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) !
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