1 Genesis 32: Preaching and Teaching

WWF

Do we have any WWF fans in here?

I liked competing growing up.

I actually trained in the martial arts as a youngster and it was great for me. It gave me confidence and kept me in great shape and they also were teaching me Biblical principals, even though I did not know it at the time.

We fight for what we value

Why don’t we wrestle with God?

Today I want us to see that we will learn 3 essential lessons if we will wrestle with God.

These are lessons that Jacob had to learn by wrestling with God and we can learn and experience them as well if we will wrestle with the God of the universe.

The first lesson Jacob teaches us from his wrestling match is:

1. Dependence on God (22-25).

We naturally don‘t want to live depending on God or anyone else.

Jacob had to learn this in a wrestling match.

Matthew 5:3 ““Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Why don’t want to depend on God?

Because we have our own plan for our life.

Jacob had a plan for his life.

Jacob was strong and he

Grabbing Esau’s heal in the womb.

He tricked Esau into giving him his birthright.

Moving the stone to water Rachel’s sheep

Genesis 29:10 “When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.”

He got Laban’s daughters to marry him.

He worked for this man Laban, who was more deceitful than he was for over 20 years in not ideal conditions.

Now here was his plan:

Genesis 32:22–23 NAS

Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had.

Why was he finally willing to wrestle with God:

Because Jacob’s plan was not working

Because he had no other options the brother that he really did a number on was coming back and remember this man, Esau was a hunter.

Are you living out your plan our are you living out God’s plan for your life?

God had to bring Jacob to a place where he literally saw that his plan was no longer going to work.

How do we wrestle with God?

We get alone.

Genesis 32:24 NAS

Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

We are so busy with work, with family and activities we don’t even have time to get alone with God.

When is the last time you got alone with God?

If you want to live a dependent life you have to get time with God. You have to wrestle him.

We don’t give up (Until Daybreak)

Is pursuing God a reality for you over the long haul. Maybe you are someone who has had time with God before but now that is ancient history. God wants us to live a life where we pursue him for a lifetime.

Genesis 32:25 NAS

When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

We remember

Jacob would always be reminded of what went down there.

He would always have a limp.

What are some reminders that you have that you need to be dependent on God.

Some could be positive and some negative.

I share the story a lot about receiving a check for 10000.

But you know what one of the reasons I came to Jesus was because I realized the American dream, the fame or potential for it was just going to lead me to a life of loneliness.

Illustration: Gracie, why he was able to win is because they had an art, Brazilian Jijitsu that was tested for ages. Royce had a lot of brothers and the reason that they picked him to fight is because he was the weakest and smallest of the bunch. There family wanted to show that he was the weakest and that there martial arts was the best. He depended on this as he defeated guys who were twice his size. Tank Abbott.

Are you depending on God right now?

The next lesson Jacob teaches us from his wrestling match

2. The lesson of prevailing prayer (26-29).

Genesis 32:26 NASB95

Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

Why we must prevail through prayer:

God is the source of blessing.

Jacob’s whole life he really though he was the source of blessing.

The man was saying let me go.

Jacob would not let him go because he wanted to be blessed.

Now here was what is crazy about this story.

In one sense Jacob already has the blessing, remember he stole it from his brother. But for 20 years as he worked for his uncle, his life would not be characterized by living and experience the blessing.

Is your life characterized by the blessing?

You see as believers the bible says this, Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

So in one sense we have all the blessings in the heavenly realms, but just because we have them does not mean that we are experiencing them.

Genesis 32:27 NASB95

So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”

A life of prevailing is a life of confession.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 32:26–29

It is significant that in response to Jacob’s request for a blessing the Man asked … What is your name? When one remembers that in the Old Testament one’s name is linked to his nature, the point becomes clear: Jacob’s pattern of life had to be radically changed! In saying his name, Jacob had to reveal his whole nature. Here the “heel-catcher” was caught, and had to confess his true nature before he could be blessed.

One of the reasons that we do not want to wrestle with God is because we don’t want to live a life of confession before God.

Genesis 32:28 NASB95

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

God gives us a new name

Isn’t it amazing that when we believe in Jesus we get a new identity.

2 cor 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 32:26–29

So “God fights” was now his name. This meant, first, that God chose, because of the patriarch’s stubbornness and pride, to fight against him. Second, it meant that God would fight for Israel.

Jacob had a new name.

This gave great hope to a new nation.

If this Abrahamic promise was going to come true it was not going to come about because Jacob was such a smart and deceitful guy. It was going to come true because God would fight for Israel.

If we are going to walk the walk that God wants us to walk it is not going to be because we are smart enough and good enough it is going to be because God is the one fighting for us.

Genesis 32:29 NASB95

Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there.

Jacob did not hide the fact that he wanted to be blessed, he asked God directly for it.

God wants to bless his people, this is directly from the Abrhamic Promise that we looked at with Abraham. He wanted to bless us so that we can bless others.

We are not talking about health and wealth Gospel we are talking about the blessing being blessed by the God of the universe so that we can be his image bearers.

Royce Gracie verse Dan Severn-He threw him around like a rag doll for what felt like eternity. Gracie did not give up and eventually put in a move where Dan tapped out.

Application:

Psalm 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.”

Tandi sent Heather and I a text this week that was really encouraging about the importance of prayer for our church.

Is prevailing prayer a reality of your life?

Is prayer period a reality of your life?

The last lesson Jacob teaches us from his wrestling match:

3. The Lesson of Encountering God (30-32).

To this point of

The majority of his life has been dictated by the deceptive decisions he has made. Remember he could not even stay where he was from with the fear that his brother might kill him because he deceived him.

Are you encountering God?

Genesis 32:30-32 “So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.” Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.”

He saw him face to face. Most people do not want to see God face to face.

The UFC used to be a one night tournament. No weight classes and the winner stood at the end with the belt. This was the blessing they were going for.

Notes

Jacob could not have had this encounter and reconciled until he wrestled with God