Jacob and His Breaking

Genesis 32: 26. Jacob and His Breaking

At the time of the passage that is before us Jacob was concluding about twenty years of exile. But after 20 years he was going back to Canaan with his wives and his flocks. God had told him that He would give him the land. God had said to him in Genesis 28:15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. Now Jacob was going back to the land at the command of God. He was being obedient to God. Jacob and his family and possessions headed south as chapter 31 verse 18 says "to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan... and then in verse 21 in adds of him that he passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead" And you can see the submission of Jacob in doing God's will. Notice the words that he set his face toward the mount Gilead That shows the spirit of determination and dedication. Jacob committed himself fully to doing God's will. There was no turning back. Some try to submit to the commands of God without the "set his face" spirit.

But Jacob obeyed God without deviation here. He was willing to leave, the land, and the loved ones at the command of God.

But you notice that in his determination to do the will of God that things do not all run smoothly. There are forces out there that would want to stop us doing the will of God. And first of all Jacob was pursued by his father-in law Laban who told him that his sheep and cattle and wives and children were his and that Jacob had stolen them. But Jacob had overcome that problem and there had been a covenant between Laban and Jacob at Jegarsahadutha or Galeed.

But as Jacob journeyed on there was another problem. When he came to the crossing at Jabbok he heard that Esau his twin brother whom he had wronged so badly twenty years before was coming to meet with a band of men. You will remember how Jacob had had to flee because he had stolen the blessing of Esau his elder twin brother by subterfuge and with the help of his mother and as a result Esau’s countenance had become dark towards him and Esau had vowed to kill him when their father was dead. Now he hears that Esau is coming out to meet him with armed men And of course when he heard that he was afraid because he suspected that Esau was coming to wreak revenge on him for what he had done on him.

And he cried out to God I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed 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 Jacob was afraid. The Lord had brought him into this place where his life was shaken. Here he was and there was this real sense of danger and in the danger Jacob is in earnest and he is troubled and the Lord has used that to get him out of his complacency and out of his rut. It was at Jabbok that Jacob had an encounter with the Lord. It is there that God battles with Jacob and breaks Jacob and does a work of sanctifying power on this man. And there are many of us and we need that kind of encounter. We need that encounter that will challenge us and stop us in our way of going and put us on a new path. This was an encounter that really changed Jacob and made him into the Prince with God that he became. I think that many of us will admit that we too need to be changed. I want us then to take a few minutes and to look at Jacob at Jabbok. There are a few things that I think we need to consider here.

I The Worry Jacob had

First of all I want you to see the worry that Jacob had. Jacob was going home but he knew the hatred of Esau his brother against him and how he had vowed to kill him. He knows that in doing the will of God and in going home he is potentially putting himself at great risk. So look at what he does in verses 3 to 5 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now: And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight. Jacob is not bragging about his wealth here, but he is letting Esau know that he is not coming back to Canaan as "an impecunious beggar dependent on Esau's charity" (Leupold). The fact that Jacob had oxen and Asses and flocks lets Esau know that Jacob's show of amiableness and friendliness here does not have ulterior motives of personal gain in it. Jacob was no doubt hoping that Esau’s temper and determination to kill him had abated over the years. He hoped that absence one from another would have rekindled the family bonds.

But I want you to see that Jacob gets a very ominous message in verse 6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.

That did not sound good. There was no other message except that Esau the brother who had hated him was coming to meet him with 400 men. That must have been ominous. Esau's coming to Jacob with an army did not indicate a peaceful welcome to Jacob at all. Rather it indicated that Esau was still of a very hostile attitude towards Jacob. And the size of Esau's army showed that he intended to win any conflict between the two. "Four hundred men" constituted an overwhelming force for Jacob to fight, for Jacob had nothing by which to fight these men. If they were to attack Jacob's camp, it would be a bloody massacre in a short time.

And you can see the way that news really worried Jacob. Look at verse 7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;

I want you to notice the seriousness of the worry. It says that Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed:The Hebrew of the verse would imply that Jacob was not only fearful but that he was terrified. We could read it literally “Then was afraid Jacob, extremely, and distressed” Of course he had good reason for his fear in many ways. His old deceiving ways were catching up on him. Esau is the embodiment of the principle that your past sins will always meet you for judgment. They always do! This is the man he done wrong to and now this man is coming with a force to meet him. We should not ever think that when we sin we come to God for forgiveness and that is the end of the matter. It is as far as eternal consequences are concerned. When we bring our sins to the Lord they are forgiven and that is the wonderful message of the gospel. But it does not mean that we avoid all the consequences in this life. The Bible says Be sure your sin will find you out. And what happens is that our sins will always act as an obstacle and as a barrier to our walk with God. What we have done in the past will count against us. We have left a bad testimony that will follow us or we have been engaged in disobedience in some way and that may well follow us for the rest of our lives.

But this matter of Esau here was no light thing. This was a matter of life and death for Jacob and his family and it was going to throw Jacob on the mercy of God. The only way that he was going to get out of this is if the Lord was to step in and deal with his brother in some way. But that is the point. That is what this is all about. God was teaching Jacob to lean on Him. We saw the last time that Jacob in his scheme with Laban to get the stronger cattle was still relying on himself and on his scheming. Before God could really use Jacob as He wanted to use him God was going to have to break Jacob. And that is what we are going to see. But maybe Jacob was wondering whether he was in the will of the Lord at all when he stepped out to go to Canaan and first there was Laban pursuing him and now Esau is pursuing him. And there are times when we might think that we have gone the wrong way when things go wrong but it may be that God is just teaching us to rely on Him.

Not only do I want you to see the seriousness of the worry but notice the stupidity of the worry. Should Jacob really have been worried? I want you to notice a little incident that is inserted in here at the start of the chapter and it is almost just sitting there alone and we might wonder what its relevance is to anything else. Look at verses 1 and 2 And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim. Just before this incident with Esau Jacob was met by a number of angels. We are not told how many but there are several of them and it would seem that there is a host because after the incident Jacob names the place Mahanaim and the meaning of Mahanaim is "double host" or "two hosts" or "two camps." The two hosts would refer to God's host and Jacob's host. Jacob's host was not walking alone but had God's host as company and protection. And you can see that God was showing Jacob that he was not alone. Esau might have had 400 men but God was with Jacob and he did not need to be afraid. And you can see that that lesson had got through to Jacob’s head in the way that he named the place but the thing was it had not got through to his heart. He knew this in a way. God had had these angels appear at just the right time to remind Jacob that he was not alone and Jacob had seen that and taken the lesson in at some level but when he was faced with the actual situation and Esau and his host were bearing down on him the trust that he should have had in God just seems to have evaporated. And we find that many times. We know something in our head but when we get right into the midst of a trying situation that is when the reality of what we believe is tested. That is when we really know whether we are going to trust in God or not. Many people can talk about their trust in God but it is only when you are faced with danger or disaster that you really know whether you will rely on God or not. And Jacob should have trusted God. He did not need to be afraid as he was but he was human and I think that many of us would be like him if we were in his situation.

II The Work Jacob did

But not only do I want you to see the Worry Jacob had but I want you to see the work Jacob did. The report from Jacob's messengers of their encounter with Esau got Jacob to working very hard for his meeting with Esau. While the report brought fear and distress, Jacob's faith was not so diminished that he gave up in despair. Rather, with the cool head of faith, he began to earnestly prepare to meet the problems that the coming of Esau was facing him with.

Notice that Jacob does something practical. Look at verses 7-8 he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands. And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape. Now there was wisdom in that. Spreading out his camp into two groups was good strategy, for it made it more difficult for Esau to attack and destroy the entire camp. Jacob could take no offensive position, for he had no army, but he could and did take a defensive position by dividing his camp into two parts. Partitioning the camp was not a lack of faith, for faith does not sit idly by when action is needed. God expects us to use wisdom in conducting our life. If danger is present, He expects us to take due caution. And we have said something about how Jacob should not have feared because God was with him but I don’t think that the dividing of the camp was necessarily wrong. It was wise to prepare his family for any attack that was to take place. If Jacob had sat there and made no provision for his family and had not tried to protect them he would have been failing in his duty because that is part of the role of the head of the home. It is to protect and provide for the family.

But not only does Jacob do something practical but here is something new for Jacob. He does something prayerful. Remember when Jacob had come to the well and found Rachel we pointed out that unlike Abraham’s servant in much the same place in Genesis 24 that Jacob had not prayed. Prayer had not been the first resort for Jacob in a lot of his life. But look at how he has changed here. Jacob began to realise is that he could not get out of this difficulty by Himself. He needed the Lord. And he prays and calls on the Lord. Look at verses 9 to 11 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 shewed 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.

Here is a man who has learnt to pray and to call on God. This shows Jacob's faith in Jehovah-God. He sought the right source of help, honoured that source by the way he addressed Him, and showed confidence in that source of help by seeking Him. All of this is the action of true faith.

Jacob would not be disappointed in seeking God for help as we will see later. We can say that . "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1) That truth should inspire our seeking Him in time of trouble. It is significant that this forty-sixth chapter in Psalm ends with a verse which certainly fits Jacob's situation. It says, "The Lord of hosts is with us" (Psalm 46:11). Yes, Jacob had earlier learned that "God's host" (v. 2) was indeed with him. Now he seeks the Captain of that host for help. No better person could he go to for help. And men and women we need to be brought to that place where we stop relying on ourselves and we begin to rely on the Lord. Jacob is a mirror for ourselves.

Notice how Jacob pleads in prayer. Look at verses 9 and 12 The Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee... thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea" (vv. 9, 12). Jacob pleaded the promises of God in seeking God's help about Esau. And note that he pleaded God's promises at both the beginning of his prayer (v. 9) and at the ending of his prayer (v. 12). Promises surrounded his prayer.

We stand on firm ground when we plead God's promises in prayer. Scripture is full of Divine promises for God's people, and it behooves us to become well acquainted with them in order to improve our prayer life. Being acquainted well with the promises of God promises a more promising prayer life.

Not only did Jacob do something practical and something prayerful but he did something prudent. Look at verses 13 to 15 And 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 then look at what he told his servants when they met Esau in verse 18 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.

The size of the gift meant Jacob sacrificed much of his own wealth in the cause of peace and safety for him and his family for which he had just prayed to God about. Answers to prayer may require sacrifice on our part. When folk pray for the salvation of souls, they should be willing to sacrifice much for the work of spreading the Gospel. When folk pray for church growth, they should be willing to sacrifice much for the needs of the church so its ministry can grow and expand. The sacrifice requirement will, of course, test the sincerity of our prayers. But if we are unwilling to sacrifice to gain answers to our prayers, then we will not see many answers to our prayers.

III The Wrestling Jacob experienced Not only do I want you to see the Worry Jacob had and the Work he did but notice the Wrestling Jacob experienced. We have this famous scene of the breaking of Jacob where God wrestles with him. Jacob had sent his family across the river Jabbok and it says in verse 24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

Notice the Prelude to the wrestling. The first thing that happened to Jacob is that Verse 24, says: 'And Jacob was left alone'.

When you look in the word of God you will find it remarkable how many of those who met with God did so when they were alone before His face. Moses was alone in the desert, when he met God at the burning bush. Gideon was alone when the angel of the Lord met him. Saul was in effect left alone on the road to Damascus and here Jacob is left alone. And sometimes God takes us into the place where we are alone with Him. God takes us away from the distractions or takes the distractions away from us. He will take us out of the situations or He will remove the people who divert our attention from the things of God. God actually takes people out of our lives that are detrimental to us. We mightn't even realise it at that moment, blessed subtractions - yes? But sometimes God has to actually interject and strip us of those things without our say so.

But there are other times that we have to take the initiative, that God actually waits and expects us to deal with the blockages to blessing in our own lives - and Jacob is one of those occasions. If you look at verses 22 and 23, you see that he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.

And Jacob was left alone. So he let everything that he possessed, anybody that meant anything to him, pass by him, literally, in order that he could be alone. Now, he didn't know what was going to happen, but this was the precursor to his divine encounter - he got alone, but he was instrumental in taking the initiative.

A. W. Tozer said: 'Most of the world's great souls have been lonely'. now, that's not to diminish the importance of community, please don't misunderstand what I'm saying here tonight. God's word is very clear: God blesses communities, He works through communities. God is not into Lone Rangers, that's not what we're saying - but there is a place with God that we can only get if we go alone.

Not only is there the Prelude to the wrestling but notice the prosecution of the wrestling

Look at verses 24 and 25 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

Here is Jacob on the banks of the jabbok, so absorbed in his problem of Esau that he never hears the footfall of the stranger, and had not time to identify him even if identification were possible. Who is this man struggling with him? Is he one of Esau's four hundred strong men? Or is he perhaps some stranger who happens to be passing and has taken hold of him for what he can get? It would appear that no words passed; they engage in a strange and eerie struggle under the moon. The night goes on, it is a mighty warrior indeed whose grip is upon him; hour after hour the contest goes on, and Jacob, the man who prides himself upon his physical condition, discovers that he cannot prevail. He discovers more than that; he discovers that somehow in this physical contest, while he is trying to get a grip on the stranger, there seems to be an echo of the wrestlings of his own soul; somehow or other during the wrestlings of the body there comes a vivid manifestation of the deepest emotions within him. It is a unique contest indeed, because as he wrestles with the stranger he does not seem to get weaker. The stranger is strong, but Jacob gets stronger; how else could he have survived all through the night? What mysterious man is this who, while he wrestles to conquer, yet inwardly renews him with marvellous strength?

Then Jacob discovers that it is not Esau that is the real challenge— it is God. At the start Jacob did not know that he was wrestling with God. You see the circumstances in which each of us meets God is different. But I want you to see how God intervenes in human lives. And I want you to see that. Jacob discovered that the essential problem was not Esau. The problem was his own heart. And God wants to deal with that problem and as God wrestles with us, He wants to get us to the point where the real problem is going to be dealt with. That is what God did.

Look at verse 25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

You notice that in the end God put Jacob’s thigh out of joint. You might wonder what that was about. Well I think that a big part of Jacob’s problem was the problem of pride. . Jacob was a man with a fine physical stature, He had worked out in the open now with cattle for years. He was ready to meet any man anywhere, and to defend himself against all attacks. He had a physically fit body and and an outstanding personality. He was able to talk his way into good deals. And I think that the Lord put Jacob’s thigh out of joint, for that reason. And that sinew that shrank, brings us a lesson never to be forgotten. If I might speak to you—and I may be wrong. but I do not think I am—I would say that each of us has a bit of pride within him somewhere, some place of over-confidence That is where God met him! When we are thinking how to resolve our problem, God is planning how to break down our pride. Our Lord humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, but none of the rest of us do it like that. It always appears when God is dealing with us as if we were confronted with terrible foes and tremendous powers, when God is seeking out the point that has got to shrivel up like Jacob's sinew.

Notice Jacob’s persistence in wrestling. As Jacob encounters this stranger who turns out to be the Lord I want you that there is a craving and longing that is born in his heart. The stranger said. Let me go, for the day breaketh. Jacob replied I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

I do not want a blessing now as I got them in the past by subterfuge and deceit; now I want a real blessing, a real blessing from Thee. And for the first time in his life, religious man as he was, Jacob meant what he said. And that is the moment of divine deliverance, when you mean what you say. But here is a man who now wants the blessing of the Lord on His life. Jacob up to this point had had a successful life. He had much of this world’s good but he now wants something far more valuable. He wants the blessing of God. Remember he had got the blessing from Isaac by deceit and subterfuge. He had a blessing that he had got in a kind of underhand way. Now he wants the blessing of the Lord. And men and women it is a real blessing if you have the blessing of the Lord in your life. What is the blessing? Well it is when God resets your life in accordance with His will and plan. When your life is in accord with God. That is the blessing. That is when your life is blessed .It is just as if somebody took up the pieces of a jig-saw puzzle, and at last the final piece is in its place and the picture is complete. That is what God wants—you and me in His will, to complete the pattern of the whole.

Notice Jacob’s determination to get the blessing. He says "I will not let thee go except thou bless me..". The persistent clinging by Jacob shows that Jacob passed God’s test with flying colours. He would not give up though crippled. He would not stop pursuing the blessing though beset by difficulties. Jacob "does not mean to wrestle all night for nothing, but humbly resolves he will have a blessing, and rather shall all his bones be put out of joint than he will go away without one [a blessing]... Those that would have the blessings of Christ must be in good earnest, and be importunate for it as those that resolve to have no denial" (Henry). So many of us fail here. We are too quick to let go in prayer and in the study of the Word; and, as a result, we do not get much blessing from either. The problem is not in prayer or the Word but in our lack of spiritual stamina.

The Hosea account of this clinging tells us that the clinging by Jacob especially involved some earnest praying. Hosea says, "He had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him" (Hosea 12:4). The "wept" along with the "supplication" speaks of earnest praying indeed. While weeping is not necessary to make a prayer earnest, earnest praying is necessary to secure choice blessing. Jacob gained blessing because he would not give up in his praying. His spiritual stamina was strong. God's blessings are not given to us in a manner that would encourage sloth or lack of dedication. It is just the opposite. God is not in the habit of giving blessings to those who do not value them properly.

Notice there is Prevailing in the wrestling. Look at verse 29 "And he blessed him there"(v. 29). Jacob succeeded in obtaining Divine blessing because of his persistent clinging in the wrestling with the angel of God for the blessing

Look too at the Product of the wrestling. There is a change of name that comes with the blessing. The stranger says, "What is thy name?" The name, of course, is significant. There is a thought in the name Jacob of the supplanter, the deceiver. "What is thy name?" said the stranger; and the text tells us what he said " And he said, Jacob. : I am truly named Jacob; that is my nature; I am a supplanter; it is true of me. I was never more rightly named than when I was given the name of Jacob. I am a deceiver, a man of deceit and duplicity; I am a man who has always tried to get the better of my fellows. It is true of me, I have realized it to-night as I have wrestled through the hours". And that was the beginning of deliverance. How many of us have realized this? We can never be delivered from any sin, or habit, or disposition, or temperament, until we make acknowledgment of what we are, without reserve. Have you ever in the presence of God really told Him what you know and believe about yourself? Have you allowed yourself to look into your heart and say, "0 God, this is true about me, I am a supplanter, I am Jacob". From the moment that Jacob made his full and frank confession, God began to do a new work. For the moment we know what we are, God begins His work of grace to make us what God wants us to be.

And look at what God says "Thy name shall be no more Jacob, but Israel, a prince, of God, ruler with the mighty; thou hast power with God and with man; thou hast prevailed.” The name Israel is composed of two words. The first word is "Isra" (Yisra) and can mean ruler or warrior. The last word is "el" the abbreviation for "God." So the meaning includes the idea that God rules or that God fights and also that one is a ruler (or prince) for God or a fighter for God. What an improvement the name Israel is on the name Jacob. The name Jacob which means "supplanter," represents guileful character. But the name Israel represents gallant character. For Jacob the name Israel can mean that God rules or fights for Jacob or that Jacob rules and fights for God. Either way it is an honour of Jacob. And Jacob will be given power. It says in verse 28 "For as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed" (v. 28). This is a great blessing indeed. One great lack in the church today is power. We have programs and buildings and people and popularity, but we do not have spiritual power.

Jacob obtained power through his earnest praying and clinging to God for blessing. The church needs to pray, too, instead of all the other fleshly things it tries to revive its declining ministry.

And then look at what Jacob says in verse 30 I have seen God face to face" (v. 30). What a marvellous revelation Jacob received from God. The revelation of seeing God's face climaxes the entire revelation he received from God which included Jacob's new name and his Divinely-given power. God revealed marvellous things to Jacob that night. Men and women what we need is an encounter with the Lord. We need to meet with Him. We need to see His face. May the Lord come in mighty power and may we have that revelation of Him today.