SF305 - GOD CHASTENING JACOB (Genesis 32 22-32)

Genesis 32:22-32

INTRODUCTION:

The story of Jacob is the story of us all.  There is some Jacob in all of us.  We can all identify with who Jacob was and what he did.

The story of Jacob is the story of Jacob...

‑Lying

‑Listening

‑Learning

‑Limping

‑Leaning

In Genesis we see…

God choosing Jacob

God challenging Jacob

God chastening Jacob

God changing Jacob

God’s grace made evident in sorry!

It is one thing to know about the Lord, but it is something else entirely to know the Lord.

Over the next 20 years God will teach Jacob one simple lesson; knowing about God is essential, but it is not enough.

We all must learn this lesson.

Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.  Therefore be zealous and repent.

God dealt with Jacob...

1A.      God dealt with Jacob Concerning His Ways

At Bethel, Jacob had learned what it meant to blessed by God; At Haran he was to learn what it meant to be broken by God. 

He had discovered the grace of God; now he was about to discover the justice of God.

Ø      At end of his journey, in Haran, he met uncle Laban.

Dickens would describe Laban the same as Scrooge.

"A squeezing, wrenching, grasping scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!  Hard and sharp as flint, secret and self contained as an oyster.  The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait."

For the next 20 years God held a mirror up in front of Jacob‑Uncle Laban.  Just like Laban.

1B.      The matter of his wives

His fervent love (29:13‑20)

Ø      Jacob falls madly in love with Rachel

Ø      Laban wants to know Jacob's prospects.

Ø      Jacob's deal 7 years for Rachel  (29:20)

His first lesson (29:21‑29)

Ø      The demand  (29:21-22)

Jacob had to agree to marry Rachel according to the customs of the land.

Ø      The discovery  (29:23‑29)

Married the wrong woman. (29:25)

The rights of the firstborn (29:26)

Ø      The detail 

Poetic Justice

Ø      God sees that we get what we deserve.

Ø      Laban callously palmed off Leah on Jacob, purposely deceiving him.

What cared Laban that his methods were underhanded, despicable, and mean?

What cared Laban that he was trampling on the most sacred feelings of Jacob’s heart?

Ø      Go back seven years in Jacob's life.  See him standing before his blind father pretending to be Esau, his older brother.

What had Jacob cared....

Ø      Now he had to reap just what he had sowed.

"The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine."

2B.      The matter of his wages

A change in circumstances (31:1-2)

A command from God (31:3)

A complaint of dishonesty (31:4-7)

Poetic Justice:

Ø      What cared Laban that Jacob was his own kin, his nephew?

What did he care he was taking advantage of a weaker man temporarily in his power?

To Laban, Jacob was a mere tool to be used and tossed aside once he had been made to minister to his own personal ambitions.

Ø      Go back some fourteen years... Recall how Jacob treated Esau the day Esau came in weak from the hunt and wanted some of Jacob's stew...

2A.      God dealt with Jacob Concerning His Walk

God has told Jacob to leave Padan Aram and to return home, to the place where he could bless him.

Ø      He has come to the stage of his life where more than anything else he wanted the blessing of God. 

Ø      Pray that day will come when you will want God more than anything else.

God begins to remind him of what had happened 20 years ago, his wronging of Esau. 

Ø      He had forgotten, but God and Esau had not forgotten.

Ø      God was saying "what about Esau"

Ø      At Jabbok God met him and dealt with about his walk.

Central issue; what was going to do about Esau.

1B.      Jacob was alone (32:24a)

2B.      Jacob was alive (32:24b‑25a)

Carnal, stubborn, fighting, self sufficient, unyielding Jacob was very much alive.

3B.      Jacob was altered (32:25b‑32)

Conquered by God (32:25b‑27)

Ø      No longer fighting, but clinging, and confessing.  (32:26-27)

Ø      That is all God wanted to hear.

Converted by God (32:28‑30)

Ø      Israel =  literally ruled by God; sarah, ruled by; el, God

Ø      Peniel = "The face of God"

Changed by God (32:31‑32)

Ø      God not only changed his name, He also changed his walk.

Application

God had to break Jacob so he could bless Jacob.

At Bethel he saw the ladder, at Jabbok he saw the Lord

At Bethel he became a believing man, at Jabbok he became a broken man

At Bethel he became a seeker of God, at Jabbok he became a saint of God.

He left Bethel with a new hope; he left Jabbok with a new heart.