Showing posts with label The Life of Jacob. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Life of Jacob. Show all posts

Monday, October 28, 2019

Genesis 32:29-30 “Reaching The Place of Blessing”


OUTLINE: Genesis 32:22-32

1.      32:22-24   Wrestling with God
2.      32:25  The  Touch of God that Hurts  and Heals
3.      32: 26-28    Winning by Losing
4.      32:29-30    Reaching the Place of Blessing

29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

Last time our subject from 32:26-28 was ‘winning by losing’. The commentator Derek Kidner says, that “when God touched Jacob’s hip socket, it was defeat and victory all wrapped up in one." [1]   We saw Paul’s principle of strength in weakness applied here “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me… for when I am weak, then I am strong” [2 Cor.12:9-10]. This is biblical logic. Biblical logic doesn’t come easy, since by our sinful default we are not trained to think like this, and our God has amazing and unexpected ways to get our attention in order to conform us more to the likeness and thinking  of His Son.  

From Jacob’s story we learn that God’s ways with us are not always apparent at once. We tend to think that our life is simply a series of cause and effect - ‘life happens’. However,  in truth, nothing happens for the Christian without  God from start to finish, and if we were to ask the apostle Paul about this, he would say, “And we know that for those who love God ALL THINGS work together for good, for those called according to His purpose…”  (Rom. 8:28). Think of Jacob’s story. God met him at the beginning, when  he as the younger was chosen  above the older Esau to  inherit the covenantal promises  (Gen. 25:23). God met him at Bethel (Gen.28:10ff) – Jacob’s first real encounter with God (conversion experience?).  God met him here at  Peniel in terms of a further sanctification experience, and if you go to the  closing  chapters of Genesis 48-50 you will see that God was  with Jacob  until  the very end, still directing  his footsteps.  Life doesn’t just happen for Jacob. His footsteps are directed. (Psalm 37:25 - The steps of a man  are established by the LORD). 

It is such a fact that caused a  hymnwriter like  Philip Doddridge  (1702-1751)  to write,
O God of Jacob, by whose hand, 
Thy people  still are fed
Who  through this weary pilgrimage, 
Hast all our fathers led.

What a blessing to know  that we  are in the hands of the God Almighty, and not in the hands of fate, or the stars or the devil! Thank God that this  story ends  in blessing  at Peniel!

Arriving at Peniel the place of blessing -  through many  dangers, toils and snares

Remember where Jacob came from. His name means ‘deceiver’. This is the nature that we have all inherited in Adam. We are all naturally plotters and schemers, people that love to manage and organize their own lives. However God, in His covenantal faithfulness and love, does not leave His covenant children in Adam’s fallen ways. He gives them new birth. He sanctifies them step by step - most often in small ordinary  ways (using life’s sandpaper), and sometimes he sanctifies us  through crisis experiences, which we might  experience as wrestling. When  that happens  all He needs is a slight touch and  all our  strong wrestling is  over in  the twinkling of an eye. Instantaneously we become aware of our weakness and our utter helplessness.  At this stage  we find ourselves in the position of  blessed helplessness.  At such a moment  the true Christian  learns to cling to Him in  their  weakness, and will cry out “I will not  let you go unless you   bless me”. 

This biographical sketch of Jacob describes the experience of every child of God. Our conversion experience (Bethel) changes our destiny and direction instantaneously, but our  sinful nature – the flesh needs to be subdued  daily and progressively. For this we need experiences like Peniel.    The wonderful truth is that God  is committed to   make His covenant children  fit  for their ultimate blessing - their  promised land– heaven.

Consider what has been accomplished  in Jacob  since the wrestling had ended

1.         He has been broken (32:25)  His self -reliance has been given an appropriate  knock!  He now knows  that He needs God’s help and blessing for the future – particularly as he must now  face Esau on his territory . That is why Jacob says, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

2.   He has been renamed (32:28)  When God says to Jacob, "What is your name?" (32:27), and Jacob  replies,  "Jacob”, God  immediately  renames  him,  "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed." (32:28) Significantly,  the Lord says to the Churches in the book of  the Revelation,  "To him who overcomes I will give a new name" (Rev. 2:17).  In this regard you will remember that God also renamed  Abram (exalted father) to Abraham (father of a multitude). God changed “Sarai” (my princess) to “Sarah,” (mother of nations). In the New Testament, Jesus changed Simon’s name,  (God has heard)  to Peter (rock) when He first called him as a disciple. The reason  why God did that  on occasion because their new name would suit better when the fulfilment of God’s promises were realized in  them.    And so, God renames Jacob. He takes away that name which was actually an indictment -  deceiver, and  He gives Him a new name,  Israel -  (He strives with God). This name change indicates a dramatic change.

3.         He has been blessed (32:29).  He breaks him, He renames him, and then He blesses him. Jacob responds to this by saying “tell me who you are”.  But God  does not have to tell him. Jacob knows!   (see 32:30).  He has seen God  face to face. And He has been blessed.

THE PLACE OF  BLESSING 

There are times in our Christian lives when we experience a giant step forward in our growth in grace.  It feels almost like conversion again.  When last did you have such an experience? Have you ever had such an experience? 
I have a sense of expectancy that God may be doing that very thing in  a good number  of you at this time. There  appear  so  many of  our people  wrestling with God – but perhaps  they have not yet understood  that fact. Like Jacob you may think that Esau (or whatever obstacle there is  in your mind)   is your main  problem and obstacle to your perceived happiness.  You can see nothing  and fear nothing but Esau.  But, it is not Esau. It is you, who needs to change.   
Do not fear the change. If you are a Christian, your  God is in control – and that to bless, even if the way  to that  blessing is  via  a spiritual desert  or a  trial.  When God  revealshimself in this  trial, Jacob forgets all about Esau in a moment. In a moment of stunning spiritual clarity Jacob  saw himself in the hands of  God and not of Esau. And so he clung to the Lord and refused to let Him go  and he  pleaded for the blessing of the Lord. 

I trust  that  this little series of sermons  on the life of Jacob’s struggles  helps you as a Christian- a child of the covenant -   to open  your eyes  to the fact that you are not  wrestling against man or circumstances – you  are primarily  wrestling with God.  And you need to be reminded that you are in a wrestling match  to win and to overcome. But you must remember the biblical logic here. You  win by losing! And once you have lost  you are ready to be blessed. God  is  not in this to destroy you.  He is in this to bless you.

We also  need to learn to be thankful to  God that we do not have to wrestle God in the fullness of His glory. If we did, we  would not be able  to live. The Bible says  that no one can see God and live (Ex. 33:20).  It is just as well that Jacob wrestled with the Lord at night. By God’s grace Jacob had seen God  in the form of a man, and  only in the dark.  Thank God that He does not reveal Himself to you in all His glory. You would not be able to live. Those in the Scriptures who had seen God’s  greater glimpses of  God’s glory  always  fell  down  as if dead. That is what happened to many OT characters. It happened to  Paul in  Acts 9 when he had met the  risen, ascended and glorified   Lord Jesus on the Damascus road. John on the island of Patmos saw the Lord Jesus on the Lord’s day and says, “ when I saw  Him, I fell at His feet as though dead.” (Rev.  1:17).  The blessing  of God, even though it may be  a very intimidating experience   is  nevertheless meant to be a blessing.

And, dear friends, we  need to learn from the Scripture to become bolder with God.  Some may think that Jacob is very arrogant to demand a blessing from God. But we must learn   that this  is the faith that God loves and approves of. This  the faith He blesses, because this is a faith that honours God since it clings to Him, and because it  makes Him  be what He is meant to be  in your life. He is your heavenly Father  who loves you  and who  blesses you!

I wonder how many there are in this congregation who want to say with Jacob, "I will not let you go until you bless me!” I wonder  whether there is not someone here who, like Jacob, finds themselves  so surprised by the course life has taken  for them, and who have finally understood that their  struggle has  been  with God (the fear of man being the obstacle). Seeing the face of God  has changed all that.
I wonder whether there is someone here  who stands very much in need of God's blessing- such as  of forgiveness of sin, of hope restored, of peace restored, of fears overcome, of love  that replaces  hatred – all  that fades  when you look into the face of God.

You say to God, like Jacob, "I will not let you go unless you bless me!” The Scripture strongly encourages  us to seek the Lord. The Bible   teaches that those who come to God and refuse to take no for an answer for spiritual blessing will be heard. Seek His face (Psalm 27:8) !


[1] Derek Kidner , Genesis , IVP series, p.169

Genesis 32:25 -28 “Winning by Losing”


OUTLINE: Genesis 32:22-32

1.      32:22-24   Wrestling with God
2.      32:25  The  Touch of God that Hurts  and Heals
3.      32: 26-28    Winning by Losing
4.      32:29-32    Reaching the Place of Blessing

26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me." 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

We are considering this pivotal  portion of Scripture in some  greater detail. Jacob has left his uncle Laban, having been with him 20 years, in order that he may return to his own country – the  land of covenant promise. On the eve of meeting his brother Esau (a dreaded encounter), Jacob has an even greater encounter with God. In this we have seen Jacob wrestling with God, though it takes him a while to recognise that he is not just  wrestling with a man, but with God.  Jacob’s fears of what lies ahead  provide a significant obstacle,  and he fights  his antagonist  until daybreak.  At this stage, his antagonist simply touches his hip, and dislocates it.  Jacob now being disabled, instantly understands that he is in the hands of God,  and that he  must not enter  into the unknown without God’s blessing.   One of the reasons  that I wanted us to  dwell for a little while  on this passage  is  that Christians do not  always  make a careful distinction  between the trials that God  brings  upon them, and the  trials  and sufferings they may encounter  as a result of  giving into the flesh, the world and the devil. We are now talking about the fatherly work of God, as He so frequently must wrestle us down to get us into the right kind of   thinking.  In that process   He uses pain to heal us. We learn to win by losing.   Pain is God’s megaphone to get our attention (C.S. Lewis)

We have often said that biblical logic confounds people.  Our often so superficial human logic tells us that bad things cannot come to us from a good God, but biblical  logic  turns that thought on its head. Perhaps the profoundest   illustration of this fact is  the cross of Christ.  What good can come from a crucified Messiah?  Well the Bible  tells  us  that   what  men meant for evil by  crucifying the Lord of glory  has become  a glorious victory  for God’s people! The Lord Jesus won by losing His life!  The apostle Paul  says that  he gained  everything in Christ, by  losing  his  former reputation as a Pharisee (Phil 3:4-11).

The story of Jacob’s wrestling with the angel of God is also such a story. And it doesn’t come to us naturally.  It took Jacob quite a while before he  had understood  that  this wrestling match   against this perceived  man (an enemy of the mind),  - that this wrestling  was actually to  become  a  source of blessing and  spiritual growth   for him.  We had made the observation  two weeks ago that  so very often  we are  having battles in our minds with people,  when  in reality that battle is  actually  with God,  who leading this charge to subdue  us and to bless us.  This was   my experience in 1985,  when I  struggled for at least  6 months   with my work  and circumstances,   before I realized  that God  was  struggling with me to get me to the place where  I would submit to the call to enter  the  full-time pastoral ministry. Once I did that  with the blessing of Eastside’s  pastor,  Charles Whitson and members,  I entered  theological  seminary in 1986.  Whilst studying,  I  did internships  at Mowbray Baptist Church and later  at Bellville Baptist Church, before accepting the call to Eastside Baptist Church in  1990. That call to Eastside was  also preceded by a short period of intense wrestling as  I needed to  discern what God’s will for my life was.

It may take us a   while (and sometimes only with hindsight)   to see that our circumstances and “co-incidences”   are really “God-incidences”.   God, in His sovereign wisdom allows us to wrestle with Him  to the point of exhaustion,  so that we may truly learn to let go  of our own  plans and ideals, embracing His sovereign  plan  and leading.   This wrestling may continue short or long, yet  when it comes, it comes  suddenly  and decisively – and with the slightest of touches. You will know about it. In an instant, a short moment, Jacob has been transformed from what appears to be a wrestler of equal  status  into a  helpless  worm, and instantly his perspective changes. He learns to win by losing.  
What happens now,   that he knows that he has been disabled and robbed of his own strength by God? Will he be left dangling and vulnerable? Will his  wrestling match with God just end there – as a defeat? 
No! We shall see that this wrestling contest which he loses shall actually lead him forward, as he now understands that  he must  cling to  the God-man (a perfect description of Jesus – by the way!) - clinging to him with all the strength that is left in a desperate man, and it is a good thing.  Paul learned this   precious practical doctrine,  which he  speaks about in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. In this letter he reflects upon his immense struggles as an apostle. The outcome of  his  struggles  was that he had learned to cling  to  God,  and so he confesses,  “When I am weak, then I am strong“, stated alternatively,  I win  by losing“.  
Let this sort of thinking  guide our Christian mind, when it comes to these  moments when God is strongly at work   in wrestling  our strong self- confidences to the ground.  When He has done that, then we  must not lick our wounds in self- pity.  We must now cling to God and say to Him, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”  
Will God let Jacob go without a blessing?  V. 26. “Let me go, for the day has broken…”.  But Jacob will not let God go.  He must  have his blessing.

Now remember that  God has already  blessed him. Remember that the covenantal promises   that God made to Abraham and Isaac have belonged to Jacob, from before his birth (Gen. 25).  This promise  was further  affirmed by  his father  Isaac  in Gen. 28:4: “May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!”
It was confirmed to Jacob once again  in  that incredible dream in Gen. 28:13-15  when God said to Him,   “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

What other blessing does he then need?  When you are emotionally and physically   exhausted by a soul and body draining encounter, you would be typically left without strength  and the  will to continue.  At such a time you need further assurance of God’s blessing. The temptation to run away after such spiritual battles is known as the Elijah syndrome (1 Kings 17). Jacob teaches us  that following a long hard season of  wrestling we should  cling tightly to  God.  Such times of brokenness and  exposures of weakness need   more  assurance  from  God  in terms of His covenantal love and blessing.  This is what  Jacob did, and the prophet Hosea   in Hosea 12 :3, 4  puts it  like that: 
3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God.4 He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favour. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us...  
Hosea tells us   that Jacob  clung to God with weeping, asking him  to  meet him with favour!  Truly this was  the hour of Jacob’s inward defeat. He had  lost the wrestling  match. He has now  learned who was truly Master of his life, and He held on to Him. Yes, he has lost the contest, but he knows now that  winning  means  clinging  more on to God –  or to use NT language , abiding in Christ (John 15)- and thus more fruitfulness.

But do we realize what we are asking, when we are asking God to bless us, and show us more of Himself?   
James and John did not know what they were asking when they asked Jesus that they might be blessed by sitting next to him in glory (Mk.  10:35-40). Jesus said to them,  You do not know what you are asking  (Mk. 10:38).  The truth is this;   having more of God  and more of His blessing  means  to have  less  of our old  Jacob in us.  That is why ultimately Jacob (‘heel catcher’/ deceiver) must receive a new name:  Israel  (he strives with /clings to God).  This is the sanctifying work of God, and it is  all about wrestling us down. It is painful as we must grow less dependent upon our own  abilities  and rest more in His ability. But, take heart!

THE INCREDIBLE GRACE OF GOD

See with what incredible grace God handles Jacob. He asks him a question.  What is your name? This is not for God’s benefit. He knows everything about Jacob. This is for Jacob’s benefit.  The name of a man was expressive of a person’s birth circumstances  and  character.  And so God asks, “Who are you?" Jacob answers,“I am Jacob  the heel catcher, the  deceiver,…”. And God answers, “Your name shall no longer be  called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 
In  telling his name Jacob  is made to face himself, and his past. But  this is not where he gets stuck. Jacob is now helped to see that  his destiny is not rooted in the past, but in the present work of God. He is now  called “Israel“ -  The name means  ‘he strives with God‘  (the ‘el’ ending  denotes the Hebrew name for God).
This is the great turning point of the story of Jacob. Please note that the name Jacob does not fall away entirely.  This name  keeps on appearing  in the rest  of  OT Scripture, and  this is true for our fallen natures. We never get quite rid of our old man,  until Jesus  comes  and  first progressively delivers us from the presence of sin, and finally  at our glorification He delivers us also from the presence of sin. 

Sometimes people have felt that this story is the story of Jacob’s conversion. No!  Firstly,  we have seen that God had already  chosen  Jacob in eternity. He has already communicated  his covenant promises to him. Then there  was   the first  experiential encounter with God  in the 28th  chapter, at Bethel. And now here  at Peniel ..."I have seen God face to face..."  (Gen. 32:30), there  was another  milestone of  Jacob’s walk with God and of  God’s work in him. This is  a picture of the  great saving work of God in its totality. And in  NT  terms we would say  that he  has been  brought into greater conformity  with  Christ.  He gained more  of  God  by losing more of himself!

APPLICATIONS  

1.              Expect crisis experiences in your walk with God.  God uses these  to progressively cleanse and sanctify you.  
2.               The way up is the way down. We  win by losing.
3.        Learn to look at life spiritually; be particularly sensitive to times of spiritual difficulty and always ask, “What is God doing?” Consider God always as the FIRST CAUSE of your experience.
4.         Remind yourself  of the fact that if God is the FIRST CAUSE of your experience (and not merely the result of wicked men – such as  was the experience  of Jacob’s  son, Joseph when he was sold into slavery by his brothers)- then you are in good hands.
5.           Such experiences ultimately  provide  you  with the best form  of  assurance that God loves you. God disciplines those whom he loves (Hebr.12). He is treating you as sons.
6.            Expect God to change you  into His image. Jacob  becomes Israel.  John Newton: “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am”.  
7.               Remember  that God’s method is  helping you to win  confidence in Him  by first  making you lose confidence in your own ability. Do not be disturbed if this experience  does not agree with modern thinking.  This is a true biblical experience. It is the winning way.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Genesis 32:25 “The Touch of God that Hurts and Heals”


OUTLINE: Genesis 32:22-32

1.      32:22-24   Wrestling with God
2.      32:25  The  Touch of God that Hurts  and Heals (Today's Focus Text) 
3.      32: 26-28    Winning by Losing
4.      32:29-32    Reaching the Place of Blessing

Last time we focused upon the wrestling of Jacob with God, and the loneliness of Jacob’s experience in that wrestling. Our exposition focuses on those times when God  wrestles  us into submission. I believe that this experience relates uniquely to God’s covenant people, and this experience relates to the reality of remaining sin in God's people. 

Although God’s people have been cleansed  from  the power of original sin,  and are justified through Christ’s  death, they will still have to  face  the sin  of the world, the flesh and the devil.  They are not slaves to these, but they have to fight these   on a continuous  basis with the help of God.  God, because He is our Father, and because He loves His children, continues  to  deliver  His children from the presence of sin.  Although these times are not happy experiences in themselves (in fact, they can be very painful, since sin has deep tentacles), we saw that when God is behind these trials (e.g. James 1:2-4; Hebr. 12:3-11), they will ultimately always serve to strengthen us. These times will ultimately increase our joy, as freedom is increasingly experienced from the slavery of  remaining sin.  Truly, God  hurts in order  to heal.

We saw that the angel of the LORD met Jacob at the Jabbok river[1]. It was there, that God allowed Jacob  to wrestle with   Him through the night and until day break. We   will now   consider that process – that Job like experience,  the wrestling and the touch of  God, which  hurt  Jacob and healed him at the same time. 

24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 

We will consider this experience by means of asking three questions

1.         Why did this have to happen?  
2.         What did actually happen?
3.         How did this experience change Jacob?  (Six Lessons)

1. Why did this wrestling have to happen? 

a. This had to happen, because Jacob was chosen by God (25:23). He was chosen, even though he was an imperfect human being. To that end the Divine Potter will shape this unruly, sin infected chosen lump of clay for His own purposes and for His own glory.  This experience is described here in terms of wrestling. Whatever the nature of that wrestling is, we cannot say. In context, it would probably be the fear of the unknown, as Jacob must settle back into the promised land, with so many great responsibilities, and also as covenant head, a time when his name  will be changed to Israel ( He strives with God). God allows Jacob to strongly  engage him. The pain is Jacob’s – not God’s. He will have the limp at the end of the day.  He needs to be humbled. He is chosen to be conformed to God’s will. 

b. This had to happen, because Jacob was also a son of Adam – a sinner. We have seen   earlier that Jacob was an accomplished sinner. He was a schemer and deceiver. Jacob was as yet an unfinished product in the hands of God. Jacob was work in progress.  This is true of all true believers, redeemed from Adam’s curse. And,  the more responsibility God has for  His chosen vessel, the greater will have to be the chastening and disciplining process. We know that God has a great work to do  for Jacob(see  God’s choice  of Paul  as an apostle , and the  suffering  that  goes with that. Acts 9:15,16)
In this process God appears  to Jacob as an enemy. What? Surely God is not an enemy of His chosen vessel? The Bible declares that He is our friend! He is for us. Yes, that is true, but remember that God is no friend of the remaining sin in His  people.  For this reason He will purify us. He will struggle with us until we abandon self – will, self -reliance and follow Him, meekly like a lamb - like a broken horse. Ultimately we must learn what the apostle Paul learned.  We are weak people in the hands of a mighty God. Paul  learned that  “God’s grace is sufficient for me, for God’s power is made perfect in weakness… for when I am weak then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:8-10). 

God is teaching us through  wrestling  lessons of  humility, obedience and trust.  These don’t come naturally to us.  Wrestling is a very good analogy   of the nature of spiritual life.  The Christian wrestles in many fronts. We wrestle with the powers of darkness (Eph. 6:10ff) because they are contrary to the life of God in us.  But we also wrestle with God, because our remaining sin is contrary to His nature in us.  We need to learn to distinguish between the two. The outcomes are vastly different.  When we wrestle with God, He hurts to heal us. When we wrestle with the flesh, the world and  the devil, we  struggle  to escape  the hurt that will destroy  us. Pray that you will have the ability to see in your own wrestlings what is happening. When God is at work, embrace your sufferings. When Satan is at work, resist him and the sin  by which he seeks to entangle you, and he will flee from you.   In this case we have Jacob  who needed  to be purified   from remaining sin and assured  that God was with him in  this journey… this is  seen in v.26. “I will not let you go unless you bless me”.

2. What  did actually happen?

a. God confronts Jacob at the  river Jabbok. God  confronted him on the eve of a new phase in his life, for which Jacob needed to be prepared.  

b. Jacob initially felt that  it was a man  that wrestled  with him. Initially  it  was not apparent  to Jacob that it was God.   This wrestling  is happening in Jacob’s mind  and soul. You can relate to this. You sometimes have battles  in which you  struggle with someone in  your mind  – sometimes even  to the  point of exhaustion.  Sometimes   these struggles even may  keep us  awake all night!  What you  may not always appreciate  is that this  battle that you are having in your mind is not actually with  a person, but with God!  Jacob’s antagonist  had not revealed himself as an angel. In Jacob’s  mind this is a man, and Jacob engages the man in his mind as  an  enemy.

It must have had  to do with  what was lying ahead for  Jacob. In Jacob’s mind  he was  perhaps thinking of  his estranged brother Esau.  Esau was a powerful, fearful  figure  in Jacob’s mind.  20 years earlier he had  to flee  from him for his life,  hiding in the home of his uncle Laban, for Esau had threatened to kill him (27:41).  What is clear is that Jacob has an antagonist before him.  He wrestles tenaciously with this man of mystery in the dark.   They appear to have been evenly matched until,  at daybreak, the  man    simply touched  his hip sockets, and the battle was instantly over! The Hebrew language apparently employs  a mild term  for this touch – like the touch  of  Isa 6:7, where the angel  touched Isaiah’s lips with a live  coal.  A light touch, not a heavy, crushing blow  – and it was over!

c. The turning point!   It is only now in v.25 that Jacob discovered that this man had supernatural powers, when at the mere touch of his hip-joint   he became disabled. This experience of pain changes everything.  Truly, “pain is God’s megaphone to get the attention of a deaf world” [2] (C.S. Lewis).  Until this moment  he was fighting and he was not giving an inch  the whole night. Now that his hip is painfully out of joint, he  is physically incapacitated. He cannot wrestle any longer, but what he does now   is that he clings to the man, and in v.26   (at daybreak) the man says to him  “let me go!”  Jacob  refuses to let him go,"I will not let you go unless you bless me“. This is the turning point  in which  something dies in Jacob. He is humbled. He now knows that he is in the presence of a greater, for he now seeks His blessing. His self-confidence and self- reliance has taken a knock. He now appeals for grace,  “I will not let you go unless you bless me.“ He is now in the place of someone who needs help and assistance.  He was left disabled.  God had touched him ever so gently in a vulnerable spot, and left him incapacitated. Thank God that He deals so firmly and yet so gently with us!

3.  Six LESSONS on how this experience changed Jacob

a. Jacob learned  that  God was patiently powerful. God allowed Jacob   to wrestle him  to the point of annoyance , and then by a simple touch , God put him out of action and showed him that  he was  actually  weak, and vulnerable  and dependent. 

b.  Jacob learned that he was going to have to enter Esau’s land  as a weak, vulnerable  man, dependent on God. God did not need  him as a helping hand. God was more than able to sort out Esau, just as He was able to sort out Moses’ Egyptians and  Joshua’s  Canaanites  and David’s Philistines and all of Israel’s enemies. God did not Peter’s sword  to protect Christ from  the enemies who put Him to death.  God’s power was greater than death.  God did not need a strong Jacob. He needed a humble  Jacob, who would listen, for   God had already  decreed Jacob’s  future: “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.”  (Ps. 33:11). We all need to learn that  natural  ability will not win spiritual battles. Paul says, “the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. (2 Cor. 10:4).

c.  Jacob  learned that God was  a more formidable  opponent than Esau.  Away with the fear of man. Fear God only! 

d. Jacob learned  that  God is tough and tender.  God  is unyielding when it comes to His own truth and purpose. He will not change His plan to accommodate us; but  He is  graciously tender  in touching  (even with pain) without  destroying us. He is utterly committed to  take sin out of our lives. God has sometimes taken our plans and  put them out of joint in ways we had never expected. Jacob had never thought that he would be away for  20 years. He had anticipated a  short while.  But in all things God works out everything  for the good of those that love Him and who are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).

e. Jacob learned  that to wrestle, when crippled, is not easy. When the truth of God’s Word eventually wrestles us to the ground, it cripples us. It takes away our false pillars, false securities, pretence  and  our  sense of self reliance    upon which we tend to  want to build our lives. Cripples have to  live by  grace through faith alone. Cripples   are dependent people. They  need someone to help them. If you are blind you need someone to  lead you. If you are lame you need someone to carry you.  When God puts your life out of joint, then  you are finally  brought  to the place  where  He can carry you, He  whose power is without limit, whose mercy  is  without equal, whose grace is always sufficient, whose love  towards His people is  deep  and unquenchable.

f.  We learn  that there  is pain  when God puts our lives out of joint.  As   CS  Lewis  wrote in his book “The problem of Pain” (p.81),  “God  whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains : it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”   All must hear this, but younger people, in particular, must listen now. Your pride, your feelings of being invincible, your prejudices, your plans for your life….  If you are God’s man or woman,  then expect Him  at times to take these plans  and  put them out of joint. That can be painful.

Don’t think that this is the devil spoiling your future.  You are not in the hands of an almighty devil. You are in the hands of an almighty God, who is committed to making you more like Jesus. He is committed to produce in you fruit that will last. He will spur you on to love, humility, obedient service, and prayer until you begin to understand that the life worth living is lived from dependence upon Him alone.  It is to Him that you must learn to cling, like Jacob, and pray, “I will not let you go  unless you bless me.”  We look for the touch that hurts and heals, because we know that this is the hand of God, and it is good. 

[1] Jabbok means wrestling – note  the symbolism  of the place names associated with Jacob’s journey cf. also Mahanaim  Gen. 32:2
[2] C.S. Lewis: The Problem of Pain

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