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Transcript 336C
When Jacob Wrestled with God [Gen 32:24]
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: Hello. Would you comment on Genesis 32:24?
HC: The question is raised concerning Genesis 32:24. There we read, "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 touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said, 'Let me go, for the day breaketh.' And he said, 'I will not let thee go except thou bless me.' And he said unto him, 'What is thy name?' 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 man and hast prevailed.'"
CALLER: I'd like to make this comment. As I have been walking with the Lord I've had a lot of . . . He's worked through a lot of my problems and attitudes. And sometimes it seemed like wrestling to me. So I can understand Jacob's situation. But I've read commentaries, and I'm just not satisfied with what they've said. I'd like to hear your comments.
HC: All right. Fine. Thank you.
We do have this account in Genesis 32. I might just briefly give a little bit of background. Jacob was the twin son of Isaac. There were two boys born as twins, Esau and Jacob. Esau was the firstborn, and Jacob immediately thereafter.
When we study the lives of Jacob and Esau, we find that fundamentally Esau was a much more honest and straightforward person than Jacob. Jacob was, to put it in common terminology, kind of a scalawag. He was a deceiver. At the age of sixty years, he violently deceived his aged, blind father, at the time that he stole the blessing from his brother Esau. It's a sad, sad tale. As a result of this, he fled into the land of Haran, and there he engaged in all kinds of chicanery, and whatever superstitious ideas, in order to gain a better position over his uncle, Laban.
Jacob was a very sinful man. Now God declared, already before Jacob was born, and in the New Testament, in Romans 9, God gives us further insight into the life of Jacob and Esau, and here God declared that before these boys were born, "Jacob I loved and Esau I hated." In other words, God is declaring that before Jacob or Esau were born, He had made a decision which one He was going to save.
Now in studying the life of Jacob and Esau, we find that Jacob absolutely did not deserve to be saved. He was not worthy of salvation in any sense of the word. Of course this is typical of all of us. There's not one human being who is worthy of salvation. But we see this very dramatically in the life of Jacob, as we see the kind of grievous sins that he fell into.
Now he's a hundred years of age. He's not a young man anymore. Actually, when we think through the chronology very carefully, all the evidence points to the fact that he must have been a hundred years of age when he left Haran with his four wives and twelve children, including Dinah.
And he's going back to his own land. And on the way he comes to this River Jabbok. And there a messenger of God, and from the context we learn that it is God Himself who is wrestling with Jacob, because He says in verse 30 of Genesis 32, "Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."
Now this wrestling, I believe, is a real figure of the place where we must be if we're going to be saved. Up until this time Jacob knew the way of salvation. He had been taught by his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac about the covenant God Jehovah. And Abraham and Isaac had very deep insight into the nature of salvation. Jacob had been in the presence of God before. You'll recall that when he fled from Esau, he had this beautiful vision in Bethel, when he saw the messengers, the angels of God, ascending and descending on the ladder.
And so he definitely knew about God and had lots of insight as to the nature of God, and the nature of salvation. But Jacob had never, never thrown himself on the mercies of God, as near as we can tell. Jacob had never really desired to be right with God.
Now when we are on the threshold of becoming saved, one of the factors, or one of the needs that we sense in our life is a desperate need to be right with God. This is developed, of course, because we have come to a fuller knowledge than ever before of the ugly truth that we're sinners, that we're under the wrath of God, and we're heading for hell. Our situation is very desperate.
If you think you can be saved without facing hell, then you really don't know what salvation is. I've talked with people who would love to be identified with the Christian Gospel, would love to know that they are saved. And yet they just don't want to talk about hell. That's too ugly. That is too difficult a thing to think about. But actually, unless we face hell exactly as it is, and look it squarely in the eye, that we're sinners and we're headed for hell, we're not going to really have a sense of urgency, a sense of deep need, to go to Christ as a Savior.
Jacob, in his timetable, had finally come to that point where he realized he needed God. And so God is wrestling with him, and Jacob will not let go. Jacob holds on to God, "You've got to bless me." The only way we can be blessed of God is to have the curse removed – the curse that comes against us because of our sins, the curse that declares that we are subject to hell because of our sins. And the only way we can be blessed of God is to know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness."
And so there finally comes that time in our life when we've had it. "I can't sin any longer. I can't face life knowing that I'm destined for hell. I don't want to live this way any longer. Oh Lord, have mercy on me. Oh Lord, save me. Oh Lord, my need is very great." And we come to that point where we continue to agonize before God. We continue to plead with God. We continue to search the scriptures. We continue to pray, until we have that peace come over us, that we know that our sins have been forgiven.
This wrestling with God in the life of an individual might go on over a period of weeks, or months, as that person is struggling with the question, "Am I really saved?" struggling with the question, "Can I know that my sins have been forgiven?" struggling with the question, "Supposing I die tonight. Will I end up in hell for eternity?"
If we really wrestle with God, if we really come to Him sincerely, if we really keep knocking, if we keep asking, if we keep praying, if we keep beseeching God, really meaning business with Him, you can depend upon it that God will answer, and we will receive the blessing. We will be called Israel, because you see, when we are saved we become one of Israel. The true Israel of God are those who have become born again, who have become a child of God, because we become a prince with God, and we have prevailed because in Christ we have become more than conquerors.
This wrestling of Jacob with God at the River Jabbok is a beautiful picture of the transition from death into life, a beautiful picture of someone becoming saved, as we sense our desperate need to hold onto God, to be right with Him. And I trust that this is the way each of us who are listening to this program can answer to God, that we can know that we are at peace with God.