Genesis 32:12
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. 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.
Jacob, returning home in obedience after years of exile, found himself defenseless before Esau approaching with armed men to avenge the blessing Jacob had taken by deceit, and in fear and self-reproach he pleaded God's promise to do him good and multiply his seed beyond counting as his ground for asking deliverance for himself and his family. He did so only after doing all he could to make peace and right the wrong, making prayer his only hope and defense. His prayer was heard and his life spared because he had first repented of the fraud, showing that prevailing prayer in utter anguish requires sins already confessed and blotted out with nothing concealed. His pleading of the promise in distress is the pattern for the righteous, and his anguish foreshadows the time of Jacob's trouble when God's people will plead for deliverance with the same confidence. Then, as with Jacob, unconfessed sins would destroy confidence and cut off faith, while every effort must still be made to do right and avert the danger.
Jacob's Plea for Protection
Genesis 32:12 records Jacob appealing to God's promise to surely do him good and to make his seed as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered for multitude, invoking that promise as the reason for asking God to protect and deliver him and his family from Esau. He recalled and reminded God of the promise to do him good and multiply his descendants innumerable, pleading on that basis in his time of distress and danger, and his reliance shows how the righteous plead God's promises in their distress. That plea for deliverance belongs to the crisis connected with the time of Jacob's trouble, with the scene of the angels being told to hold back the winds, and with Jesus' plea for the remnant as He presents His blood to the Father while the four angels are held back until God's servants are sealed. The verse occurs in the account of Jacob's preparations before meeting Esau and does not by itself explain the promise about his descendants.
The setting is that after years of exile Jacob obeyed God's command to return to his native country with his wives and children and flocks and herds, and on reaching its borders learned Esau was approaching with a band of warriors bent on revenge, leaving his unarmed and defenseless company seemingly about to fall helpless victims. To his fear was added self-reproach, because his own sin in deceiving to secure his father's blessing intended for Esau had brought the danger. He feared Esau might destroy his family.
The verse is one of the promises of divine help and guidance that Jacob remembered as he returned to his homeland, along with his memory of God's favor toward him. It belongs to Jacob's prayer in which he recalled God's promise and pleaded for protection from Esau. He sought divine help in prayer after doing what he could to make peace and avert the danger, leaving nothing undone to atone for the wrong to his brother.
Repentance and Final Deliverance
His only hope was the mercy of God, and his only defense was prayer. His prayer for deliverance was heard, and his life was mercifully spared and preserved, because he had first repented of obtaining the blessing and the birthright by fraud, and without that prior repentance he would not have been heard. Prevailing prayer for deliverance in utter fear and anguish requires no concealed wrongs, but only a deep sense of unworthiness, with all sins already confessed, gone beforehand to judgment, blotted out, and unable to be brought to remembrance.
In danger he relied on this promise in prayer, and his example shows how the righteous plead God's promises in their distress. His distress is connected with and represents the experience of God's people in the time of trouble and the time of Jacob's trouble. As applied in that time, God's people plead for deliverance with confidence, while unconfessed sins appearing then would overwhelm with terror, cut off faith by despair, and leave no confidence to plead.
As applied in that time, God's people must likewise make every exertion to stand rightly before the people, disarm prejudice, and avert the danger threatening liberty of conscience. His appeal to God's promise is connected with the scene of the angels being told to hold back the winds. It is connected with Jesus' plea for the remnant as He presents His blood to the Father while the four angels are held back until God's servants are sealed.