Text: Genesis 32:1-32
Introduction: Obviously, this chapter in the Bible is about the familiar story when Jacob started a journey to meet his brother Esau. While Jacob was on his journey to meet Esau, he received the blessing of God on the way. It is at this point, where Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. When Jacob’s name is changed to Israel, it becomes the starting point of the promised that was given to Jacob and Esau’s grandfather Abraham. Abraham received the promise from God that his seed would be a great nation and in him, all nations of the earth would be blessed. It is in this chapter that we read about the beginning of that nation called Israel. The nation of Israel may not seem to be a great nation. However, there is hardly a news channel that broadcasts internationally, that does not, nearly daily; broadcast some news concerning what is happening to the nation of Israel. Israel today is constantly the focus of much of the modern world.
This morning I want us to examine how Jacob entered in to those blessings that were promised to Abraham. With that in mind, we will then learn what me must do in order to experience the blessings of God both in our lives personally and within the Body of Christ. The scripture here reveals three things in Jacob’s life that caused Jacob to receive Gods blessing. First, Jacob faced his fears and began to make recompense for the past. Secondly, he entrusted everything he had to God in obedience to him. Finally, Jacob grabbed on to God and would not let go until he had received that blessing that he knew was in store. These three things that Jacob did are exactly what we must do in order to have the blessings of God in our life.
I. We must face our fears and made recompense for the past.
A. Jacob had upset many people and burned many relational bridges in his lifetime.
1. Sometimes this was achieved through no fault of his own and at other times, this was because he practiced deceit.
2. However, one thing that Jacob had always done was run away from his problems.
3. Esau had sold Jacob his birthright, as the first-born son of Isaac.
4. However, when Jacob realized that it was Esau who was going to win his fathers blessing, he, in collaboration with his mother, tricked Isaac into ensuring that he got the blessing over his brother.
5. Realizing that he had outraged his brother, Jacob ran to his uncle Laban.
B. After 20 years of relative peace, Laban and his sons fall out with Jacob after Jacob had become increasingly powerful.
1. God tells Jacob to go back to his homeland, but instead of parting company properly from Laban, Jacob just runs away again.
2. In fact, Jacob and Laban have only just made amends as we reach the start of chapter 32.
3. Up to this point in scripture, Jacob has spent his life running away from problems and they are finally starting to catch up on him.
4. Jacob is running out of places to run.
C. In the chapter of our text, we are beginning to see a different Jacob.
1. Jacob is now confronting his problems instead of running from them.
2. Jacob intends to make up with his brother after twenty years of hurt.
3. Jacob is scared to death and yet in obedience to God, Jacob is putting the past right.
4. In our text, we can tell that Jacob is not expecting a good reception by the fact that he sends out gifts ahead of him.
5. It is no coincidence that while Jacob is attempting to make amends with his brother that God meets with him.
6. God is faithful and ensures that his brother is pleased to see him.
7. Jacob’s fears were unfounded, and in chapter 33, we find the reunion of these two men.
8. Genesis 33:1-4 (NASB) 1Then Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. 2He put the maids and their children in front, and Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. 3But he himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. 4Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
D. The first reason that Jacob entered into Gods promises at this point, was that he faced up to his fears and the problems that he had caused himself in the past.
1. When Jacob finally met his brother again, he found that Esau wanted him back.
2. He was actually pleased to see him.
3. The account of Esau and Jacob shares much resemblance to the parable that Jesus recalls of the prodigal son, in Luke chapter 15.
a) A father has two sons, and one of them grabs his inheritance early and goes off, but spends it wildly.
b) When he has nowhere to go he returns to the father, hoping that he could be a servant, but finds to his delight that, just as Esau still loved Jacob as a brother, the father still loves him as a son.
4. Jesus uses this parable to show how just as the son wandered away and used his fathers possessions wrongly, we also have all at sometime taken the gifts and abilities that God has given us and misused them.
5. Nevertheless, just like the son, and like Jacob, if we are willing to face up to the mistakes of the past and make amends then God is willing to forgive us.
6. The Bible calls this repentance.
7. Jacob thought that Esau would no longer think him worthy to be treated as a brother, and the lost son thought that he was no longer worthy to be the father’s son.
8. They both however found that they were forgiven, and they were given that honor anyway.
9. In the same way because we have messed up and made mistakes, we may think that we are not worthy to be called Gods children.
10. However if we come to God with an attitude of humility and repentance, He is willing to forget the past and embrace you, just as Esau did with Jacob.
E. If our desire is to enter the promises of God and partake of His blessings then we must also be willing to make amends with other people.
1. Some people spend their lives running away from problems.
2. If we want to enter into God’s blessings then we need to be willing to face our problems.
3. If we are willing to face the problems of the past, then like Jacob, God will begin to take us into His divine blessings.
II. Jacob entrusted everything in obedience to God.
A. Part of the reason that Jacob was seeking to restore his broken relationship with Esau was because he had been commanded to do so by God.
1. Jacob was walking in complete and total obedience to God and His purposes.
B. Genesis 32:21-30 (NASB) 21So the present passed on before him, while he himself spent that night in the camp. 22Now 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. 23He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had. 24Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25When 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. 26Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." 27So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." 28He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed." 29Then 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. 30So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved."
C. When do we read that God met with Jacob and blessed him?
1. Was it when Jacob made the decision to go back to the homeland?
2. Was it when he started on the journey?
3. Was it when he reached the first camp for the night?
4. The answer to all of these questions is no.
D. Jacob did not meet with God nor was Jacob blessed by God until he was completely on his own and had entrusted everything into being completely and fully obedient to what God had instructed him to do.
1. Jacob had sent all the gifts, all his possessions, his wives, and even all his sons ahead of him.
2. Jacob could not run anymore because he would have been left with absolutely nothing.
3. He had sent everything he had on ahead of him in obedience to God.
4. It is at this point that Jacob was blessed as he encountered God.
E. We often want to be blessed by God as we encounter Him and we often desire to enter into his presence, but how much are we willing to trust Him?
1. Are we ready to give to God everything that we have?
2. Would we be truly willing to risk everything that we have in order to be obedient to Him?
3. Until we reach that point of complete trust and surrender, we will never truly encounter Gods presence.
Illustration: On April 21st, in the year 1519, the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez sailed into the harbor of Vera Cruz, Mexico. He brought with him only about 600 men, and yet over the next two years his vastly outnumbered forces were able to defeat Montezuma and all the warriors of the Aztec empire, making Cortez the conqueror of all Mexico. How was this incredible feat accomplished, when two prior expeditions had failed even to establish a colony on Mexican soil? Here is the secret. Cortez knew from the very beginning that he and his men faced incredible odds. He knew that the road before them would be dangerous and difficult. He knew that his men would be tempted to abandon their quest and return to Spain. Therefore, as soon as Cortez and his men had come ashore and unloaded their provisions, he ordered their entire fleet of eleven ships destroyed. His men stood on the shore, watched as their only possibility of retreat burned, and sank. In addition, from that point on, they knew beyond any doubt, there was no return, no turning back. Nothing lay behind them but a vast empty ocean. Their only option was to go forward, to conquer, or die.
F. If you desire to be blessed by God, this is exactly what you have to do.
1. You must take your own will, your own desires and ambitions, everything that you possess, and you must entrust them into the hands of God.
2. It is God’s desire and will for His people to be blessed.
3. We can only enter into the blessings of God if we are willing to entrust everything we have into Gods Hands and be obedient to Him.
III. Jacob would not let go until He had received his blessing from God.
A. Genesis 32:24-26 (NASB) 24Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25When 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. 26Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
B. These verses are strange because they do not say anything of where the man came from or the purpose of him being there.
1. It is not until a few verses later that we find that this man is God in the flesh.
2. Jacob obviously realizes that this man was from God, as he demanded that he bless him, but it is not until verse 28 that the mans identity is revealed.
3. Jacob was blessed by God Himself, but he had to struggle to get the blessing that God had prepared for him.
4. The Bible does not tell us why God wanted to wrestle with Jacob, but it does say that God went to leave and that Jacob prevented Him from doing so by holding on.
C. It is amazing to think that after making amends with people after years of hurt, even after Jacob had entrusted everything in to God’s hands in order to be obedient to God, and after struggling personally with God, Jacob could have missed out on the blessing if he had not have held on.
1. Even after Jacob’s hip was wrenched, he still refused to let go.
D. Why did God make Jacob struggle with Him all night before He blessed him?
E. Why did He damage Jacob’s hip to try to force him to let go?
1. The answer to these questions lies with the blessing itself.
2. God was about to make Jacob the father of a great nation.
3. This nation would be Gods nation, an example to the world of the greatness of God.
4. This promise could not be given to somebody who would not take it seriously.
5. It had to be given to somebody who would hold on to it, whatever the cost.
6. Jacob proved that he was that kind of man.
7. It is at this point that Jacob’s name is changed to Israel.
F. If we want to enter in to the blessings of God then we need to have the heart of Jacob.
1. God wants a people who are willing to struggle with him and refuse to let go in order to see that promise fulfilled.
2. Why is that necessary?
3. It is because of how special the blessings of God are.
a) In order to be able to give us these blessings, God sent His Son to die on a cross so that we might not perish in hell, but spend eternity in his presence.
4. The blessings of God are so great and wonderful, and have been brought at such a high price, that God will not give it to somebody who will just let go of it when the going gets tough.
5. God wants to bless people who are willing to cling to him in order to see His blessings fulfilled.
Conclusion: Jacob faced his fears and made recompense for the past. He entrusted everything that he had in order to be obedient to God. Jacob would not let go until he had received Gods blessing and received Gods promise. It is at this point that Jacob’s name is changed from to Israel. Jacob means ’deceiver’, but Israel means ’one who struggles with God’. Jacob received Gods blessings, and history has shown that the nation of Israel has continued to struggle with God. The have been times when its hip has been put out of joint, such as in the holocaust, but the Bible states that that nation will be brought back to Him in the last days, and will enter in to the new Jerusalem, the new heaven and earth.
We too can receive the blessings of God if we do the same things as Jacob. If we face up to the past and repent. God is willing to forgive your past as long as you are willing to face up to it by bringing it before him in repentance. God will meet with you if you put all your trust in him. You must be willing to give everything you have into serving him. Finally, you must be willing to hold on to him until you receive that promised blessing. There may be times when we feel we have had our hip put out of place. We might suffer the death of a loved one, or be hurt by those we trust. However if we hold on to Him, then we will receive those blessings that God has promised to His people.
For those who are Christians and are already holding on to the greatest of all promises, I want to ask if you are missing Gods blessings in the meantime. God can have great blessings, ministries and promises for our lives, but we can miss them. Are you constantly running from problems and difficulties? Are there people with whom you have had years of hurt, that God wants you to make your peace with? Until we are willing to put this right then we can never expect to enter into Gods blessings. Have you received instruction from God, and gone some way to following it but have not fully committed your life to it? Maybe you have not entrusted your personal pride, or your money, or something else into Gods hands. Until we do this then we can never expect God to meet us in out situations. Finally have you received a little from God but have not been willing to hang on. There have been many revivals in the past where people have received an encounter with God, but it has not lasted. Often that is because they were not willing or prepared to hold on to it. We need to desire Gods blessing in our lives so much that we are willing to hold on to it despite our hips being put out of joint. God has many promises for our lives as individuals and as a church. He wants to bless us. I believe that we are on the verge of seeing a mighty move of His Spirit. We will only see this happen however if we are willing to face up to our fears, restore our broken relationships, entrust everything, and to hold on tight. God will do the rest.
