Jacob is the man who is known as a man of relentless will and scheme.
He was born as the younger brother of Esau, his twin brother. One day Jacob
bought the birthright from his hungry brother and later deceived his father
Isaac to receive the blessings as the firstborn. He had to flee from the danger
of Esau who later knew that he was betrayed and stolen of his blessings. In the
mother’s land, he was deceived by his uncle Laban and forced to labor for over
two decades under the oppression and harshness. He had to flee from Laban who was
heavy on his material increase. Finally, he had to face his brother Esau again
and was very much afraid of meeting with him because of the unpleasant and
bothering memory in the past. He had prepared whatever he could do in an
attempt to minimize the possible hostility and attacks by his brother Esau. All
he wanted at this overwhelming circumstance was to get over it as soon as he
could and as minimally damaged as he could. This is the moment no one likes to
confront but to avoid whatever possible. There is no way around except going
through. Jacob is standing on the ground where he must step on. But through
this he has discovered a new life principle how to not to be afraid of anything
in any circumstance and how to not to scheme any longer to prevail or overcome
people. That is to completely rely on the Lord Almighty God, denying himself because
he has nothing to depend upon.
“That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female
servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had
sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was
left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he
could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip
was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it
is daybreak.’ But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ The
man asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jacob,’ he answered. Then the man said, ‘Your
name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God
and with humans and have overcome.’ Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But
he replied, ‘Why do you ask my name?’ Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called
the place Peniel, saying, ‘It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my
life was spared.’ The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was
limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the
tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was
touched near the tendon.” (Genesis 32:22-32)
Finally, Jacob has been freed from Laban and just needs to cruise
a little bit more to a land where he could settle down, probably Shechem in his
mind. But he knows he has to go through the land of Edomites where his brother
Esau lives. So, he is sending for some servants to his brother to be prepared
for meeting with him. The servants are saying that they saw Esau alive and is
coming with four hundred men. Jacob is seriously afraid of his brother who
might attack him as a revenge for the dubious incidents happened over two decades
ago. This tells a greatly significant truth about any wrongdoings and
trespasses done against others. Jacob has achieved everything he really wanted
to do by any means including cheating, deceiving, and manipulating others. He is
not the person who simply forgets and yields his rights to others at all.
Rather, he always strives and contends for prevailing and overcoming other
people and odd circumstances. He has earned and accumulated a great amount of
wealth and established a huge family including two wives and two concubines and
eleven children and a lot of servants. However, nothing could save him from the
immediate threat of meeting with his brother. Nothing could relieve him from
the inner fear and trembling, pumping from within and striking the core. He is
deeply in trouble and distress. The good amount of possessions and wealth
completely fail to soothe him. The wives and faithful servants cannot save him
from the agony of imminent encounter with his brother. It is not just Jacob’s
story but is written for our examples and warnings to teach us to understand our
humanity. It applies to all humanity that nothing can save themselves from the inner
fear and terror within. It teaches who the real enemy of our humanity is. God
is our Friend and Advocate. But there is the devil, the prince of the world. He
is cunning and crafty among all the wild animals and keeps planting and escalating
fear and anxiety in our humanity.
Jacob is trying to do the best he could by inventing a desperate
effort to pacify the most likely revengeful and hostile brother, sending a great
number of animals as gifts. He has sent the barrage of gifts ahead of him. He
has sent his wives and children and all of his possessions across the ford of
the Jabbok. He is left alone the other side of Jabbok while his whole household
and all of his possessions has crossed the stream. He cannot go any further. He
alone must take the time with the man sent by God the Lord of heavens and the
earth. That night, he has started wresting and striving with the man and
continued till daybreak. Eventually, the man from God has touched the socket of
Jacob’s hip so that his hip is wrenched as he wrestles with the man. Jacob is critically
wounded and injured that he cannot wrestle with the man any more. It is over.
How can a man prevail God? What is the point the Scripture speaks? This is how
God is helping man as the loving Father to open the eyes of the heart and mind
that has been blinded by the power principle of evil. This is the place to
where God is driving every person in order to deliver them from darkness and
confusion. It is called the total bankruptcy of man and the true discovery of
knowing what he is before the Lord God. Man is not made to be independently
handling the lives without God. Man is never meant to live in their own. Man is
made to live selflessly, taking everything from God in this age and ages to
come. Until we come to learn this new life principle in Christ, we never quench
our thirst and hunger in body, heart, mind, and spirit. Jesus says so in the
Sermon on the Mount.
“Blessed
are the poor in spirit,
for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed
are those who mourn,
for they
will be comforted.
Blessed
are the meek,
for they
will inherit the earth.
Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they
will be filled.
Blessed
are the merciful,
for they
will be shown mercy.
Blessed
are the pure in heart,
for they
will see God.
Blessed
are the peacemakers,
for they
will be called children of God.
Blessed
are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely
say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because
great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:3-12)
So, the choice of Jacob is logically obvious which is just asking
God’s blessing. He cannot let the man go unless he blesses him. What blessing
does he want so desperately? Why does he have to wrestle with the man all night
till daybreak? What is it to bother him so much so that he must get the
blessing from the man? It is the freedom and deliberation from the ignorance and
misunderstanding of life. In fact, this unsatisfactory heart has been haunting
and lingering in him all along the long years of life at home and abroad, especially
in exile. He has been yearning for a stable and settled life. However,
everything turns out like chasing after the rainbow. In the past, he faced and
challenged any circumstances and overcame. But this moment is entirely
different. Simply he cannot move just one step forward. There is already the
sound of defeat and failure deep within. But while wrestling with man all
night, he has gradually been learning and discovering that he is nothing without
the blessing from the man. He has found himself what he has been needed the
most is the blessing of God.
How does God bless Jacob? God changes his name from Jacob to
Israel, saying “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have
struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” (Genesis 32:28) It’s a paradoxical
expression. He doesn’t overcome God. It is impossible for man to overcome the
Almighty God. The man who wrestled with Jacob wrenched his hip. Although Jacob
is completely disabled to wrestle any longer, the man has said that he has
struggled with God and with humans and has overcome. It reveals the mystery of
Christ that through the death on a cross he has opened the door of salvation
for the race by faith. Christ became like a criminal who hung on a tree, being
cursed and humiliated and shamed in public. To the eyes of the world locked in
darkness it seemed a total failure and loss. But it was exactly the opposite
for the great victory and glory of God, the resurrection from the dead
followed. Jesus Christ sacrificed his life and shed his blood in order to
redeem the fallen lost race from the bondage and iron shackle of the devil.
Christ died in our place so anyone who believes in him shall not perish but
have eternal life. This is the way, the truth, and the life because through
Christ all men may come to the Father. “God made him who had no sin to be sin
for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2
Corinthians 5:21) Prophet Isaiah cried out long ago that we may be healed
through the Messiah’s wounds.
He was despised
and rejected by mankind,
a man of
suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one
from whom people hide their faces
he was
despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he
took up our pain
and bore
our suffering,
yet we
considered him punished by God,
stricken
by him, and afflicted.
But he was
pierced for our transgressions,
he was
crushed for our iniquities;
the
punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his
wounds we are healed.
We all,
like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us
has turned to our own way;
and the
Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:3-6)
Finally, through the painful wrestling with God and with humans
for long and weary years, Jacob has learned and discovered the secret of true
victory. It is the way of the cross, nothing more and nothing less. No pain, no
gain. No death, no resurrection. In order to have life, he must die first as
our Lord Jesus Christ says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny
themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their
life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Matthew
16:24-25) The Author of life, Jesus Christ set the example how to live life in
the Father. That is what Jacob’s life signifies. Are you still wrestling and
struggling like Jacob? Or are you submitting yourselves to God like Israel?
Jacob calls the place Peniel and the sun rises above him as he passes Paniel,
and he is limping because of his wounded hip (Genesis 32:30-31). I believe that
it is truly the moment of heaven opening and outpouring showers of the Father’s
abundant blessing upon him relentlessly. Thank you Father for your unfailing
and long-suffering love for us!
January
31, 2017
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2015-2017 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.
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