Of course, he still knew something of God. Formerly, God had sought after him, now he sought after God. "And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude" (vv. 9-12). This was Jacob's prayer. This prayer was not a high prayer, but we must admit that it was much better than before. In the past he only planned; there was no prayer. Now he both planned and prayed. Jacob was planning on the one hand and praying on the other hand. On the one hand, he was having his own activity, and on the other hand, he was looking to God. Is Jacob the only person who has done this kind of thing? Is this not the condition of many Christians? Yet, in spite of this, Jacob's condition had improved. His prayer and the position he took were quite proper. He called God the "God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac." He knew that God wanted him to return to his own land and to his kindred, and that He would bless him. He told God plainly that he was afraid his brother would come and kill him. He was honest, and said to the Lord, "Thou saidst, I will surely...make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude." He remembered God's promise and reminded God of the promise.

At the same time, however, he could not trust in God. He was afraid of what would happen if God's word failed. He could not cast away his trust in God, because God had spoken to him, but he considered it very risky to trust in God completely. He wanted to trust in God, yet without risk. Therefore, he came up with his own ways. "He lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother; two hundred she goats and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine and ten bulls, twenty she asses and ten foals. And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove. And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee? Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us. And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him. And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me. So went the present over before him; and himself lodged that night in the company" (vv. 13-21). This was Jacob's master plan! He was facing the peril of his lifetime; it was a moment of life and death. Jacob had passed through many things, but he had never encountered a situation as desperate as this one. He knew his brother's temperament, and he knew that his brother was a hunter who did not pity the animals. He was afraid that he would not have pity on men as well. This was Jacob's most perilous hour. He had never prayed as he then prayed, and he was never as fearful and as anxious as he was on that day. In Bethel God sought him out. Now he called on God. If you say that he did not fear God, you must remember that he prayed. But if you say that he trusted in God, you must remember that he came up with all these schemes and ways! He seemed to have forgotten God's promises, and at the same time, it appeared that he had not forgotten them completely. God delivered him out of the hand of Laban and showed him that a host of God's angels were going with him. However, he was still afraid and worried, and he was still planning and scheming. For twenty years God had subdued and disciplined Jacob, but twenty years later, Jacob was still Jacob. He was still very capable in himself. His eloquence was still with him, and he still had all kinds of schemes. Here he came up with his best plan. That night Jacob took his wives, children, and womenservants over the river first. Then he sent everything else over the river. He alone was left on this side.