Jacob Wrestles with God

Last week we talked about Jacob’s personal experience with God. We learned it is not “good enough” to hitchhike on faith of our fathers or teacher or friends or even our pastors. We need to experience God face-to-face. We need to know Him personally. We need to have one of those deeply transforming experiences with Him and collect our own tokens.

Next we need to put that faith right into action. We need to come to the place where we desire nothing but God Himself, satisfying ourselves with just food and clothing, knowing that this is all that God guarantees. Beyond that we are dependent on His presence and His love and mercy for everything else.

Third, we need to set aside our own way of doing things – even when it seems like others are beating us at our own game, instead we need to keep the vows we made to God from the beginning.

Finally, when it comes time to faith our old demons, remember the vow that God made to you. Say it out loud, remind Him of it. Not because He’s forgetful, but because we need to be reminded of the faithfulness of God – both past and future.

Today we continue with our story of Jacob and find one of his most inspirational characteristics, and that is perseverance. You see, we sometimes have to fight for what is ours. I have seen a good example of that in my own home where my wife had to literally fight for her rights at work. Are the rights hers? Does the law back her up? You bet, but without fighting for those rights, she cannot claim them. Have others had those rights withheld from them? Of course, why did they just give in and give up their rights? Well for one, they didn’t know what their rights were, and secondly, they didn’t fight for them.

Similarly, we as Americans have many rights- where do those rights come from? Well let me read what the founding fathers thought:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Those words are taken right from the Declaration of Independence. The very founding of our nation = the pattern for our constitution, even the causis beli of the Revolutionary War lays in this idea that rights come from God. Without knowing what our rights are, we cannot live a truly free life because there is nothing more biblically sure than that man is inherently evil, and that the nature of man is toward tyranny. What was it about the founding fathers that caused them to be willing to risk their lives and their fortunes to establish a new nation? The founders knew their rights. They knew what God had given them and they were willing to fight for it!

What does this have to do with faith and with blessing? Well, we are promised certain blessings but unless we know what the promise is, we will never lay hold of it. We are promised certain blessings, but we often do not receive because we have failed to fight for them. Jacob knew what God’s promises were – he could see them even when the promise was nothing more than a promise. He could see God’s promises before they even materialized.

Genesis 32:22–30 NKJV

And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

Jacob was hiding from his brother Esau. See, he had stolen Esau’s blessing through trickery and he fled to the land of his forefathers where he took wives and servants and amassed a great amount of wealth. It was time for him to return to the land of his father, but there was an obstacle—Esau. As far as he knew Esau was still angry with him and sought to take his life so rather than put his entire family at risk, it says in verse 23 and 24 that he sent them away for safety’s sake and was left alone. So there, in the midst of his trial—while he anticipated the attack of the enemy, he found God face to face. Before when Jacob met God and made Him his own, it was in a dream, but now was different. But it was very odd... Jacob was ambushed by God!

Church, it is often during the times of trouble—even trouble of our own making that we are confronted by God. Just when we think the enemy is going to jump us, instead God comes! Lest we start to get too joyful about it, think of this: Jacob thought God came to bless him, and He did that, I mean look at what He did. We talked about how awesome it is when God becomes so identified in what He does for you that He begins to use your life as a reference for what He has done, but here God not only gives him a new name, but also calls the people of promise by that name from that point forward! So it’s Israel and the people of the promise are named after him, but not before he is put to the test! Make no doubt about it, there are times when God will choose to test us in the hour when we most need Him! It will be at the very time when we feel ill-equipped to handle a test, and yet there it is!

But pastor why? Why would God inflict such a test on us when we need Him most? At a time when we desperately need His blessing, why does He challenge us? The answer is simple: God wants to know how badly you want what He has for you. He wants to see what is in your heart, He wants you to desire His blessing so much that you grab hold of Him and say with every fiber in your being, “I won’t let go of you until you bless me!” Is it because He doesn’t already know what is in our heart? Of course not! God knows the heart of man better than anyone—and that includes you. The reason He wrestles with us, is to reveal to us what is in our heart. Do you want that marriage healed fully? Then you must wrestle with God! You must go to Him in prayer; you must be faithful to His word. You must look for Him, you must grab a hold of Him and say, “I WON’T LET GO UNTIL YOU HEAL MY MARRIAGE!”

Do you want an answer to your financial difficulties? A new job? A healing in your body? Whatever the blessing you desire, you must seek God, grab a hold of him and not let go until He has blessed you. How badly do you want it? But be prepared! The blessing will cost you. You will be touched by God, and your flesh will be afflicted! You will forevermore walk with a limp. Not a physical limp like Jacob, but a spiritual limp—God will wound your pride, His touch will cause you to limp spiritually, there will be a new humility that overtakes you because when we wrestle with God, there is a change that must happen in us—something that will serve as a reminder forever of what it feels like to want God’s blessing so much it hurts! How badly do you want God’s blessing saints?

God’s covenant name, the LORD (Yahuweh) was to be a memorial name, one that He was to be remembered by forever: “God also said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites, “The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.” This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation’ ” (Exodus 3:15).

At Mount Sinai, Moses built an altar of twelve stones as a memorial: “Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel” (Exodus 24:4).

Forty years later when the Israelites finally crossed over the Jordan into the Promised Land, twelve stones were set in the Jordan as a memorial to God’s provinces of passage across the Jordan and the keeping of His covenant promises to Abraham and Moses.[1]

Joshua 4:4–11 NKJV

Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.” And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day. So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed over. Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over, that the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people.

When the Lord fulfills a promise, it is important that we make some sort of memorial of what He has done for us. It is not for His benefit, but for ours. Look at verse 6- they are to serve as a testimony to our children. Saints, if we are not on our knees in the presence of our kids, and if we are not talking about the goodness of God in their presence, then how will they learn to trust Him when the chips are down? How will they know what to do when life comes at them hard? Be an example to your kids. Get on your knees before your God! Wrestle with Him, call out to Him, humble yourself before Him, and when you get your answer in prayer, PRAISE HIM! Praise him, and invite your children to praise Him with you! Speak of the faithfulness of God often. Make for yourselves a book of remembrances—a memorial journal of God’s faithfulness to you. Do you have one of our Bible journals yet? Buy one, use it to do your word studies, but it also has a place in there for prayer requests. As you see each one of those prayers answered, journal it! It’s really that simple, make a memorial of God’s faithfulness. If you do this you will have a written record of the faithfulness of God.

There is another purpose for memorial stones, and this one is a bit more serious. When we do receive the increase that God has called us to, it is easy to whine and complain like the Israelites did. God provided for them supernaturally by giving them manna, and you’d think that would have been enough but no… they complained because food from heaven wasn’t enough—they wanted meat now too. About here is where they are lucky I’m not God. I would have been apt to just blot them all off of the face of the earth for being whiney little crybabies. Aren’t you glad God doesn’t judge us for our whininess? I’m just as guilty as the children of Israel, and though I react strongly to their whining, I have to admit, I’m very much like they were. But Joshua knows that they are just like sheep going astray. He knows all about their tendency to complain about well… everything! So he reminds them in advance of God’s faithfulness. He tells them, “Don’t forget!” Then he sets up a memorial.

Joshua 24:26–27 NKJV

Then Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.”

We need to keep God’s word ever before us as a memorial about His goodness. Our past experiences with God help us to remember His faithfulness, but the promises of His word help us to look forward to the certainty of the future. Be sure to keep God’s promises ever before you.

Deuteronomy 6:6–9 NKJV

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Finally, you need to know the enemy. The oldest trick in the book is for the enemy to convince you that you are not worthy of God’s blessing. In fact if we look back at the scripture verse we have about Jacob we understand that He wasn’t really seeking God at that point was he? He was preparing to meet his brother—he had sent his wives and family away, he was preparing to die. He had convinced himself that his own trickery had caused this problem, and in a sense he was correct. I believe that the blessing that Jacob wrestled for was one of forgiveness. Jacob was already a wealthy man with wives and concubines and children. The only thing that could have been worth that kind of effort to him was the blessing of God—the forgiveness of the almighty. Think about the contrast. Esau despised the birthright and as a result lost out on the blessing yet he was also a wealthy man. Jacob valued the birthright and was willing to resort to trickery to receive the blessing. Later on (here) we see that Jacob was willing to wrestle with God Himself to receive that blessing. The contrast could not be starker. What would compel a rich man to do such a thing? Only one thing could do that—the forgiveness of God. But how do you know? Does the Bible say so? Well not specifically, but what is the blessing that Jacob received? Let’s read it together:

Genesis 32:28 NKJV

And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

The name Jacob means “Supplanter or trickster.” The name Israel means “God contended” or “Wrestled with God”. Now, on the one hand Jacob had received his inheritance, and his increase by trickery, after His experience with God, it did not come by His own hand, it came by the hand of God. Israel was not the same man as Jacob after his experience with God.

Now with this in mind, the enemy will constantly try to trick you into believing that you don’t deserve your blessing, or that you haven’t behaved good enough for “increase”. He will try to get you to deviate. His whole plan is to rob you of your joy. He may even attack the blessing you have. Consider what He tried to do by sending Jesus to the cross. He thought that by defeating Christ, the threat would be over—that the blessing would die along with Him. But it didn’t, did it? All the enemy was able to do was open up a can of worms for himself. He will continue to play that role. He will always try to steal your blessing. And if you get your eyes off of Jesus, you will indeed lose your blessing!

Matthew 14:28–31 NKJV

And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Peter had the faith to go out on the water, and even the faith to walk on the water, but where did he lose it?

He lost it when he saw the waves and the boisterous water lapping at him. Church we are like Peter. God will bless us abundantly with His provision, yet as soon as the enemy puts a little extra difficulty in our lives, we get our eyes of the provision and onto the little storm. “God healed me of cancer praise His holy name, but WAAAAHHHH I don’t have quite enough money to make the electric payment this month”

Are you kidding me? Isn’t the same God who delivered you from the cancer able to supply all your needs? If so, then why fret? Why doubt. We are walking on water! That is impossible—waves or no waves, we’re doing it! Why do we get bent out of shape about the waves—we’re defying the laws of physics already, what can a little wave do to us?

Conclusion

We have some very amazing promises, and they include a blessing. We don’t just get it “just because”, we must be willing to wrestle for it. We must want it so much that we are willing to come out of our encounter with God changed and limping; transformed by His touch, humbled by His presence.

We must set up memorials to remind us not only what He has done and is going to do, but to remind us that His word is true and that there are consequences for violating it. We must keep his word ever before our eyes.

Finally, we must be leery of the devil’s schemes, but not overly worried about them, after all, His biggest scheme resulted in the death, burial and resurrection that gives us the right to become sons of God.

Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26 NKJV

“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’

Ye va ra khe kha Adonai vehyish me re kha ya'er Adonai panav ehlekha vihu ne ka yisa Adonai panavv ehlekha vey-a-sem lekha shalom