And he commanded them, saying, “Speak thus to my lord Esau, ‘Thus your servant Jacob says: “I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now. Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. But what is it, after all, to see an angel? Is not the fact of God’s presence better than the sight of the best of his creatures? Perhaps the Lord favored Jacob with the sight of angels because he was such a poor, weak creature as to his faith.” (Spurgeon) 2. “I do not ask that you may see angels: still, if it can be, so be it. If the Lord’s chosen could not be sufficiently protected by the forces available in one world, he has but to speak or will, and myriads of spirits from the far-off regions of space would come thronging forward to guard the children of their king.” Spurgeon thought about the great multitude of angels that God has available for His people’s help: “It may be that every star is a world, thronged with the servants of God, who are willing and ready to dart like flames of fire upon Jehovah’s errands of love. That night in the New Hebrides Islands, there certainly was a “double camp,” a group of angels to help and serve the missionary family. The chief insisted he had seen hundreds of big men with shining garments and swords circling the mission headquarters, so the natives were afraid to attack (Billy Graham in Angels, God’s Secret Agents, page 3).
The chief replied, “Who were all those men you had with you there?” The missionary explained only he and his wife were there. A year later, the chief of the tribe became a Christian, and Paton asked the man about that night. He and his wife prayed through the entire night, and when daylight finally came, their attackers were gone. John Paton, a missionary to the New Hebrides Islands, told of how one night hostile natives surrounded his mission’s headquarters, intent on driving the Patons out of their home and killing them. In 2 Kings 6:15-17, Elisha’s servant had his eyes opened to see the tremendous angelic host surrounding them. Angels, though “higher” beings than us, are ordained by God to be our servants (Hebrews 1:14) and they serve God’s people even as they served Jesus (Matthew 4:11). Now, Jacob could see God’s angels with him and it provided great encouragement. It was not as if God’s angels just joined Jacob. He was not alone God had a camp of angels to be with him at Mahanaim. This is God’s camp: Literally, Jacob observed he was in a double camp. He was leaving Laban and the school of all those tricks of bargaining and bartering which belong to the ungodly world.” (Spurgeon)ī.
Jacob was entering upon a more separated life. “Our Mahanaims occur at much the same time as that in which Jacob beheld this great sight. Separation from the world brings greater insight to the believer. This wonderful revelation of God’s presence and care came after Jacob finally separated from Laban, the worldly man. Perhaps God wanted Jacob to know how great His care was for him and his family. In some way, angelic beings that are normally unseen were now made visible to Jacob, and they met him. The angels of God met him: We don’t exactly know what this means. When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.Ī. So Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. (1-2) Jacob meets the angels of God at Mahanaim. Genesis 32 – Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau A.
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