The sun went down… and rose again

Originally posted on November 28, 2007 – by Andre Piet

Last Sunday, I spoke at a gathering about the story of Jacob at Bethel. In the presentation, I pointed out that the statement in Genesis 28:11 — “… because the sun had set” — is more than just a historical detail. It is emblematic of the situation Jacob was in at that moment. He had deceived his father and brother, and now, to save his own life, he had to flee the country. A dark episode in Jacob’s life had begun.

After the meeting, someone came up to me and said: “Did you know that when Jacob returned to the land, the sun rose again?” When I got home, I looked it up — and indeed, Genesis 32:31 says: “And the sun rises on him when he (=Jacob)  passed by Penuel, and he is limping on his hip.” Very striking! The sun set when Jacob left the land — and rose again when he returned.

Jacob’s 20-year stay abroad is, through these details, presented as a night.
There is clearly a prophetic dimension to this: it is a type of the diaspora of the people of Jacob. In both cases, unbelief (read: self-effort) was the cause of the stay outside the land. In both cases, it is a dark intermezzo. In one case, the period lasts 20 years; in the other, a hundred times longer — 2000 years.

Note also how the third day (> third millennium) repeatedly plays a role in Jacob’s adventures abroad: Genesis 30:36 and 31:22.

And so — the sun rose again over Jacob when, after all his wanderings, he arrived back in the land. No longer under the name Jacob, but under the name Israel: there had come an end to Jacob’s self-effort — he couldn’t even stand on his own anymore.

Remarkably, this turning point in Jacob’s life took place at the Jabbok. That too is a reversal (cob > bok).

It should be clear: Jacob is a model for the people who are so often named after their forefather. Both walk the same path. For both, the sun once set — but just as the sun ultimately rose again over Jacob, so it will soon rise over “the house of Jacob.”

The Lord has sent a word into Jacob (> past),
and it has fallen in Israel (> future).
— Isaiah 9:8

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