So Jacob's name means "Heel Grabber." And he wrestled with God. And God changed his name to Israel. Which means "Wrestles with God." Jacob is seen as wrestling for everything. He wrestles with his brother. He wrestles with Laban for his wife. He wrestles with the sheep that he's keeping. He wrestles with his own faith in his family God. And now, he wrestles with God himself.
He prays a prayer that I find is quite moving because it reflects a major character change in Jacob. Instead of being a thief, and a conman, who at root, believes that he has been cheated in life, or that his life is more important than anyone else, his prayer reflects that of a humble man, who would not seek to harm anyone. "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, 'Return to your country and to your kindred, and I will do you good,' I am not worthy of the least of ll the steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan; and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him; he may come and kill us all, the mothers with the children. Yet you have said 'I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because of their number.'"
He first acknowledges that God has been faithful to his family. Which is a measure of gratefulness. He continues still with thanking him for his love and his faithfulness, knowing that he himself was not worthy of it. He is well aware that God has been so good to him, and that there was no way to be able to repay him. He attributes all of his success to God. He seeks to be reunited with his brother Esau, who he stole both blessing and birthright from. And he goes about it correctly. He does so with prayer.
That same night, God shows up, and wrestles him. Jacob refuses to let go of God until he gives him a blessing. So God changes his name. Jacob actually wrestled with God, and left with only a limp. Now, of course, God could have destroyed Israel without even thinking about it. But this moment is where we see a real turnaround in Jacob He throws away all the idols in his family, and commits himself to worshiping Yahweh alone.
When he finally comes to meet his brother, he does so by presenting gifts, and humbling himself. He refers to his brother as "my lord" and bows to the ground before him. God has not only delivered Jacob from Esau's rage, but he has actually healed the broken relationship between Esau and Jacob. They embrace each other with tears, and joyfully speak of each other's family.
God is more than able to heal a family to the uttermost. That which has been broken, and shattered, God can put together again. He can mend broken hearts, and heal hurts.
But unfortunately for Jacob, pain was right around the corner again. Shortly after leaving Esau, his own daughter is raped by a rule of a local city. His sons are enraged, and avenge them. While the city was unprepared, and in pain, they went through the city and killed all of the soldiers. But Jacob knows that this did not heal anything. He understands that this will bring only more death, and more war. On top of all this, Israel's sons twisted the sign of the covenant, circumcision, into a trick to make their enemies vulnerable.
After this, even more heartbreak and pain comes his way when his beloved wife, Rachel, dies in childbirth. The son's name is Benjamin. Shortly after her death, his father dies. There is much sorrow in Jacob's life in these last few chapters. Esau, his brother, helps bury their father. Sometimes life can be like that. High heights, followed by low depths. But God is present through all of it.
The section ends with Esau's genealogy. Unfortunately, Esau married into the Canaanites.
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