I.
Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Genesis
32:24-31
25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.
26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
27 The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered.
28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but
29 Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
-- well, it happened again -- this
morning we find ourselves let down as another hero has fallen -- as another
person that we looked up to as a man of integrity and strength and character
admits that his whole life was nothing more than a lie
-- as I'm sure all of you know by
now, Lance Armstrong -- seven-time winner of the Tour de France -- cancer
survivor -- founder of the non-profit LiveStrong organization -- went on
national TV this week and admitted to the world for the first time that he had
taken performance-enhancing drugs throughout his professional career --
tainting forever his legacy and his accomplishments-- I had always been a Lance Armstrong fan -- out of all the sports heroes on the scene today, Armstrong was the only one left who appeared to be who he said he was
-- other great sports heroes had fallen over time -- Pete Rose -- Michael Jordan -- Tiger Woods -- but Armstrong stood head-and-shoulders above them all
-- after having been diagnosed with testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and his brain, Armstrong fought back -- defeating cancer and starting a revolution with his LiveStrong foundation to unite, inspire, and empower people affected by cancer -- through the sale of his yellow LiveStrong bracelets, Armstrong's foundation raised lots of money for cancer research and helped the lives of thousands of people world-wide
-- and when Armstrong began to be attacked by critics alleging that his record-setting appearances in the Tour de France was only because he used performance-enhancing drugs, he responded with grace and integrity -- he didn't respond with allegations of his own -- he didn't attack them in the media as some would have done -- he merely stood before the cameras and pronounced his innocence time and time again and pointed out that there was no evidence to support their claims of doping
-- we all thought Armstrong was a man of integrity or character -- a man to be looked up to -- a man to be emulated -- a man we could point our children to and say, "Be like Lance -- fight the good fight -- stand up for yourself -- do what is right and you will succeed"
-- but then the truth came out -- we had been deceived -- this man of integrity and character was a liar who had actually done exactly what his critics said -- he finally admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career, and he was immediately stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and his bronze medal from the 2006 Olympic Games
-- but worse was his dethronement as a man we could look up to -- as an example for us of someone who was trustworthy and honest and an overcomer
-- why is it so hard for us to find
heroes these days? -- why is it we are constantly being let down by those we
hold in high esteem? -- it seems like every time we lift someone up and think
they are an example in integrity and honesty and faithfulness, they fail us and
we find they are not who they have claimed to be
-- it's this kind of thing that
leads us to join Bonnie Tyler in asking the same questions she asks at the
start of the song, "I Need a Hero" -- "Where have all the good men gone -- and where all the gods?
-- Where's the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds?
-- Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
-- Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need -- I need a hero"
II.
The Life of Jacob
-- Lance Armstrong is the latest in
a long line of men who have shown us that heroes are few and far between -- and
it's probably safe to say you're not going to find your hero in the field of
sports or politics or on this year's season of American Idol-- true heroes tend to come from the most unlikely of sources and, sometimes, they don't look like heroes at all
-- take, for example, the subject of our message today -- Jacob -- the youngest son of Isaac -- the father of the 12 tribes of Israel -- remembered in the Jewish idiom: "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" -- called by God, "His Servant" -- and recognized in the list of heroes of the faith in Hebrews Chapter 11
-- but, if you've been following along in your daily Bible readings, you've seen a different side of Jacob -- self-centered -- deceiver -- liar -- cheat -- thief -- hardly characteristics that describe a hero -- certainly not traits we would encourage our children to replicate
-- so why is Jacob considered a hero of the faith to Jews and Christians alike? -- how do we reconcile the picture of Jacob that we've been given here in Genesis as a deceiver with his naming as a hero of faith later in the Bible?
-- I wanted to take a few moments
this morning to look at the life of Jacob and see if there is any way we can
come to an understanding of this conundrum today
-- now since we're going to do an
overview of Jacob's life, we're going to have to look at several passages in
order to get a picture of who he was and who he is and who is becoming by the
time we get to this passage in Genesis 32
-- if you would, turn back a few
chapters to Genesis 25 and let's start our study of Jacob at the beginning --
Genesis 25:21-26
Genesis
25:21-26 (NIV)
21
Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The
LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
22
The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this
happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.
23
The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from
within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and
the older will serve the younger." 24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.
25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.
26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
-- Isaac was the son of Abraham and
Sarah -- he was the promised child -- the one whom God promised would bless the
nations through his offspring
-- Isaac was married to Rebekah -- a
distant cousin from the -- up to this point, Rebekah and Isaac had not been able to have children, despite the promise of God to Abraham -- so Isaac turned to the Lord for help -- for twenty years Isaac prayed that God would bless him and Rebekah with children -- and for twenty years, God kept telling Isaac, "Wait" -- finally, the moment came and Rebekah found herself pregnant
-- apparently it was not an easy pregnancy -- we read that the babies jostled within her and she cried out to the Lord seeking answers as to why this was happening to her -- and the Lord answered in verse 23
-- He told her that the descendants of the two sons she was carrying would become two mighty nations -- that they would be separated from each other and that one would be stronger than the other and the older would serve the younger
-- even in the womb, Rebekah's sons struggled with each other -- and this struggle would continue throughout their lives and be carried on by their descendants
-- and, as God had prophesied, when the time came for the babies to be born, they came out of the womb in the midst of conflict -- Esau came out first, the stronger of the two, with Jacob grasping his heel in a portrait of who he was to become
-- from the very moment of his birth, Jacob tried to grasp that which was not his own -- and he used any means possible to do so, including lying, cheating, and deceiving -- in fact, that's what a literal translation of his name means -- "he deceives"
28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.
30 He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called
31 Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright."
32 "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?"
33 But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.
-- in these verses we read of Jacob
grasping the birthright from the oldest son, his brother Esau
-- Esau was a man of the field -- a
skillful hunter -- physically larger and stronger than Jacob-- Jacob, on the other hand, is described as a quiet man -- a man of the tents -- today we'd probably call him "bookish" -- smaller and not as physical as his older brother -- not as good at sports or hunting -- more introverted and more likely to be found alone
-- but the differences don't stop there -- Esau was impulsive and didn't think before he acted -- you get the sense in Scripture that he didn't care as much about tradition or family as Jacob did -- Esau was more concerned about what he wanted and getting it right now
-- that's exactly what leads to the conflict in this passage as Esau comes back from hunting famished and gives away his birthright for a meal -- the birthright belonged to the older son -- it included the family name and titles and a chief portion of the inheritance, "but it was more than just a title to the physical assets of a family -- it was also a spiritual position" -- and in the case of the people of God, "the birthright was the one through whom the covenant promise" made to Abraham and Isaac would be realized [http://www.bible.ca/ef/expository-genesis-25-29-34.htm]
-- but Esau didn't care about all of that -- he was the epitome of a self-made man -- as it says in verse 34, he "despised his birthright" -- he didn't want it -- he didn't care about the promise of God -- in fact, it appears that he didn't care about God at all -- in Hebrews 12:16 Esau is described as "godless"
-- his only concern was in getting what he wanted the moment he wanted it -- and Jacob knew that -- so Jacob tricked his brother into giving up his birthright for a bowl of stew
-- you see, Jacob was always scheming -- always planning for the future -- he knew what he wanted -- he knew where he wanted to go in life, but he was willing to wait to get it -- and so the deceiver tricked his brother with the promise of immediate gratification in order to obtain a better inheritance at a later date
-- he does it again over in Chapter 27 when he steals Esau's blessing -- you already read this story this week in your daily readings, so I'm not going to read it again but let me just summarize it for you
-- Isaac was about to die and wanted to pass on his parental blessing to his oldest son -- he sent Esau out to prepare a meal for him of wild game and then promised his blessing would follow
-- Rebekah overheard this conversation and concocted a scheme to ensure that Jacob the blessing instead of Esau -- we see this happening in Scripture time and time again and we do it ourselves in our own lives
-- remember that God told Rebekah the older son would serve the younger son -- and since Rebekah liked Jacob better than Esau, she decided she would help God out by taking matters into her own hands rather than letting God's plans come to fruition
-- her mother-in-law Sarah had done the same thing -- God had promised to bless Abraham with children and when Sarah thought God had forgotten or was too slow in fulfilling His promise, she gave her slave Hagar to Abraham to produce a child -- but her plans didn't turn out like she hoped and ended up with animosity between the descendants of Ishmael and Isaac to this very day
-- we do that, too -- we don't wait for God to fulfill His promise -- we don't wait for God to answer our prayers -- we are like Esau and Rebekah and Sarah -- we think we know better than God -- we know what we want and we do whatever it takes to get it and time and time again we end up suffering the consequences for trying to play God in our own lives
-- Rebekah and Jacob's plan worked -- through an elaborate scheme that involved covering Jacob in goat hair and wearing Esau's clothing, Jacob ended up with the blessing from Isaac -- but he got a lot more in the bargain -- he inherited Esau's hatred and animosity and was forced to flee Canaan for his grandfather's ancestral land in Paddan Aram on the premise of seeking a wife
-- Jacob found himself in the home of his uncle Laban -- Rebekah's brother -- where he fell head-over-heels in love with his cousin Rachel -- once again, we see Jacob willing to wait to get what he wants -- and he agrees to serve Laban for seven years in order to secure Rachel's hand in marriage
-- but this time, the deceiver meets the trickster and Laban tricks him into marrying his older daughter Leah and serving another seven years to get Rachel as his wife -- Genesis Chapters 29-31 are filled with scheming and deception as Jacob and Laban try to get the upper hand time and time again
-- but there's something else going
on here behind the scenes that is easy to miss if you're not careful --
throughout the story of Jacob we see God's prevenient grace reaching out and
touching Jacob and steering him to faith and righteousness
-- it all began with Rebekah's
prayer while Jacob and Esau were still in her womb -- God's hand was on Jacob
at that very moment and He had chosen Jacob to be the one through whom the
Messiah would come-- and even after Jacob messed up and chose the path of deception to get what he wanted, God didn't give up on him -- God continually reached out to him and guided him and steered him to where he needed to be
-- in Genesis 28, while Jacob was on the way to Paddan Aram to find his uncle Laban, God had appeared to Jacob in a dream -- Jacob saw a stairway to heaven in his dream, with angels ascending and descending from the throne of God -- God showed Jacob that the path he was on was wrong and showed him the true path to heaven, giving Jacob the same promise God had given to Abraham and Isaac before him
-- and when Jacob showed up in Paddan Aram and fell back into his old ways of deception and cheating to gain the upper hand with Laban, God used Laban as a mirror of deception to show Jacob the error of his ways
-- despite Jacob's many flaws, God never gave up on him -- he continually worked in the life of Jacob to lead him to the place of decision -- to the place where he would finally choose to live a life of faith and belief and righteousness -- which brings us to Chapter 32 and Jacob's wrestling match with God
-- turn back to Chapter 32 and let's
look again at verse 24
24 So
Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.
-- Jacob is on his way home with his
two wives and 11 children -- in spite of all the deception and trickery, God
had blessed him in Paddan Aram
-- but now Jacob has fled Laban and
is headed home -- going, as he thinks, from the frying pan into the fire as he
heads back to face his brother Esau -- however, we have to see this as a step of faith -- a baby-step, perhaps -- but a step none-the-less -- God told Jacob it was time to go back to the land of Canaan to fulfill the promise made to Abraham and Isaac -- and this time, Jacob trusted God and took that first step of faith
-- granted, Jacob has a long way to go to become the righteous and godly man lifted up in Hebrews Chapter 11, but all great journeys begin with a single step -- and for Jacob, this was it
-- Jacob finds himself alone on the banks of the Jabbok river -- he has divided his camp into two groups and split them in case Esau attacks and he has sent them on ahead while he spends the night alone
-- now why is that? -- why would Jacob stay behind while his family has crossed over? -- I think Jacob was in a place of brokenness -- I think Jacob was between a rock and a hard place -- trapped between Laban and Esau -- and things didn't look good -- he didn't know what to do -- so he stays behind to call on the name of the Lord
-- before, when he was out in the desert alone, God had appeared to him in a dream -- and I feel like Jacob has stayed behind alone to seek God once again -- another step of faith
-- we read here in verse 24 that
while Jacob was left alone, a man wrestled with him until daylight -- now who
is this man? -- where did He come from?
-- some scholars will tell you this
was an angel of God sent to wrestle with Jacob, but most scholars say -- and I
agree with them -- that this is a theophany -- an appearing of Jesus in the
form of a man in the Old Testament -- God Himself met Jacob on the banks of the
-- what does it mean to wrestle with God? -- have you ever done that? -- I have, and I suspect most of you have, too -- when you face those times in your life when you're just hit rock bottom -- when you don't know what to do -- you don't know where to go -- you see know way out and the promises of God seem far away -- it's at those moments of brokenness that we wrestle with God -- with who He is and with who we are -- with what He is doing in our lives -- with how He is working in us and through us
-- that's where Jacob was on the banks of the Jabbok River -- he was coming to grips with who he was and he was seeing that he was not who he should be -- as he wrestled with God on the riverbank, he was working out all his frustration -- all his character flaws -- all his deception and lying and cheating -- he was reliving what he had done to Esau and was having to make a decision as to how he was going to live the rest of his life
-- and so he wrestled with God until dawn
-- verse 25
Genesis
32:25 (NIV)
25
When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of
Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.-- what an interesting verse -- the Man -- God -- wrestled with Jacob but could not overcome him -- what is this verse saying? -- what are we supposed to get from this? -- that Jacob was stronger than God?
-- no, what this is saying is that Jacob was fighting God with everything he had and was refusing to submit himself to the Lord -- God was telling Jacob what He wanted Jacob to do and showing him who He wanted Jacob to become and Jacob was saying, "No -- I don't want that -- I want something else"
-- but God had a plan for Jacob's life that was greater than Jacob -- He had a plan for Jacob's life that would affect the spiritual life of all creation for all eternity -- so He reached out and touched Jacob's hip and wrenched it out of socket
-- God will do what He has to do to reach us and to change us into the people He wants us to be -- and if that means we have to suffer pain in our lives -- if that means we have to go through trial and tribulation in order to turn to God like Jacob or grow more mature in our faith, then God will do it
-- He will never force His will upon us, but He will lead us to the point where our choice becomes clear -- just as He did with Jacob here in this passage
-- verse 26-27
Genesis
32:26-27 (NIV)
26
Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob
replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." 27 The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered.
-- we read that the Man told Jacob
to let Him go, because it was almost daybreak -- God will not contend with us
forever -- He will wrestle with us and lead us to the point of decision, but
eventually we have to make a choice whether to follow Him or not
-- Jacob reached that point when he
finally submitted to God and recognized that blessings only flow from Him --
they don't come through deceit and cheating -- they don't come through our own
making -- they come from God-- so Jacob asks God to bless him, and look at God's response -- "What is your name?" -- Jacob had been asked that question before when he sought a blessing, remember? -- Isaac has asked Jacob that very same question and Jacob had lied and said, "My name is Esau"
-- Jacob has a second chance to get it right -- God asks, "What is your name?" and Jacob replies honestly, "Jacob"
-- verse 28-29
Genesis
32:28-29 (NIV)
28
Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel
29
Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do
you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.
-- as Jacob begins to change into
the person God has called him to become, God changes his name to reflect this
spiritual change -- he goes from being "the deceiver" to becoming
"Israel
-- notice that Jacob asks for God's
name, but God doesn't give it to him -- the name by which we know God comes
through experience -- and God didn't want Jacob to define Him only through this
one event -- God wanted Jacob's walk with Him to be one of revelation and
discovery, not one of tradition -- He didn't want Jacob to only know Him as the
God of Abraham and Isaac, but to come to know Him as his own personal God-- in my own life I have known God as provider, protector, savior, king, lord, leader, creator, and many more -- it was up to Jacob to know God as God led him down the path of righteousness -- and it is up to us to know God as He leads us each down our own paths of righteousness
-- verse 30-31
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
-- Jacob recognized this site as a
holy place -- as the place where he wrestled with God and saw Him face-to-face
and lived -- and as the sun rose above him, Jacob crossed the Jabbok river and
began a new life with God
-- one thing to note here is that as
Jacob left he limped because of the hip that was stricken -- although Jewish
scholars say God eventually healed him, we are not told this in the Bible, and
we have to assume that Jacob limped the rest of his life -- a physical reminder
of an inward and spiritual grace that changed him forever-- we always bear the scars of our paths in life -- some are physical, like Jacob's, while others are hidden and emotional or spiritual scars -- but they serve as reminders to us of God's presence and of His grace that doesn't give up on us when we fall and fail
-- Jacob may not be our image of a hero -- he may not fit the role of a hero as defined by our culture -- but he is a hero of faith, none-the-less
-- although he began as a deceiver -- although he cheated and lied and did whatever he could to get ahead -- still God did not give up on him -- and that's encouraging to me -- because if God can reach down and change a deceiver into an overcomer like Jacob -- if He can reach down and change a murderer into an evangelist like Paul -- if He can reach down and change a denier of the faith into an apostle and elder like Simon Peter -- then He can reach down and change me into the person He wants me to be, too
-- I want to close by leaving you
with a story by Kathleen Norris that was in Christianity Today -- she writes
that one morning she was at the airport and "noticed a young couple with
an infant at the airport departure gate.
The baby was at the stage where she loved to look into people's faces,
and it seemed that as soon as she recognized a human face, no matter whose it
was, old or young, pretty or ugly, bored or happy or worried-looking, she would
respond with delight.
-- "It was beautiful to
see. But even more that that, it brought
Jacob, and God's presence, to mind. Our
drab departure gate had become the gate of heaven. And as I watched the baby play with any adult
who would allow it, I felt as awe-struck as Jacob, because I realized that this
is how God looks at us, staring into our faces in order to be delighted to see
the creature he made and has promised to be with always. -- "Peter denied Jesus, and Saul persecuted the early Christians, but God could see the apostles they would become. God does not punish Jacob as he lies sleeping, because he can see in him
-- "God loves to look at us, and loves it when we will look back at him. Even when we try to run away from our troubles, as Jacob did, God will find us and bless us, even when we feel most alone, unsure if we'll survive the night. God will find a way to let us know that he is with us in this place, wherever we are, however far we think we've run.
-- And maybe that's one reason we worship - to say thanks for the faith God has shown in us. To let ourselves look at God and to let God look back at us. And to laugh, and sing, and be delighted because God has called us his own. [Kathleen Norris, "Why We Worship," Christianity Today]
-- let us pray
No comments:
Post a Comment