SERMON: WRESTLING WITH GOD

 NAYLOR COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN CHURCH

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Genesis 32:22-32

 

Genesis 32:22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 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 Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

 

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. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

 

            -- a couple of years ago, we stumbled across an outstanding sleeper movie called “The Peanut Butter Falcon,” starring Shia LeBeouf and Dakota Johnson -- it’s the story of two people who are running away from their pasts in search of a better future

            -- Tyler, played by Shia LeBeouf, is running from his ex-partners in the fishing business who are trying to hurt him for burning their fishing equipment -- Zak is a young man with Downs Syndrome who lives in a residential home with mostly older residents -- he runs away from his home to live out his dream of becoming a professional wrestler

            -- Tyler and Zak meet and become unlikely friends and, along the way, Tyler helps Zak make his way to a wrestling school where he finally gets the chance to wrestle in the ring as the Peanut Butter Falcon

 

            -- I was thinking about that movie this week as I was studying this passage in the life of Jacob and couldn’t help but think of the similarities between Jacob and both Tyler and Zak -- not only did Jacob get into trouble on a regular basis in which he had to run away from -- but in the end, he found himself in the middle of a wrestling match that he was not wholly ready for

 

II.  Background on Jacob’s Life

            -- it all started when Jacob was born -- Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebekah -- the grandson of Abraham and Sarah

            -- now, Isaac and Rebekah had difficulty conceiving -- but after twenty years of marriage, God blessed them and Rebekah became pregnant with twins

            -- apparently it was not an easy pregnancy -- the Bible says that the babies jostled within her and she cried out to the Lord seeking answers as to why this was happening to her -- in response, God 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

            -- her difficult pregnancy was the result of her sons struggling with each other in her womb -- and she was told 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, Jacob’s older brother, 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 the name Jacob means -- "he deceives" -- and over and over again, we read in the Bible of how Jacob’s deceit and scheming led him into trouble

 

            -- when Jacob and Esau were young men, Jacob connived a way to get Esau’s birthright -- 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 considered himself a self-made man -- he didn’t want to be seen as needing anyone else’s help in life -- so, the Bible tells us that Esau "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 when Esau came back from a hunt famished and found Jacob cooking a stew, he let himself be deceived and tricked by Jacob and willingly gave up his birthright in exchange for a bowl of stew

 

            -- the struggle between the twins came to head when Isaac was dying and it was time for him to give his blessings to his son -- as the oldest son, Esau would receive that blessing, which was all he had left since he had been tricked out of his birthright by Jacob

            -- a blessing in the Bible was a tangible blessing -- it carried with it great power and changed the lives of those who were blessed -- the blessing was considered the most important thing a father could pass on to his children

            -- Esau should have been the one to receive the blessing from Isaac, but Jacob and Rebekah conspired against Esau and came up with an elaborate scheme that involved covering Jacob in goat hair and having him wear Esau's clothing so that Isaac thought Jacob was Esau -- in this disguise, Jacob ended up with the blessing from Isaac -- but he got a lot more in the bargain -- when Esau found out what Jacob had done, he swore to kill Jacob -- so Jacob fled the land of Canaan and went east to the land where his mother was from -- Jacob’s deceit and trickery caused him to run away from home in fear for his life

            -- Jacob ended up in the home of his uncle Laban -- Rebekah's brother -- where he fell head-over-heels in love with his cousin Rachel -- he ends up marrying both Rachel and her sister Leah as he continues his deceitful ways in Laban’s household -- over and over again, he gets into conflict with father-in-law Laban because of his deceit and scheming -- eventually, the conflict reached the point where Jacob realizes it’s time to run away again

            -- as he’s struggling with the question of where to go now, God speaks to Jacob and tells him it is time for him to return to the land of Canaan -- the only problem with returning to Canaan is that it means he’ll have to face Esau and the trouble he left behind

            -- in the first part of Chapter 32, Jacob does what God says and heads home with his wife and family and all his possessions -- but before he gets to Canaan, he learns that Esau is coming with 400 soldiers to meet him, presumably to make good on the promise from Esau to kill him

-- Jacob gets scared and separates his family and possessions into two separate camps, in the hope that at least one camp will survive if Esau attacks the other -- and he comes up with a plan to turn away Esau’s wrath by bribing him with a gift of livestock and other possessions

-- as this passage opens, Jacob is at the ford on the river Jabbock and is getting ready to enter the land of Canaan -- he sends his wives and family across the river with all his possessions and has them split into two camps, each heading in different directions, while he stays behind

 

III.  Jacob Wrestles with God

 

-- so, let’s pick up the story of Jacob in the first part of verse 24

 

Genesis 32:24a -- So Jacob was left alone

 

-- for the first time in a long time, Jacob was alone -- there was no one there with him -- no people -- no family -- no possessions -- nothing but him -- standing there on the bank of the Jabbok river

-- the Bible doesn’t tell us why Jacob chose to be alone that night -- perhaps he wanted to prepare himself for his meeting with Esau -- perhaps he wanted a moment of peace before conflict came -- perhaps he wanted to meditate or spend time with God -- we don’t know for sure, but we do know that being alone is sometimes the best thing to be

-- you see, when we are alone, then there is nothing between us and God -- and it is in these moments of aloneness that we can experience God and hear from Him in ways we simply cannot in our regular lives that are so filled with noise and busyness and chaos

-- being alone helps us find and hear God

-- Jesus modeled that for us in the gospels when we read that He left the crowds and the disciples behind and went up on the mountainside by Himself to spend time with the Father

-- and we see that same spiritual discipline of getting alone with God practiced by the early church fathers and spiritual leaders throughout history -- getting alone with God is something that is highly encouraged in the Bible if we are to be who He has called us to be

            -- this biblical truth still resonates with us today -- in order to fully engage with God -- in order to fully experience Him in the depth of your soul -- you must be alone with Him -- you must put yourself in a place where you are alone and quiet and still and there is nothing between you and Him -- a place where you can hear His small still voice -- a place where you can experience His presence and nothing else -- a place where there is nothing but you and God

-- that is the heart of the instruction in Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God”

 

-- when you are struggling in life -- when you are struggling with a decision or with spiritual issues or with anything else -- it can be helpful to follow the pattern of Jesus and Jacob -- find a place where you can get alone so you can seek answers and peace -- comfort and blessings -- from being in the presence of God without anyone or anything else to distract you

 

            -- look back at the second part of verse 24

 

            Genesis 24:b -- “and a man wrestled with him till daybreak”

 

            -- now who is this man that came to Jacob while he was alone? -- where did He come from? -- and why did he wrestle with him?

            -- as we’ll see later on in this passage, this man was no mere mortal -- this man was God Himself -- God appeared to Jacob on the banks of the Jabbok River in human form

-- an appearance of God in human form in the Old Testament is what we call a theophany -- the physical presence of Jesus in the form of a man appearing before the incarnation and the birth of Jesus in the New Testament -- usually, when God appears before men in this way, the Bible writers refer to Him in the text as “the angel of the Lord” -- if you ever run across that phrase -- “The Angel of the Lord” -- in the Bible, that’s a reference to God Himself in human form

-- so, this Man appeared to Jacob -- God in human form -- and wrestled with him until dawn

 

            -- what does it mean to wrestle with God? -- when we say we’re wrestling with something, it means that we’re struggling with something in our life -- usually a decision or a direction or something else that we are going over in our mind and trying to figure out what we should do

-- to wrestle with God means the same thing, but in this case, it means that we are struggling with God about something spiritual

-- generally, we find ourselves wrestling with God in three main ways

            -- first, a lot of us have wrestled with God during a time of spiritual doubt or spiritual drought -- a time when you’re questioning your faith -- when you’re questioning the truth of what you believe -- when you’re just not sure anymore and you have to make a decision as to whether to continue to believe and trust in God or not -- we wrestle with the reality of God and of spiritual things in our minds

            -- next, we wrestle with God when you’re facing a difficult task or trial -- maybe things are going really bad -- maybe you feel like you’ve hit rock bottom and you just don’t know how you can continue -- you don't know what to do -- you don't know where to go -- you see no way out and the promises of God seem far away -- and in that moment of doubt and despair and brokenness, you’re wrestling with your faith and whether you trust that God is actually capable of seeing you through

-- finally, a major time we wrestle with God is when He is calling us to change direction in lives -- it might be a situation where He is leading you and telling you to go somewhere that you don’t want to go -- or maybe He’s telling you to do something or to quit some sin or habit or activity, and you don’t want to do it -- and, so, you’re struggling with the decision -- you’re struggling with accepting God’s will and Lordship in your life

-- ask any pastor what it felt like when they were called into the ministry -- and I guarantee you that most of them will tell you it was a time they felt they were wrestling with God -- it was a struggle whether they were going to follow God down that path or continue doing their own thing -- and that happens with a lot of spiritual decisions

-- that’s what we mean when we say someone is wrestling with God -- it’s those moments in life when our will comes against God’s will -- when we have to choose whether we’re going to submit to Him as our Lord and Savior or whether we’re going to do what we want to do regardless of God’s command

            -- that's where we find Jacob that night 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 -- all his life he had been a deceiver and a schemer and cheat -- and now he’s about to face the consequences of his past life when he meets Esau, who is coming to kill him -- he’s wrestling with his past and he’s wrestling with God as God calls him to fulfill his birthright -- to fulfill the promise given to Abraham -- to change into the type of person who God wants him to be

-- and that’s why we read that Jacob wrestled with God on the riverbank until daybreak --he was working out all his frustration -- all his character flaws -- all his deception and lying and cheating -- he was re-living what he had done to Esau and was having to make a decision as to how he was going to deal with the consequences of the past and live the rest of his life -- whether he was going to continue to be who he had been or whether he was going to allow God to change him for the better

 

            -- verse 25

 

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"

            -- some people are tough cases, and it takes a lot to break them -- it takes a lot to get them to surrender their will to God’s

 

-- God was wrestling with Jacob to bring him to submission -- to bend his will into alignment with God’s will -- God was wrestling with Jacob to get him to quit trusting in his own strength and scheming and plans and to trust and obey God in all things

            -- as Jacob wrestled with the Man by the river that night, Jacob thought he was fighting for his physical life -- in reality, this was a fight about his spiritual life -- Jacob’s body and will were strong -- and he fought with God until daybreak -- he refused to give up

-- eventually, God touched his thigh and put it out of joint -- touching the thigh was to humble him and make him powerless and aware of his own weakness -- at any point during the fight, God could have done that -- God could have destroyed Jacob at any moment with just a touch -- He could have reached out and broken Jacob’s body and spirit and will -- but God didn’t want to overpower Jacob in that way -- He wanted Jacob to voluntarily submit and yield to Him in humbleness and faith, the same way He wants us to come to Him on our own free will

 

            -- but God did what He had to do to get Jacob to the point of decision -- you see, God had a plan for Jacob's life that was greater than Jacob’s plan -- He had a plan for Jacob's life that would affect the spiritual life of all creation for all eternity -- Jesus was to come from Jacob’s family, but to bring it to bear, Jacob had to change -- he had to submit -- he had to follow God and God’s will -- he had to change who he was -- so, finally, God 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

 

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 Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

 

29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

 

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

 

 

            -- 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

            -- when God showed Jacob his true weakness by touching his hip, Jacob reached that point of decision -- he finally submitted to God and realized that true blessings don’t come through our own scheming and planning -- they don't come through deceit and cheating -- we can’t create lasting blessings in our life -- true blessings only come from God

-- when God broke Jacob’s reliance on self, his fear of failure in life gave way to faith -- by surrendering to God, Jacob realized that he had actually won -- by putting his faith and trust in God for his life and his future, Jacob would be okay -- things would work out -- and, so, Jacob clings to God and won’t let Him go

-- these verses reminded me of the way Mary Magdalene held onto Jesus after the resurrection and refused to let Him go -- she was so in love with Him and so happy to see Him again that she just could not bear to be parted from Him -- she grabbed Him and held Him close and refused to let Him go until Jesus finally had to see, “release Me, for I have yet to ascend to the Father”

 

-- when you come to know God in a real and personal way, you can’t help but hold onto to Him with all that you have and all that you are -- Jacob had known God for twenty years, but God had never reigned in his life until this moment -- and now Jacob is holding on to God for dear life

-- as Dave Guzik put it, “Jacob was reduced to the place where all he could do was to hold on to the LORD with everything he had. Jacob could not fight anymore, but he could hold on. That is not a bad place to be.”

 

            -- Jacob says he won’t let God go until He blesses him -- and God looks at Jacob and asks a curious question, "What is your name?"

            -- several years ago, we had a Major who was working temporarily in our squadron -- he came through the Environmental section one day and walked up to me and said, “Who are you?” -- I told him who I was and what I did -- and he turned from me to my coworker and said, “and who are you?”

            -- it was all rather strange -- but it was his way of getting to know us -- not just our names -- but who we were -- what we did -- how we contributed to the squadron and the military mission

            -- God looks at Jacob here and asks him that same question -- “Who are you? -- What is your name?” -- and Jacob is forced to reply, “My name is deceit -- my name is schemer -- my name is heel-grabber” -- it was God’s way of getting Jacob to confess who he had been -- it was God’s way of getting the truth into the open -- of leading Jacob to the point of true repentance so that forgiveness could flow

 

            -- and as soon as Jacob confessed his past sins by telling God his name, God poured out His grace into Jacob’s life -- God said, “that is who you were, but your name will no longer be Jacob -- instead you will be Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome”

            -- when Jacob wrestled with God and eventually submitted his will to God, Jacob began the process of repentance and forgiveness and sanctification -- he began to change into the person God had called him to become

-- and, as a result, God’s blessing was to change his name to reflect this spiritual change in Jacob’s life -- he goes from being "the deceiver" to becoming "Israel" -- one who struggles with God and who is on the way to righteousness

            -- with that blessing, Jacob was no more -- Israel had been born -- a new name -- a new life -- a new person -- a new future

 

-- in verse 29, Jacob asks God, “tell me your name” -- this is significant, because at this point, Jacob was desiring more of God, not more from God like he had in his earlier life -- he wants to know who God is

            -- but God doesn't give His name to Jacob -- 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 come to know God as God led him down the path of righteousness -- just as it is up to us to learn who God is as He leads us each down our own paths

 

            -- verse 30

 

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. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

 

            -- 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 -- and a testimony to all who saw him

            -- 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

 

IV.  Closing

            -- although Jacob 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 -- He can do the same for you, too

            -- the path to blessings comes through repentance and forgiveness -- it comes with a searching of the soul and wrestling in the dark of the night -- it comes when we finally can say and mean the words Jesus spoke in prayer that night in the Garden of Gethsemane, “No my will, but thine be done”

 

            -- as we leave here this morning, I want you to take a moment and consider where you are with God -- are you where you need to be? -- are you the person God wants you to be? -- are you struggling and wrestling with Him about your faith or about a decision or direction He wants you to take?

            -- and let me encourage you to get alone -- to find a place where you can be quiet and alone with God -- whether that’s high on a mountainside or by the banks of a river or in your quiet place at home -- find that place and cry out to God -- wrestle with Him if you must -- but seek Him and find Him and come to know Him and obey Him as Jacob did

            -- let us pray