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complete identification is found in Genesis 32:30 where, after the conflict, Jacob says: “I have seen God face to face.” In all the universe there is but one person who fits this threefold description. He, the Second Person of the Godhead, the great Angel of the Covenant, the preincarnate Man Christ Jesus. 3. “There wrestled a man with him" (v. 24). Many sermons and expositions based on this incident seem to suggest that the initiative in this curious combat came from Jacob, that Jacob wrestled with God until he got what he wanted. Thus we get the popular expression, “wrestling with God in prayer.” But this interpretation ignores the language of verse 24. God, not Jacob, was the attacker. At the start, apparently all Jacob did was to defend himself, sup posing perhaps that the attacker was some assassin of the desert sent by his brother Esau. 4. “He touched the hollow of his thigh" (v. 25). Notice how God works to bring Jacob to an end of himself. Jacob was a man with great confidence in his own abil ity. He had pitted his strength and schemes against both Esau and Laban, and had won. Now God steps into the arena to teach Jacob something we all must learn sooner or later, the futility of mere human energy. He first permits Jacob to exert all his puny strength, then puts forth His finger and with a touch paralyzes the seat of Jacob’s strength. At this instant, Jacob recognizes the divine character of his opponent; and when he can no longer contend, he begins to cling. At last Jacob is in the right posi tion in relation to God, and in this position he gets God’s blessing. Jacob prevailed with God, but not by wrestling. It would be better to speak of “clinging to God in prayer” than of “wrestling with Him in prayer.” 5. It is a pity that verse 31 was not in cluded in the lesson: “As he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.” The rising sun speaks of a new day in the life of Jacob. He is to be no longer a “Supplanter” working for his own ends in the energy of the flesh, but an Israel through whom God will strive. But let us not forget that this new and glorious day began with a withered thigh. In the volcanic region round about Vesu vius, there is a body of water known as Lake Avernus. It was believed by the an cients to be the entrance to the infernal regions . . . Suphurous flames and poison ous pent-up gases pour out from the vol canic clefts . . . Noxious vapors arise from the surface of the waters; no plant can grow upon its banks and the luckless bird that tries to wing its way across, weakens, flutters, and drops stupefied down to death. Mythology has told us that travelers des tined for the lower world were here so af fected by the stupefying vapors that they could face with something of composure the awful horrors toward which their tenden cies were hurrying them along. Like this is the Avernus of modern world- Golden Text Illustration R omans 12:2
MAY 30, 1937 THE REMAKING OF JACOB G enesis 28:1 to 33:20
men, and Jacob’s heart was filled with dread. He offered a prayer asking protec tion, reminding God of His promise to keep him. But, as though he did not trust God to answer his prayer nor keep His prom ise, Jacob immediately began to scheme to soften Esau’s heart ,(v. 24). God began to wrestle with Jacob (v. 24). Some persons think Jacob was wrestling in prayer, but it was God who was wrestling with Jacob, not Jacob with God. This account is not an example of a man ear nestly struggling to get an answer.to pray er, but of God earnestly endeavoring to give an answer to prayer. God was com batting Jacob’s doubts, his fears, his pride, and his reliance upon the efforts of the flesh. All Jacob’s scheming and planning was useless; it was God’s strength that was needed now, and that could be obtained only in human weakness (cf. 2 Cor. 12: 7-10). When Jacob continued to resist the Lord, his thigh was touched, his strength was withdrawn, and he could only cling (vs. 25-27). In that condition, he bore witness to the fact that he was what his name, Jacob, indicated. But as he clung to the Lord and acknowledged his own weakness and insufficiency, there flowed into him the strength of the almighty God, and he heard his name changed from Jacob to Israel, “a prince with God.” We should not forget, however, that he was not yet made per fect, for, in the Word of God, forty-three times after this experience he is called Jacob, the name befitting the behavior of the man. But even in this circumstance we can rejoice, for we read that the “God of Jacob is our refuge.” Points and Problems 1. “Jacob was left alone” (Gen. 32:24). Years before, Jacob had grievously wronged his brother, and now he is about to meet that brother as the latter comes marching at the head of an armed company. What the meeting will bring forth, Jacob cannot tell. It may bring the loss of his family, his wealth, and his own life, for Esau was a violent man. One who has read the record of preceding events can appreciate the acute distress of this man as he waits alone for the break of the unknown to morrow. 2. Who was the mysterious wrestler with whom Jacob struggled through the night? Verse 24 calls him ‘‘a man.” Hosea 12:4 speaks of him as “the angel.” But the most
Lesson Text: Genesis 28:16-22; 32:24-30. Golden Text: “Be not' conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the re newing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2). Outline and Exposition I. J acob at B ethel (28:16-22) F leeing from the hatred of his brother, and the consequences of his own sin, Jacob came to Bethel. There he lay down to sleep. God entered into an uncon ditional covenant with him, promising him the land, the seed, and the nation (cf. vs. 10-15). Years of testing might intervene, but Jacob ultimately would be brought to occupy the place and fulfill the purpose which God had for him. Jacob recognized the presence of God at Bethel (vs. 16-19). His fear (v. 17) was the reverential awe which is always awakened when one realizes his own sin fulness in the presence of the holiness of God. This recognition on the part of Jacob caused him to turn to God in worship (v. 18). Similarly will every man wor ship who senses personal sin and divine holiness. Finally, Jacob proclaimed the presence of God by renaming the place Bethel, “the house of God” (v. 19). Jacob accepted the promise God had given him in the dream (vs. 20, 21). While his acceptance was in the nature of a bar gain, in keeping with his character, never theless it was the acknowledgement that he recognized himself as God’s man and as the one through whom the promise to Abra ham would be fulfilled. In saying, in effect, “If God will do all He promised, then the Lord shall be my God,” he revealed how much of legalism there was in him. He showed what he was, and what the nation in him is, by thus bargaining with God. But what he was, and what the nation is, do not affect the terms of God’s covenant. It is the evil heart of unbelief that puts an “if” into God’s promises. We, like legal Jacob, too often introduce an “if” and hesi tate to accept God’s word when He says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). The “if” has nothing to do with the fulfillment of the promise; it has much to do with the enjoyment derived from that promise. The very hesitancy of Jacob to accept the word of God in its fullness manifested the need for the years of discipline that lay before him. During those years, Jacob doubtless at many times desired to escape from the bitterness of God’s correction, but the Lord is as faithful in administering His reproof and instruction as He is in keeping His promises. In Jacoh’s promise to give the tenth of all that God would give him, there was the acknowledgment of the own ership of God. It is this of which the tenth speaks (v. 22). II. J acob at P en iel (32:24-30) Years later, Jacob returned to his home. On his way, he heard that Esau was com ing out against him with four hundred
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