I invite you to turn again with me to Genesis chapter 32. Genesis 32. And we will continue the narrative beginning in verse 22. So Genesis 32 and verse 22. And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two women servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. And Jacob was left alone. And there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, He, this man that has attacked Jacob, touched the hollow of his, Jacob's, thigh. And the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he, the man that has attacked Jacob, said, let me go for the day breaketh. And he, Jacob, said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. And he, The angel, the man who has attacked him, said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 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. And 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. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel, the sun rose upon him, and he halted or limped upon his thigh. Therefore, 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. Let's look to the Lord in a word of prayer at this time. Father, I pray that you would do a work amongst us this evening to open your word to us Open our eyes so that we may behold from your word wonderful things. Father, take this story, which is not included in your word by accident, take this story, impress its truths deeply upon our hearts. May we leave here impacted and changed by its message. Father, we pray for your grace because we recognize that apart from your grace, we can receive nothing. Apart from your work in our hearts and minds, we can never truly get this in any meaningful way. It will never change our lives apart from the sanctifying impact of God the Holy Spirit. And so we pray. We pray for such an impact upon our hearts. Savior, we thank you for your work of redemption on our behalf. We thank you that we who were rebels, enemies, have been brought near. We thank you that we who once hated you have been brought into a relationship with you, and we love you because you first loved us. So great triune God, may everything be said and done tonight to your honor and glory and praise. And we pray this in the name of our Savior Jesus, amen. As Genesis chapter 32 begins, some of you may know the story already. And so perhaps my rehearsing the details will be a little bit of a bore to you. So if you need to, you can check out now and resume listening later. Jacob, of course, was a twin brother of a man named Esau. Jacob, throughout his life, was a deceiver, a supplanter, someone who did what he could to get advantage. by trickery. So he had already treated his brother Esau. His brother Esau was his twin brother, his older twin brother, and yet God in his plan and in his purpose had already decided that the older one would actually serve the younger. God overthrew convention. God totally turned things around, whereas normally the tribal authority, the clan headship, would pass to the oldest child. In this case, God had already planned it that the younger of the two twins would be the one upon whom that name would rest. The older would serve the younger. While Jacob was not a nice individual. He was a deceitful individual. And after having tricked his brother on more than one occasion, the one most particularly, he had actually tricked his own father into giving the blessing to him instead of the older son, Esau. When Esau found out that Jacob had done this, that he had actually deceived his own father into giving the birthright to him, Jacob, instead of Esau, Esau said, okay, when daddy dies, this is how I'll comfort myself. I'll kill my brother. This was how deep his rage was, how deep his bitterness was. Well, Jacob, recognizing that this was probably not a good context in which to live out the rest of his days, decided along with his mother that it was time for him to flee. And so they made up, partly made up, a reason for him to leave. There's no good girls here for me to marry. I need to go elsewhere to find a wife. And so Jacob went off toward his uncle Laban. And there, With Laban, Jacob met someone who was even more of a deceiver than he was. Laban was an individual who deceived him and tricked him on more than one occasion. In fact, changed his wages 10 times in the course of 14 years of employment. Jacob leaves Laban. It was God's time for Jacob to return to his own country. And so he returns to his own country, but as he approaches his own country, he realizes that Esau, the one who still had that grudge, as far as he knew, was there waiting for him. What would happen when this one who had pledged to kill him, what would happen when his brother saw him again? And these are the circumstances, then, under which chapter 32 begins. He comes toward his own country, and God shows him his angels, reminding him that there is this world that we call the real world, but over and above that is an unseen reality that truly is the real world. And God revealed that he was still in control, that he was still sovereign. His angels were still camped round about Jacob. Well, Jacob is approaching the land in which his brother lives, and he sends servants to go see his brother. There's no indication to us, no positive indication to us, that these servants actually saw and spoke to Esau. Because the only message they come back with is this, Esau's coming to meet you and he has 400 men with him. There's no word of, yes, your brother has forgiven you, your brother is ready to welcome you with open arms. No, all there is, is Esau's coming and he has 400 men. Well, Jacob is in great fear. Jacob actually decides that he will give up part of the blessings that God had given to him while he was working for Laban. He takes part of those blessings of his flock and he sends them on in waves One drove after another, and this present is something of a bribe. He's hoping that by the time the cumulative effect of all of these gifts have reached his brother, that his brother will be pacified enough that he will not want to kill him anymore. Jacob prays a great prayer starting in verse nine, but like so many of us, he prayed a prayer of faith and practice something else. And that's kind of the real world where we live, too. We often pray better than we practice. There he is. The scripture tells us that Jacob actually sends everything across the brook Jabbok, and there he is alone. It's in the middle of the night. Jacob is by himself. in the darkness. All the fears that he has about what's going to happen when he sees Esau, Esau plus 400 of his men, no doubt these fears are rolling through his mind. He's imagining all kinds of scenarios, no doubt. And of course, we know that when we are alone in the darkness, we begin to imagine all kinds of crazy things. I remember more than once going camping and hearing all kinds of wildlife around me that probably wasn't really there. I was certain I heard bears and who knows what else. Probably in my most fearful periods in the middle of the darkness, I probably would have attested that there was all kinds of supernatural activity going on around me. Well, no doubt this is Jacob's mindset. What's going to happen to me? When my brother finds me, what happens if he attacks in the middle of the night? And so there Jacob is alone. And all of a sudden somebody jumps him. As we read this story, it just kind of comes out of nowhere. There he is by himself. And the scripture says, and there a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. Here he is with his fears and they seem to be fulfilled because all of a sudden somebody jumps him and starts struggling with him in the middle of the night. The scripture describes this struggle, the word that it uses for wrestle. In verse 24, that word wrestle is a term that carries the idea of getting dusty and dirty. So this, the term is used in the Hebrew to communicate something of very strenuous and real conflict. This is a knock down, drag out wrestling match in the middle of the dark. They're rolling around and they are getting very dirty. Now, if you have read through the narrative of Jacob's life, you know or perhaps have seen that Jacob is actually a man of great strength. In Genesis 24, Jacob comes to a well and there's a big stone across the mouth of the well. And he wonders why they haven't taken the stone from the mouth of the well, because there's all kinds of flocks around that need to be watered. And the men say, well, we have to wait until all the flocks are here, because we water them all at once. More than likely, because they didn't want more dust getting into the well than needed to get into the well. When Jacob sees Rachel, the scripture says that Jacob goes and he actually moves this stone from the mouth of the well by himself. A stone that just verses earlier, the scriptures had said more than one person would move it. As we look at the ancient Near East and the type of stones that they put over these wells, it would usually be a three or four man job to move this stone. And Jacob did this by himself. So we know already that this is a very powerful man. But the scripture says he wrestles until the breaking of the day. So not only is he powerful, but he has pretty good cardio too. Because wrestling is very tiring effort. There he is, wrestling with this unnamed assailant. As you read through, kind of just reading as the story presents itself in scripture, you don't have that benefit that probably many of us do of looking and saying, okay, we know who this is. We know that this is the angel of the Lord. We know that this is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. As you read through the story, as it unfolds, Jacob has no idea who's jumped him. At this point, it's only said to be a man. Well, as the narrative unfolds, we understand that this is more than a mere man. They wrestle back and forth, back and forth, until the breaking of the day. And sometime toward the breaking of the day, this assailant, this person who has jumped Jacob, touches, simply touches, the hollow of Jacob's thigh, and Jacob's thigh His hip is out of joint. Immediately, that base of power and strength is gone. If you're trying to wrestle someone and your hip is out of joint, there's no way you're going to win. The power of this touch along with the rest of the story cause us to recognize that Jacob is wrestling with no less than God. Some people have looked at the story and they've said, well, how is it that God was unable to defeat Jacob? I mean, isn't that what this story is telling us? That God is trying to defeat him and he can't do it, and finally things end up the way he wants them to? Well, no, that's not the case at all. In fact, God is more than able to defeat Jacob. Think of this, a simple touch dislocates Jacob's hip. If with a single touch, God can dislocate Jacob's hip, there's no way that Jacob can defeat God. Furthermore, as Jacob reflects upon this encounter toward the end of the story, verse 30, he actually expresses some amazement at the fact that he has seen and wrestled with God and is still alive. Furthermore, turn with me if you would to Hosea 12, because Hosea 12 gives us another couple of details that I think are very helpful to us in understanding what happened here in this encounter in the middle of the night. Hosea 12, verses 3 and 4, speaking now about Jacob, Israel. It says this, he took his brother by the heel in the womb and by his strength he had power with God. So here the second part of verse three, now we're talking about this encounter in Genesis 32. By his strength he had power with God. Yea, he had power over the angel and prevailed. He wept and made supplication unto him. He wept and made supplication unto him. What is the picture that emerges as we put this together, as we put the pieces of the scripture together? Jacob is here wrestling with God. It's not that Jacob was so strong physically that God was unable to defeat him. No. God could dislocate his hip with a single touch. Jacob himself recognizes it at the end of the story when he says, I'm amazed I'm still alive. Hosea says that while they're wrestling, Jacob was sitting there crying and praying to him. I haven't seen very many wrestling matches in which the person that's winning is crying. I've seen a few when somebody's being bullied and the kid that's getting the worst of it starts to cry, feeling helpless. feeling unable to defeat his opponent. That's the picture. Jacob is there not defeating God, not putting God into all these holds that God can't get out of. Oh, no, no. Jacob is there and he is crying. He can't win. His strength is unable to conquer God. As strong as he is, as able as he is to move great big stones from the mouth of a well, he can't defeat God. Now some might say, why then does God, the man that's attacked Jacob, why does he say, let me go? Because the day is breaking. Where does that fit in? I think the picture that we have is not that Jacob has God in this great hole that God can't get out of. It's probably more or less God's, if you will, walking away and Jacob's got his ankle. His hip is out of joint. He's sobbing like a little girl. He can't win. And he's clinging to God, and God says, let go of me, the day is breaking. And Jacob says, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. Again, recognizing who this is. This person, this God has the power to bless him. And so he's clinging to him, not overpowering him with his strength, but he's clinging to him in desperation, having recognized who this is. There's no hope of victory, but he sees who he's been wrestling with, and he says, bless me. I won't let you go until you bless me. He is a broken man, desperate for blessing, not a powerful man assured of victory. Well, this man, God, does not immediately respond to Jacob's request. In fact, in verse 27, he asks instead, what is your name? Of course, not because God just randomly attacks people without knowing who they are. God knew who it was that he was wrestling with. Why does he ask Jacob his name? Well, in that ancient Near Eastern culture, very often when someone, in the midst of a conflict, would ask somebody their name, that person's giving up of their name was a sign of submission. I think there was more to it than that as well. God asked Jacob his name and God then moves from that name to give him a new name. He says, what's your name? And Jacob says, Jacob. Now that word Jacob originally meant heel grabber. And it was probably a very cute name, because when Jacob and Esau were born, Jacob reached out and grabbed a hold of Esau's heel on the day of his birth. And no doubt, they thought, oh, it's so cute. We'll give him the name Jacob. Well, as time goes on, this name that means heel grabber will come to actually describe the character of Jacob. He was someone always looking for an advantage, someone trying to grab, someone trying to claw his way into a position of superiority, someone trying to do whatever he could, deceive, trick to get the upper hand. And God says, what's your name? And he says, I am Jacob. And perhaps this was a confession. Jacob's part. I am that supplanter. I am that heel grabber. And God says, 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. He gives him a new name. If giving up your name to someone was a sign of your saying uncle, it was a sign of submitting, someone giving you a name was a sign of their unparalleled superiority over you. I'll give you an example of this. Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Those were names that were given to them They were not given to them by their parents. They were given to them by Nebuchadnezzar's leaders. They were originally called Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. I'm forgetting now. They originally were given names that were in keeping with their worship of Jehovah. But when they were captured, Their captors said, here's your new names. It was a sign of superiority. So when God gives Jacob a new name, this is unparalleled superiority. God is supreme over Jacob. So Jacob then asks, tell me, I pray thee, thy name. God does not reply with his name. God says, wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? He doesn't give him his name, but he does bless him. And he blessed him there. Verse 30. Shows us, of course, that it was God that Jacob wrestled with. He said, he calls the name of the place Peniel. Because I have seen God face to face. The name Peniel means the face of God. I've seen God face to face. I have fought with God. I've been crushed by God. But I have also been victorious with God. He expresses with some amazement that his life is preserved. And then, verses 31 and 32, Jacob, weary, battered, bruised, limps across the river. He's broken, but blessed. Had God not wounded Jacob, he would have never clung to him for blessing. You see, as long as Jacob was wrestling there and he was just going back and forth, back and forth, God touched the hollow of his hip. And when he did that, Jacob recognized that his strength was nothing compared to God's. He realized that this was a force greater than he could handle. There was nothing he could do at that point but cling to him and cry out for blessing. What do we take away from this? What does it mean to us today? What does this teach us? Let me give you three things that I believe this passage reminds us of that are important for us to learn in our lives. First, God doesn't always meet us in the coffee shop. Sometimes he summons us into the ring. God doesn't always meet us in the coffee shop. Sometimes he summons us into the ring. I hope you understand my comparison there. As I've witnessed to people, often when I have opportunity to speak to them with more time, we often choose that neutral location of a coffee shop. We meet there and enjoy some time in that neutral location. It's a safe setting, right? And that person might not feel as threatened discussing faith. But God doesn't always meet us in coffee shop like places. Sometimes God summons us into the ring. Sometimes God does what he did with Jacob. That may seem very strange to you. That may not seem very nice to you. Maybe you would prefer a God that's nicer than that. Maybe you'd prefer a God that doesn't jump people in the middle of the night, that doesn't wrestle with them until the breaking of the day, that doesn't dislocate their hips so that they have to limp for the rest of their life. Maybe you'd prefer a God that isn't quite like that. Maybe you want a God that's a little safer than that. But the God of Scripture, is a God that sometimes calls his children into the ring. Think, for example, of Job. No doubt you remember the story of Job. There was no one like Job in all the earth. He was an upright man. He was someone that hated evil. He was the most righteous man in his generation. God allowed Satan to deprive Job of everything, all of his goods, his children, his health. God allowed Satan to do all of that. The story unfolds. Three of Job's friends come to visit him and then a fourth Job's friends are not much help at all. The general tenor of their message is, Job, you must be a horrible sinner or else this wouldn't be happening to you. And Job protests his innocence. He says, there's no great sin in my life that has brought this upon me. That's not the reason for this. But as the book goes forward, Job begins to to go beyond saying that. He begins to go from, my sin is not the reason that God caused this, to say God has no reason for doing this. And you might remember the story. The Lord answers Job out of a whirlwind. And he says, Step up, Job. Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? And God hammers Job with one question after another. Job, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Who laid the measures of the earth? Where are the foundations of the earth fastened? Were you there when the morning stars sang together? And he gives question after question after question, and Job is just hammered by these questions. He can't justify himself before God. He wasn't there. It's almost like God steps up and says, who are you to doubt my ways, my wisdom? Listen, this is who I am. And Job goes through this incredible round with God that goes for two whole chapters. And Job is reeling from this encounter with God. We know he is because he says, behold, I'm vile. What shall I answer thee? I'll lay my hand upon my mouth. Once I have spoken, but I will not answer, yea, twice, but I will proceed no further. And God says, OK, Job, round two. But Job's already said mercy. He's already said, I don't want to continue. And God says, OK, round two. And he asks him another series of these questions showing that God is powerful, God is supreme, God is the ruler, the only wise God. Now at the end of this, does Job resent God for this? Does Job say that God is such a bully? I'm just this weak mortal and he steps into the ring with me and he just hits me with right and left all these questions I cannot answer. He leaves me in the dust. God is so mean. Is that what Job's response is after these two rounds with God? No. In fact, Job says, I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. What was Job saying? Job was comparing his knowledge of God, his walk with God, before those two rounds and after those rounds. And he said, Before this, before going through this struggle in which everything is taken away from me, before having to step into the ring with God for two horrible rounds, my knowledge of God was just like having heard about someone. But my walk with God now is like seeing someone face to face. God so often summons us into the ring to show us that he's in charge, not us. He summons us into the ring to show that he's sovereign, not us. That he's wise, not us. That he is in control, not us. that our arms are far too short to box with him. He does it not to bully us, but to bless us. As Job walked away from that encounter with God, he didn't resent God. He was closer to God. He had a bigger view of God than before he ever stepped into that ring. God's purpose with Jacob was the same. God's purpose with us, it's the same. God's not this cosmic bully. Everything that he does is for our good and for his glory. I think that leads us to the next point, and that is this. The path to blessing leads through brokenness. The path to blessing leads through brokenness. Jacob was that supplanter. He was that conniver, that manipulator. And he would continue with some of those same faults in his life as his life continued. But there was a difference. God did something in him on this day that made a change in him. God showed this deceiver, this manipulator, that there was no way that God could be manipulated. There was no way that he could twist God's arm, that he could somehow work all the things out in his own planning for his own blessing. God brought him to the point where he realized that he had to simply cling to him and cry for blessing. I wonder if some of us need to be brought to that point again. God often has to do this many times throughout our life. He often has to bring us to that point where we recognize that we have to cry out to him for blessing. that we in our strength and our ability cannot do it for ourselves. I think of Peter's words where he admonishes his hearers to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt them in due time. And then he says, casting all your cares upon him because he careth for you. You see, until we find ourself crushed, until we find ourself without strength, until we find ourself ground down to that position of helplessness, we don't cast all our care upon him because we think we can handle it ourselves. We think we have those means at our disposal to be able to do it all. But God breaks us to bless us. God loves us. These difficult, harrowing encounters with God are not some evidence that God hates us. Because it is out of these encounters that we see God's blessing come to fruition in our lives. Let us not struggle under that mighty hand of God. Let's not…let's submit. Let's recognize that God's purposes in our life, those purposes are for good. He's not just some schoolyard bully who delights to show how mean he can be. On the other side of that encounter, God raises us up, lifts us up in his time, blesses us in his ways through that event. I've talked before about some of the struggle that I experience right now with my little son Judson. There are many things that God is teaching me through this, but one of the blessings that comes through this difficult, ongoing process is that God has cultivated in my heart a love for a group of people that prior to Judson probably would have been a punchline in my mind. He's cultivated in my heart a tenderness for a whole group of people that I might have otherwise overlooked. And that's only one of those blessings that God has brought about in my life through that. Let us recognize that the path to blessing leads through brokenness. And then, let me leave you with this. It is far better to spend the rest of your life limping with God than sprinting without him. It's far better to spend the rest of your life limping with God than sprinting without him. God took Jacob down. From this point on, Jacob would walk with a limp. He would bear upon himself that very tangible memory of his round with God. Every step would remind him Of that night, I think of Paul, beaten so many times, he would say that he bore on his body those marks. I think even of that thorn in the flesh that God didn't remove, that moved Paul from a position of pride to a position of saying, most gladly, therefore, will I rather boast in my infirmities, I'll boast in my weakness, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. You know, sometimes we want that cakewalk. We want everything to be roses. We want everything to be completely trouble-free. And yet it's through those troubles and through those struggles that God is cultivating in us those graces that we need for later on down the path. When we've encountered God and we spend the rest of our life limping with Him, recognizing that it is God who has done this and it is God who has done this for our good, we do not resent Him. We don't hate Him for it. We recognize that even that limp, that lisp, That weakness, in whatever form it takes, is a reminder of God's greatness and our need to lean upon Him. Perhaps there are some of us in this room that see our need. We see, perhaps in this story, ourselves. Perhaps right now we're in the midst maybe of around with God and we're wondering about it. Can I assure you today that God's purposes for you in this are good if you are his child? He loves you. He is bringing you through this that he might bless you in his own way, in his own time. Don't resent it. Humble yourself under his mighty hand so that even if you walk away from this encounter with God with scars, you will know that it's better to spend the rest of your life limping with him than sprinting without him. So often our pride wells up within us. We ask why. It's not always wrong for us to ask why, as long as it's the right kind of why. If we're asking why, why are you doing this, God? What are you trying to cultivate in me? What are you trying to form in me? That's one kind of a question. But sometimes we ask the question, why me? As though somehow we're deserving of so much better than this. As though God has no right to put us through whatever it is he's putting us through. He has every right. And he might give you a whole barrage of questions, like he did to Job, to confront you with the fact that he's sovereign and he's good. He might give you that limp. that you might, for the rest of your life, recognize your need to lean upon him. He might allow that thorn in the flesh to stay so that through that thorn, you would recognize it is in your weakness that you're made strong. When you glory in that infirmity, Christ's power rests upon you. Maybe there are some of you here who have never even first trusted Christ. Maybe you are that hard person who says, I would never be brought so low as to be crying out to God for his blessing. I would never be brought to such a point where I'm just sitting there sniffling and asking God to help me. God will do what he will do. And you may find yourself encountering God. God has the power to bring you to your knees. God has the power to make you cry out to him. He can do that. As much as you fold your arms and say, I would never bow to this God, He has that power. And oh, what a good and gracious God He is. This God is a God who has the right to condemn you. He has the right to cast you into hell at this moment for your many offenses that you have committed against Him. He has that right. But in His mercy, He is even giving you life and health and breath. some of which you might even spend cursing him. This God who has the right to condemn us sent his son so that all who would turn to trust in him would be spared from the penalty of their sin, would restore to a right relationship with him, would be forgiven of their offenses, would be transformed from a child of darkness to a child of light, to be given an incorruptible inheritance that does not fade away. Would you not trust him today? And so, this passage reminds us of God's greatness. It reminds us that God has a purpose in our struggles, that he has a purpose in what he brings us through. He loves us. He will not do us wrong. One of the Puritans, and I forget which one it was, I once read, he talked about the greatest burden you could lay upon the Father, the greatest sin you could commit against him. You know, of course, the modern view of the Puritans, someone might say, well, some Puritans saying the greatest sin you could do against God, the greatest burden you could lay upon Him, would probably be like having too much fun on Sunday, right? Or maybe enjoying yourself too much throughout the week. But this Puritan actually said, the greatest injustice and the greatest burden you could lay upon the Father is to not believe that He loves you. We find ourselves tempted to do that when we're in the ring with Him. But let us always keep the cross in our view. God commendeth His love toward us. He demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Believer, when God brings you into the ring, look to the cross, because there you are reminded that God's purposes towards you are not simple destruction. He's not about just bullying you and hurting you. He's already shown you that. He that spared not his own son, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? No, his purpose towards you is good. All things that he has ordained work together for good to them that love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. Let's conclude by singing together that great hymn number 371, It Is Well. Let's stand together as we sing this song. It is well, it is well with my soul. ♪ And I will sing a new song ♪ It is well with my soul, with my soul. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. It is well. It is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. Please remain standing for our benediction. May our God and Savior, who alone is worthy of all praise, always remind you of these things, even though you know them, so that they are firmly established in your mind, and that you are firmly established in the truth that you have. May God's blessing rest upon you this week. you