Wrestling With God

Introduction

Alright, good evening and welcome back!

It is good to have everyone out tonight.

Tonight we are going to be taking a look at Genesis 32 at the time when Jacob received his blessing from God and became Israel.

And up to this point in our Scripture Jacob had lived a pretty interesting life.

He got his start in the world already in conflict with his brother Esau by grabbing his heel on the way out of the womb, and for many years nothing really changed.

Making a very long story short, the biggest problem Jacob had early on was his stealing his brother Esau’s birthright when enraged his brother, prompting Rebekah, Jacob’s mother to make arrangements for Jacob to go to his uncle Laban to hide out under the pretense of he was going to find a wife.

And there is a lot that took place between Jacob leaving home and getting to Laban’s house that is very important but not what we are focused on tonight, but in a nutshell, Jacob finds a wife that he falls head over heels for, named Rachel and intends on marrying her.

However, after 7 years of service to Laban for the honor of marrying Rachel, Laban hodoos Jacob and he ends up with her older sister Leah as his wife and only after Jacob agrees to stay on for another 7 years does he finally end up with Rachel.

And then after that there is some conflict that takes place between Leah and Rachel, but in the end Jacob and his ever growing family end up staying with Laban for a total of 20 years.

And it is at that point after being directed by God to go back home, Jacob packs up everything and heads out.

And I summed up about 4 chapters of Bible in about 5 minutes, but the point I wanted to get us to, was the fact that Jacob left Laban’s house because God told him to go.

At this point in his journey, even though Jacob was still a deceiver, still a manipulator, was still trying to hold on and control things, he had walked far enough with God that he at least initially responded when God spoke to him.

Now, things changed, because of his own unsteadiness, which we will get to, but in that moment, Jacob was in a good place.

And this is going to bring us up to where we need to be in this passage.

Two Camps

In Genesis 32, starting in verse 1 the Bible tells us this . . .

Genesis 32:1–2 NKJV

So Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

Now before I go any further with any of this we need to stop and look at these two verses and understand what they mean for Jacob, for THE CHURCH, and FOR US HERE TONIGHT.

First for Jacob—God had told Jacob to go, that was confirmation #1 and he went.

Now, when Jacob actually left and started on the way look who met him—the angels of God.

The angels of God meeting him is confirmation #2 that his leaving and going on his way, was God’s will.

And if it was God’s will then God was in it and God was covering it and God would take care of it.

In reality Jacob did not have a single thing to worry about because when God sets the path, God will make a way.

Jacob may not have been able to see it but God had already ordained it and all ready started putting the pieces in order, making a path through the wilderness, right back home.

Which is a point that Jacob didn’t get, but we can learn from Jacob’s mistakes.

In fact we should be learning from Jacob’s mistakes.

Now, that is the first thing.

The second thing I want to really get to is verse 2.

I’m going to read it again . . .

Genesis 32:2 NKJV

When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

Now, to get an understanding of exactly what Jacob is saying here, you have to know what Mahanaim means.

And some of you may already know and may know where I’m going with this, but I’m going anyway.

Mahanaim is translated as “two-camps” or “double-camp” and what it means is “the coming together of two camps!”

And what Jacob is talking about here is the coming together of the Camp of Man—His camp, and the Camp of Angels—God’s camp!

So Jacob is witnessing the joining of the Camp of Angels and the Camp of Man into an undefeatable force.

An ultimate confirmation that the path he is on is the right one!

And what God revealed to me when I was studying this word is that in this age, in this place, we are seeing the coming together of the Camp of Angels and the Camp of Man—meaning THE CHURCH.

And make no mistakes when I tell you this, when I say THE CHURCH, I am talking about the Bible Believing, Spirit Filled, Jesus chasing CHURCH that God has ordained to carry out the building of His Kingdom on this earth.

And the two camps coming together is the confirmation that we are on the right path—moving in the direction that God wants us to move in!

And I feel it in my bones that we are right on the edge of something spectacular, but we have GOT TO TRUST GOD.

We have got be ready to receive what God is delivering.

We have to keep our eyes fixed on Him and our ears tuned to the sound of heaven coming down.

God is confirming His movement and His people, as we speak.

And now the third thing, this joining of two camps God also said that churches coming together in unison is vitally important to this mission.

And tonight, in this place we are witnessing the beginnings of the joining of our two camps, our two congregations, our two tribes if you will.

Not for the glory of either one of our congregations, but for the glory of the Kingdom of God.

And we need to take it.

We need to confirm it.

We need to stand on it.

And we need to use it as an example to others.

It has to start somewhere and I say, Lord let it start here!

What God has got in store for this community and this state is far greater than any one congregation can handle.

Jacob Wavers

But first we need to learn some lessons here from Jacob and just what it’s going to take to get there.

Because THE CHURCH is only as strong as the people that make up the churches.

So, what can we learn from our friend Jacob here?

First, he is very short-sighted.

If we move along in the passage we find next Jacob sends out messengers to his brother Esau—testing the waters if you will, as to whether things are now cool between them.

He explains what he’s been doing the last 20 years and wants to tell his brother that he’s coming home and wants to share all the things that God has blessed him with, with his family.

He doesn’t know that Esau doesn’t need his stuff—he’s done pretty well on his own .

But at any rate, he does the right thing and sends word, but when the messengers come back, it’s not what Jacob wanted to hear.

Genesis 32:6 NKJV

Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”

Aw, SNAP!

Welcome home Jacob—Esau is coming to see you, and guess what, he’s bringing 400 men with him to meet you!

And you know what happens, Jacob panics.

Jacob gets in his own head and begins to automatically go to the worst possible scenario and outcome.

He has no idea why his brother is bringing 400 men with him, but he has been so conditioned by society and self that he automatically thinks the worst is going to happen so . . .

Genesis 32:7–8 NKJV

So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.”

So, he takes everything and divides it in half, so that if Esau attacks, only half of what he has will be destroyed.

And all he is doing here is jumping to conclusions about what MIGHT happen, what MIGHT be, without one shred of proof of anything actually ever occurring.

It is just like when God speaks ANYTHING into our lives and an opposition comes against it, PERCEIVED or REAL, it doesn’t matter.

We immediately start to think about what MIGHT happen and how it MIGHT go wrong.

We start to question whether God ever spoke it or not.

Even though God has already CONFIRMED IT to us—we still doubt, we still question, we still wonder.

And then we try to fix it—ALL before we even consult or pray about it.

Look at what Jacob did here.

First, he divides the camp and THEN he decides it time to pray and remind God of His promises to Jacob.

In verse 9 . . .

Genesis 32:9–12 NKJV

Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”

So, he actually got things backwards.

If he would have just prayed before he started panicking, maybe, just maybe God would have revealed to him that everything would be okay.

And then maybe, just maybe he wouldn’t have had to send what he thought would be a peace offering to his brother of 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 30 female camels and their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys.

And go through all the rigamore of this dance around trying to overwhelm and appease his brother with gifts.

And Jacob’s major problem, that had actually followed him up to this point in his life is he was trying to mix SELF-SUFFICIENCY with DEPENDENCE ON GOD, and the two are NOT COMPATIBLE.

And we need to hear this word.

We cannot live our lives thinking that we can keep God in a bottle like a Genie and go about living our lives, doing everything the way that we think we should and then calling God out of the bottle when things go sideways.

Too many times because God has blessed us and allowed us to exercise our freewill and live in His PERMISSIVE will, we think everything is okay between us and God and we fail to learn to depend fully on God for EVERYTHING.

And when that happens we are like Jacob who’s priorities are all mixed up.

Listen, Jacob has no bad intentions, but he is trying to do everything HIS WAY and according to how HE THINKS they should go.

Wrestling with God

That will not work.

That will never work.

Because when we are in this state, there is only so far God can take us.

Because greatness in God ONLY COMES when we can learn FULL DEPENDENCE on Him.

We talk about being “sold out for Jesus,” but I think sometimes we do not know what that means and we do not understand the cost of being totally sold-out, totally committed.

There will be things that you have to face that God HAS to allow in order to strip away everything else but HIM.

And we will not understand at the time.

And it will wound us deeply.

And you may even have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death itself, but rest assured God is with you.

And when He pulls you out on the other side of the valley, beaten, battered, and broken-HE WILL PUT YOU BACK TOGETHER.

And you will be different.

You will be changed— That is the point!

But you will also be who HE has shaped you into.

Ready to stand strong and step into what God has designed for you.

And this is exactly what is going on here with Jacob.

Let’s look at it and then I want to break it down a bit.

Starting in verse 22 . . .

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.”

Now there is a ton going on here, so hang on!

First and foremost, Jacob takes his family and sends them on ahead of him in to what would be The Promised Land.

And this is what the Lord told me about this—YOUR TIME OF WRESTLING WITH GOD WILL ALWAYS OCCUR AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE PROMISE.

Somebody needs to hear that—Your time of wrestling with God always happens right before the realization of the promise.

Because you WILL ALWAYS HAVE TO FIGHT FOR THE PROMISE.

And during the fight, God WILL strip away everything that stands in the way.

And I am talking about pride, self-sufficiency, stubbornness, fear, doubt…All the things that you use to tell God “I CAN’T”.

And just like Jacob you will feel like you are alone in the night, fighting for your life, but HOLD ON AND KEEP FIGHTING.

Do not stop fighting because DAYBREAK IS COMING!

All you have to do is hold on till the daylight comes.

And when you are wounded—when your hip is knocked out of socket—HOLD ON TIGHTER!

And I am telling you THAT IS THE KEY.

HOLDING ON IS THE KEY.

And when the daylight comes you still hold on until God blesses you.

Until God delivers you.

Until the promise is revealed to you.

That is God’s promise to you.

I said it this morning . . .

Hebrews 11:6 NKJV

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Sometimes, diligently seeking God is wrestling with God.

But also know this, and I wish it wasn’t this way, but wresting with God also leaves a permanent mark, a scar if you will.

But we have to suffer these deep wounds and wrestle with God before we can truly understand the nature of the depth of how God blesses us.

Jacob walked with a limp the rest of his life but even with a limp, Jacob was stronger than at any other point in his life.

He walked out victorious, not victorious over God but victorious over life.

Ready to accept the Promise that God had for his life.

But it only happened when Jacob finally determined that he was going to hold on to God with all he had in him.

So bear the scars of the struggle, hold on to Jesus, and walk in victory.

Altar/Challenge

And tonight I am not really sure of a good way to give the altar call.

Maybe you need to confirm your place in the two camps.

Maybe you need lay down everything else and depend solely on God.

Maybe you’ve been wrestling for a long time with God and need some strength to keep fighting and keep holding on.

Maybe it is something that we’ve not even talked about tonight but you need a touch from God.

If there is a need though, don’t wait.

Don’t let an opportunity pass without getting a touch from God.

Come and pray . . .