Mighty is the God of the one who struggles with God.
Last week we looked at Jacob and an encounter that he had with God where he wrestled all night, he received a blessing, a new name and an injured hip. He realised that he had been wrestling with God, had survived and as such named the place that this had occurred accordingly.
We noted that this encounter of Jacob’s with God was a turning point in his life. Here was a man of no small means, with eleven sons to his two wives and their maid servants, the third of the nations of Israel and Judah’s patriarchs who finally realised that he needed a relationship with his God, with the God of Abraham and Isaac, and could not just rely on the historical connection his father and grandfather had.
You will remember in chapter 32 that a good chunk of the chapter was dedicated to Jacob’s brother Esau, the one that Jacob had swindled out of his inheritance. The brother who was on his way to meet him with four hundred men.
So, Jacob, aka Israel the man, not the nation, after encountering God limps into his future. As we look at chapter 33, we see that he still is concerned about this meeting with Esau.
Jacob divided the children between Leah, Rachel and the two maid servants. He then put the maidservants, his concubines in front of the rest of the group and then Leah and her kids, then Rachael and Joseph in the rear.
It seems the ladies and their children would have had a good idea where they stood with their master, husband and father. Racheal and Joseph certainly have preference over the rest.
Jacob then approached Esau in a repentant, humble way. You could even say he was a bit of a groveller, bowing to the ground seven times as he approached Esau. Jacob had likely expected a bit of heavy negotiation with his brother to save his own neck. However, Esau was pleased to see Jacob, no daggers under his robes, he ran to embrace his twin, threw his arms around him and kissed him. He wept; Jacob wept. Esau weeping out of joy to see Jacob and I wonder in Jacob’s case because he realised that he didn’t get what he thought was coming to him, he had no injuries, no wounds, he was still alive.
Esau asked after Jacob’s company, Jacob’s reply “these are the children God has given your servant.” Always good to bring God into a tense situation. Then the respective concubines and wives came forth and were introduced and bowed down before Esau.
Esau then asks about all the animals that had been sent on in advance in the previous chapter we read about “two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. “(Genesis 32:14-15).
Jacob’s reply was honest, the reason for sending the flocks was to find favor in Esau’s eyes. Jacob was a man who was living with guilt, he now had a personal conviction of his guilt. This seems to be a recent occurrence in his life. Maybe and I am only supposing that now Esau was no longer the brother who just enjoyed the outdoors and hunting as he did when he was a young man and he now a bit of power behind him. God, like he had blessed Jacob, had blessed Esau also, and he would go on to become his own nation, at least his descendants would. Here he was with 400 men, as I mentioned last week his own army. Any army runs on its supplies. Four-hundred men don’t travel any distance with a couple of sandwiches and a bottle of water. Esau was a powerful man.
Esau tells Jacob, “I already have plenty brother, you keep what you have.” Both men were what you could consider to be independently wealthy.
Jacob’s reply was along the lines of “If we are all good bro, keep the animals, please accept the gift. I see God in this situation, your being here is a divine moment, now that you and I are all good again. Please take the animals God has been so good to me, I have all I need also.” Because of his insistence Esau accepted the gift.
So, we have this moment of reconciliation between the two brothers. A moment that had been long coming, stressed over and prayed over by Jacob.
If we head back to the early days of history as described by the scriptures, we don’t have to look far back to Genesis chapter four see that the conflict between brothers does not always work out for the best, in Cain and Abel’ case because Abel’s offering to God was more acceptable than Cain’s, Cain killed Abel. There’s an interesting truth in this, that those who give a better offering of their lives to God than those they are with often end up persecuted for it, even killed for it. We wouldn’t have groups like Voice of the Martyrs or Barnabas Aid if it wasn’t the case. Also why is it that many who “have no belief” find it important to belittle those who do? Don’t wait on that question to long, it becomes a bit of a distraction, I think the answer is spiritual and rests with the fall of man and was part of the reason for Cain's killing of his brother, we all know that what we ought to do but don’t always do it. Unlike Cain, Esau would have in some respects have been justified in seeking some sought of vengeance on Jacob, however...God had other plans.
While Jacob had stacked up his ladies and his children in importance, being the least in front and the more personally valuable behind, his planning was un-necessary as God had heard his prayer for deliverance. This was it back in chapter 32:9-12
“O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”
Jacob was saved from Esau’s hand and eventually a nation was brought forth by his new name. God was not just faithful to Jacob but to Isaac and Abraham his father and Grandfather and the promises he had made to them. Interestingly John the Baptist says this to the Pharisees and Sadducees about the descendants of Abraham, as we skip well forward to the New Testament; “And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.” (Matthew 3:9) This is just before he introduced Jesus as being one who was unworthy of whose sandals John himself was unworthy to carry and then saying this about Jesus. Through Jesus we are all adopted into the line of Abraham.
“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:11b-12) This is another pointer to Jesus divinity and a prophecy of things Jesus would do. Who was it that sent the Holy Spirit up until that time? God. Where was God’s temple established, in Jerusalem on a former threshing floor. There’s another sermon for another time. In the meantime, we know that through Jesus we are adopted into the line of Abraham.
God was and is faithful to this line of Patriarchs, he is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. One thing about his faithfulness is that while he could have quite easily have skipped past Jacob and fulfilled those promises that he had made to Abraham and Isaac through Esau he didn’t. Why because even while Jacob was tied up in his deceit, God had spoken a promise in his dream of the angels ascending and descending, “Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and the east, to the north and the south. All peoples of earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28: 14-15.)
That promise is the promise of The Christ who would be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth, is a blessing to all the peoples of the earth, be it that they recognise him as such or not.
Back to Jacob and Esau. These brothers were now reconciled. It appears that once the two were in harmony with one another, harmonious, that is a nice word. Now that they were pals, buddies they went their own ways. There was some discussion about their next meeting. Esau offered to accompany Jacob and his little tribe. However, Jacob was concerned for his children and animals and said, “So let my lord go on ahead of his servant while we move along slowly at the pace of the young animals and the children. I will catch up with you at Seir.” (Genesis 33:14).
Esau offers to leave some men to protect Jacob, but all that Jacob wants is to find favor in his brother's eyes. He tells Esau he wants just that, in a very humble way.
That day was a momentous day for these two men, men who needed to be reconciled, men who now were. Jacob’s prayers were answered, God was true to his promise... remarkable things were on their way to happening for both men.
Esau left for Seir.
Jacob went to Succoth, where he built a nice little house for himself and the developing tribe. He made some shelters for his animals. The name Succoth means shelters.
Chapter 33 concludes with Jacob camping near the city of Shechem in Cannan, he then purchases land for one hundred pieces of silver. The chapter concludes with Jacob pitching his tent and setting up an alter to God, an alter that he calls “El Elohe Israel.”
Now this is an interesting turn of events, why? Good question. Those words El Elohe Israel mean either “God, the God of Israel” or “mighty is the God of Israel.” The thing is
That this alter was a declaration of Jacob about his God, Jacob who now also went by the name of Israel, just one man with a small tribe, One man, remember at this time not a nation, who had been a deceiver and who now was at peace, due to his answered prayers and the intervention of his God with the brother he had deceived. So the meaning of the name of the alter could read, “God the God of one who struggles with God’ or “mighty is the God of the one who struggles with God.”
Here is a wee question is struggling with God a bad thing? Where is a person's character developed? Did the saints of God become saints before or without struggling with God, without responding to those things in the scriptures or the words of Jesus that offended them, before they repented of their sins, before they turned their heads and lives in a different direction to the one, they had previously been heading in. You can guarantee they struggled but were also fully encompassed in God’s word, listening to Jesus, and responding to his leading.
Did the Holy Spirit come to the Church before the disciples were scattered, before Peter denied Christ, before they were all gathered in the upper room in fear?
We all know that the answer is no. The truth is that if you are struggling with God, with any aspect of faith you are on a journey of faith and witness to others. Jacob was as I mentioned last week a good part of his way through his life when he “came to faith” up until that time he was aware of Abraham and Isacc’s God, but God was not his...that relationship was not established from his perspective.
We have an advantage, the benefit of retrospect, we can look at the lives of the men and women of faith who have gone before us.
The writer of the book of Hebrews says this about Jacob and Esau, “By faith Isaac invoked future blessing upon Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over his staff.” (Hebrews 11:21). So Jacob, now Israel had been transformed through his relationship with God, from deceptive to faithful. God had taken a nasty bit of goods, and he was now a hero of the faith and one of the the founders of a nation.
You may be struggling, I do not know your full journey, no one other than God does, but we serve a God of our whole lives, he is a God of transformation, he has a plan to give you a hope and a future. Going on my own experience I believe that like Jacob, he will answer your prayers and you will be able to declare after or even in your struggles Mighty is the God of.....Insert your own name there.
Candidates Sunday. Call, alter call.
We have a place of prayer here where if you are struggling you can come to God meet with him where that conflict, that inner turmoil, that struggle can be put right with him.
