God’s Protection and Answered Prayer
DBF 1/20/02 Genesis 32
Protection of God in our time of need
Purposeful Prayer in our lives
Purposefully striving for God’s Perfect will
Have you ever found yourself in a situation that is beyond you, without any true means within yourself of getting yourself out?
An infant born with complications…
Spouse injured or diagnosed with an incurable disease…
An impossible boss…
Up the Nushagak River or better yet down river and your motor or boat breaks down…
The relationship that you have worked so very hard on is crumbling…
Facing months or years in confinement…
We as Christians should already know what is the only thing that can really help in these impossible situations--something that we are admonished to do continually by God’s Holy word. The answer of course is to come to God in repentant prayer.
What amazes me is that most people fail—and I think a number of Christians sadly fit this description also-- to pray prior to a major problem coming about in their lives.
Why is this so?
Why do people wait to pray, or accept Christ into their lives until they are at their very last breath…or they are ready to commit suicide…or their marriages are dissolving?
When God waits for you to turn from your evil ways and call upon HIS mighty name and he will you what you need.
We will see Jacob come to this point this week. As pointed out earlier Jacob has allowed the blessed control of God in his life to have great impact in who Jacob has become. Even still Jacob will face possibly ugly consequences for his own misdeeds of 20 or so years ago.
Protection of God in our time of need
Gen. 32:1-8
1And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
3And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now: 5And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight. 6And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. 7Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands; 8And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.
We see as Jacob and his family continue thier journey where God has called him to go he is met by a host from God.
We who follow the call of Christ are in the presence of God’s host in our walk. How can you and I be sure of this?
Psalm 119:105 says;
Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
And Psalm 46:7 says;
The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.
As with us today, the angels of God go out to meet Jacob, and Jacob names the place Mahanaim. Mahanaim is —“The two hosts”, if read by the points, the angels forming one, and Jacob and his company forming another; or simply hosts or camps in the plural. There was a city built afterwards here, and inhabited by the priests of God, Joshua 21:38.
The doctrine of the ministration of angels has been much abused, not only among the heathens, but also among Christians, and perhaps most among the latter. Angels with feigned names, titles, and influences, have been and still are invoked and worshipped by certain men and women; because they have found that God has been pleased to employ them to minister to mankind; and hence they have made supplications to them to extend their protection, to shield, defend, instruct, etc. This is perfectly absurd. What are they?
1. They are God’s instruments, not self-determining agents.
2. They can only do what they are appointed to perform, with no biblical evidence contrary to this.
3. God helps man by ten thousand means and instruments; some intellectual, as angels; some rational, as men; some irrational, as brutes; and some merely material, as the sun, wind, rain, food, raiment, and the various productions of the earth. He therefore helps by whatever he will help, and to him alone belongs all the glory; for should he be determined to destroy us, all these instruments collectively could not save. Instead therefore of worshipping them, we should take their own advice: See thou do it not—Worship God.
Our word angel comes from the Greek áããåëïò aggelos, which literally signifies a messenger; or, as translated in some of our old Bibles, a tidings-bringer. The Hebrew word êàìî malach, from êàì laach, to send, minister to, employ, is nearly of the same import; and hence we may see the propriety of St. Augustine’s remark: Nomen non naturae sed officii, “It is a name, not of
nature, but of office;” and hence it is applied indifferently to a human agent or messenger, 2 Samuel 2:5; to a prophet, Haggai 1:13; to a priest, Malachi 2:7; to celestial spirits, Psalm 103:19, 20, 22; 104:4.
“We often,” says Mr. Parkhurst, “read of the äåäé êàìî malach Yehovah, or íéäìà éëàìî malakey Elohim, the angel of Jehovah, or the angels of God, that is, his agent, personator, means of visibility or action, what was employed by God to render himself visible and approachable by flesh and blood.” This angel was evidently a human form, surrounded or accompanied by light or glory, with or in which Jehovah was present; see Genesis 19:1, 12, 16; Judges 13:6, 21; Exodus 3:2, 6. “By this
vision,” says Mr. Ainsworth, “God confirmed Jacob’s faith in him who commanded his angels to keep his people in all their ways, Psalm 91:11. Angels are here called God’s host, camp, or army, as in wars; for angels are God’s soldiers, Luke 2:13; horses and chariots of fire, 2 Kings 2:11; fighting for God’s people against their enemies, Daniel 10:20; of them there are a thousand thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand, Daniel 7:10; and they are all sent forth to minister for them that shall be heirs of
salvation, Hebrews 1:14; and they pitch a camp about them that fear God. (Adam Clark’s Commentary on the Old Testament)
Jacob had obviously sent messengers “malachim" before him to Esau, for they returned while he was yet in the presence of the angels. This easily shows the great love that God has for the people called to do his will. Jacob obviously had to think of the misdeeds that had been committed by him against his brother in his youth.
Would Esau have forgiven and forgotten? Is this something we should expect from the world?
Would he be coming to commit harm against the brother who had received his birthright to return the inheritance to what the world felt it should be?
Jacob obviously feared the wrath of Esau. It may be said “He had every right too.” This is something we can all learn from. The bible clearly tells us that all that we do will be found out and judged by the righteous judge. All deeds done in the darkness will be made manifest in the light. Here we see Jacob in fear for some of his past deeds, as should any sound man be, in fear. We should come in fear, trembling, and repentance before our Lord and Savior, asking for forgiveness in and by the only name that it may be granted—that of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Isn’t it amazing though that just as Jacob comes into this moment of crisis, God has brought him to an encampment of his host. God desires to stand in the gaps in our lives, waiting for us to call to him with our repentance and our needs. Are you there today brother or sister—just call—God will answer.
Purposeful Prayer in our lives
9-23
9And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: 10I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. 11Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. 12And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
13And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother; 14Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams, 15Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals. 16And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove. 17And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee? 18Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us. 19And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him. 20And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me. 21So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company. 22And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. 23And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
This is a simple but effective prayer that Jacob prays to God. This is something you and I need to do continually—not just when we are confronted by what we fear.
Let’s look at what Jacob uses to pray, and it is a good model for prayer:
1. Deep self-abasement—lowered himself to God fully.
2. Magnification of God’s mercy.
3. Deprecation of the evil to which he was exposed.
4. Pleading the promises that God had made to him. And…
5. Taking encouragement from what God had already brought about.
“I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies”—Is anyone—Praise God when He chooses to bestow some upon us?
What Jacob is saying is… I am less than all the compassions, and than all the faithfulness, which thou hast showed unto thy servant. This is probably what the apostle Paul referred to when he wrote, Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints. If we properly see ourselves in God’s light, we will see that the only good in us comes from our acceptance of Jesus Christ into our lives.
That Jacob’s fear is great is shown in the prayer for his family. Jacob truly felt that Esau would come and wipe all trace of him from the earth—unless God could change his heart as he had Laban’s. Jacob ends his prayer with God’s promise…Make thy seed as the sand—Having come to the promise by which the covenant was ratified both to
Abraham and Isaac, he ceased at this time, his faith having gained strong confirmation in a promise which he knew could not fail.
Why could this promise not fail? God is the guarantor of this promise. Man can always walk away from God but our God is faithful and just and is able to bring about all that He has promised.
Immediately after the prayer, Jacob directs his herdsmen to go before him with an offering to Esau. When you and I offend against someone, we are required of God to make amends—an offering of sorrow, reconciliation, or humbling ourselves. Anything short of this causes us to be removed from the center of God’s grace. In this same manner, after consultation with God Jacob starts out by sending his herdsmen with a sense of renewed hope and strength. Are you going to the right place to replenish your hope and strength.
Why do we pray? Why do we go to God? Why does God ask us to come to him?
All of these are due to the “hope” we have in our “all powerful God” to accomplish anything that we truly need in accomplishing his good and perfect will. This is the “hope” that Jesus came to this earth to walk among us, to show us, and to die for us to bring? The only true hope this weary world is able to truly believe in.
So what does God expect of us?
Purposefully strive for God’s Perfect will
24-32
24And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 25And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 26And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 27And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 28And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. 29And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. 30And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. 31And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. 32Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank.
Jacob’s prayerful striving continues throughout the night.
Have you ever been faced with something while sleeping that you know is not of God?
What do you do? Roll over and continue having a worldly dream.
You say, “Well if it’s in my dreams surely God will not hold me accountable for this”?
God will and does hold us accountable in all things—even in our states while asleep. Paul warns us to take control of thoughts when they initially enter our minds—for if we do not they will become a desire of our heart and eyes and the actual sin is not far away. The bible also tells us that if we desire a thing greatly we have indeed already committed a sin. So to keep ourselves from sin we are and must be responsible at all times—even while striving in our sleep.
As Jacob here being alone in sleep, more fully spread his fears before God in prayer. While in prayer one in the likeness of a man wrestled with him. When the Holy Spirit helps our infirmities, our earnest and vast desires can scarcely find words to utter and we mean more than we can express, then prayer is indeed wrestling with God. However tried or discouraged, we shall prevail; and prevailing with Him in prayer, we shall prevail against all enemies that strive with us.
Any wrestler can tell you that nothing requires more unceasing exertion than wrestling. It is an emblem of the true spirit of faith and prayer. Jacob held his ground; though the struggle continued long, this did not shake his faith, nor silence his prayer.
Jacob will have a blessing, and had rather have all his bones put out of joint than go away without one. Do you go into prayer with this expectation? Expecting God to answer your sincere prayers.
Those who would have the blessing of Christ, must resolve to take no denial. The fervent prayer is the effectual prayer.
The Angel puts a lasting mark of honor upon him, by changing his name. Jacob becomes Israel “as a prince he had power with God and prevailed.”
“Jacob” signifies a deceiver or one who follows on ones heals. From this time forward he shall be celebrated, not for craft and artful management, but for true valor. Thou shalt be called Israel, a prince with God, a name greater than those of the great men of the earth.
He is a prince indeed that is a prince with God; those are truly honorable that are mighty in prayer. Having power with God, he shall have power with men too; he will prevail, and gain Esau’s favor.
Jacob gives a new name to the place. He calls it Peniel, the face of God, because there he had seen the appearance of God, and obtains God’s favor.
When we are honored by God, we should admire his grace towards us and give Him praise.
The Angel who wrestled with Jacob is the second Person in the sacred Trinity, who was God manifest in the flesh, and who, dwelling in human nature, is called Immanuel, Hosea 12:4, 5.
Jacob being wounded on his thigh, might serve to keep him from being lifted up with the abundance of the revelations. Paul had a similar thorn to bear.
The sun rose on Jacob: it is sunrise with that soul, which has had communion with God.
As our song goes “There is sunshine in my soul today…”
If we are to have such a glorious experience with God in our walk of faith and promise, we must start by accepting “Jesus Christ” as our Lord and Savior. The simple ABC’s we learn in VBS every summer. Admit to God that you are a sinner, believe that Jesus is God’s only son who was sent down for the salvation of all who call upon His name, commit your life to the Lord above and ask him to fill you up with His love. As simple as this is, it is the way by which we have all come to salvation and to God’s “Saving Grace.” If you have not accepted Jesus we ask you to come forward today and to do so.
We also ask that you let us know your prayer concerns and needs, we would love to pray for you.
As Jacob continues to learn and lead in God’s ways, may you continue to follow. Join us next week as we study the reunion of the brothers and Jacob/Israel’s continued walk.
Closing Prayer.
