am hurt, or when someone I love is hurt,
Do I trust God with justice… or do I take it into my own hands?
Sometimes obedience looks like restraint.
Sometimes faith looks like letting God handle what we desperately want to control.
The Georgia Nest 