I love your pastor, by the way, and my friend, and I love Lori. I asked Kyle, I said, do you want like a wedding message or something? I don't have a wedding message. So I struggled with what to bring. And so recently, this passage has impacted me personally. So I thought, well, I'll bring this one. It's in Genesis chapter 32. It's a story of Jacob. Hope to give you a little history of Jacob. Hope to read this passage and then go back and kind of tell you how did we get here in Genesis 32. Because you really need to know who Jacob was before this. And then you kind of understand this wrestling match that happened here at the fort of Jabbok. So here we go. Genesis 32, verse 24 says that Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. You could see that letter that letter M is capitalized. Now, when he that is, this God man saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the socket of his hip and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as he wrestled with him. So he this this divine man, this this God man continued to wrestle with Jacob even after Jacob was injured. Verse 26, and he said, let me go for the day breaks. But he said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. So he said to him, what is your name? He said, Jacob. And he said, your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel. For you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked, saying, tell me your name, I pray. He said, why is it that you ask about my name? And he blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of the place, Penuel. For I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved, just as he crossed over Penuel The sun rose on him and he limped on his hip. Therefore, to this day, the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, excuse me, because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip in the muscle that shrank. Come with me to the throne of grace. Father, I thank you for your holy word, as we have just read. Father, I thank you that you speak, Father, to helpless people like me, helpless people like us. Father, you speak to us in such an intimate way as only you can. I do pray that you would speak today. Please bless your people, Father, with your presence. I pray that you would receive all the glory and the honor From this word today, we ask it in Jesus name. Amen. I don't know if you've ever seen those these jujitsu matches or wrestling matches. I did a little wrestling in high school. Pretty difficult. But I don't know if you've seen these. They have these jujitsu. My son Jonathan did it for a while. And the winner has to submit the I guess the defeated wrestler. And in some of these UFC fights, you see they they tap out, they give up. In this wrestling match that happened between this God man, this uncreated angel and Jacob, Jacob didn't tap out. I mean, he he took control initially and the angel injured him. So I want to come back to this wrestling match. But first, I want you to see who Jacob was. And I used to look at this passage and I would say Jacob wrestled with God here. But, you know, that's not how it started. If you look at the scripture here, it says, then Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. So this man came at Jacob. Jacob didn't start this thing. This man did. And He stopped him there at the fort of Jabbok, which would cross over into Canaan. So this man, when Jacob was all alone, he confronted him. And he grappled with him there at the shoreline. This is after Jacob had sent his wives and all the flocks and his servants over. Now, we know Jacob was returning from Paddan Aram. He had been serving Laban. wife's brother for years, 20 years. And of course, he served for his two wives. And ironically, Laban ended up kind of sort of being like Jacob. And you know, with the first marriage of Leah, he thought he was marrying Rachel, and he was actually marrying Leah, because Leah was the one that was brought to him. So I just want to look at what was this confrontation? What was this wrestling match? What was it all about? And what was the meaning of it for Jacob? What did it mean? And that's why I say we have to go back and kind of get to know who Jacob was. Who was Jacob? We know, go back to chapter 25. We know his name means supplanter. It means deceiver. It means one that catches another by the heel. Heel catcher, literally, is what it means. And in his character and reputation, he lived up to his name in the story of Jacob, even from the very beginning when he was alive in the womb of his mother. In fact, when Rebekah was pregnant, Isaac had prayed. Rebekah was barren. And then she's pregnant, and obviously she was greatly pregnant because the children were wrestling inside of her. And she said, Lord, what is going on? She she asked the Lord. You could see there if you're in Genesis. Twenty five and twenty one. Of course, Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife and she conceived. Verse twenty two, the children struggle together within her. And she said, is all well, if all is well, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said, two nations are in your womb. Two people shall be separated from your body. One people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger. So the stronger people here, I think, is Esau. And the Lord says the elder shall serve the younger, and the inferior is actually going to be the one to win this thing. So we see that, and it says the days were fulfilled. In verse 24, she gave birth. There were twins in her womb and the first came out all red. We know that was Esau. He was like a hairy garment all over. So they called his name Esau. Afterwards, his brother came out and his hand took hold of Esau's heel. That's pretty amazing. He comes out and he grabs him by the heel. So his name was called Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when She bore him. So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field. And Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. And here you see Mama and Daddy had their favorites. So Esau was Isaac's favorite, because he loved to eat of his game, his venison. He'd go hunt deer. And Isaac loved to eat that savory meat. But Rebecca loved Jacob. So you see. who they are now, how they're born. You can see that they both have kind of different men. Mama loves Jacob. Daddy loves Esau. Now, Jacob was a religious man. He spent most of his life, when you read, trying to get God's blessing, seeking after the things of God, if you can say. But there was a disconnect there because he was trying to get God's blessing by his own way, by craftiness, like I'm going to get God's blessing. And he he saw the covenant that God had promised to Abraham and his father Isaac. And so he sought that and he had a desire for it. But you look at his life and you say, well, yeah, but his methods were were questionable for sure. It's no doubt that I think Isaac told Esau and Jacob about the covenant blessing, the birthright blessing. Esau could care less. He was a man of the world. He was going to go out in the world. He loved the world. But Jacob sought this blessing from the Lord. I think Rebecca may have revealed to Jacob a little more since Jacob was the favorite there. So once again, As we read in verse 25, we're going to see here, Jacob lives up to his name again. So look at verse 29, if you're there still in Genesis. And I want you to get acquainted with Jacob here before we go back to chapter 32. So Jacob made a, he cooked a stew. Now, if he was in Louisiana, that would have been jambalaya probably. Or a good sauce piquant. It was red. So of course, Cooked a stew. Esau came in from the field. He was weary. He was tired. Esau said to Jacob, give me some of that jambalaya. I'm hungry. Will you give me some of that stew? Now, I'll just ask you, what was the right thing for Jacob to do? Give him a bowl of stew. But he said, no. Jacob said, sell me your birthright. Because he was the elder. So you sell me your birthright as of this day. Esau said, I'm about to die. I'm dying with hunger. He says, what is this birthright to me? So you see, Esau, how he thought of the things of God, spiritual things. You might say eternal life and the judgment to come. Just those things, how he thought. He could care less. I'm hungry. Jacob said, swear to me. So he swore and he sold his birthright to Jacob. Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils. And then he ate and drank and arose and went his way. Thus, Esau despised his birthright. So again, Jacob's living up to his name here. Supplanter. I'm going to get this blessing. Now you think about what he desired. And there's something good in it that he desired. It's like there's a disconnect. Is this the way God's blessing comes to you? Now, there's no doubt that Esau was a profane man who didn't care about God's promises, didn't care about heavenly blessings. But there was also Jacob's craftiness and distrust of God and how he intervened. You think about that. He intervened to secure God's blessing for himself, his own way. And this, in my mind, is what self-will and self-dependence look like. I'm going to get heaven my way. I'm going to secure it, because I know God's word says this, but I'm not going to trust God. I need to do it myself. So he's kind of forcing this thing. So now some years pass. Genesis 27. You can turn over there. Isaac's very old. He's practically blind. He called Esau his oldest son, and he told him, go and hunt me some of your game. Go get me some savory meat. I'm going to bless you before I die. So Isaac's pressing on in this thing. And you have to wonder, how much did Isaac and Rebekah talk about this? Because the Lord revealed this to Rebekah that the elder shall serve the younger. And I ask myself the question, did she tell Isaac this? I mean, my assumption is yes, but I don't know. So here in verse 5, 27, when Isaac said, go out and help me some game. Well, Mama was in the other room and she heard. She goes, oh, I need to intervene here. Now, think about this, God told Rebecca, the elder shall serve the younger. So why not just trust God, Rebecca? Why not just trust the Lord? Can't God do this all by himself without you intervening, Jacob? Rebekah, of course, here we go. Rebekah was listening, verse 5, when Isaac spoke to Esau's son, and Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. Rebecca spoke to Jacob, her son saying, hurry up, son. I heard your father speak to Esau, your brother. Bring me some game and make savory food for me that I may eat and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death. Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you and go to the flock and bring for me two choice kids of the goats. I guess goat tastes like deer. I don't know. And I will make savory food for them for your father, such as he loves. And then you shall take it to your father that he may eat and that he may bless you before his death. And Jacob said to Rebekah, his mother, look, Esau, my brother, is an hairy man. I am smooth skinned. Perhaps my father will feel me and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him. You won't seem to be a deceiver. You will be. And I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing. Mother said, let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice and go and do what I'm telling you to do. Again, the Lord told Rebecca, the elder shall serve the younger. But now she's devising this scheme to send Jacob into his blind father to receive the birthright from Isaac. So she puts his clothes on Jacob, which smelled like Esau. She put hair on his neck and on his hands. And she cooked up the food. And she says, now you go in. And you know this, but I just want to refresh your memory. on this. And so in verse 18, so he went into his father. So here's Jacob going into his father. And he said, my father. And he said, here I am. Who are you, my son? Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, your firstborn. So there's a train of lies here. I have done just as you have told me. Please arise, sit and eat my game that your soul may bless me. But Isaac said to his son, how is it that you found it so quickly, my son? He said, because the Lord your God brought it to me. Isaac said to Jacob, please come near that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not. So it's almost like Isaac suspected something's up here. So Jacob went near to Isaac, his father. He felt him, and he said, the voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are Esau's. And so he said, he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like his brother's. Esau's hands. So he arose, and he blessed him. Verse 24, are you really my son Esau? He said, I am. So he brought, he brings it to him. You know the story. Isaac eats the game. And Isaac says, come near. And of course, you see the blessing there in verse 28 and 29. He says, therefore, may God give you of the dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth, plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren. Let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be those who bless you. And he was barely gone out. And here comes Esau. And it's a shock to both of them, because Esau walks in. I've got the game, father. Who are you? I'm Esau, your firstborn. Isaac goes, who? I mean, he realizes. He says, your brother came in and got your blessing. And he says, and yea, He will be blessed. Isaac trembled exceedingly, said verse 33, who where is the one who hunted game and brought it me? I ate of all of it for you before you came and I have blessed him. And indeed, he shall be blessed. And Esau heard the words of his father and he cried with an exceeding bitter cry, said, oh, my father, bless me also. Oh, my father. He said, your brother came with the seat and it's taken away. Your blessing. And of course Esau says, is he not rightly named? He has stolen my birthright and now he has stolen my blessing. So it's a sinful scheme or scheme devised here by Rebecca to steal God's blessing while Esau was out hunting for venison. Now, we already know that Esau despised the birthright. We already know that. because of what happened in chapter 25. What a messy situation, isn't it? Just messy. I mean, you look at it, it's just a messy situation. I read this and I think, how often do we make messes of our own lives, all by ourselves, rather than trusting God? We say, well, Lord, your word says I'll be blessed if I trust you. And yet we come to places sometimes where we say, I just got to force this thing and I'm going to call it God's blessing. I'm just going to force this thing. But you know, God takes our sinful messes, and that's what's going to happen here. God takes our sinful messes, we're his children, and he instructs us, he teaches us, he breaks us, and he brings us to the place in which we've got nothing else left, no strength, but to cling to him. We've got nothing left. So we try and Jacob's trying to control this thing his whole life. That's basically his whole I'm going to control this thing. I'm going to control my Christianity I'm going to control how God's blessings come to me and I think that's what this Wrestling match is at the fort of Jabba Because God's coming to him and God says I'm going to confront. I My son, my servant, Jacob. So get back there to 32, Genesis 32. So Genesis 32 and verse six. So after all these years in. Laban's house, the Lord tells Jacob, it's time to return to the land of your fathers, to your family, and I will be with you. So it's time for you to go home. 20 years has gone. That's in Genesis 31. Three says time for you to go home. And as he's going, he sends a messenger. And of course, listen, there's still the thought of Esau now because they didn't part very well. And he sends a messenger to Esau. Well, Esau's got 400 big dudes. And the messenger comes back. Yeah, he's got 400 men. He's coming to me, 400. So Jacob's thinking, OK, he's this is going to be bad. So verse six, Jacob prays. Thirty two, six, you could see there. Says then the messengers return to Jacob saying, we came to your brother Esau and he is coming to meet you and 400 men are with him. So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed, and he divided the people that were with him and the flocks and the herds and the camels into two companies. So it's Jacob. Jacob's still kind of devising things here. And he said in verse eight, if Esau comes to one company and attacks it, then the other company, which is left, will escape. Then Jacob said, oh, God of my father, Abraham, And God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, return to my country and to your family and I will deal well with you. He said, you told me to come home, Lord. And he says in verse 10, I'm not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which you have shown to your servant, for I have crossed over this Jordan with my staff and now I am become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, From the hand of my brother and from the hand of Esau, for I fear him. Lest he come and attack me. And the mother with the children. For you said he's making his case with God, he he said, listen, you said I will surely treat you well. And make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. So he, Jacob, lodged there the same night and took what came to his hand as a present for Esau, his brother. So he's going to appease Esau with gifts of these flocks and these herds. So he's thinking, I've got to appease my brother. Well, first, you're going to have a confrontation with God. He sought God here in prayer. And so You look at this passage, and as you get to the end of it, you think, was this Jacob's conversion? Because if you think of the way before this that he thought about God, it wasn't right. So now he's coming to this place of where he's going to be confronted by God. So he's there. He sends the herds over. He sends them over in different droves. He delivered them to the hands of his servants. And he said, put a little distance between the droves and he sends them over. And in verse 18, it says, when Esau asks you, what were these say? It's a present sent to my Lord Esau. Behold, he is behind us. So Jacob's in the back. I want you to see this is all going to change. But Jacob's in the back. So he's sending him over. Verse 20, behold, your servant Jacob is behind us. I will appease him with the present that goes before me. And after what I will see his face, perhaps he will accept me. So the present went on over before him. But here you go. He himself lodged that night in the camp. So he stays there at the fort of Jabba. Actually, I think he hasn't crossed yet. You see here in verse 22, he arose that night. took his two wives and his two female servants, 11 sons, crossed over the ford. He brought them over. And then he took them and sent them over the brook and sent over what he had. And then Jacob was left alone. And that's when this man confronted him. This man wrestled with him until dawn. So this is like an all-night thing. This man stopped Jacob from crossing into Canaan. This God-man, he confronts him. This wrestling literally means they were kicking up dust. This wrestling, it means to be dust. I mean, you see the kids go out and fight, and you see dust. It was a dust cloud. They were literally grappling. I mean, this was a scrap. think in his mind, because he's afraid of Esau. Think in his mind, he might be thinking, this is like a guerrilla attack. This is one of Esau's guys coming ahead to come and attack me. Jacob, no doubt, wrestled with this man in his own strength. You see, in verse 24, the man wrestled with him to the breaking of the day. Now, when he, that is, this God man, saw that he, the God man, did not prevail against him, he, the God man, touched the hollow of his thigh. So it seems like Jacob was gaining the upper hand a little bit. It's kind of how it reads. The Hebrew word for touched, it could mean he violently touched his thigh. So basically, he was disjointed. His thigh was out of joint. Can you wrestle with a thigh out of joint? When you think about, look at wrestlers. I did a little wrestling, but you see those guys, your hips are critical. I mean, so he's wrestling, and now all of a sudden, bam. I don't know if he touched it, I don't know if he whacked it, but now it's out of joint. So Jacob could no longer wrestle. But he didn't stop. He could no longer wrestle. But he was hanging on. Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he, the man, continued to wrestle and grapple with Jacob. He didn't leave him be. He continued to grapple with him. And at this point, at some point here, I think Jacob realizes this is not one of Esau's men. It might have been if this touched. He realized now he's got a dislocated hip. I think he realized who it was. Of course, we know at the end, he said, I've seen God face to face. Now with the dislocated hip having been injured, greatly weakened, Jacob could no longer put up a fight in his own strength. You can't control things anymore now, Jacob. All he could do was cling to him. You imagine two wrestlers. One's got a dislocated joint. What's the other one? What's the only thing he's got left? Just to hang on. I just picture Jacob just hanging on. And this is when the God-man says, let me go. For the day is breaking. The dawn's coming. Let me go. I think God loves this. Jacob said, I will not let you go. And you remember the birthright blessing. Esau says, or Jacob says, sell me your birthright blessing. Sell it to me. Now, when I'm reading this, you have to be thinking in your mind, what does God think about that? Or when Rebecca starts devising this scheme, it's like God's saying, don't you trust me? Didn't I tell you that? So now, here's Jacob. He's got nothing left. And I love the word, I will not let thee go except you, God, bless me. So the blessing now is gotten by God. How? In Jacob's own strength? No. What a lesson for me. God will break us, brothers and sisters. But that's such a good place to be broken out of joint. Good place to be. That God says. He says, I will not let you go. And that's when the God man said that was like the point. God man says, what is your name? That he knew who he was. But he wanted Jacob to say it. And he said, no longer. You're not Jacob anymore. You're my son. You're Israel, my son. Because you see that you're not going to control this thing. It's like you think of the song, nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. Simply to this man I cling. That's our salvation, dear brothers and sisters. He knew the answer. You're no longer a supplanter. You're no longer a deceiver. You're not the heel catcher anymore. You're my son. So Jacob did not prevail with God through his own strength. He prevailed with God when he was broken and all he could do was cling to God for the blessing. Your name is no longer. And I love this for you have struggled or wrestled with God and with men. That's that's critical. You've prevailed with God and with men. And that's how he was going to prevail with Esau. Listen, was Esau coming angry? I think he was. I mean, doesn't say 400 guys. Was Esau still mad? I think it might have still been stuck in his craw. I don't know. This is just Jimmy talking. You might have your other opinion. But I think initially when he knew Jacob was coming, I think he might have been coming to settle this thing. Who knows? God knows. Again, was this Jacob's conversion? Was this his salvation? It was a conversion. I'll tell you that, I think. It sure looks like it was his salvation. But Jacob wasn't allowed. Look at verse twenty nine and thirty. He says. What is dying? He says, why is it? Jacob said, what's your name? Tell me, I pray you, he said, why is it that you have asked my name and he blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved. And just as he crossed over Penuel, the sun rose upon him and he limped on his hip. See, this assailant came and he stopped Jacob from crossing over. You're not crossing over, which is really the first application I have. You're not crossing over until you come through me. Jesus saith, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the you don't come your own way. You come through me. And that's the first Really application here, you see. God would not allow Jacob to enter Canaan in his own strength, his own way, by his own craftiness, by his own will, but by faith in God and God alone. I've got nothing. All I have is to cling to you. You've weakened me. I've got nothing more. And again, God's blessing of eternal life is given by him and him alone. It will be had by us and given to us by God not by our own devising. Again, this divine assailant, this God-man said, if you're going to cross over, you're coming through me. So initially, I think Jacob wrestled with this man as a foe. Initially, they were scrapping. And I'm thinking, Jacob's thinking, I'm going over because that's my inheritance. And the assailant says, yes, but it's mine to give. So Jacob wrestled against God, fighting as if fighting an enemy of his own strength. And when the God-man broke his hip, he clung to him in weakness as his only hope and friend. He started out as an assailant. He ended up as a friend. And this is how Jacob prevailed with God. Listen, beloved, even in our Christian lives, the only way we prevail with God is when we come to him with nothing. I've got nothing, Lord. Paul said when he had seen those heavenly revelations, and lest he should be exalted above measure through the abundance of those revelations, he says it twice in 2 Corinthians 12, I was given a thorn in the flesh Interesting because this is in the flesh. Messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure. And God says it's one of the it's a wonderful no no I won't I won't take it away because my grace is sufficient for you and my strength will be made perfect in your weakness. And Paul says most gladly Listen, Christian life is not a self-starter thing, this is not a self-dependence thing, this is not a thing where I scheme, this is not where I look at the blessings of God and I have to concoct some type of a scenario where I get this thing and then I say, hey, I got it from the Lord. And listen, this is a pathway that every believer in Christ, I am convinced, must walk this road alone. And that's what you see at the beginning of this. Jacob was alone and God confronted him. We need these confrontations by God, dear brethren. You need to have this divine confrontation, this wrestling match in which God touches you and weakens you and takes all of your strength away. And you need to come to that place where you're simply hanging on. That's all you got. It's a good place to be. All I've got is to hang on to you, Lord. I've got nothing else. Now, just to finish in chapter 33, you remember Jacob was in the back. Well, now he's a changed man, 33-1. Now Jacob lifted up his lies and looked, and there Esau was coming, and with him 400 men. Was he angry at this point? I don't know. But it says, so he divided the children, Leah, Rachel, the two maidservants, and he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last. Then he crossed over before them. He got in the front. That's what it means. He got in front. So he went and got in the front, bowed himself to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother. We know that Esau ran and fell on his neck. I like to believe that God broke Esau's heart right there, Esau's brother. Now, is that the case? I don't know. Esau may have been coming, happy to see him. But there you have it is the changed man. Jacob wasn't in the back anymore. Jacob was in the front. Jacob went to the front. Jacob, a weakened man, now he prevailed with God. Beloved, we will prevail with God not by anything that we have in ourselves, but by being helpless before him and dependent upon him for what he has prepared for us, for his blessings, what he promises to us. Even when they're taking a long time. I love Hebrews where you see these dear saints And God is the hero in Hebrews chapter 11. We see by faith, by faith, by faith. But God is the hero because it's God's work in them. And you see at the end of that chapter, it talks about these held on, though they hadn't received the promises, they still believe. And that's the Christian life, beloved. Trust God. He knows the best thing. But along the way, listen, we all have our little bit of self will and God will meet us and we'll have our. Listen, if you're God's child, you're going to have these little confrontations and God's going to weaken you so that you may trust him. It is the goodness of your God to do that. And listen, we we all have that little spirit of resistance in us. Jacob had this spirit of resistance in him and he was going to do things his own way. But God mercifully came and blessed him there and gave him the blessing from God's own hand that he tried to get by other means. And so trust the Lord, brothers and sisters, learn the place of of being broken before God. You know, that's difficult. You need to enter into that yourself. You find those places of self-sufficiency in your own life where you think you're trying to control things and lay that stuff out before the Lord and ask God to help you, to break you, that you would not trust in yourself, but that you would trust in Him and that you would look for His blessings in His own time. And they even have the attitude, if you never give me this blessing, Lord, I'll trust you. And that's where we should want to be. Amen. Dismiss with me in prayer. Father, thank you for this word.