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This is a passage where Jacob becomes Israel, and so this is where he gets his name, Israel. That name is brought up a lot after this, because obviously a great nation comes out of Jacob and out of Israel, and so sometimes actually it's weird when you see Jacob called Israel as a person, like the person Israel. You're usually thinking of the nation of Israel. But starting off here in chapter 32, if you remember at chapter 31 we just got done with Laban, and Laban came after him, and so Laban departs from him, and that's where we're picking up here in chapter 32, but it says in verse 1, it says, And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host, and he called the name of that place Mahanaim. We're going to see a lot of names, or a lot of names, and like why they're called that. Obviously in this chapter, obviously with Israel and with Peniel, but we also see Mahanaim. So when you see that name later on, and they're in the place of Mahanaim, you can kind of look back and say this is where he was, and this is why he called it that, because this is God's host. So you're going to see this term, the god of hosts, the Lord God of hosts, and what does that mean, you know, when it says host? Now when we think of a host, we think of like hosting a party, right, and I'm the host, but the word host in the Bible is talking about a great multitude of some sort, okay, and actually that's one of the definitions of the word host would be a multitude or great number of persons or things. So it's kind of a broad term that can mean kind of anything, a host of people, a host of, you know, geese, a host of, you know, cattle. You know, you can think of it like in just a large group of something, right, but usually in the Bible it's talking about an army, and so I want to show you some different places, because what you'll see is that the host will be referred to like armies, like the hosts of like Pharaoh, the host of Pharaoh, or the host of the Syrians, but sometimes they'll be referred to as like the host of heaven, so you think of the planets and the stars and everything that's out in the universe, so that's God's host. But then you'll also see God's host referring to angels, and I believe this place actually here is talking about the angels being his host, and so there's a multitude of angels, and actually in Revelation, which we're not going to go there right now, but in Revelation talks about how there's a hundred thousand thousand and thousands of thousands of angels, so you're dealing with over 200 million angels that didn't fall, so before the fall you're dealing with over 300 million angels, so there's a lot, that's a lot, you know, it's a host of angels, and so, but go to Genesis 21, just go back a little bit in here just to see this, is the host referring to as an army, and you don't have to go very far, you can look at, this is just everywhere you look, this is probably the most common when you're dealing with the word host, you're dealing with armies of some, you know, nation, but in Genesis 21 verse 22 it says, and it came to pass at that time that Bimelech and Fichol, the chief captain of his host, spake unto Abraham saying, God is with thee, and all that thou doest, so Fichol was the captain of, what, his army, his host, and so 1 Samuel chapter 17, just to kind of see that where sometimes in the Bible you'll see the word, the word define, defining itself within that same sentence, okay, you'll see that a lot in the Bible, and this is one of those where I believe it is, it says in verse 45, so 1 Samuel chapter 17 verse 45, it says, then said David to the Philistine, thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. So those hosts is plural because there's a lot of hosts, you know, you can think the host, God's host, which is in heaven, you can think of God's host as in the angels, but you could also think of God's host as his armies, that are physical armies, like the nation of Israel was his host, because they were God's people as far as the Old Testament was concerned, it was a physical nation, it was his host, right? But I want to show you in Deuteronomy 4, just to show you that it is referring to heavenly bodies, you know, like the sun, moon, and stars, the host of heaven, so you say, well, how does that match? Well, a lot of times it's talking about the stars and multitude and comparing that to, you know, your nation, your seed is going to be like the stars in heaven for multitude, right? So you can look up in the sky and they don't even know how many stars are out there, they're constantly increasing that number as far as how many stars are actually out there, and so that's a huge host when you think of all the stars that are in the heavens, right? But in Deuteronomy 4 and verse 19 it says, lest thou lift up thine eyes into heaven, and when thou seest the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven shouldest be driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. And this is something that's brought up a lot where someone worships the sun or the moon or the stars or the planets, like you think of the New Testament in Acts, you know, they called Paul, Mercurius and Barnabas, they called Jupiter and, you know, the Diana of the Ephesians, you know, how her image fell from Jupiter and like all these different things where they're worshiping the host of heaven, the star of your God, Remphan, you know, like all these different things where they're worshiping them, but you see even all the hosts of heaven. So what's being referred to the sun, moon and stars is the host of heaven, but also angels. Go to Psalm 148, and I believe Genesis 32 is a great example of this. Okay, so I don't want you to negate the passage that we're actually reading in Genesis chapter 32. It's very clear because it says that he saw that the angels of God met him and he named the place Maanam because this is God's host, right? So it's clear what is he calling God's host, the angels that met him. So that's why he's calling it that. But in Psalm 148 in verse 2 it says, Praise ye him, all his angels praise ye him, all his hosts. Okay, so you can see how it's being linked in there. And, you know, when you look at the sun, moon and stars, there's definitely symbology when it comes to, you know, we're going to shine as the stars in heaven in the firmament, right? Think about the resurrection and how one star different in glory than another star and all that stuff. So you can definitely see how the physical elements that are out there would represent, you know, Jesus is the sun, you know, as far as the son of righteousness. And you can see how that represents there. And so those elements represent things and kind of are the symbolistic of the true host, which would be us, right? We're going to be his host. We're his army. We're going to come down to white horses. And so, but in Luke 2, just the last one here to show you on this host stuff, but Luke 2 in verse 13, Luke chapter 2 in verse 13, it says, And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men. So notice the host is praising him. Okay, so there was an angel that was speaking and then there was a heavenly host praising him. So you can see all the angels joining in, the seraphims, the cherubims, you know, like all that working together up in heaven. But, you know, I was just actually thinking about this, you know, when you're dealing with the host, when he met this host of angels, it's something that we need to remember. Go to 2 Kings chapter 6, and I was just kind of thinking this isn't in my notes or anything like that, but we need to remember that we're not alone. Obviously God is with us, but if you look at Daniel where he had Michael the prince, you know, the chief, you know, you think of Michael the archangel, but you have these angels that are fighting these battles, these spiritual battles, you know. Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? That's what angels are. They're our ministering spirits. And so they're out there ministering for us, fighting for us, and we don't see it. But what if God could open your eyes where you could see it when you have a little more boldness? That's what happens in this story with Elisha and his servant. In 2 Kings chapter 6 and verse 15, it says, And when the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, and host compassed the city, both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master, how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. Now notice what he's going to do here because he's going to prove this to him. He's not just saying, well, God, you know, God's with us, which obviously is true. If God be for us, who can be against us, right? But look at verse 17. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. So think about that when you're out soul winning, you know, and when you're just out in your life as as as a child of God, and how God has his armies around, he has his hosts around you. And, you know, don't forget that. And we may not have this case where God opens our eyes or we can see that. But when we go to heaven, you know, we're going to see that we're no more going to be blinded from the spiritual aspects of the world. And so when he meets this, these angels, this host, you know, the fact that Jacob could see him is, you know, a miraculous thing. But we need to just take it by faith, that that host is there, that God said they are ministering spirits unto us. And we need to take that by faith and know that they're there. And so, but anyway, going back to Genesis chapter 32. So he comes in the man am and that's how it gets its name because these angels met him there. But then he sends messengers to his brother Esau. I want you to see the language that that Jacob uses with these messages as far as like what he's going to tell his brother Esau. So on Genesis 32 in verse three, it says Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. Now, why is it, why is it the country of Edom? Because that's his name. Esau, remember, was changed, his name was changed to Edom. And Seir is the land where he's dwelling. Mouth Seir, a lot of times you'll see. Verse four, it says, and he commanded them saying, Thus shall you speak unto my Lord Esau, thy servant Jacob, set thus. I have sojourned with Laban and stayed there until now. And I have oxen and asses, flocks and men servants and women servants that I have sent to tell my Lord that I may find grace in thy sight. And the messengers returned to Jacob saying, We came to thy brother Esau and also he cometh to meet thee and four hundred men with him. And Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed and he divided the people that was with him and the flocks and herds and the camels and the two bands and said, If Esau come to the one company and some I did, then the other company which is left shall escape. So notice the language, though, that he uses here with his brother. He says, My Lord and says, thy servant. He's calling himself his brother's servant. Now that's interesting because what was the blessing that Isaac gave to his brother? It gave to what was the blessing Isaac gave to Jacob? That his brother would serve him. And so we see that that doesn't come to fruition in Jacob's lifetime. What we actually see is the opposite. And so just to show you that that we've talked about this before, but that whole prophecy of the fact that the the elder shall serve the younger was not to Jacob and Esau the people or the individuals, but to the nations. It's very important because, you know, the Calvinists out there are constantly trying to use Romans 9, which we're going to go to, but go to Genesis 25 just to show you that event where it says the elder shall serve the younger. Where do we see this case of Esau actually serving Jacob? We don't actually see it. Actually, the next chapter is going to be way far more evident that Jacob is not, you know, the master of Esau. It's actually quite the opposite. And so now eventually the nations will be that way because Israel is going to become this great nation and Edom's going to be Israel's servant. And so that's how that comes true. But in Genesis chapter 25 verse 23, it says, and the Lord said unto her, two nations are in thy womb and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels. And the one people shall be stronger than the other people. And the elder shall serve the younger. It's very clear that this is talking about a group of people and not individual people of Jacob and Esau. You say, why is it that important that you realize that? Because go to Romans chapter 9. Because in Romans chapter 9 is where the Calvinists come in and are trying to say that Esau was hated from his mother's womb. And it's just not the case. And when you understand this and when you see it, especially when you see it in their lives, that this was never the case. It was never the case that Jacob was actually, or that Esau was actually Jacob's servant. We never see that. Jacob flees from Esau. When he comes back, he's saying, my Lord Esau, thy servant is going to give you, and he gives him a present. That's what we're going to see in this chapter. And we haven't even got to the point where he actually needs some and he's bowing down before he even gets to them. And so that's what we'll get to, not this week, but we'll get there eventually. And so this is very evident that this is, for this prophecy of the elders serving the younger is talking about the nations. Now Romans chapter 9, with all that in mind, now look at Romans chapter 9. It says in verse 11, for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. It's very clear that this is talking about nations and not the physical person. When you go back to where that's said in Malachi, which we're not going to do that for sake of time, Malachi chapter one, one where it says this phrase, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. It's talking about the nation of Edom and the nation of Israel, talking about the people. And so I just want to point that out again that this is very clear that Romans chapter 9 is not saying that Jacob was elected to get saved before he was born and that Esau was elected to be damned before he was born. What was elected was the fact that God loved the nation of Israel and hated the nation of Edom or Esau. So when you see Jacob and Esau, sometimes the nations are called that. Now what you usually see in the Bible is the nation of Israel and the nation of Edom, but sometimes you'll see him referring to Israel as Jacob. Now there's probably a reason why he's doing that because Jacob's not the powerful name, right, which we'll see is Israel is the name that God gave him. Jacob was the name that he had before, which was when he was a supplanter, Esau, you know, the name Edom is a bad name. It means to be faint, okay. And so sometimes though you'll see the nation of Esau and it'll say Esau and it'll say Jacob. And so that's very clear. So you can look at that where it says Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. You can look at Israel have I loved, but Edom have I hated. Maybe the same thing, but it's talking about nations. It's talking about people. So the elder serving the younger, when you go back to that, there's no way to get around the fact that it says two nations and two manner of people, the one people shall be stronger than the other people and the elder shall serve the younger. How in the world would it switch from talking about nations, people, people, and then all of a sudden we're talking about two individuals? Now it's clear it's talking about the elder shall serve the younger is talking about the nations, okay. And so don't get sucked into that, you know, that Calvinist garbage. And they go to Romans chapter nine and try to rip stuff out of context and, you know, try to say all that stuff, but it just doesn't match up with the Bible, obviously. So back to Genesis chapter 32, Genesis 32. So Jacob was afraid of his brother. Same thing with Laban. Was he supposed to be afraid? No, obviously the Bible says that we're not to fear what man can do unto us or what flesh can do unto us. We're always supposed to fear what God can do unto us. And so again, Jacob's afraid, but he does go to God in prayer. And so if you're ever afraid and here's the thing, we're human. We have our flesh. So are there going to be times that we're going to be afraid when we shouldn't be? Of course. And so in those times, what do you choose to do? Cower and get into the fetal position? Or do you go to God and call out to God for him to help you? Give you boldness to take that fear away from you, to give you confidence, right? So, so Jacob goes to God and it says in verse nine, it says, and Jacob said, Oh, God of my father, Abraham and God of my father, Isaac, the Lord, which sets unto me, return unto thy country and to thy kindred and I will deal well with thee. I'm not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou has showed unto thy servant. For with my staff, I passed over this Jordan and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me in the mother with the children. So it's a very legitimate concern because when his messengers came back, they said Esau is coming to meet you with 400 men, right? So he's not just coming out the, you know, so you can imagine how that looks. He's coming out with 400 men to meet his brother. So you can look at this being like a battle or he's going to try to take him out. So it's legitimate fleshly concerns that Jacob would have, but notice how he's, this is what, what I do a lot when I'm praying is I bring up promises that God gave me, right? When you're like, you're, you're having that time of weakness or you're just really in a low spot or something like that, you really just need to pull out, here's the promises, you know, think about like, you know, financially, you know, and where the Bible talks about, I've never seen the righteous begging bread or, or, you know, having therefore food and rain to be content, you know, that type of stuff where you're pulling out these promises, God, I know that you promise this, you know, and you kind of call back to the promises. You think of Daniel when he prays in chapter nine and he's calling back saying, you know, you know, it's supposed to be 70 years. You said you would bring us back and you know, all this stuff. So he's basically bringing up the promises of God here because what does he say in verse nine? It says, which says unto me, return unto thy country and to thy kindred and I will deal well with thee. So you notice what he's doing. He's saying, you told me to leave and to go back to my country and so that you would bless me there. So he's, he's, he's, he's pulling out the, you know, the, the commandment. And so you can think about this where, you know, God commands us to go soul winning. God commands us to read our Bible. God commands us to come to church. And you think about the persecutions that can come, you know, you think about jobs or whatever, where, you know, let's say I preach a hard sermon on the sodomites, or maybe let's say you, you guys are out there and you say something hard about the sodomites, right? And I'm not the only one that believes this, right? And you say something hard about the sodomites and then the, you know, the boss is coming down on you or people are trying to get you to lose your job or your position or whatever. And this is where you can come and say, God, you told me what I've heard in my ear in secret to preach upon the housetops. You know, you kind of, what I do is usually say, God, you told me to do this. Please bless this. You know, please be with me in this. And so I think it's very biblical and we can see what Jacob here, how he's bringing up promises that God made. And so I, I, I lean on that. I look at that or just, you know, casting all you care upon him for he careth for you and say, God, I'm casting this on you, you know, and just kind of using his own words. And here's the thing. God already knows that, but don't you think he wants his children to say that to him? You know, and it's kind of like if your children came up and said, you know, dad, you told me that if I did this, you sound much more weight that has, you know, because you're, you're, you're being recalled. Plus your child knows what you commanded. And so it shows the obedience, shows the remembrance and shows that, Hey, I'm doing this for the right reasons. And you're kind of just talking with God. You think about how Moses would talk, would talk God down. So to speak, when it comes to his judgment and his wrath, you know, you think about how you want, God's like, I'm going to destroy them all. And Moses says, you know, well, if you do that, everybody's going to think you brought them out of Egypt just to kill them out here. And so he's reasoning with them because you're supposed to be making a great nation. You're supposed to be taking us into the promised land. And so just kind of a different aspect of prayer. Obviously, you're supposed to have faith. You're supposed to be righteous. You're supposed to be keeping his commandments. But when you pray, what do you say? What do you bring up to God when you're praying to him? And I think it's a good thing to bring up his own word, to bring up promises that he's made in his word. And this isn't going to be the only thing that he says, because verse 12 there, he's going to bring up the main promise or the big promise is being promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And so in verse 12, he says this, it says, and now says, I will surely do thee good and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father. I'm sorry. I have that all in a row. Go back to that Genesis chapter 28. Just 28. I wanted to show you where that was said. I should have put a little bigger space there. So you're like, where in the world is that? It went from Genesis 32 12 to Genesis 28 13. So I was looking at the verses and the verses all lined up right there. So he's calling back to the big promise. Think about the big promise that and I see to all the nations of the earth be blessed. So Jacob knows that through his seed, Christ was going to come just as much as Abraham knew that and Isaac knew that. And so you think about how Abraham had the faith that even if he killed Isaac, remember that he knew that God was able to raise him again from the dead. He had that faith because he knew that he promised that in his seed would all the nations of the earth be blessed. So he's thinking about the fact that, well, I have to have a son. You know, I had to have a child, you know, to carry on this promise. And not only that, but that his seed would be a multitude of nations. Right. But in chapter 28 and verse 13, this is where this promise, you know, where God's promising this to him. In verse 13 it says, And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac, the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it. And to thy seed, and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest and will bring thee again into this land for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to the of. So notice what he's calling back, calling back to this promise. And so, you know, this is in Bethel, you know, when he saw they had his dream and all this stuff. And so we have, we have this case where he's calling back these promises and saying, God, you said you were going to bless me. You told me to come back to my land. You said you're going to bless me and that, that, you know, through my seed, you know, that all the nations of the earth or all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And so he's calling that back. And I believe that's a very biblical thing to do. And it's not like you're putting it in God's face. It's not like you're saying, you know, God, you told me to do this, you know, why aren't you doing it? You know, you obviously don't go into that. Actually, notice, you know, his attitude is, you know, saying, you know, you have all these mercies. I'm not worthy of any of your mercies or any of your grace. So you always come humbly. And we don't deserve his mercy. We don't deserve his grace. We don't deserve that, that he would even keep his promises, but we know that he will. And, and so we need to come humbly, but also bring up the promises and say, Lord, you said you would promise this. You said you would take care of this, you know, and, and come humbly to the throne of grace, you know, and, and obviously we have boldness through the blood of Christ to come unto the throne of grace and that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. But it's always good to bring up those promises. And Jesus does the same thing when he prays to the father. He's constantly bringing up, you know, who he is and bringing up the fact that he promised and, you know, all these different aspects in his prayer. So it was very biblical to do that. And so it's also another way to praise God. You know, you think about like all the promises that he did, you know, you kind of think about, God, I remember when you took care of this, you know, I remember when I was praying for this, you took care of it, Lord, please do it again. I just want to praise you for what you've done, all the mercies that you had on me before. I know you can do it, you know, and just pray that you do it again and kind of just bring up what he's done already. But back in Genesis chapter 32, what he does here is he makes two bands, right? He makes two bands of people and he's basically saying that if he comes to the one band of people and he destroys them, we'll have time to escape. Okay. So it's kind of like, you know, one of them is going to perish, but at least someone will escape. Right. And he kind of does the same thing in the next chapter when it comes down to his family and you can kind of see the priority of his family. You know, I'm not saying that's right, but you know, obviously Joseph's all the way in the back, you know, he's the last one that's going to get it. But anyway, in Genesis chapter 32, he's wanting to give this gift to Esau. So in verse 13, it says, and he lodged there at that same night and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau, his brother, 200 she-goats and 20 he-goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams, 30 milch-camels with their colts, 40 kine and 10 bulls, 20 she-yasses and 10 foals. I feel like I'm reading Dr. Seuss there for a second. It says in verse 16, and he delivered them into the hand of his servants every drove by themselves and said unto his servants, Pass over before me and put a space betwixt drove and drove. And he commanded the foremost saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee? then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's. It is a present sent unto my lord Esau, and behold also he is behind us. And so commanded he the second and the third and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau when ye find him. And say ye moreover, Behold thy servant Jacob is behind us, for he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face peradventure he will accept of me. So went the present over before him and himself lodged that night in the company. So you can see what he's doing here is he's putting this big present out in front of him hopefully to, you know, win him over. So that's obvious what he's doing. Go to Proverbs chapter 18. And so there's interesting things when you're dealing with a gift, when you're giving a gift, because there's a good, giving a gift is not always a good thing, but it's not always a bad thing either. I mean, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So it's not a bad thing to receive a gift or to give a gift, right? That can't be inherently wrong or salvation would be wrong. But there is a, there's a lot of times we'll talk about receiving a gift to pervert judgment. So there are cases where, you know, giving a gift is done to, you know, do something wrong, right? You're not supposed to bribe people. That's where a bribe comes in. And so he's not bribing his brother. He's just trying to give him a gift to help win him over, right? And so in Proverbs 18 verse 16 it says, a man's gift maketh room for him and bringeth him before great men. So maketh room for him. So it's kind of like your way in, so to speak. But then also look at Proverbs 21 verse 14. Proverbs 21 verse 14, it says, a gift in secret pacifieth anger and a reward in the bosom strong wrath. So that's obviously what he's trying to do here is that his brother's angry at him. He wanted to kill him, but it's also been 20 years, okay? So you gotta, you gotta imagine that he's had time to cool down, but also he's trying to give him a gift. Now why is it saying secret? Because it talks about, and there's a proverb on this too, but I don't have it memorized, nor do I have it written down, but it talks about blessing your neighbor when you arise, meaning like your out loud blessing them, okay? Because there's a lot to do with how you give the gift, right? Are you sounding a trumpet and saying, you know, brother Joseph, I'm giving you this in front of everybody and everybody's watching and it's this big show to make myself look good. Now this happens a lot. If you ever see these videos where someone's giving something to homeless people and all this stuff, it's all a pretentious show to make themselves look righteous. If they were so righteous in what they were doing, they would not be doing a video about it and making themselves look righteous. It's all a self-righteous, pretentious show when people do a video. And the Bible is very clear on that, you know, do not your arms before men to be seen of them. And that's what people do a lot of times. They give gifts. Think of Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah Winfrey, you know, all these people that, that are giving gifts out to people constantly in their stupid shows, right? You get a car, you get a car, you get a car, you know, like stupid stuff that they do. Why do they do it? Is it because they want to give it all this stuff and they actually want to help people out? No, it's to make them look like they're, you know, God's gift sent down from heaven and make them look like they're the most generous people in the world. It's all for self-grandizement. And so obviously that's what a sieging here is, a gift and secret pacified anger. Because if you do it openly and you're doing it as a show, they're going to see through that, right? They're going to see, he's not doing it because he wants to give it to me or wants to bless me. He's doing it for his own self-gratification, to lift up himself, right? So be careful with that type of stuff. And, you know, be careful with people that do that type of thing, you know, people that are trying to build themselves up and they're trying to give things out, like, oh, you know, I did this, I did this, I did this, I did this. You know, this can go into the factions of soul winning. It'd be like, you know, I was out on the streets and I just, you know, I could barely move and I just kept going and I just, you know, I didn't think I could do it. I was praying to God that he would just get me through it. And, you know, my fingers were falling off, you know, it's like, now if you're just telling someone like one-on-one, this would be like, man, my fingers are about to fall off out there, it's so cold. That's different than if you're trying to make yourself look like you're some, you know, you know, person that, that needs this accolades or this, this attention, as attention seekers, okay? And a lot of times these people are infiltrators, people that have these ostentatious type stories and they're just like, I want 30 people at the door. It's like, what door were you at? Did you knock on like some convention? Like, you know, like there's these stories where you're just like, what in the world are you talking about? There's no way that's, that's, that's possible. And there's no way that that actually happened. And it's all to make themselves look spiritual, godly. And, you know, this, this, this idea of, you know, I've done all this stuff. And so it, it all goes into this, this idea of puffing yourself up, making yourself look good. And so don't be that person, but also beware of people that do that. And people in our movement have done that. Doug Trowbridge was one of them. Look at him, the psychopath that he is, you know, I'm Bill McGregor, this guy that is in Canada, you know, from the get go, this guy rubbed me the wrong way, as far as just the way he would talk about his book, you know, and like, talk about how, like, this is such a, you know, this is a game changing book or like, you know, like, this is like, you got to have this book and all this stuff. It's like, like, who hasn't heard of the Isaiah, you know, mini Bible, 66 books thing? Okay. Now, I guarantee there's people that haven't. But, you know, it's like, he's given it out to these pastors, like, we never heard of that before. I've never studied that before, whatever, you know, and here's the thing, if someone writes a book about it, you know, that's cool. I'm not against that. I'm not saying like, you know, I know everything about that, or I haven't, I've seen it all, right? But there's, there's these big red flags when it comes to flattery, when it comes to this self-grandizement, you know, like, where it's like, you know, look at me, you know, I'm like this game changer, you know, and people that like the limelight. Be careful of those people. The people that you can see are clearly just trying to get popular. I don't want to be popular, okay? Here's the thing, if I become popular because people like to hear me preach and all this stuff, that's fine. I'm not, I'm not gonna like fight it, okay? But I'm not out there trying to advertise myself and be like, man, I want to get more subscribers on my YouTube channel. I want to like, I want to be, you know, as well known as Pastor Anderson. Listen, with, with, with being famous, there comes also a lot of headaches, okay? And personally, I'd rather be under the radar when it comes to like just all the headaches that come with it. Now here's the thing, if it's for the kingdom of God and more people get saved and more people hear the truth, then I'll take the headaches, okay? So I'm not against like being known and like people hearing it and all that stuff, but I don't want to be known because I want to be known. Does that make sense? And there's a lot of people out there that want to be known, that want to be famous, that want people to, when they, when they see and be like, oh, you know, that's him. When people say it to me, I'm embarrassed. They're like, that's Pastor Robinson. I'm like, what in the world? You know, like, yeah, like it's just weird. It's weird. Now here's the thing, if someone has, you know, if someone likes me and like, you know, looks up to me, it's, it's very flattering and not in a manner of like, they're trying to flatter me, but it usually feels awkward. I'm just gonna be honest. Someone asked me to sign their Bible or whatever, and it's, I'm not against them. I'm not saying they're wrong for doing it, you know, but I just don't feel like I deserve any of that, okay? And so, but there's people that want that. That's why they became a pastor. That's why they, they, they're, you know, they're trying to get into the movement or they're trying to, you know, ride the coattails of Pastor Anderson. And, you know, that's the stuff we need to try to stay away from. And, you know, you say, well, well, how do you know that these people are reprobate or like these people are like really bad people? The Bible teaches about this stuff, you know, that not all bad people are homosexuals. That's definitely, they're in there, okay? I mean, those people are out there, they exist, but there's other big red flags to see. Flattery is one of them. Self-grandizement, you know, like where you're trying to just like lift yourself up. You're trying to get the limelight. You're trying to make yourself well known. That is a big red flag. And we need to try to beware of that type of stuff. And so, I don't know how I've got off on that. We were talking about a gift and secrets. But go back to Genesis chapter 32. And this is the, the big thing, you know, obviously we want to get to is where Jacob wrestles with this man. So, in verse 22, it's, it's an interesting story because it's just like all of a sudden there's this man wrestling with him, right? It doesn't say where he came from. It doesn't say like anything about it, like who this guy is. It's just like, hey, there was this man wrestling with him at night, you know? And so, but let's see how it sets this up. In verse 22, it says, and he rose up that night and took his two wives and his two women servants and his 11 sons and passed over the Ford Jabbok. And he took them and sent them over the brook and sent over that he had and Jacob was left alone. So, Jacob's alone. And he kind of sent his, his family over the brook and it says, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said, let me go for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. And he said unto him, what is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel. For as a prince has thou power with God and with men and has prevailed. So, we see that this, this angel, you know, what, what is this? You know, we're talking about, is this an angel? Is this just a man? Is this God? It's a good question, right? Because it doesn't really say, doesn't say it's an angel. It just says a man was there wrestling with them. And so in verse 29, it says, and Jacob asked him and said, tell me, I pray thee thy name. And he said, wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. So he said, what's your name? And he says, why are you asking me out of my name? You know, like, and he doesn't answer him. He doesn't say like what his name is. And verse 30, it says, and Jacob called the name of the place, Peniel, for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved. So why do a lot of people, why, why do most people believe this is God? Because it says I've seen God face to face. Now I, I'm kind of torn and I'm not a hundred percent on if this is just an angel or if this is like a manifestation of Jesus. I lean more toward, well, I lean, I lean towards Jesus, it being like an Old Testament appearance of Jesus, but I'll tell you why I lean to the other direction as well, that it's just an angel. Go to Judges chapter 13, Judges chapter 13. But as you're turning there, you know, when we see there that his name is called Israel, why? For as a prince has thou power with God and with men and has prevailed. So what's Israel mean? You know, I tried looking up the etymology and stuff like that, and there's so many different weird, different things out there. And I don't think really anybody knows exactly like what that means, but I'll say this, it has something to do with having power with God. Now in Israel, you see the word El in there and you think of Beth El as the house of God. And you know, there's a lot of Els, like Eli, Eli, Lama, Sabachthani. He says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? So you see the word El a lot of times means God. So you can see that God would be in that word, meaning that power with God, maybe that's what it means. And it makes sense that if Edom's, what's Edom's name mean? Faint. So, you know, Jacob versus Esau is power versus weakness, you know? And so I think it can be a powerful prince. I don't know. I don't know if prince is implied in there, but a prince is someone that's a powerful leader. There's a leader, right? And so you can think of it that way. So maybe Israel means a powerful prince. I think power is implied in there though, either way you look at it. So it's either power with God or a powerful prince with God. And so that's what that name means. Jacob means supplanter. So it's obviously an upgrade, you know, as far as his name goes. But the big question is, is he wrestling with God or is he wrestling with an angel? And I guess it could just be a man, but here's the thing. I don't think he would say I've seen God face to face if it was just a man. Okay. And that still wouldn't make sense because why is this random man blessing him? Right? So I think that you have one of two choices here. It's either an angel of God or it's, it's God, you know, that it's like Melchizedek, you know, like is in the flesh kind of thing or, or appearance of Jesus, like the captain of the host that met Joshua. Right. But Judges 13 is a story dealing with Manoah and his wife and the story of how she's going to have Samson. Manoah's the story, and starting there in verse 15, dealing with this angel that met him. Now in this story, it definitely says it's an angel of the Lord. In verse 15, it says, and Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. So notice that he's saying, we're going to make ready a sacrifice for you. Notice what it says in verse 16. It says, and the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread. And if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord, for Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord. Okay. So what it looks like here is that Manoah is thinking this is, this is God, this is the Lord, right? Which isn't out of the ordinary, right? Because we had the Lord meeting, you know, Abraham and talking to him at the tent door. So this is something that, you know, has happened. So it's, you know, it can be the case. But in verse 17, it says, and Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, what is thy name, that when thy saying come to pass, we may do the honor. And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it a secret? So look a little familiar. So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord, and the angel did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came to pass when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar that the angel Lord ascended in the flame of the altar, and Manoah and his wife looked on it and fell on their faces to the ground. But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife, then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord. Notice in verse 22, and Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die because we have seen God. So you see how this can vary. This is why I lean towards that it was an angel that he wrestled with, because in this, I think it's very clear. I believe this is very clear that this was an angel and this wasn't God. Because when he says that we're going to prepare a kid for thee, he says, you need to do it unto the Lord. Because, and then it even says for Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord. Okay. And then, you know, he goes up and so, but it says that Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord at this point before he says this, because we have seen God. That's interesting, right? Now, notice this, that when both Manoah speaking and Jacob are speaking, it's not the narrator. So when Jacob says, I've seen God face to face, you know, it may not be the case. Now, the other thing to think about, too, is that the burning bush, you remember, there's different accounts where it says God spake out of the burning bush and then talks about the angel of the Lord speaking out of the burning bush. Now, sometimes the angel could be Jesus, you know, because an angel just means a messenger. And obviously, Jesus would be a messenger of God. He's the Son of God. And so, you know, I'm not saying that when it says angel or angel of the Lord, it can't be talking about God. But when it says an angel of the Lord, to me, that sounds like it's not the angel of the Lord. It's not, it's not God. It's not the Son. Okay. So in this story with Manoah, there's two things I see there. He asks after his name, and he doesn't give it to him. Same thing happens with Jacob. Manoah says, we have seen God. That's what Jacob said. I see a very similar story. But I see more detail as far as it's just this being an angel. Okay. So I lean towards it just being an angel. If you believe that it's Jesus, I'm not against you. Okay. Because it says I've seen God face to face, you know, you know, I can see it definitely. It doesn't say that it's an angel in Genesis 32. So that can very well be the case. Maybe it is maybe it is an Old Testament appearance of Christ. But to me, there's so many similarities with this story and judges 13 to make me think that that was probably an angel that he was wrestling with until the break of day. But think about wrestling with somebody until the break of day. Okay, I used to wrestle. Those matches were not that long. Okay, you're talking minutes, you know, like two minute periods or whatever. Even boxing matches, you know, you're dealing with three minutes, but a boxing match is different than a wrestling match because a wrestling match you can't you don't have any time of rest. Like you can't back off. I mean, you can, but it doesn't last very long. But usually in a boxing match, you can kind of back off and kind of get your thoughts together, take a little break, so to speak. With wrestling, it's just all out fighting, you know, just all your energy going into it. I can't imagine that shows you the strength of Jacob. And that's why you know, he's blessed, you know, like he prevailed, he had power with God. And so there are things in Genesis 32 where you'd say, well, I think it was God, because he had power with God, and with man and prevailed. Right. So, you know, power with God, you know, could imply that he was wrestling with God, you know, and that he saw God face to face. So I'm not discounting it. Okay, I'm just showing you both sides to it. And I'm just telling I'm just being candid with you. I'm not 100% sure which one it is. Because I can see both ways. And maybe I'll maybe I'll find a concrete, you know, like that's definitely right. That's definitely God. But I can see where it says I've seen God face to face. And that he called him Israel because he has power with God. Right and prevailed. So I can see how that would match up with that. But then also see the story here where he's asking after his name, but he doesn't give it to him. And then it's clearly an angel of the Lord here in this passage, and he says, we have seen God. And so and knowing that it's an angel. And so, but anyway, I don't think it really matters. You know, it's not like it's that big of a deal to understand if it's God or if it's an angel. What we really see here is the fact that God blessed Jacob and that the the strength that he had to wrestle with this guy, and he earned his name. Right? When we think about what what what he did with his brother and stealing the blessing and all that stuff, he's come a long way. And he's earned his way to the cattle and all that stuff he has, he earned that he earned his wives and his and his and his children. And now he's earning a good name. A good name is better to be chosen, right? And so we want to strive to have a good name. And so Jacob gets a good name here. God blesses him, gives him a good name. And you can imagine that Jacob probably has a little more confidence coming into this, the next chapter here, you know, wrestling with with this man and God bless him and giving him this, this new name. And so, but it's an interesting chapter for sure. Definitely one that's probably been well disputed as far as like who he's wrestling with. But that's what's fun about the Bible is that there's some passages that people are still kind of scratching your head as far as like, is it that way? You know, because when I was reading through you, when you look at Esau, it says, Jacob wrestled with God. You know, you see this little titles on top of there. It could be. I'm not against that. But it's one of those things where it's just not, I can't be 100%. But that's okay. When you're going through the Bible, sometimes you're going to go through passages and you're not going to be 100%. And maybe one day you will be. Maybe one day I'll just be like, yeah, there's no doubt. That's the way it is. But when you're going through the Bible, you're going to find those places. Just kind of hold on to it, think about it. And when you're reading through other passages in the Bible, it may, there may be another passage that will pop out to you and it'll just really clear it all up and sure it up. So, but Genesis 32 is a great passage dealing with Jacob and, and him becoming Israel. This is where he gets his name. And, you know, obviously, we're going to see that name a lot through the Old Testament. So let's end with a word prayer day. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this evening and pray that you be with us as we go home. Pray that you give us safe travels and pray that you be with us throughout the rest of this week. Again, I pray to be with those that are traveling. I know that the, that Brother Anthony's traveling with work and just, I know the Slagle's were traveling and, and Lord, I pray to be with my wife that's out in Arizona. I pray to keep her safe and bring her back safely. And Lord, just pray that you'd be with us and help us to bring glory to your name. Lord, we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.