The Heavenly Army and Its Commander (Genesis 32)

So far, Jacob has seen angels when he had the vision of the ladder at Bethel. He also had the dream when the divine angel had told to return from Laban to Canaan in fulfilment of the divine promises made to him by God at Bethel. Now having reached the borders of Canaan he meets with angels. It must be of some significance that when Jacob left the promised land, he had a vision of many angels, and when he returned to the promised land, he saw many angels as well. On this occasion, many angels met him because he describes them as the Lord’s army or camp. I suppose the questions to ask are (1) why did they meet him? and (2) why did they meet him as an army?

Meaning of Mahanaim

One detail that contributes to understanding this encounter is the word Mahanaim, which means ‘two camps’. One’s understanding of the incident is affected by how the word is understood. There are four options: one is that the two camps are (1) the people and animals with Jacob and (2) the host of angels; the second is that there were two camps of angels; the third is that one camp refers to Laban and his men and the other camp refers to Esau and his men; and the fourth is that it was there that Jacob divided his entourage into two camps (v. 7). The first option is best – his camp and the camp of angels.

 

Angels as an army

We should not be too surprised that the angels are described as an army. Joshua met a person who described himself as the commander of the army of the Lord, and upon hearing that description Joshua engaged in worship because he was in the presence of the Lord of the army (Josh. 5).

 

Elisha on one occasion asked the Lord to reveal to the prophet’s servant what was present on the surrounding hillside: ‘So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha’ (2 Kgs. 6:17).

 

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the heavenly host appeared nearby in the sky, praising God for the arrival of the Saviour. Their presence troubled the shepherds, but their message encouraged them. The Commander of the heavenly host was now lying in the manger, and they were invited to go and see him.

 

Jesus also described angels in military terms when in the garden of Gethsemane: ‘Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?’ (Matt. 26:53).

 

Several psalms refer to God as the Lord of hosts, a reference to the angels being present in this manner.

 

Angels Greeting Jacob

The description that they met with Jacob is quite striking and has been noted by several commentators. One suggestion is that a form of angelic transfer was taking place, that those who had protected Jacob outside the promised land were handing him over, as it were, to those who would look after him in the promised land. This idea is connected to the possibility that there were two bands of angelic messengers.

 

Arthur Pink explains it in another way: ‘“And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.” The word “met” here suggests a beautiful thought. It is not that the angels “appeared” to him, but they “met” him. Jacob is returning from his long exile, returning to the land given to his fathers (and later to himself) by Jehovah. These angels then came forward to greet him, as it were. God sent these messengers of His in advance to welcome his servant home, and to express to him His goodwill. On his journey out from Canaan to Padan-Aram the Lord Himself met Jacob and gave him a vision of the angels; and here, now that he is on his way back from Padan-Aram to Canaan, the angels met him, followed immediately afterwards by the Lord appearing to him.’

 

Matthew Henry makes a similar point about the angels: ‘They met him, to bid him welcome to Canaan again; a more honourable reception this was than ever any prince had, that was met by the magistrates of a city in their formalities. They met him to congratulate him on his arrival, as well as on his escape from Laban; for they have pleasure in the prosperity of God’s servants. They had invisibly attended him all along, but now they appeared to him, because he had greater dangers before him than those he had hitherto encountered.’

 

Angels Defending Jacob

Laban had been told to leave Jacob alone. But Jacob knew that Laban was not to be trusted. For all that Jacob knew, Laban could be coming up to his rear, waiting to pounce on him and his assets. Ahead of Jacob was the unknown meeting with Esau. What Jacob needed was strong defence all around him. At this stage in his journey, the defence was shown to him by God, and he discovered that he was surrounded by the heavenly army.

 

Surely that would have been a tremendous encouragement to Jacob, whatever way he looked. The God who had told him to go back to his home had provided the defence that he needed on the journey. And the help that God had provided was more than sufficient to deal with any threat that Jacob might face. The obvious lesson for Jacob was that he did not need to be afraid. Those same angels constantly defend his people today.

 

It has often been noted that angels appear in a form suitable to the occasion. When the two angels appeared to Lot in Sodom, they looked like travellers on a journey with no intention of staying on in Sodom. Here as Jacob faces potential trouble, they appear as an army. When they were revealed to Elisha’s servant they had chariots and other instruments of war. There is no indication that they would need to use those weapons – they are much more powerful than any human weapon. The point is that they appear in a way that reveals what they are doing at that point.

 

The Commander of the army

Another possibility for the presence of the angelic hosts is that they accompanied their royal Commander. The Commander appears later that evening and Jacob wrestles with him until dawn. It looks as if the Commander started the wrestling. In the Genesis account, he is described as a man, but Hosea 12:3-4 tells us that Jacob wrestled with an angel and prevailed: ‘In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favour.’

 

During the conflict, Jacob realised that his opponent had peculiar ability – he merely touched Jacob’s hip and affected the joint, so that Jacob limped. Obviously, that would have impeded Jacob’s movability, and he was forced to cling to his opponent. We could say that prior to having his hip affected, Jacob was fighting to prove his own strength, but after it was affected, he was fighting or clinging to receive the Lord’s power. The Commander had weakened him to empower him.

 

Jacob received a blessing from God as shown in his new name Israel. He realised that his opponent could have destroyed him, but instead he had shown his grace. Jacob had been shown that God’s grace is revealed through weakness. He would spend his life in the promised land limping, a permanent reminder that he could not stand by himself.

 

This incident is not a picture of prayer of someone approaching God for help (although there is nothing wrong with setting aside a time for focussed prayer). Jacob had already prayed about what was going to happen. Rather, God in his providence ensured that Jacob was alone and then wrestled with him. Jacob did not ask for anything until the Combatant had weakened him. It was the Combatant who had approached him. If anything, it is a picture of sanctification where God deals with areas in our lives that need removing. Jacob was still marked by character elements that had to be removed, illustrated by the touch on his hip by God. Progress in the path of blessing is not made until we have been conquered by the Lord.

 

Applications

Why were the angels sent in this way to Jacob? Calvin gives three reasons: ‘Therefore it was necessary that the visible protection of God should be placed before the eyes of the holy man; so that, as in a splendid theatre, he might perceive that he had been lately delivered, not by chance, out of the hand of Laban; but that he had the angels of God fighting for him; and might certainly hope, that their help would be ready for him against the attempts of his brother; and finally, that, when the danger was surmounted, he might remember the protection he had received from them.’

 

The presence of the angels did not mean that Jacob should avoid making his own careful preparations or that he would not need personal interaction with God. We can see his preparations in the ways he arranged his people and possessions, and we can see his interaction with God in the wrestling in which he engaged with the Commander of the heavenly army.

 

Since one angel has sufficient power to provide all the protection Jacob would need, he would have been sufficient to give assurance of safety to Jacob. But God in his great kindness allowed Jacob to see that many angels were protecting him. And we see it as well, in the Bible. We don’t need to see them to know that they are there. God’s promises are enough and the details in God’s Word are sufficient.

 

Does this passage say anything about the notion of having one guardian angel? A couple of quotations may help us. First, Matthew Henry: ‘What need have we to dispute whether every particular saint has a guardian angel, when we are sure he has a guard of angels about him?Second, John Calvin: ‘Therefore they who think that each of us is defended by one angel only, wickedly depreciate the kindness of God. And there is no doubt that the devil, by this crafty device, has endeavoured, in some measure, to diminish our faith.’

 

Was the heavenly host observing the loving engagement of their Commander with his sinful servant who needed his help? Who can say?