Nearly everyone knows the Old Testament story of Jacob wrestling with the “angel,” but there is more to this biblical tale—much more! In this video, we learn how the prophet Jeremiah and the ancient Jewish sages viewed “Jacob’s Struggle” as relating to end time events just prior to the second coming of the Messiah. Perhaps, and even more importantly, we will also discover how Jacob’ struggle—his dark night of the soul—is a spiritual picture of what each Christian must go through to come into a deeper, more mature walk with Yeshua the Messiah and to discover their true and ultimate identity and destiny.
This and other videos by Nathan are available as podcasts on Spotify and Apple podcast under “Hoshana Rabbah.”
Jacob’s Trouble, His Dark Night of the Soul In End Times Bible Prophecyand YOU!
You have probably heard the saying that the night is the darkest just before the dawn. Metaphorically speaking, when circumstances conspire against you and the outcome looks the bleakest, that is often when the rays of hope begin to shine through the darkest darkness and the outcome suddenly reveals itself. A way forward unexpectedly manifests itself out of the obscure gloom of apparent defeat and hopelessness. People of faith can more easily relate to such a scenario. This was exactly the place in which the patriarch Jacob found himself when returning to the land of Canaan—the future Promised Land. He had reached the pinnacles of success in his earthly endeavors, and now circumstances beyond his control in front of and behind him were conspiring to take everything away including his very life This is not only the story of his life, but each of us has likely found ourselves in similar spots as well. Deliverance and victory often emerge out of the darkest and bleakest periods of life. This is a test of our faith that if we are to progress to the next level in our spiritual growth, we must pass.
Genesis 32 is the story of Jacob’s return to Canaan after having been exiled from his homeland for 20 years. His exile occurred after he obtained his divinely promised birthright through shrewd if not unscrupulous means from his brother Esau resulting in his having to flee Canaan for fear of his life due to his brothers desire lust for vengeance. Jacob took refuge in the region of Babylonia at his Uncle Laban’s home, where he married Laban’s two daughters, Leah and Rachel. After twenty years working for the greedy and treacherous Laban, Jacob had to flee Babylon with is father-in-law in angry pursuit. As if that were not enough, while Jacob and his family are returning to Canaan, they encounter Jacob’s brother Esau who, still angry after two decades after being cheated out of his inheritance, along with his small army, not only stood in Jacob’s way from entering the land of his promised inheritance, but also wanted to kill Jacob.
This account of Jacob’s personal, spiritual struggles also has prophetic, end times implications relating to the regathering out of exile of the twelve tribes of Israel (the Jews and the Christians) and their return to the Promised Land in Israel under Yeshua our Messiah at his second coming. The Scriptures refer to this time period as “Jacob’s Trouble” (see Jer 30:7).
Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. (Jer 30:7)
The ancient Jewish sages believe that the encounter between Jacob and Esau (no doubt informed by Jeremiah’s prophecy) is prophetic in nature and will happen again in the end times, but this time on a much larger scale, and also involving the numerous descendants of Israel (or Jacob) and Esau (or Edom). That is to say, the Israelites of the end times will be attempting to return to their ancestral homeland, while the modern descendants of Esau (the forces of Antichrist as represented by the antichrist religion of Islam and their Elohim-hating allies) will be blocking their way. As we proceed in this study, we will see whether this prophecy is beginning to come to pass in these last days.
Not only this and by way of historical context, the Jewish sages speak of two major redemptions in Israel’s long history. The first redemption occurred when YHVH delivered the oppressed and enslaved children of Israel out of Egypt at the exodus. History will then repeat itself in what the Jewish sages refer to as “the second or final redemption,” which will occur at the end of this present era when the Messiah will regather and lead his exiled and scattered Israelite people back to the Promised Land in fulfillment of numerous biblical prophecies.
Rolling the time line backwards a little in the present story of Jacob, not only had Laban chased his son-in-law out of the area of Babylon, but Jacob was also being blocked from entering Canaan by his murderous brother Esau (or Edom). This is reminiscent of Pharaoh pursuing the Israelites as they were exodusing Egypt only to find their escape route blocked by the Red Sea. Pharaoh was the first Edom, if you will, or Edom is the second Pharaoh. In both instances, YHVH’s people were or will be forced to rely totally on him for deliverance from their enemies who were both in front of and behind them.
Initially, Jacob deals with his crisis in a typically human way—by scheming and conniving “to save his own skin,” so to speak, instead of having faith in YHVH “to work things out.” He figured that by bribing his angry and bloodthirsty brother with wave after wave of gifts, he might appease and assuage his Esau’s desire for murderous revenge (Gen 32:13–20).
Yet Jacob’s bifurcated response to this present danger by resorting to both appeasement and prayer was not acceptable to YHVH, who wanted Jacob to be a man of unmitigated faith, that is, to solely trust in him. Or as Job put it, though you slay me, yet will I trust you (Job 13:15).To bring Jacob to this point, a part of Jacob had to die: his prideful self-reliance and his inclination toward extricating himself from difficult situations through his own cunning ingenuity. This innate tendency of his, not unlike our own, was based on fear of death, and not on faith in YHVH. The Bible tells us that where there is fear, there is no love (1 John 4:18), and that YHVH has not given his people a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7). For Jacob to mature spiritually, YHVH wanted him to leave the fear and faithless aspect of his human nature on the east side of the Jordan where Babylon (a spiritual metaphor for the old carnal and sinful man and the ungodly ways of this world) was located. In its place, a faith-filled man who would totally trust YHVH in all things had to rise up; Jacob could no longer trust in his soul man (i.e., his mind, will and emotions) to determine his actions; rather, he had to rely on the Spirit of Elohim to lead him as it informed his inner man or personal spirit, which would, in turn, lead his soul forward in the walk of faith. Only a man of faith, who is mighty in the Spirit, will be worthy to enter the Promised Land. The children of Israel learned this lesson the hard way too. The carcasses of older generation that lacked faith in and obedience to YHVH littered the wilderness en route to the Promised Land.
For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it…Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience…(Heb 4:2, 6)
Like Jacob’s descendants later learned, he too had to discover that his old man, who lacked faith, had to die just before entering the Promised Land. But this was a difficult process. This is because Jacob had to come to grips with his own limitations and overcome the ugly side of his innate human nature that was directed by his mind, will and emotions and not by the Spirit of Elohim. This internal battle between the soul and the spirit occurred during a “dark-night-of-the-soul-encounter” when Jacob wrestled all night with the Messenger of Elohim (Gen 32:22–32).
The result was that in this struggle Jacob became permanently lame in his hip (Gen 32:32). He became physically injured, but more importantly, he became humbled in his heart. His soul man (i.e., his mind, will and emotions) became subservient to his spirit man (under the leading of the Spirit of Elohim). Out of his wrestling match, he gained a new identity, a new heart and a new name. Jacob the “heal catcher” became Israel “the prince of El [God]” or “the prevailer with El.” By wrestling with and overcoming his own soulish or carnal limitations, that is, his own pride, self-reliance on his mind to figure things out instead of trusting Elohim by walking in the faith and in the Spirit, he became a broken and changed man. By trusting in YHVH, he became a vessel that the Creator could use to further his plan of redemption as promised to Abraham, the father of our faith, for it was through Jacob that the birth of birth the nation of Israel was to occur.
Through events leading up to Jacob’s dark night of the soul, he learned a vital spiritual lesson: His human attempts at appeasing Esau gained him nothing except a slimmer net worth via the loss of material possessions. On the other hand, his wrestling with and surrendering to the Messenger of Elohim—who was, in reality, the preincarnate Yeshua—gained him and his descendants not only a nation and the Promised Land, but ultimately the whole world, through Yeshua the Messiah, and a place in YHVH’s eternal kingdom.
Interestingly and as part of a larger picture that would latter play out prophetically in the Bible’s pages, as a gambit to save his own skin from his vengeful brother, Jacob divided his family into two camps in the hopes that if Esau killed one group, the other would survive and vice versa. This was another one of his schemes that failed to work, but which has tremendous end-time prophetic implications. Genesis 32:2 records that Jacob called the name of the place where he split his family into two camps Mahanaim, which is a Hebrew word meaning “two camps” and is the plural of the root word machanah meaning “encampment, camp, camp of armed host, army camp, company or body of people.”This spot is near the River Jabok, which is a tributary to the Jordan River and is located on the east side of that river in the modern country of Jordan.During the time of the nation of ancient Israel, it was located in the Gilead region on either the border between Gad and Reuben or Gad and Ephraim. The Song of Solomon makes reference to mahanaim in chapter 6:13 where we read,
I hear many Christian Bible prophecy teachers talk about Jacob’s Trouble and tie it into their eschatological speculations about the pre-trib rapture, Daniel’s 70th week and on and on. Most of them seem to simply be regurgitating what others before them, who are ignorant of the Torah and who really don’t know much about the Tanakh have said. They don’t even know who the descendants of Jacob are in end times Bible prophecy. So how can they even hope to come to an understanding of this subject? It’s the blind leading the blind!
A few years ago, I did an in depth study on the subject of Jacob’s Trouble. I went into the study with no preconceived ideas except only to let the Bible speak for itself. The following is what was revealed to me. — Natan
Genesis 32:1–32, Jacob’s trouble explained.
Jacob’s Trouble, His Dark Night of the Soul and End Times Prophecy
Genesis 32 is the story of Jacob’s return to Canaan after having been exiled from his homeland for 20 years. His exile occurred after he obtained his divinely promised birthright through shrewd if not unscrupulous means from his brother Esau resulting in his having to flee Canaan for fear of his life due to Esau’s vengeance. Jacob found refuge in the region of Babylonia at his Uncle Laban’s home where he married Laban’s two daughters, Leah and Rachel. Eventually, Jacob had to flee Babylon with Laban in angry pursuit. As Jacob and his family are returning to Canann, they encounter Jacob’s brother Esau who, along with his small army, physically stood in Jacob’s way from entering the land of his promised inheritance and wanted to kill Jacob.
This account is not only the story of Jacob’s personal, spiritual struggles, but it also has end times prophetic implications relating to the regathering out of exile of the twelve tribes of Israel (the Jews and the Christians) and their return to their Promised Land in Israel under Yeshua their Messiah at his second coming. The Scriptures refer to this as Jacob’s Trouble (see Jer 30:7).
The Jewish sages believe that the encounter between Jacob and Esau (no doubt informed by Jeremiah’s prophecy) is prophetic in nature and will happen again in the end times, but this time on a much larger scale and this time involving the numerous descendants of Israel and Esau. The end-times Israelites will be attempting to return to their ancestral homeland, while the descendants of Esau will be blocking their way. As we proceed in this study, we will see whether this prophecy is beginning to come to pass in these last days.
Not only this, the Jewish sages speak of two major redemptions in Israel’s long history. The first redemption occurred when YHVH delivered the oppressed and enslaved children of Israel out of Egypt at the exodus. The second or final redemption will occur at the end of this present era when the Messiah will regather and lead his exiled and scattered Israelite people back to the Promised Land in fulfillment of numerous biblical prophecies.
Rolling the film backwards a little in the present story of Jacob, Laban had chased Jacob out of the area of Babylon, and yet Jacob was being blocked from entering Canaan by his murderous brother Esau (or Edom meaning “red”). This is reminiscent of Pharaoh chasing the Israelites out of Egypt only to find themselves blocked by the Red Sea, which is a prophetic picture of Edom. In both instances, YHVH’s people were forced to rely totally on him for deliverance from their enemies who were in front of and behind them.
Initially, Jacob deals with the crisis in a typically human way—by scheming and conniving instead of having faith in YHVH to work things out. He figured that by bribing angry and bloodthirsty Esau with wave after wave of gifts, he might appease Esau and assuage his brother’s desire for revenge (Gen 32:13–20).
Yet Jacob’s dual response to his present danger by resorting to both appeasement and prayer was not acceptable to YHVH who wanted Jacob to be a man of unmitigated faith—to solely trust in him. To bring Jacob to this point, a part of Jacob had to die. His prideful self-reliance to extricate himself from difficult situations had to die. This tendency was based on fear of death, and not on faith in YHVH. For Jacob to mature spiritually, YHVH wanted Jacob to leave his aspect of his human nature on the east side of the Jordan where Babylon (a spiritual metaphor for the old spiritual man and the ungodly ways of this world) was located. In its place, a spiritually-oriented man who would totally trust YHVH in all things had to rise up; Jacob could no longer trust in his soul man (i.e. his mind, will and emotions) to dictate his actions; he had to rely on the Spirit of Elohim to lead him through his personal spirit. Only a man of faith who was might in the Spirit would be worthy to enter the Promised Land. As Jacob had to discover, the old soul-reliant man, however, would not die without a fight as we are about to see.
Genesis 32 is the story of Jacob’s return to Canaan after having been exiled from his homeland for 20 years. His exile occurred after he obtained his divinely promised birthright through shrewd if not unscrupulous means from his brother Esau resulting in his having to flee Canaan for fear of his life due to Esau’s vengeance. Jacob found refuge in the region of Babylonia at his Uncle Laban’s home where he married Laban’s two daughters, Leah and Rachel. Eventually, Jacob had to flee Babylon with Laban in angry pursuit. As Jacob and his family are returning to Canann, they encounter Jacob’s brother Esau who, along with his small army, physically stood in Jacob’s way from entering the land of his promised inheritance and wanted to kill Jacob.
This account is not only the story of Jacob’s personal, spiritual struggles, but it also has end times prophetic implications relating to the regathering out of exile of the twelve tribes of Israel (the Jews and the Christians) and their return to their Promised Land in Israel under Yeshua their Messiah at his second coming. The Scriptures refer to this as Jacob’s Trouble (see Jer 30:7).
The Jewish sages believe that the encounter between Jacob and Esau (no doubt informed by Jeremiah’s prophecy) is prophetic in nature and will happen again in the end times, but this time on a much larger scale and this time involving the numerous descendants of Israel and Esau. The end-times Israelites will be attempting to return to their ancestral homeland, while the descendants of Esau will be blocking their way. As we proceed in this study, we will see whether this prophecy is beginning to come to pass in these last days.
Not only this, the Jewish sages speak of two major redemptions in Israel’s long history. The first redemption occurred when YHVH delivered the oppressed and enslaved children of Israel out of Egypt at the exodus. The second or final redemption will occur at the end of this present era when the Messiah will regather and lead his exiled and scattered Israelite people back to the Promised Land in fulfillment of numerous biblical prophecies.
Rolling the film backwards a little in the present story of Jacob, Laban had chased Continue reading →
Genesis 32 is the story of Jacob’s return to Canaan after having been exiled from his homeland for 20 years. His exile occurred after he obtained his divinely promised birthright through shrewd if not unscrupulous means from his brother Esau resulting in his having to flee Canaan for fear of his life due to Esau’s vengeance. Jacob found refuge in the region of Babylonia at his Uncle Laban’s home where he married Laban’s two daughters, Leah and Rachel. Eventually, Jacob had to flee Babylon with Laban in angry pursuit. As Jacob and his family are returning to Canann, they encounter Jacob’s brother Esau who, along with his small army, physically stood in Jacob’s way from entering the land of his promised inheritance and wanted to kill Jacob.
This account is not only the story of Jacob’s personal, spiritual struggles, but it also has end times prophetic implications relating to the regathering out of exile of the twelve tribes of Israel (the Jews and the Christians) and their return to their Promised Land in Israel under Yeshua their Messiah at his second coming. The Scriptures refer to this as Jacob’s Trouble (see Jer 30:7).
The Jewish sages believe that the encounter between Jacob and Esau (no doubt informed by Jeremiah’s prophecy) is prophetic in nature and will happen again in the end times, but this time on a much larger scale and this time involving the numerous descendants of Israel and Esau. The end-times Continue reading →
Genesis 32 is the story of Jacob’s return to Canaan after having been exiled from his homeland for 20 years. This is often referred to as Jacob’s Trouble (from Jer 30:7). His exile occurred after he obtained his divinely promised birthright through shrewd if not unscrupulous means from his brother Esau resulting in his having to flee Canaan for fear of his life due to Esau’s vengeance. Jacob found refuge in the region of Babylonia at his Uncle Laban’s home where he married Laban’s two daughters, Leah and Rachel. Genesis 32 recounts Jacob’s encounter with Esau who, along with his small army, physically stood in Jacob’s way from entering the land of his promised inheritance—later to be known as the land of Israel or Promised Land.
The Jewish sages believe that this encounter between Jacob and Esau is prophetic in nature and will happen again in the end times, but this time on a much larger scale and this time involving the numerous descendants of Israel and Esau. The Israelites will be attempting to return to their ancestral homeland, while the descendants of Esau will be attempting to block their way. As we proceed in this study, we will see whether this prophecy is beginning to come to pass in our days.
Rolling the film backwards a little, Laban had chased Jacob out of the area of Babylon, and yet Jacob was being blocked from entering Canaan by Esau (or Edom meaning “red”). This is reminiscent of Pharaoh chasing the Israelites out of Egypt only to find themselves blocked by the Red Sea, which is a picture of Edom (meaning “red”). In both instances, Continue reading →