01-84 Wrestling With God

Genesis 32:22-32

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 853 How Billy Sunday Got Saved

853 How Billy Sunday Got Saved

One Sunday afternoon in Chicago, a group of ballplayers entered a salon. When they emerged, they saw a group of people playing instruments, singing gospel hymns, and testifying of Christ’s power to save from sin.

Memories of a log cabin in Iowa, an old church, and a godly mother raced through the mind of one of the ballplayers. Tears came to his eyes. Presently he said, “Boys, I’m through! going to turn to Jesus Christ. We’ve come to the parting of the ways.” Some of his companions mocked him, but others were silent. Only one encouraged him. He turned from the group and entered the Pacific Garden Mission.

Later the ballplayer told what occurred. “I called upon God’s mercy. I staggered out of my sins into the outstretched arms of the Saviour. I became instantly a new creature in Him! The next morning at practice, my manager, Mike Kelly, greeted me and said, “Billy, I read in the paper what occurred yesterday. Religion isn’t my long suit, but I won’t knock you, and I’ll knock the daylights out of anyone who does.” ”

The converted ballplayer was Billy Sunday, who became the world-renowned evangelist.

—Gospel Herald

Billy Sunday is an example of what happens when a person encounters Jesus. Now, everyone has their own experience but you can’t meet Jesus without having your life radically transformed (b/c Christ is powerful, full of grace). That’s what Paul explains in 2 Cor:

2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB95

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

If you have not thought about what all becomes new when you come to JC, let me give you a little list of what things become new:

New self

New heart

New mind

New spirit

New life

New home (heaven)

New master

New love

New speech

These things translate into having new values, goals, desires, plans, ideas, perspectives—all speak of the radical change that believers in Jesus encounter. Your life changes—for some the change is abrupt and immediate and you’ll never forget the day (even the very minute) of your conversion. For others, we have a more subtle—but still radical, testimony of change. If that change is not in you…self-examination is urgently needed.

We have before us the account of Jacob wrestling with an unnamed assailant (I believe it is JC Himself—but later on that). Jacob will be transformed thru this encounter. He will come away with a new name, a new walk, a new relationship that stems from his encounter with God. There are 5 details of this historical event that guide us thru the passage as we continue to consider the life of Jacob.

1. Jacob’s Solitude

22-24a

“same night” this is the connection with the extravagant gift that Jacob prepared for his brother Esau—consisting of 550 animals and servants to appease Esau’s anger against Jacob for cheating him out of the blessing and birthright. Esau is approaching with 400 men (standard size militia at the time) and while Jacob could not know what Esau’s intentions were, he assumed the worst and prepared this gift after praying a marvelous prayer of deliverance. But he couldn’t rest in God’s power, promise, provision…taking matters into his own hand, Jacob prepared this gift and sent it on its way to Esau.

And he still was not at ease. Jacob could not sleep that night. He was terrified, fearful of what his brother might do…even the possibility of a covert attack at night had Jacob’s mind racing. He not only feared for his own life but that of his family. So he took his wives (all 4 of them) along with his children (11 sons, 1 daughter) and crossed the Jabbok river.

This river is a tributary that flows west, emptying into the Jordan about fifteen miles north of the Dead Sea. Jacob is going to take his family to safety on the other side of the river—crossing at a ford (shallow part of the river). He is actually going to criss-cross the river several times until all his family is on one side. He also floated his possessions to the other side until—vs 24a.

Jacob is alone. He had forgotten Mahanaim (2 camps—God’s camp & the angels). He wants distance b/t his family and Esau’s army—so he alone at this moment (lit. remained behind by himself), separated from his loved ones. This kind of solitude can be an amazing opportunity for personal growth and reflection on self. It can also be an agonizing time. There is such thing as a fear of self (autophobia, monophobia). Just being alone can bring a person to a point of sheer terror.

Jacob was alone in the sense that his family was no longer with him. For the first time he is with himself—only his own thoughts to consider.

C.H. Mackintosh

Gleanings in Genesis Jacob At Peniel Genesis 32

To be left alone with God is the only true way of arriving at a just knowledge of ourselves and our ways. We can never get a true estimate of nature and all its actings until we have weighed them in the balances of the sanctuary, and there we may ascertain their real worth. No matter what we may think about ourselves, nor yet what man may think about us, the great question is, What does God think about us? And the answer to this question can only be learned when we are ‘‘left alone.’’ Away from the world, away from self, away from all the thoughts, reasonings, imaginings, and emotions of mere nature, and ‘‘alone with God,’’——thus, and thus alone, can we get a correct judgment about ourselves.

Jacob’s solitude was the result of his own doing, the consequence of his own fear and he needed this time to discover who he was. We have so many distractions in our world that we never really have time to be alone. And when we are, we seldom sit in solitude and prefer rather to be busy/distracted with our gadgets. This actually keeps us from the blessing of solitude. It keeps us from the Lord doing something in us and for us. Ultimately our goal (and the goal of God’s love for us—1 Jn 2:5 “perfected”) is to be like Christ. It is in these moment when we’re alone that we can take great strides toward that goal—being conformed to His likeness. Find time for this kind of solitude. It was a good thing for Jacob—God is going to do a great work in Jacob.

2. Jacob’s Struggle

24b-25

As he was sitting in silence, suddenly a man laid hold of Jacob—an unnamed assailant. This mysterious visitor has led to a great deal of debate among scholars as to his identity. Moses simply refers to him as “a man.” Some say Jacob encountered a hostile demon or evil spirit associated with the Jabbok River. Others say it was an angel. An inspired commentary on this event helps narrow our focus a bit:

Hosea 12:3–4 NASB95

3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And in his maturity he contended with God. 4 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept and sought His favor. He found Him at Bethel And there He spoke with us,

Hosea indicates that he wrestled not “an” angel but “the” angel. vs 3 indicates that the contention was with God Himself. This angel must be none other than the Angel of the Lord that has already appeared in the narrative of Genesis.

He appeared to Hagar (16:7-13). After that encounter Moses writes:

Genesis 16:13 NASB95

13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?”

He appeared to Abraham on the occasion of his offering up of Isaac (22:11)

He appeared to Jacob in the dream that revealed how he would increase the size of his own herd (31:11)

He will appear before Moses in the burning bush (Ex 3:2-6).

The Angel of the Lord does not appear again after the incarnation of LJC.

Those who encounter the Angel of the Lord recognize that He is God, divine, has all power, holy. The man identifies Himself in vs 28. Jacob will later identify the man he is wrestling as God Himself (vs 30).

I’ve previously walked thru the reasons why I believe the Angel of the Lord is the preincarnate Christ. That’s who is wrestling Jacob in our passage. Note—Moses tells us that He is wrestling Jacob, not Jacob wrestling this man. God has taken the initiative to engage in this struggle…which lasted all night long (until daybreak). Jacob is about 97 years old at this point and has shown great strength and endurance to strive with God.

But there is a question as to the Lord’s motive of engaging in wrestling Jacob. Nothing is said in our text. But we can observe that it was not Jacob who was seeking God so earnestly that he began to wrestle with God and would not let Him go until He had blessed him (though Jacob will later desire that blessing). The point here is that God, contending with Jacob, will bring this man to the point physical and spiritual submission. There’s a blessing in that-actually.

Pink:

Gleanings in Genesis Jacob At Peniel Genesis 32

Jacob was not wrestling with this Man to obtain a blessing, instead, the Man was wrestling with Jacob to gain some object from him. As to what this object is the best of the commentators are agreed——it was to reduce Jacob to a sense of his nothingness, to cause him to see what a poor, helpless and worthless creature he was; it was to teach us through him the all important lesson that in recognized weakness lies our strength.

This is what the 2nd person of the Trinity is doing…bringing Jacob to the point of complete submission, draining all the energy and strength and power out of him. And it is at that point where God’s power becomes our power. Remember Paul?

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 NASB95

7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Spiritual strength is found we have come to the end of our own resources. When we have recognized our limits and our own weakness, that’s when the power of Jesus works in and and thru us.

There’s another reason I believe this unnamed assailant is the LJC…notice His great strength—vv 25. Jacob was doing all that he could in his striving against God. The Lord did not prevail against Jacob all night (not b/c He couldn’t but there was to be an illustration of Jacob’s need in this). God’s power is seen here, showing us how quickly and how easily God could, when it so pleased Him, bring to an end Jacob’s resistance and reduce him to helplessness; all He had to do was but to "touch.” That’s all it took. A simple touch and Jacob’s hip is dislocated.

The whole point—humility. That Jacob would discover that he was poor and helpless and needed to depend fully on the Lord. This is something Jacob did not expect. And it shows us too, that God is not playing by our rules—but He makes the rules—and it confirms that His ways are always higher than ours.

We need to be where Jacob is—our self-confidence, self-reliance, self-wisdom, self-ward thinking—it all needs to be dislocated so that we are brought to our knees in submission and humility to the Lord who is supreme. When you do you realize that power is perfected in weakness.

3. Jacob’s Supplication

26

“Then he said” (this is the divine wrestler speaking)—let me go…

Now, there’s a bit of irony in this whole account and it leaves plenty of commentators confused. The 2nd person of the Trinity is clearly a superior being. He has superior strength, position, authority, etc…He is, after all, omnipotent. Jacob already has seen the supernatural nature of this wrestler in the fact that he effortlessly dislocated Jacob’s hip with a mere touch. Jacob sensed that he was in the presence of the divine and he uses this opportunity to ask the divine wrestler for a blessing. In fact, the picture is that he is insisting on a blessing (I will not let you go…) and he is not going to let go until he receives one.

Now, I’m thankful for Hosea’s commentary on this event.

Hosea 12:4 NASB95

4 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept and sought His favor. He found Him at Bethel And there He spoke with us,

After wrestling we are told that Jacob wept and its in this we begin to see his heart attitude toward God. Jacob did not demand a blessing out of prideful dominance but with tears, weeping. Again, he had to come to the end of himself as utterly helpless before he could seek that which he could not provide for himself. And he will receive a blessing (vs 29).

The picture is clear. Jacob has struggled all night long, he is enduring (b/c of tremendous physical stamina, strength and determination). All the sudden, the Lord Jesus dislocated the hip and all Jacob could do is grab on with all that strength—clinging to the Lord, while asking for this blessing. Jacob is going to walk away a very changed man. There’s an application for us to cling to Christ, recognizing our utter dependency on Him. Jesus said:

John 15:5 (NASB95)

apart from Me you can do nothing.

He also promises:

John 14:14 NASB95

14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

John 16:23 (NASB95)

Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.

What a privilege that belongs to the believer today to come with confidence to the throne of grace where we are admonished to bring our requests to God. Jesus tells us to keep asking, seeking, knocking and the doors of heaven will open and we will have our supplications/what we ask for. Sometimes that’s all you have—to cling to Christ. But there is no better place to be.

4. Jacob’s Supplanting

27-29

The divine wrestler asks Jacob’s name (not b/c he doesn’t know) b/c to disclose your name is an act of -self-disclosure, a revelation of your character—your deepest identity. This is what Christ is asking Jacob to do. Reveal your innermost character. So he responds “my name is Jacob.” I am the heel-grabber, the fraudster, the deceiver, the supplanter. “I am rightly named Jacob b/c I cheated my brother twice” (27:36). To supplant is the take the place of another, to replace. That’s what Jacob did, he took the place of the older—taking everything that belonged to Esau. This confession is going to bring one of the greatest changes in Jacob’s life—a replacing/supplanting in its own right. His name will from now on will be “Israel.”

Jacob is a thing of the past. The earlier days are over. The past is buried along with the old man. What begins at this point is a new man and his name is Israel. You may not have known that the word Israel lit means “God strives/fights.” el is the name for God/Elohim. sara means to struggle, fight, to dominate, to strive. This is what Hosea explains “He contended with God.”

The Lord Himself explains the new name “for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” The term “prevailed” has the sense of enduring. Not that Jacob/Israel overcame God but that in the struggle initiated by God Himself, Jacob endured b/c he was brought to the end of himself and by faith seeks the blessing of God having been weakened by the Almighty. Jacob was crippled and he had to be to become all that God had prepared for him.

G. Campbell Morgan called this experience of Jacob’s “The crippling that crowns.” He explains how the term Israel means “a God-mastered man” and I think this is a good understanding of the term which means “to strive with God” or “God strives/God rules.”

Jacob is supplanted by Israel—a forever testimony of one God rules.

5. Jacob’s Strength

30-32

Jacob once again gives a special name to a special place. This place, by the Jabbok river is given the new name “Peniel” (lit the face of God). Jacob would always remember “I have seen the face of God…”

Exodus 33:20 NASB95

20 But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”

This was the same thing Hagar said “I have seen God and I remained alive” (16:13).

Jacob never did learn the name of his assailant but he knew this was not an ordinary man. This was a divine wrestler and he met Him face-to-face. Now, the sun is coming up and its time to rejoin his family so he crosses the Jabbok on a dislocated hip. He’s limping along. God left a permanent mark on this man. He has a new name (confirms a new identity, a new direction—even strong moral tones) and a new walk (and a new strength) which would change the dietary patterns of his offspring (vs 32). There is no explicit prohibition in the Bible against eating what is probably the sciatic nerve/tendon that runs down the back of the leg. Moses does however indicate that the reason they don’t eat it is b/c of this wrestling match with God.

A meeting with Jesus is going to change a person—it will change you (from the inside to the outside).

1 John 3:2–3 NASB95

2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

He won’t appear as an unnamed wrestler, not even a humble baby in a manger. He will return and we will set our eyes on Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords. We will see Him who is the Holy and Righteous One. We will see the dazzling glory of JC (which was veiled b/c of HIs humanity in the 1st coming). But the 2nd coming (or if you precede that in your death) you will see Him face to face and John says you will be like Him.

You can’t encounter Jesus without being changed. That’s what happened with Billy Sunday. That happens to each one who receives God’s marvelous, saving grace. John says that is your hope. Today, you’re going to continue to struggle against personal sin, and having the constant admonition to be holy b/c He is holy. Everyone who has this hope…purifies himself. This is your responsibility to pursue holy living and you do it b/c JC is pure and one day—you will be just like Him.

If you’re here and this is not your hope b/c you haven’t encountered saving grace. God is laying hold of you right now and His Spirit is wrestling with your heart. The way to prevail-endure is to put your trust in LJC. He gave His life, shedding His own precious blood so that by believing in Him you will have life. Cling to Christ thru faith today—you’ll encounter Jesus and begin that radical transformation that will be completed on the day you meet Jesus.