The Touch That Transformed
Text: Gen.32: 30-31
Intro: A study in the life of Jacob, the son of Isaac, reveals much about human nature. More importantly, it reveals many spiritual truths about the Christian’s walk with God that need to be acknowledged and applied to daily life.
I won’t take the time to enumerate the many lessons that can be learned from Jacob’s bumpy journey with God; but I do want to deal with one specific incident in his life that I believe reveals a life-changing truth. In this particular episode of Jacob’s life, he came to know God and himself in a profoundly new way. Jacob was never the same after this experience.
Learning to live an obedient Christian life is a lifelong pursuit. It is not something that we acquire in full the first week after salvation. It is a lesson learned, as well as a battle fought, over and over again throughout one’s life, on many different levels.
In Genesis chapter 32, we find Jacob in the midst of a life crisis. One might say that Jacob finds himself in the “Valley of Decision,” as it were (Joel 3: 14). He must decide if he will make full surrender to God, trusting Him completely, or continue on foolhardy and headstrong, as he had done so often in his life. This was a very crucial point in his life with God. As we examine Jacob’s crisis, we will see that it falls into three different phases. Notice them with me.
Theme: In this crisis we see:
I. JACOB BURDENED (The Circumstances)
A. Notice The Source Of Jacob’s Pressure.
1. There were the regrets of the past.
Gen.27: 35 “And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.
36 And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? For he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing.
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41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.”
NOTE: Guilt and regret can be extremely torturous to the soul. These often come from failing to seriously consider the results of our decisions. Someone has said, “It is better to sleep on what you plan to do than to be kept awake by what you’ve done” (Source Unknown). However, living in full surrender to Christ will head off many of life’s regrets.
In 1904 William Borden, heir to the Borden Dairy Estate, graduated from a Chicago high school a millionaire. His parents gave him a trip around the world. Traveling through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe gave Borden a burden for the world’s hurting people. Writing home, he said, “I’m going to give my life to prepare for the mission field.”
When he made this decision, he wrote in the back of his Bible two words: No Reserves. Turning down high paying job offers after graduation from Yale University, he entered two more words in his Bible: No Retreats. Completing studies at Princeton Seminary, Borden sailed for China to work with Muslims, stopping first at Egypt for some preparation. While there he was stricken with cerebral meningitis and died within a month. A waste, you say! Not in God’s plan. In his Bible underneath the words No Reserves and No Retreats, he had written the words No Regrets.
Daily Bread, December 31, 1988.
2. There was the realization of the present.
Gen.32: 6 “And 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.
7 Then 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;
8 And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.”
NOTE: [1] Jacob came to the realization that his foolishness of the past might prove to be fatal in the present. One of the last things Jacob had heard about Esau was his promise to kill him after their father’s death. Yes, the regrets of Jacob’s past had come back to haunt him.
[2] Notice how Jacob begins to try to scheme his way out of this situation. He hasn’t made total surrender to God yet, and his fleshly self-sufficiency immediately comes to the surface. Jacob’s encounter with God at Bethel had changed his beliefs. His encounter with God at the Jabbok would change his behavior.
B. Notice The Sincerity Of Jacob’s Prayer.
1. His prayer was possessed of faith and trust.
Gen.32: 9 “And 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:
10 I 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.
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12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.”
2. His person was possessed of fear and trembling.
Gen.32: 11 “Deliver 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.”
C. The Sending Of Jacob’s Offerings Of Peace.
Gen.32: 13 “And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;
14 Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.
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19 And 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.
20 And 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.”
II. JACOB BROKEN (The Crisis)
A. There Was A Furious Struggle.
Gen.32: 24 “And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.”
NOTE: [1] Most scholars believe that “the man” who wrestled with Jacob was the pre-incarnate Christ. This is often referred to as a “Christophany,” or an Old Testament appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ. It is also interesting to note that God the Father never appeared in human form. The Father only appeared in inanimate forms, such as the pillar of cloud, the pillar of fire, or the burning bush, which are referred to as “theophanies.”
[2] The wrestling match between Jacob and the pre-incarnate Christ is illustrative of the furious and continual conflict between the flesh and the Spirit, in the life of the Christian. Paul said, “…the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Rom.8: 7). The flesh will always be at odds with the things of God.
[3] Notice that this struggle went on all night, demonstrating that the flesh can be extremely stubborn and unyielding.
B. There Was A Forced Surrender.
Gen.32: 25 “And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.”
NOTE: [1] Some of us have struggled with certain things in our lives for years. Success eludes us because we keep missing the real issue, or perhaps worse, we secretly don’t want to change.
French novelist and playwright Alexandre Dumas once had a heated quarrel with a rising young politician. The argument became so intense that a duel was inevitable. Since both men were superb shots they decided to draw lots, the loser agreeing to shoot himself. Dumas lost. Pistol in hand, he withdrew in silent dignity to another room, closing the door behind him. The rest of the company waited in gloomy suspense for the shot that would end his career. It rang out at last. His friends ran to the door, opened it, and found Dumas, smoking revolver in hand. “Gentlemen, a most regrettable thing has happened,” he announced. “I missed.”
Today in the Word, Moody Bible Institute, January 1992, p.33.
You might miss the real issue in your life, but God never does.
[2] Dear friend, God knows just how and where to touch your life to get across to you the need for full surrender. He may use a physical malady, or some other trial of life, but the point of the struggle is often surrender. Unfortunately, some of God’s children have to be brought to the place of almost total helplessness before they learn to cling to the Lord.
C. There Was The Facing Of Self.
Gen.32: 26 “And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.”
NOTE: [1] One true test of a Christian’s brokenness and surrender to the Lord is their willingness to honestly face themselves. Many years before this night of struggle, Jacob had been asked the same question now being asked by the pre-incarnate Christ, “What is thy name?” but then Jacob had answered, “I am Esau” (Gen.27: 19a).
[2] Broken and clinging to the Lord, Jacob confesses what God had been trying to show him for years. He said, “I am Jacob. Lord, I am scheming, self-sufficient, stubborn, self-willed and a deceiver. I see it now, Lord. I’m just Jacob.”
[3] When a person has sinned against God, and keeps wondering how they could have done such a thing, it’s obvious they have never faced the truth about themselves. Child of God, you’ll never learn to cling to Jesus until you’re willing to get honest about yourself; for it is that awareness of one’s self that helps you know you must cling to Christ.
III. JACOB BLESSED (The Change)
A. He Was Blessed With God’s Power And Preservation.
Gen.32: 28 “And 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.”
B. He Was Blessed With A Fresh Spiritual Perspective.
Gen.32: 30 “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
C. He Was Blessed With A Transformed Personality.
Gen.32: 31 “And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.”
NOTE: [1] After his encounter with the pre-incarnate Christ, Jacob was a changed man, both physically and spiritually. As he walked into camp that morning, as the sun was coming up, his family knew something was different about Jacob. His encounter with Jesus had left its mark.
[2] A total surrender to Christ means leaving the old patterns behind.
The motor home has allowed us to put all the conveniences of home on wheels. A camper no longer needs to contend with sleeping in a sleeping bag, cooking over a fire, or hauling water from a stream. Now he can park a fully equipped home on a cement slab in the midst of a few pine trees and hook up to a water line, a sewer line and electricity. One motor home I saw recently had a satellite dish attached on top. No more bother with dirt, no more smoke from the fire, no more drudgery of walking to the stream. Now it is possible to go camping and never have to go outside.
We buy a motor home with the hope of seeing new places, of getting out into the world. Yet we deck it out with the same furnishings as in our living room. Thus nothing really changes. We may drive to a new place, set ourselves in new surrounding, but the newness goes unnoticed, for we’ve only carried along our old setting.
The adventure of new life in Christ begins when the comfortable patterns of the old life are left behind.
David Roher.
Theme: In this crisis we see:
I. JACOB BURDENED (The Circumstances)
II. JACOB BROKEN (The Crisis)
III. JACOB BLESSED (The Change)
