Wrestled and Renamed
Notes
Transcript
Genesis 31-36
Danger behind and danger ahead (31:1-32:21)
Danger from behind: Laban
Jacob flees to Canaan
Laban no longer regards Jacob as he did before
The Lord instructs Jacob to return to Bethel with his family
Jacob’s wives are embittered toward Laban
They agree to leave with Jacob
Jacob doesn’t trust Laban, so he leaves secretly
Laban pursues
He catches them in Gilead
God warns Laban not to harm Jacob or act against him
Clearly, the Lord is not Laban’s God
“The LORD your God”
Laban accuses Jacob of stealing his daughters and livestock
Laban accuses Jacob of stealing his household gods
Laban and Jacob make a covenant with each other (31:44-55)
Danger up ahead: Esau
Jacob sends messengers to Esau to seek his favor (32:4)
Jacob prays for deliverance (32:9-12)
Jacob sends gifts ahead of them for Esau
God is orchestrating His plan
God is placing Jacob right where He wants him to be
Is this not what He still does in our lives?
He brings us to the place where we have no one to look to but God alone
Wrestling by the river (32:22-32)
Jacob helps his family cross the river
He splits them into two camps
He stays the night alone by the river
Jacob wrestles with God
A man shows up and wrestles with Jacob along the river
This is the angel of the Lord
Hosea 12:3-4- In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us—
Jacob grappled with the angel of the Lord all night
His entire life has been one huge wrestling match
Wrestling with Esau
Wrestling with
As daybreak approached, the man touches Jacob’s hip and puts it out of its socket
Jacob is given a new name
No longer will your name be Jacob, but Israel will be your name
Israel, at root, means “may God strive (for you)”
No longer will he be “at the heal”, but he will be the one who has striven with God and for whom God strives (works)
Jacob is forever changed
He leaves having met with the living God
He leaves with a new identity
He leaves with a permanent mark on his life
As he leaves the place, the sign rises on him
Isaiah 60:1-5- Bible
Malachi 4:2- But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
Ephesians 5:8-14- For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Sinner, wake up, and Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, will rise on you, even today!
Deliverance, deception, defilement, death forever changed (33:1-37:1)
Jacob meets Esau
Esau responds to Jacob with kindness
Yet, Jacob does not trust him, so he deceives him
Dinah is defiled (chapter 34)
Jacob and his family move to Shechem
Shechem, the king’s son, rapes Jacob’s daughter Dinah
Simeon and Levi devise a pla
They deceive the men of Shechem
They slaughter the men of Shechem
Death all around
Rebekah’s nurse, Deborah, dies (35:8)
Rachel dies in childbirth (35:16-20)
Isaac dies in his old age (35:27-29)
Jacob and Esau are eternal contrasts
Salvation does not mean an easier or safer life or sinless
Sin still remains in our lives
Hardship and harm still come against us
Death still ravages the lives of those around us and our lives
But, Salvation changes everything
Jacob and his family put away all other gods
It gives hope, peace, joy and rest in God
It gives a better hope: God Himself
Esau’s family is multiplying and prosperous
But he is left without an eternal inheritance
