To title the day's message is
entitled, Jacob's name changed to Israel. And we'll be looking
in Genesis chapter 32 and we'll begin reading in verse 24. So you'll understand the context
of this scripture. Jacob had, remember he had left
his father's house because he was afraid of his brother Esau
and that God revealed himself to him at Bethel. And over the
last 20 years, he's had to live with Laban. He said that Laban
changed his wages 10 times, and God revealed himself to Jacob
and told him it's time to go back home. And on his way home,
he realized that his brother Esau was coming to meet him.
And Jacob is afraid. Jacob doesn't know what to expect.
He remembered what his brother said the last time that he saw
him. He said, when our father's dead, I'll kill you for stealing
the blessing from him. And it said in verse 24, And
Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him unto
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? 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 thus for 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 Peniel,
the sun arose upon him and he halted upon his thigh. Therefore the children of Israel,
eat not the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the
thigh to this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob's
thigh in the sinew that shrank." In this passage of scripture,
many times people teach from this passage that it's a picture
of the conversion experience of a sinner. And I can see in
some way how that they could do that. But this is not Jacob's
conversion experience. God revealed himself to Jacob
at Bethel. Remember in the picture of the
ladder. And he revealed his grace and his glory and he revealed
that salvation was through him. And some people teach from this
passage how that a person through their importunity, through their
persistence, how that they prevail with God in prayer. And I can
see where they may get that from. But I believe what this scripture
is teaching is how that God subdues the proud, sinful flesh of his
believing people. And he does this by his mighty
grace. And God does this over and over
and over again. When God converts a sinner, He
does not change the old man. He gives them a new man. The
old man is just like he always was. I know that we're crucified
with Christ, but that old man, that old nature, he's still there,
and he must be subdued. Here we see in verse 24, it says,
Jacob was left alone. Was there ever a man more alone
than Jacob? His whole life had been filled
with trouble and disappointment. Now he's returning home and he
fears for his life. When he learned that Esau was
coming to meet him with his 400 men, he was confused, he was
frightened, and he was alone. Alone. He'd done sent all of
his family over. Jacob's life had been a life
of trouble and confusion. All of his life had been. All
of his life he had played second fiddle to Esau. He was born second
to Esau, and he was by all measures inferior to Esau. And he has
to deal with this. He has to live with this. And
his father Isaac preferred Esau over himself, and he knew it.
And his mother, by the instigation of his mother, Jacob deceived
his father on his deathbed and stole the birthright. And he
has to live with that guilt for 20 years, 20 years. And when Esau threatened to kill
him, he fled to exile. Now that's trouble. That's trouble,
heartache. He fled from Esau. God met him
at Bethel. And God promised his covenant
blessings to him. And he confirmed what I'm sure
that God told his mother, where he said, Jacob have I loved,
and Esau have I hated. And that blessing's gonna be
upon Jacob, the younger son. He was loved and chosen of God.
God had determined to save him. As he deceived his father Isaac,
so was he deceived by his uncle Laban. And he was tricked into
marrying a woman he didn't even want to love, didn't want. But
then God appeared to him and told him to go back home. And
God gave him this promise, said, I'll be with you, Jacob. And
no sooner did he start home, in obedience to God's command,
that he discovered that Esau was coming to meet him with 400
men his whole life. Does that not describe the life
of a believer? Some have the misconception that
when a believer is converted, they won't have any more trouble,
not Jacob. Esau's the one that got to stay
at home. Jacob lives in a foreign land. Jacob lives and he's being
tricked. Had to work for a woman he loved
for 14 years. And earlier in this day, he kissed
his wives and his children goodbye. and took them across the brook
Jabok in verse 22. And that word Jabok means pouring
out or emptying. God is emptying Jacob. Everything's
gone. His children, his wives, all
of his animals, everything is gone. You know what? God is stripping
him of it. God is emptying him of all these
things. And now we read, Jacob was left
alone. Alone, confused, helpless, and
afraid, Jacob sat down and probably waited just to die. His plotting,
his scheming, and all his manipulating is over. He is shut up to the
sovereign power and will of Almighty God. This is where God brings
him to, and this is where God brings us to. Like Israel at
the Red Sea and Jonah in the belly of the fish, Jacob was
totally dependent upon God to deliver him, and he knew it.
He knew it. What am I going... All of his
life, see, his name means surplanner. He could figure his way out of
a situation. He ain't getting out of this
situation. God has hemmed him up. Before he can go back home,
he's got to face Esau. Got to face Esau. Those whom
God is pleased to save, to whom he will reveal his mercy and
his grace, they must be brought down and made to know their utter
helplessness and their total inability. They've got to know
it. They've got to be taught this. We have to be taught this
over and over and over again. God's grace leaves no room for
boasting. and no glorying in our flesh."
Jacob said, well, I can get myself out of this. I can maneuver and
manipulate. There ain't no getting out of
this. Jacob was left alone. He seems to be in a miserable
condition, helpless and alone. But here in this place, being
helpless and alone, he is truly in a most blessed condition. God got him alone. God gets you
alone. God gets his people alone with
him. C.H. McIntosh, listen to this
quote. To be left alone with God is
the only true way of arriving at a just knowledge of ourselves
and our ways. No matter what we think about
ourselves, nor yet what man may think about us, the great question
is, what does God think about us? That's the question. The
question to you this morning is not what you think about yourself.
You probably got a pretty high opinion of yourself and everybody
else may have, but what does God think about you? And the
answer to this question can only be learned when we are left alone
between us and God, away from the world, away from self, away
from the thoughts, the reasonings, the imaginings, and the emotions
of mere nature, and alone with God, thus and thus alone, can
we get a correct judgment about ourselves. Jacob has to see who
he is. Not only to see who he is, he's
got to confess who he is. He has to confess it and to acknowledge
it. Isolation. is always the forerunner
of revelation. Isolation is always the forerunner
of grace. Isolation is the forerunner of
salvation. And isolation is the forerunner
of blessing, getting you isolated by yourself, no one around. And before God saves anybody,
he'll separate them. He said, told Hosea he said I
will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and then
that wilderness. I'll speak comfortably to her
Remember the adulterous woman that they brought for our Lord
and our Lord said he that's without sin Let him cast the first stone
and when he looked they all begin to leave and disperse and when
he looked up It was just him and this woman. She's standing
there alone with him Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus Road.
There were a lot of people with Saul, but Saul's the only one
that saw the light and heard the voice, and God spoke directly
to Saul. And there we see in verse 24,
while he's alone, there wrestled a man with him until the breaking
of the day. I kindly picture this, that Jacob,
he's there alone, alone. and it's dark, and he don't know
that any second Esau may come up. And all of a sudden, somebody
latches hold on him and begins to wrestle with him. Suddenly,
this man appeared. This is not a vision or a dream.
This is a real struggle, both physical and spiritual, and it's
not a brief encounter. It lasted all night long. this struggle, this wrestling
match. Who was this man, this angel
that wrestled with him? The one who wrestled with Jacob
was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, the
angel of the covenant. Because later on, Jacob said,
I've seen God face to face. And the only way you can see
God face to face, our Lord said, when you've seen me, you've seen
the Father. It's the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That's the only way you can do
it. The only way. But Christ came to Jacob on purpose
to wrestle him down. A lot of people say Jacob wrestled
with him. No, he didn't. The angel wrestled
with him. I think Jacob's just trying to
get loose. That's what he's doing. Can you imagine what he thought
when that angel laid hold on him? Probably scared him out
of his skin. God frequently appeared to the
Old Testament saints in human form. These pre-incarnate appearances
were token and pledges of his incarnation. This man, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, wrestled with Jacob. Jacob was not wrestling with
this man, listen, Jacob was not wrestling with this man to obtain
a blessing. This man was wrestling with Jacob
to give him a blessing. Oh, that's so good. That's the
picture here. This is why God comes to his
people. He gets them along and he wrestles
with them to bless them. It is the object when people
wrestle to bring his opponent down, to pin him to the ground,
to render him helpless. And that is the object of our
Lord in this passage. He wrestles with Jacob to pin
him down, to conquer his spirit, to subdue his flesh, and to render
him helpless. That's what he's doing here.
This is what God does to his people over and over and over
again. He wrestles us down and renders
us, subdues our flesh and renders us helpless. The Lord wrestled
with Jacob to reduce him to a sense of his own nothingness, to make
him see what a poor, helpless worm that he is. And he has to
see it. You must see it. God's purpose
in all of our trials is to make us strong in the grace and strong
in faith. And the way he makes us strong
is to make us know and recognize our weakness. God gave Paul a
thorn in the flesh. Paul prayed, said, God, please
move this thorn. Our Lord said, my strength is
made perfect in weakness. Paul said, I therefore glory
in mine infirmities, for when I am weak, Then am I strong. We want to be strong in our flesh.
You know if you know anything about your flesh, if God has
ever taught you anything about your flesh, you know it will
not be subdued unless God subdues it. And he makes you to see its
inability to please God. God must subdue. God must bring
down. And the man wrestled with Jacob
until the breaking of the day. He could have done anything he
wanted to with Jacob at any time. But this shows Jacob's resistance. Jacob said, I'm not going to
give up. I'm not giving up. But these were issues that had
to be resolved. This has got to be resolved.
And they had to be resolved in Jacob's heart. And they had to
be resolved permanently. And they had to be resolved right
now. This is why he came. He came to bless him. But the
way he's gonna bless him is he's gonna subdue his flesh. Jacob
wouldn't stop resisting in this old nature. He just don't wanna
give up. This is not a brief encounter.
It's not an indifferent decision made in front of a church in
some moment of emotion. Eternal matters must be settled. They must be settled. What are
these issues? What are these matters that must be settled?
Listen, Jacob had to acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord,
as Lord. Jacob had to bow to the will
of God, not our will, but thine be done. Jacob had to lose his
life to Christ. He had to suffer to Christ. He
had to surrender to Christ in all things in his heart willingly,
willingly. God was determined to bless and
to use Jacob. His purpose would not be defeated. But he would not grant his blessing,
and he would not use Jacob until Jacob was conquered, subdued,
and broken. All God saves, and he keeps saving
them, he keeps breaking them. Breaking them. This conquering
of the flesh, now listen to me. This breaking and subduing is
not a once and for all experience. Boy, I wished it was. I wished
it could be subdued and I never had to deal with this old flesh
again in this life. But as long as we're in this
world, until we leave this world, we're going to have to deal with
it. It is a lifelong battle, a lifelong battle. It continues
throughout the night of our sojourn upon this earth. It is a warfare,
a warfare in our heart, Paul said, that which I would do,
I don't do. The things that I don't want
to do are the things that I do. He said, O wretched man that
I am. He didn't say, O wretched man
that I was. And what I can understand, Paul
had been converted for 25 years, and he still says, O wretched
man that I am. Not that I used to be, he still
struggles with it. And God gave him that thorn in
the flesh, lest he be lifted up with pride. Christ will prevail. If we are
his, our Lord will conquer us and he will make, listen, he'll
make us willing to be conquered. He has to make you willing and
he does. Verse 25, and when he saw, when
the angel 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. Like I already said, God
could have subdued Jacob anytime he wanted to. This conflict was
ordered and instituted by God. The outcome was never in doubt,
but God's people are not puppets, and they're not robots. We must
be made to feel. and experience the frailty of
our flesh, the emptiness of this world, and the glory of God in
Christ, so that we desire more than anything else His presence. He makes you want Him more than
anything else. And His salvation, He says, thy
people shall be willing in the day of His power. This the day
his power, he comes and he lays hold on Jacob, his chosen child. Someone said God will cripple
a man to get to his heart. He touched the hollow of his
thigh and his thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him.
This is the purpose of all that God reveals to us. This is the
purpose of all the trials that we endure. Why? To subdue us.
This is the purpose of all God's dealings with us. We're children.
He said, if you be without chastisement, you're not his children. Those
that he loves, he rebukes and he chastens. Thank God for his
sharp, painful blows of providence and grace that brings us down
before his feet. At last, Jacob is brought to
the end of his own reasonings. One swift stroke from the hand
of God rendered him utterly helpless. He touched the hollow of his
thigh. Someone said out of joint, God
must dislocate our plans, our lives, and even our bodies before
we will bow to him. We gonna do our own thing. We're
going to try to figure it out. And God will touch you. God will
mess up your plans. And you bow to His plans, His
will, His purpose. This is the purpose God has before
Him in dealing with us. One of the principal designs
of our gracious Heavenly Father in ordering all of our paths
is the appointing of our testings and trials is to bring us to
the end of ourselves, to show us how weak we are, to teach
us to have no confidence, no confidence in the flesh. And then he said, verse 26, and
he said, let me go, for the day breaketh. And then Jacob said,
I will not let you go, except thou bless me." This is where
God wanted him to be. Now the Lord had accomplished
his goal. Jacob was helpless. He could
no longer wrestle his legs out of joint. All he can do is cling. All he can do is hang on. Only
when we are truly held can we hold on. He's holding to us,
and all we're doing is clinging. We're not wrestling. We're not
resisting. Please don't go. Until now, Jacob had tried to
order his own life, his plannings, his scheming, his devisings,
and deceivings to get what he wanted. Now he's rendered helpless.
All his strength's taken away. The songwriter said, other refuge
have I none. Hangs my helpless, so will me. He says, I will not let thee
go. And he said, I will not let thee go, except you bless me. The kingdom of God suffereth
violence, and the violent take it by force. He's making Jacob
willing. The battle's not over for Jacob
until he is assured of the Lord's permanent blessing. upon him
and peace within him. Now he wanted them in truth,
but he was still Jacob. His past still clouded with sin.
He was a wanderer in a strange country and must still face Esau,
his angry brother. He knew he was no better off
for this experience unless the Lord gave him approval and acceptance
and his presence. What he sought. was the assurance
of God's favor. Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
more than all in thee I find. And he said, I won't let you
go unless you bless me. And he said in verse 27 and 28,
the angel said unto him, what is your name? And he said, my
name is Jacob. And he said, thou shalt be no
more called Jacob, but Israel. For as a prince, thou hast power
with God and with men, and hast prevailed. Jacob is made to confess
his name, and by confessing his name, he's confessing who he
is. I am an old trickster. I am an
old surplanner. I am a deceiver. I'm a schemer. He had to acknowledge and to
confess. If we confess our sins, he's
faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. And he's made to confess and
to acknowledge and to admit who you are. And until you admit
who you are before God, you're not getting anywhere with God.
What's your name? What's your name? And when he said, God gave him a new name. The name Israel implies royalty,
sonship, acceptance, and favor, favor with God. He is one who has power with
God because he has favor with God. This was not the result
of Jacob's will, his work, or his worth. It was the gift of
God's free grace. The name Israel means God commands. Israel is one whose life is commanded
and ruled by self, not by Satan, this world, or by himself. It's
by God. God said, your name is going
to be Israel. Israel. And we still know them as what?
Israel. The children of who? Israel. Those that have power
with God. Those who are commanded by God.
Not those who command God, but those whom God commands. 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. Jacob
was a subdued man, but his flesh was not destroyed in curiosity. He asked and tried to pry that
which was not revealed. Pried there to seek familiarity
with the Almighty God. And God refused to tell him his
name. Jacob must believe God in the scope that God revealed
himself to him. Faith demands no more than what
God reveals. Yet in spite of his sinful curiosity,
he blessed him. Do you see that? He blessed him. Why did he bring him to this
place? To bless him. And Jacob called the name of that place
Peniel, for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. He knew what had happened. This
is so much more than just some emotional experience. Jacob had
met the living almighty God and had prevailed. And I can tell you this, he who
has met God and lived, to tell it, has no right to fear anything
or anyone. Now he can go and face his own. And it says, as he passed over
Peniel, the sun rose upon him and he halted upon his thigh. Jacob will limp to his grave. And in the book of Hebrews it
said that when he died, talked about the roll call of faith,
it said he died leaning upon his thigh. It says, the sun rose
upon him, the sun of righteousness arise and shines upon those whom
are blessed of God. And it says, he halted upon his
thigh. The sinew of his thigh, though
it shrank, it was not removed. And though God, by his grace,
subdues our flesh, he does not remove it while we live in this
world. We will go halting through this world. Forced to lean upon
the Lord Jesus Christ, and God will not allow us to trust in
ourselves. Then the last part, it says that
the children of Israel won't eat it until this day. This describes
religious men and women who've never experienced the grace of
God. They turn things into superstitions. They think of abandoning the
God opinion, for the tradition of not eating a portion of an
animal. They forget the wrestler and remember only the wound.
Let's remember him. Those whom God has chose, like
Jacob, he will subdue them. Keep on subduing him and bringing
them down. I pray God will do that for you.
Amen.