Transcript Title Page

Title Page
Lesson Four
Genesis 32:9-10
Genesis 32:9-10
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
shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I
passed over this Jordan; and now I am become
two bands.
Genesis 32:11-12
Genesis 32:11-12
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.
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.
Genesis 32:24-27
Genesis 32:24-27
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled
a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 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.
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.
Genesis 32:28-30
Genesis 32:28-30
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.
29 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.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place
Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and
my life is preserved.
Focus Verse
Genesis 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.
Focus Thought
Man can please God only when he
dies to self and allows the Lord to
become Master in his life.
Introduction
Introduction
Sometimes our past gets ahead of us and
waits just around the corner to confront
us with our yesterdays. Such a situation
awaited Jacob as he left Padanaram and
returned to the land promised to his
grandfather, Abraham.
Although the situation with his father-inlaw,Introduction
Laban, had become untenable, Jacob
just swallowed hard and continued to
watch every deal closely until the Lord
spoke to him to leave. Once God had
spoken to him, Jacob began preparing to
return to the land of his fathers. He met
with his principal wives and presented his
case against their father. They agreed
with their husband and pledged to
cooperate with him as he obeyed the
command of God.
As untenable as the situation had become
Introduction
in Padanaram,
all was not rosy ahead of
Jacob. The bitterness from his connivance
approximately twenty years before had
sunk its roots deeply into Esau’s psyche.
Bitterness has a way of slowly
germinating within a person and
suddenly springing up to defile that
individual. (See Hebrews 12:15.) Jacob
now had to deal with the fruits of
yesteryear’s planting before he could find
rest.
Jacob—
I. Jacob—Homeward Bound
Homeward
Bound
A
A. Homeward Bound
“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” (Genesis
32:9).
I. Jacob—Homeward
Bound
Jacob started home at God’s
command.
Although he
Awas walking in the will of
God, he still faced difficulties. God had
promised to “deal well” with him, but
Esau seemed to be an immediate threat
that might overwhelm the promise of
God. Jacob made a desperate plea for the
help of God. Despite the fact that his
problems with his father-in-law, Laban,
had finally ended amicably, he had
qualms about the impending meeting
with his estranged brother.
It is not unusual for someone
who is
I. Jacob—Homeward
Bound
obeying God to face problems with less
Afaith that everything will
than perfect
turn out all right. Even the fact that
Jacob had recently encountered a host of
angels at Mahanaim was insufficient to
keep fear from his heart. Each of us can
become frightened by the growl of
oncoming events even though we know
that God is greater than any lurking
threat. A menacing obstacle may call for
extra caution on our part, but ultimately
God will deal with every obstacle and
challenge believers may face.
I. Jacob—Homeward Bound
Yesterday’sA
dream of encouragement
during the night of despair (Genesis
28:12-22) can easily fade in the glare of
an oncoming problem (Genesis 32:6-7).
At times, God’s definite direction and
promise can seem like a figment of our
imagination when we face the immediacy
of a looming crisis.
B. Humbled Spirit
I. Jacob—Homeward Bound
B
“I am not worthy of the least of
all the mercies, and of all the
truth, which thou hast shewed
unto thy servant; for with my
staff I passed over this Jordan;
and now I am become two
bands” (Genesis 32:10).
I. Jacob—Homeward Bound
B danger helped Jacob to
The approaching
remember how many blessings he had
received from God. He remembered his
pitiable condition twenty years earlier
when he had passed near this place going
the other way. At that point his only
possession worth noting was the staff he
held in his hand.
Since that time he had become
a wealthy
I. Jacob—Homeward
Bound
and powerful man. Not only did he have
four wives B
and twelve children, but he
also had acquired herds and flocks
sufficient to provide Esau with a sizable
gift. He also commanded sufficient
manpower to send this gift in three
droves while others cared for his animals
that remained. Remembering such
bounty caused Jacob to acknowledge the
beneficence and blessing of God.
I.
C. Hallowed Promises
Jacob—Homeward
Remembered Bound
C
“And thou saidst, I will surely do
thee good, and make thy seed as
the sand of the sea, which cannot
be numbered for multitide”
(Genesis 32:12).
I. Jacob—Homeward Bound
C faced the perceived
Now that Jacob
danger of the meeting with his brother,
he also remembered the promise of God
to his family. It is amazing how we can
rock along in our lives, taking God and
His promises for granted, until some
danger or trauma reminds us of our
weakness and God’s goodness.
I. Jacob—Homeward
Mankind has changed littleBound
through the
centuries. When
C we face a situation that
seemingly will not yield to our puny
efforts, we quickly remember God’s
promises from the past. Trouble reminds
us of the pledges of Him who is ever
faithful. God’s assurances are steadfast
even when we bring them to the forefront
only in times of distress. Thankfully, He
does not hold our forgetfulness against us
if we remember and act on His promises.
I. Jacob—Homeward
Bound
Our remembrance of promises
provides
a semblance
Cof a rudder when the stormy
seas of trouble toss our boat of life. When
problems toss us so violently that the
rudder of God’s promises comes out of
the water, we lose our stability. However,
even in the most tumultuous times, the
rudder of His promises can be in contact
with His eternality often enough to send
us in the right direction.
Journey’s
Interruption
II. Journey’s Interruption
After settling affairs with Laban, a
meeting with another part of Jacob’s
family interrupted his steady march back
to the land of his fathers. He knew that
eventually he would have to deal with his
brother, Esau. The disturbing news that
Esau was coming accompanied by four
hundred men certainly caused Jacob to
change his planned itinerary.
II. Journey’s Interruption
Instead of a mere announcement of his
coming, Jacob took 580 animals from his
various flocks and sent them as a threepart present to Esau. He also divided his
family into two companies and separated
them so if one were attacked the other
might have time to escape.
After having made what natural
II. preparations
Journey’she Interruption
could, Jacob separated
himself on the other side of the brook
Jabbok. This stream constituted the
boundary of area claimed later by the
children of Ammon (Deuteronomy 3:16).
Its name may be symbolic of the great
events that took place there that night.
During the wrestling, Jacob experienced
a great pouring out or emptying of his
self-sufficiency.
Jabbok: “emptying” (Smith’s Bible Dictionary);
Jabbok
Definition
“a pouring out, or a wrestling” (Easton’s Bible
Dictionary); “pouring out or emptying”
(Fausset’s Bible Dictionary); “evacuation,
dissipation, wrestling” (Hitchcock’s Bible
Names Dictionary)
A. Alone with Self
II. Journey’s Interruption A
“And Jacob was left alone; and
there wrestled a man with him
until the breaking of the day”
(Genesis 32:24).
II. Journey’s
Interruption
A
After Jacob had done all within his
power—sending gifts and
communicating through his herdsmen
that he was Esau’s servant—he
withdrew himself from his family into a
solitary place. The Scriptures do not
inform us of Jacob’s purpose in this
severance. Whether he withdrew to pray
or to plot and scheme is at best a matter
of conjecture.
II. Journey’s
Interruption
A
Often in times of solitude we come faceto-face with our own weaknesses and
inadequacies. We frequently discover the
solution to our difficulties in such times.
Seldom do we find the same answers on
the crowded highways of life that
become apparent in the stillness of
separation.
II. Journey’s
Interruption
A
Multiple mighty people of God had
times of solitude in the development of
their walk with God. Joseph was alone
several times, even while surrounded by
brothers, merchants, slaves, officers, and
rulers. Moses, Joshua, David, John the
Baptist, Jesus, Paul, and Jonah all had a
time of isolation in their development.
B. Alone with God
II. Journey’s Interruption B
“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”
(Genesis 32:25).
II Timothy
2:212:4
Hosea
“Yea, he had power over the angel, and
prevailed: he wept, and made
supplication unto him: he found him in
Bethel, and there he spake with us”
(Hosea 12:4).
Whatever Jacob’s
purpose may have
II. Journey’s
Interruption
B
been, he wound up in a face-off with
God. In the dark stillness of the night,
what seemed to be a man assaulting
Jacob interrupted his plans. Jacob’s
strategies were broken up by the
intervention of “the angel.” At the end of
the battle, Jacob realized he had wrestled
with One who was no ordinary man, but
truly was the Lord Himself (Genesis
32:30).
II. Journey’s Interruption B
When the dust of the conflict had settled
and Jacob—whose name was now
Israel—had gathered his wits about him,
he renamed this place of conflict Peniel,
which means “the face of God.” In
whatever way others might later describe
his opponent in this battle, Jacob knew
that he had encountered the Almighty.
II.
In his book Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants,
Journey’s
Interruption
B
Dr. Paul Brand pointed out that the
turmoil on the battlefield may prevent a
wounded soldier from feeling the severity
of his wound. However, when the battle is
over and that stimulus is removed, the
pain of the injury becomes uppermost in
his consciousness. In similar fashion,
when Jacob removed himself from the
busy preparations to face Esau, his need
to face himself and his own shortcomings
came to the forefront.
C. Abdicates Personal Pride
II. Journey’s Interruption C
“And he said, Let me go, for
the day breaketh. And he said,
I will not let thee go, except
thou bless me”
(Genesis 32:26).
II. Journey’s
C
It is one thingInterruption
to acknowledge the
material blessings that one has
accumulated over the years. It is yet
another to abdicate a position of
personal superiority by admitting one’s
need that only a greater one could
supply. A principle of relative worth and
importance had been established in
Abraham’s day. The writer of the Book
of Hebrews stated this principle: “And
without all contradiction the less is
blessed of the better” (Hebrews 7:7).
II. Journey’s
Interruption
Even though Jacob
demanded a C
blessing
as a condition for releasing his opponent
from the fight, his acknowledgement of
his need of a blessing showed his
awareness of his need. His cry, “Bless
me,” was a concession that sounded the
death knell of Jacob’s self-sufficient
pride. Jesus could have had this incident
in mind when He addressed a certain
multitude:
II. Journey’s
Interruption
C shall
“And whosoever
shall exalt himself
be abased; and he that shall humble
himself shall be exalted” (Matthew
23:12). By admitting his need and
weakness, Jacob positioned himself to
receive far more than he bestowed.
II. Journey’s
Interruption
C
Centuries later,
Saul of Tarsus learned
the same lesson through a similar
encounter. (See Acts 9:3-6.) His
abdication of self-directing pride
ultimately brought him to a similar
position of power with God. He became
known as the apostle Paul, and he
described the result in his letter to the
church in Philippi.
II Timothy 2:2 4:12-13
Philippians
“I know both how to be abased, and
I know how to abound: every where
and in all things I am instructed
both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need. I
can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me”
(Philippians 4:12-13).
Jacob—
III. Jacob—A Prince with
AGod
Prince
with
God
A
A. Acknowledges His Name—
Jacob, the Deceiver
“And he said unto him, What is
thy name? And he said, Jacob”
(Genesis 32:27).
III. Jacob—A Prince with
God
The first
step A
in making a change is to
acknowledge a problem. The fact that
various self-help organizations have
incorporated this principle does not
invalidate it. Long before any multiplestep program rephrased this tenet, the
Bible contained the principle.
III. Jacob—A Prince with
In the God
midst ofA
the wrestling match,
Jacob’s opponent asked his identity. The
name Jacob meant “heel-catcher,” and
by implication, “supplanter and
deceiver.” Jacob may have been able to
self-justify his deceitful responses to the
chicanery of his uncle, Laban. However,
he needed to acknowledge that he too
had a problem with honesty. (See
Proverbs 18:17.)
As long as Jacob could win by his
III.sneakiness,
Jacob—A
Prince
withto
he was
not compelled
admit and
change
God
A his own character
flaws. His repeated successes only
ratified his methods of reaching those
triumphs. He took advantage of Esau’s
time of weakness to buy the birthright.
He took advantage of Esau’s absence
and Isaac’s blindness to gain the
blessing. Although Laban tricked him,
Jacob used his knowledge of breeding
and genetics to increase his portion of
the herd despite the multiple revisions of
their herding contract.
B. A New Name—Israel
III. Jacob—A Prince with
God changed Jacob’s name to Israel.
God
B
There seems to be no solid consensus
among Bible scholars as to an exact
meaning for the name. Rather, we
discover a plethora of suggested
meanings for the name Israel: “prince
with God”; “he strives with God”; “let
God rule”; “God strives” (Nelson’s
Illustrated Bible Dictionary); “soldier of
God” (Smith’s Bible Dictionary); and
“you have wrestled with God”
(Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical
Theology).
III.This
Jacob—A
Prince
with
is one of three
instances
in the Old
Testament where God changed a
God
B
person’s name. The change from Abram
to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah were the
others. Some people in the Bible changed
their names upon their ascension to an
office or position. (See Genesis 41:45; II
Kings 23:34; 24:17.) Others used
multiple names, much as someone might
have a nickname today. (See Genesis
25:30; Numbers 13:16; II Samuel 12:25.)
III. Jacob—A Prince with
Similarly, in the New Testament, Jesus
God
B
changed Simon’s name to Peter or
Cephas (Matthew 10:2; Mark 3:16; Luke
6:14; John 1:42). He also tagged James
and John with the nickname Boanerges,
or “the sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17).
The apostles gave Joses the name of
Barnabas (Acts 4:36).
III. Jacob—A Prince with
Although changing names was common
God
B
in ancient times, Jacob’s name change
carried great significance. It marked a
turning point in the life of the man whom
God had chosen to be a key link in the
chain of mankind’s salvation. From this
time forward he approached the
challenges of life from a different
perspective. He was more prone to trust
in God and less likely to lean on his own
strength and ability.
C. A New Relationship
III. Jacob—A Prince with
God
C
In his night
at Jabbok,
Jacob was forced
into a new relationship—not only with
God, but also with others. When the
wrestling match reached the breaking of
dawn, the Lord crippled Jacob’s strength
by dislocating his thigh with just a touch.
human body Prince
is constructed
in such a
III.The
Jacob—A
with
way that its strength is concentrated in
God
C Strong arms are of
the thighs
and hips.
little value if there is no strong and stable
platform in the legs. A person should
never attempt to perform serious lifting
with only his arms or back, but he should
lift using the strength of his legs. Only in
this major set of muscles and bones is
there enough might to accomplish many
challenging tasks. No matter how strong
one’s arms may be—if he cannot stand,
he cannot fight well.
now crippled,
Jacobwith
discovered a
III.Though
Jacob—A
Prince
strength within himself that had been
Godthe
C veneer of his human
hidden under
ability. He still refused to cede the match.
Until that point, Jacob had relied on his
own abilities. However, he threw himself
upon the Lord and clung to Him for a
blessing after losing his human strength.
Suddenly, his reliance had to be on the
blessing of God rather than on his own
capability. Jacob showed a spiritual
strength at least equal to his physical
power by holding on to the only real
source of might.
we arePrince
hindered with
more by our
III.Sometimes
Jacob—A
natural strength than by our spiritual
God
C as Jacob was naturally
weakness.
As long
strong, he had little concept of his
weakness in the Spirit. His human ability
was well capable of great accomplishment
with only a minor involvement of God, or
so he thought. It was only when his
human might was crippled that Jacob
began to realize his true need and the
source of real strength.
III. Jacob—A Prince with
Interestingly,
Godwhen
C Jacob fled to his
Uncle Laban, he set up the stone he had
used as a pillow to be a pillar unto the
Lord. No further mention of anything
resembling an altar to the Lord is
mentioned until Jacob was on his way
back home.
III.When
Jacob—A
Prince
with
Jacob “threw himself on God” as a
result ofGod
the crippling
C disability, he made
a proper contact with the Lord. Until
then, God had been merely an
intermittent—albeit helpful and
encouraging—part of Jacob’s life. After
the night at Jabbok, however, every step
Jacob took reminded him of his
encounter with real might. From that
time on, Jacob no longer depended on his
own abilities.
III.After
Jacob—A
Prince
with
the battle at Jabbok, Jacob knew
from whence
Godany
C victory must now come.
Not only was he aware that his physical
strength was insufficient, but also that his
devising and scheming fell short of longterm solutions for his problems. All his
plotting had repeatedly gotten him out of
one problem only to lead him into
another greater difficulty.
Jacob learned
to trustwith
God for the
III.When
Jacob—A
Prince
process as well as for the product, his life
God
Csmoothly. Instead of
went much
more
taking advantage of weakness and using
deception, Jacob trusted God. In his trust
lay the seeds of a new type of harvest. As
Jacob exercised submission and humility
before Esau, God wrought change in the
elder brother’s attitude. When Jacob took
control of his family and commanded the
cessation of idolatry, God put a fear on
those in nearby cities, which gave
protection to his kin. (See Genesis 35:4-5.)
could easily pinpoint
various
III.WeJacob—A
Prince
withfailures
in Jacob’s life after his encounter with
Godeven
C the most faith-filled
God. Indeed,
individuals still have problems with their
flesh. When God touched Jacob, the
sinew only shrank. God did not remove
his flesh; He only weakened it. Failures
and unbelief continued to follow the life
of Jacob; but overall, he became a man
who had power with God because he had
submitted to God’s rule.
III. Jacob—A Prince with
Because Jacob began to operate in God’s
God
C
strength instead of his own, God fought
his battles for him. God turned the
murderous intent of Esau into a tearful
reunion (Genesis 27:41-42; 33:4). He also
transformed the bitter anger of the
friends of the Shechemites into terror
(Genesis 35:5).
III. Jacob—A Prince with
What Jacob lacked in physical strength,
God
C
God supplied by moving upon the hearts
of those around him. When age and
infirmity of body gripped the patriarch,
Jacob stood as a guest and blessing-giver
before Pharaoh, the ruler of the greatest
nation of that time. On his deathbed,
Jacob received power from God to
pronounce the future of his sons and their
descendants through the ages. God gave
him power with mankind.
D. A Brother Forgives
III. Jacob—A Prince with
God D
“And Esau ran to meet
him, and embraced him,
and fell on his neck, and
kissed him: and they wept”
(Genesis 33:4).
III.AsJacob—A
Prince
with
Jacob’s adrenalin level returned to
D previous night’s
normalGod
after the
engagement with the angel, Esau and his
warriors came into view. Because of the
outcome of Jacob’s struggle, he no
longer relied on holding an upper hand
or the trickery prescribed by his mother.
Instead, he “took the humble side.”
Jacob did not approach Esau from the
superior position that the birthright and
blessing had provided him.
III.Whatever
Jacob—A
Prince
with
Esau’s original intentions may
Godwhen
D he met Jacob the
have been,
hatred of the previous twenty years was
no longer the driving force in his life.
The strong grip of emotion overcame
Esau as he greeted his long-separated
sibling. This may have been Esau’s
intention all along. We may never know,
but traveling with four hundred men
does not suggest nonviolent intent.
III.The
Jacob—A
Prince
with
wise man wrote, “When a man’s
GodtheDLORD, he maketh even
ways please
his enemies to be at peace with him”
(Proverbs 16:7). Certainly, Jacob’s
response to God’s plan paid immediate
dividends in the peace that came
between the two brothers.
Reflections
A person’s talents and abilities may
often lead him to suffer delusions of
adequacy. Only when we yield our plans
and strengths to God do we find real
sufficiency. Our own abilities and
talents generally come up with solutions
to problems that only get us “out of the
frying pan and into the fire.”
Reflections
As masterful a trickster as Jacob was,
he was bested by his uncle in the arena
of deception. No matter how great our
talent or strength, there is always
someone more talented and stronger.
Our success in life does not come from
our abilities alone, but from having a
right relationship with God.
Reflections
Jeremiah
found that God could cause
everything to come out in his favor even
when all the rulers of the country
opposed him. Pleasing God was more
powerful than political pressure: “The
LORD said, Verily it shall be well with
thy remnant; verily I will cause the
enemy to entreat thee well in the time of
evil and in the time of affliction”
(Jeremiah 15:11). When God’s people
were not cooperative in protecting His
messenger, the enemy broke through the
gates to safeguard God’s prophet.
Reflections
Saul of
Tarsus thought he was doing
God a service by persecuting the
church. (See John 16:2; Philippians
3:6.) However, his encounter with God
on the road to Damascus proved how
very wrong this able young man was.
After his own wrestling match between
God’s will and his misconceptions, Saul
yielded his talents to the Lord and
declared Jesus to be the Son of God
(Acts 9:19-20).
WhenReflections
we sacrifice self-will and
ambition on the altar of God’s will, the
road to happiness and success opens.
Looking out for number one may make
a good title for a book, but placing
ourselves ahead of God’s purpose is a
poor philosophy of life. Indeed, doing
the will of God is the only way to real
fulfillment and abundant life.