Part 7, Jacob

Genesis chapter 32 verse 24 is where our focal verse will begin this morning. When you get there to Genesis 32 and verse 24, if you’re able, would you stand with us as we honor God and the reading of his word? And now hear the word of the Lord.

Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.

Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.

And He said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." But he said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!"

So He said to him, "What [is] your name?" He said, "Jacob."

And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed."

Then Jacob asked, saying, "Tell [me] Your name, I pray." And He said, "Why [is] it [that] you ask about My name?" And He blessed him there.

So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: "For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."

Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.

May God in his blessing to the reading, the preaching, and now your hearing to understand his holy word. May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ forever be praised. And all of God’s people say, “Amen.” You may be seated.

So, this is a strange story. Amen. This is a little bit on the odd side, but when we said we were looking at the great stories with eternal truths, we didn’t say that all the great stories were uh cut and dry and neat and clean stories. No, some of the great stories are like this story.

This came to my mind this week as I was preparing this message. A couple of three years ago, uh I had one of my crazy uncles. Now, those of you who know me know that is a term of affection. It is absolutely a term of affection.

But one of my my uncles um had pancreatic cancer, and when it was finally—when he when he would finally go to the doctor—uh it was so far gone they had told him uh three to four months to live. And so we got Uncle Sydney—Sydney Earl, Earl the Pearl. We got him in hospice in a nursing home in Meridian, and he was declining rapidly.

And and my mother and I and his other couple of brothers and and a first cousin or so, we we made sure we rotated with him and and we made sure that he had visitors every day. We we didn’t want him to have no visitors on the day he died, and we know that he could die any day. And and so I visited with Uncle Sydney Earl more during those three months—and he he lasted about three months—so I I visited with him more those three months than I had visited with him in my previous whole lifetime.

And he had been a good uncle to me and we had been close, but just, I mean, I had not spent that much time with him. And so we had run out of things to talk about and and run out of reruns to watch, and and so um he wanted to study the Bible.

I said that’s great. that’s, you know, sort of what my degree is in. I can probably do that with you. And he didn’t—he couldn’t see the the the print in the Bible good enough. So I went to Walmart and I got him the most big giant huge print Bible that they made. Letters about this big. It was about that thick because the bigger the letters, the longer the book has to be.

And we studied the Bible. We started in Genesis 1 chapter 1 verse one. And we got to this passage of scripture. we got to Genesis—actually we we had—it was not this passage back in Genesis 19, and I was going uh through about Jacob’s sons and and I had told him about how the sons of Jacob become the tribes of Israel.

So, Jacob’s name gets changed later on from Jacob to Israel and his 12 sons starting with Reuben and going on down the line and Judah and Benjamin and and finally Joseph, right? And he—and the light bulb comes on—and he’s just, I have heard about the 12 tribes of Israel my whole life. He said, I’ve heard about that my whole life and I had no idea where the 12 tribes of Israel came from.

And his nurse came in—and which was usually my signal to leave—and uh and the nurse came in to check on him that afternoon and and he he said had he talking to the nurse, Do you know where the 12 tribes of Israel come from? My nephew here, he’s a preacher and we’re studying the Bible and he just showed me where the the sons of Jacob become the 12 tribes of Israel. And he was so excited to be able to tell that nurse that he finally understood where the 12 tribes of Israel came from.

And then that next week I got to tell that story at his funeral.

So this story, this story, yes, is where—so you can be like Uncle Sydney Earl this morning—this is where the 12 tribes of Israel come from. They come from the 12 sons of Jacob.

Let’s retell that story as we have done in each of these sermons. Number one, a retelling of this story.

From the very beginning, Jacob’s life was marked by struggle. Even in the womb, he and his twin brother, Esau, wrestled with one another. And when they were born, Jacob came out second, but he was grasping Esau’s heel as if trying to pull him back or pull himself forward. And that name Jacob literally meaning little heel grabber. Now, how’d you like to go through the rest of your life with that for your name?

Little heel grabber, suppler, followed him all his life. And it meant more than just tugging at a heel. It meant grasping. It meant striving. It meant struggling to get ahead.

And as a young man, Jacob lived up to that name. He wanted what wasn’t his, and he would scheme and connive to get it. He traded his brother’s birthright for a bowl of stew. Later, with his mama’s help, he tricked his father Isaac and stole the blessing that belonged to his brother, Esau.

Jacob got what he wanted, yes, but at a terrible cost. His brother was mad and his brother’s fury drove him out of his home and out of his homeland into the wilderness with nothing but the clothes on his back.

But out there in the wilderness at a place called Bethl, that’s where our church gets its name, by the way. Bethl, Bethl, literally meaning house of God.

At Bethl with a stone for his pillow, Jacob had a dream. He saw a ladder stretching up to heaven with angels going up and down. Yes, that’s the source of the phrase, “We are climbing Jacob’s ladder.” And at the top of the ladder stood the Lord himself, who spoke to Jacob and gave him the same covenant that God had made with his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac.

God said, “I will give you this land. I will multiply your descendants. I will bless you and through your family the whole world will be blessed.”

Now imagine this. God made these great covenant promises to a man who was at that very moment running for his life. Running for his life because of his own deceit.

Grace. Grace is a way of showing up like that and we don’t deserve it. Amen.

Years went by. Jacob found a home with his uncle Laban. He married, had children, grew wealthy, built a family. But true to his name, struggle, he continued to struggle. He struggled with Laban. He struggled with his wives. He struggled with his own conscience.

And when God told Jacob, “It’s time for you to return home,” Jacob knew there was another struggle coming. Because now he had to face the brother, Esau, that he had wronged so many years ago.

And so on that night, the night came, the night that really changed everything. On the far side of the Jabok River, Jacob has sent everything else across and all of his family across. And Jacob is alone. Alone in the dark.

But he was not alone.

Suddenly a man appeared from the dark disclosed from Jacob. And they struggled all night long. They wrestled—or as we would say they wrestled—all night. Every twist, every grip, every desperate gasp echoing Jacob’s liflong fight to get ahead, to struggle to win control of his own destiny by his own strength, with his own talent, with his own ability to get ahead.

Dawn breaks and that man he’s wrestling, wrestling with touches—just that’s all he had to do is just touch—Jacob’s hip. And with just that touch, Jacob’s strength was gone. He could not stand. He could not fight.

But you know what he could still do? He could still cling. And though he could not stand and though his strength was gone, all he could do was cling. So he clung. He clung to this man.

And he cried out, “I will not let you go unless you blessed me.”

The man asked, “What is your name?” Y’all figured this out already, haven’t you? The man’s God, and God already knows his name.

“Jacob,” he answered. “Heelgrabber, deceiver, stver.”

“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man declared, but Israel. For you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.

Wounded, limping the rest of his life, but blessed, Jacob walked away a new man with a new name.

And he named that place Pineel, saying, “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

From that night on, Jacob carried a limp. He walked with a limp. He was be—He’d be walking along and somebody say, “Jacob, what what happened to you?” Y’all know the old gospel old Gaither song. Jacob would start singing, “What happened to me? He touched me. Oh, he touched me.” And oh, my dip is thrown out for the rest of his life.

He bore that. But he met his match and gained a blessing.

With that story still fresh in our mind, let’s move quickly into then remembering the truths.

First truth from this story for you to remember is number one, God’s grace meets us even when we don’t deserve it. Think about that for a moment. What I was talking to the boys and girls about earlier at Bethl. At Bethl with a stone for his pillow, Jacob wasn’t praying and he wasn’t repenting and he wasn’t even seeking God.

When the Lord first appeared to him at Bethl, the house of God, he was running. He was running from his brother after lying and stealing. It wasn’t in Jacob’s righteousness that God spoke the promises to him. It was not because of Jacob’s goodness that God made the blessing of the covenant to him. That’s the grace of God. He meets us at our worst and he offers to us. He is best.

That is grace.

Number two, you can spend your life grasping with your hands. Somebody needs to hear this. You can spend your whole life grasping, grasping, grasping with your hands, but real blessing comes from God’s hands.

Jacob grabbed Esau’s heel at birth. He grabbed for his brother’s birthright. He grabbed for his father’s blessing. He grabbed for all of these things. But none of that scheming, none of that conniving brought him peace. None of that scheming, none of that conniving, none of that striving and struggling brought him satisfaction or contentment.

The blessing that he really needed couldn’t be grasped, couldn’t be connived, couldn’t be stolen from somebody else. It had to be given. And only God could give it. It’s not what you struggle after and strive for that’ll satisfy you. It’s what God graciously gives you.

Number three, sometimes God wounds us in order to bless us. I had this conversation with someone before and and and we were talking about some various things and this was a spiritually mature person and uh and he said, “Well, I and I don’t forget all the the context of what we were talking about. I just stop reverse that. I don’t have to have that story. I’m just forget it. I don’t have time for that story.”

Sometimes God wounds us. And if you if you don’t think—here, I’ll just summarize—if you don’t think God will wound you, just ask Jacob.

At Pineal, Jacob wrestled with God until he was struck in the hip and left with a limp the rest of his life. But the limp was not a punishment. It was a reminder. It was a reminder to Jacob that strength is found in weakness and God’s blessing often comes with a mark to humble us.

Number four, our old name doesn’t have to be our new story. Our old name doesn’t have to be our new destiny. Amen.

Jacob, the name Jacob meant deceiver. It meant trickster. It meant suppler. It meant little heel grabber. But folks, that was Jacob’s past. God renamed him Israel. A new name, a new identity, a new destiny.

With God’s grace, and only by God’s grace, who you were does not have to define who you will be.

Number five, victory with God isn’t about winning. It’s about clinging.

In that wrestling match, Jacob did not defeat God. God could have, we just see it. All he had to do was touch Jacob’s hip. That’s all it took. But he wrestled with Jacob all night long. It’s almost like—and it’s a crude analogy—it’s almost like you ever I got a good cat, and she catches critters and brings them to the the rug at the back porch to show me. And sometimes she wants them still alive when she brings them to me. And and she bats at them. I mean, everything from snakes to mice to vos to whatever. She baby squirrels. She’s a hunter. and and you know she could she could end it just any time with those that little mouse but she toys with it.

That’s what God was doing with Jacob. God could have ended that wrestling match any second. All he had to do is touch his hip. God was doing it for Jacob’s benefit.

You see, the victory though on Jacob’s part didn’t come because he won the wrestling match. It came because he clung to the Lord. He simply refused to let go of God until God blessed him.

That’s the picture of real faith. Not us overpowering God with our strength, but us holding on to God because that’s all we can do. Us holding on to God in our weakness, us holding on to God in desperation and trust.

Some of y’all need to get a hold of the Lord and not let go of him. So that victory—victory is mine, victory is mine, victory is mine today—that comes from clinging to the Lord.

Real quickly, we’re almost out of time. Let’s respond with faith.

We said earlier, we said that God’s grace meets us even when we don’t deserve it. That Jacob was on the run when God found him at Bethl. He was not in prayer, but he was in panic. That is grace.

The Apostle Paul says to us in Romans chapter 5 that while we are still sinners, while at the same time that we were sinners, Christ died for us. God doesn’t wait until we are cleaned up to love us. God doesn’t wait until we get our act together before he saves us. God meets us right in the middle of our mess. Amen.

So respond in faith by receiving his grace, not trying to earn it.

We said that you can cling to the wrong things. Struggle for the wrong things. Strive after the wrong things. But real blessing comes only from God. Jacob spent his life clinging to the wrong things—his brother’s heel, his father’s blessing, his uncle’s wealth—but none of it satisfied him. At Pineal, he finally clung to the right one, God himself.

Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 6, seek first the kingdom of God. Seek not all this other stuff, not other stuff. Sure. Okay. But you seek first the kingdom of God and you seek first the righteousness of God and then all these other things will be added to you as well. That’s what God says all throughout scripture. Me first. God first. Everything else after.

Folks, the question isn’t whether you’re holding on to something. You’re holding on to something. You’re striving for something. You’re struggling for something. It’s what you’re holding on to. what you’re struggling after, what you’re striving for. You need to respond in faith by letting go of some things that are worthless to cling to the thing that matters for all eternity, holding tightly to Jesus Christ. Amen.

We said that sometimes God wounds us in order to bless us. Jacob left Pineel limping. He was limping, but he was also leaning. What a fellowship. What a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms. That’s what Jacob had to do the rest of his life.

Sometimes God allows pain in our lives to bring us closer to him. Sometimes that’s the only thing that’ll get our attention. Amen.

God told the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians, Paul had prayed. Paul had physical ailments. Look, Paul was going all over the Roman Empire. And everywhere he went, people were being healed. The blind could see. The lame could walk. But Paul himself had physical infirmities that God would not heal for him.

And God said, “Not going to do it, Paul. It’s for your own humility. Paul, my grace is sufficient for you. For my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

The limp is not a curse. It’s a reminder of grace. Responded faith by surrendering even your weakness to Christ.

We said that our old name doesn’t have to be our new story, our new destiny. Jacob, the deceiver, became Israel, the prince of God. In Christ, we’re given a new name, too. 2 Corinthians 5:17. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The past has been washed away. The new is come in Christ. Amen.

So respond in faith by refusing to live in that old identity and walking boldly in the power of Jesus Christ. Let Jesus say who you are, not the world.

We said that victory with God isn’t about winning. It’s about clinging. Jacob didn’t defeat God. He clung to him. You can’t defeat God, but you can cling to him. Amen.

Jesus echoed this truth in John chapter 15. Jesus said, “Abide in me and I in you.” The victory of faith is not in overpowering, but in abiding.

Some of you are hearing this this morning and you’re not getting this message. But a few of you are. I wish—look, there’s no amount of histrionics or theatrics I could go through this morning to make some of you get this message. I wish that I could because some of you are going to have to go through a lot more trials and tribulations in your life until you finally get this. Now, you don’t have to. You don’t have to, but I’m I’m just being realistic. All right.

All right. Now, three more of you were added to the folks that are gonna get it because I got your attention then.

It’s It’s not about It’s not about how strong you are in the struggle. It’s not about you defeating God. You can’t. It’s about you clinging to God, abiding in Christ, holding fast to God, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, and refusing to let go of the Lord no matter what. Amen.

The story of Jacob is the story of all of us. We’ve all tried to grasp at life, to cling to the wrong things, to strive and to struggle and connive to get what we don’t need in the first place. We walk in our old names and our old identities, but in Jesus, grace meets us. Weakness becomes strength and a new name and new destiny is given.

The question for us is simple. What are we clinging to? What are you clinging to? The things of this world or the things of heaven.

So, like Jacob, we’re called to stop striving in our own strength and cling to the Savior who already fought and won the ultimate battle for us on Calvar’s cross. The blessing Jacob longed for is the same blessing God gives to us, to everyone who will call upon the name of the Lord: forgiveness, new identity, and eternal life.