Read Genesis Chapter 32
Prayer: Ask the Lord to remove fleshly efforts, give you a heart of humility and dependence, give you the strength you should have as a child of God, and live out the glory of God. Come.
Jacob’s situation: He just escaped from Laban and faced the possible pursuit of his brother
Jacob’s situation Response: Gift Bribery and Escape
Divine Intervention: Timing of Intervention Method of Intervention Meaning of Name Change
Jacob's Nature: Being selfish or self-centered, deceitful and calculating
God’s attributes: love and faithfulness, His humility and condescension
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God’s purpose: to break away from fleshly and carnal means or lifestyles and enter into complete trust
Result: From Jacob to Israel through this night The transformation of The transformation from Jacob to Israel.
Twenty years ago, Jacob left his father's house because he did something wrong. His brother's plan to hunt him down failed. But this incident was originally caused by Jacob's mistake. He lied to his father, and as a result, he offended his own brother. He didn't expect that this was something he couldn't handle. So this incident made him uneasy for a long time. When he returned from being unable to stay with Laban, he found himself facing a terrible unknown. Didn’t he know that his brother Esau had already forgiven him after twenty years? Or still holding a grudge? Jacob already had a large estate, a large family, eleven sons, wives and concubines, but these successes might be completely ruined in one day, and everyone would be completely killed. So what's the point of these successes? Although God had promised to be kind to Jacob and to bless him and increase his descendants. But deep in Jacob's heart he couldn't let go of the fact that his brother hated him. So when he was almost back to his home, he started thinking about how to solve this problem. He divided his children, his livestock, and those below him into many groups; then he placed himself in a place at the rear. What was the confrontation between two armies in ancient times like? We still remember that David faced Goliath. In ancient times, when people fought, the heroes of both sides must be in front, and the troops behind them cheered. When the leader of one side defeats the leader of the other side, the people below rush forward to capture the enemy's position and city. Now when Jacob arranges such a lineup, it means that when danger comes, you sacrifice first, and I will come forward last. So he ordered his troops thus. They went in groups, bringing with them many livestock, and then sent spies first to see what was going on with his brother Esau. The spy came back and said to him, your brother has long heard that you are coming back, so he brought 400 people to welcome you. Instead of making Jacob feel happy and reassured, these words only gave him something that felt very scary and threatening. Do I need 400 people to welcome me? It is enough to bring wives, children, servants and maids, up to 40 people. Here are 400 people. When grandfather Abraham saved his uncle Lot from attacking Chedorlaomer, he only led 318 strong men in the family. What do these 400 people mean? What are these 400 people going to do? How can these 400 people help me? The more Jacob thought about it, the more he felt that he must have come to intercept me, so he was very worried. This report to him made it impossible for him to sleep or eat. The elder brother brought 400 people to welcome him. Why was Jacob so suspicious? Because a liar often thinks that everyone in the world is lying like him. A deceitful person often thinks that the whole world is as deceitful as he is. Don't trust others to be honest at all. If you do something wrong, no matter what you do, you will feel that someone else is taking revenge.
So the more he thought about it, the more terrible and terrible it became, and he finally made a very unconscionable decision, one that offended his wife and children. You cross the river first, because my brother's hatred is ahead, and he hates me, so he treats his wife and children as scapegoats. He stayed on this side of the Jordan River while the children boarded the boat and crossed to the other side of the Jordan River, leaving him alone. When he wants to escape, he will have a way. When Esau wanted to catch up, he had to cross the river. When he crossed the river, it was my last chance to escape.
As we read here, we can see that Jacob's method of dealing with possible crises was: bribery with gifts and escape. What kind of person is usually most easily revealed under what circumstances? It is when a person's true nature is exposed in the face of great dangers, great tribulations, and disasters. What kind of nature can we learn about Jacob from his way of dealing with the crisis at hand? Extremely selfish and deceitful, even his wife and children are included in his calculations.
But at this time, the plot suddenly changed and it did not continue according to the version imagined by Jacob. Because God intervened.
On the night when Jacob took the alternative and prepared to do just that, he was alone on this side of the river. But the Bible tells us that when it was almost dawn, a man suddenly came to him and asked him to wrestle with him. Who is this person? Because it was still dark, he couldn't see clearly. It is very possible that he thought that this was Esau coming to pursue him, because in his heart, he could not dispel the possibility that his resentful brother would come to take revenge one day. ? But this man is not Esau, this man is the messenger of God. He came to Jacob to wrestle with him. When Jacob discovered that he was not Esau, Jacob felt more settled. Then he put all the strength of his entire body to meet this challenge. The Bible tells us that when they did wrestle, suddenly the angel sensed that he would not easily overcome Jacob. This means that Jacob was superior to ordinary people in fighting, wrestling, and physical strength. When he was fighting with others, he was alert, brave, and persevering. He was an uncompromising person. This personality was very special. The Bible records that the man saw that he had no way to defeat Jacob, so he suddenly stretched out his hand. He grabbed a handful in the hollow of his thigh. After Jacob gave him a handful, his tendon turned and sprained. Therefore, his whole body was weak and he fell down, unable to stand up. Originally, he was victorious, but the angel of the Lord was defeated. In fact, how could the angel of the Lord be defeated by one person? Who is this messenger of the Lord? Jacob asked him what is your name? He said you don't have to ask me what my name is. How do we know who this person is? Suddenly in the middle of the night, before dawn, he appeared and wrestled with Jacob. Who is this person? This man is Jesus before he became flesh. This is the Son of God who appeared in human form, and this is Immanuel who will live in the world in the future. He suddenly appeared in a human body, in a human form and with human strength, and He wrestled with Jacob.
When God was wrestling with man, He deliberately limited His ability to be on par with us, hence this sentence. He saw that he could not overcome Jacob because the range of his ability that he had set for himself was right there. But this sentence does not mean that God loses to man. Why? As soon as he grabbed Jacob, Jacob was lame for life and could not be cured for decades. Isn't this the power of God?
Why does God do this? Jacob began to "grasp" from the time he was born from his mother's womb. When Jacob's gripping ability reached its peak - when he "struggled with God and men and prevailed", God used Jacob's grasping hand to deal with Jacob. It was to further build up Jacob and destroy his pride, deceit, selfishness, and self-centeredness.
God asked him what is your name? My name is Jacob. What's your name? You don't have to ask me what my name is. When Jacob says, “I am Jacob,” Jacob means to seize. The messenger of God said that you should change your name. You should no longer be called Jacob. Jacob scratched his head all his life, and everything he caught was lost in the end.
Through wrestling, God showed Jacob: Jacob, you are good at catching, right? You catch it often, right? You have arrested me hundreds of times, which one is more powerful than arresting you now? You have arrested so many, I will only arrest you once, and you will be crippled forever. After the angel of God blessed him, he named him. Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but your name will be called Israel. What does Israel mean? Prince of God. Wow! You are a prince. What kind of prince is he? A lame prince. A prince who can't walk fast. Why? Because God has dealt with you and knocked down your pride and your strength. Now Jacob knew that if he was touched like this by the angel of God, he would only die when he went to see Esau. Unless God helped him, he would surely die in Esau's presence. He doesn't even have the capital to escape. At this time, who can he rely on? No longer rely on your own intelligence, no longer rely on your own physical strength, no longer rely on your own experience. Past experience is of no use, and his decades of deception, deception, and selfish methods are of no use. From today on, Jacob can only come to you with a disabled body and can only pray for the Lord’s mercy.
So far, we have seen how the power of God transformed Jacob into Israel, and he stayed with Laban for twenty years. His wife, children, and property were not captured by him; Facing your brother Esau, you no longer have any way to deal with it on your own, but Jacob, you can rely on God because you are God’s prince.
As the third generation successor of Abraham, on the one hand, he wanted to seize all spiritual blessings, and on the other hand, he attempted in a carnal way. Achieving spiritual goals; but God put an end to his carnal behavior through this wrestling, forcing him to take the path of faith that relies on God.
It was not Jacob’s fault that Jacob transformed into Israel, simply because Jacob was loved by God. When God was on the run from Jacob, God appeared to Jacob in a dream to guide him; when Jacob stayed in Laban’s house for twenty years, God established a house for him and escorted Jacob to leave safely; when Jacob used extreme means to When using selfish methods to deal with the dangers faced by his brother Esau, God humbled Himself and appeared to Jacob in human form, and used wrestling to discipline Jacob so that Jacob would no longer rely on himself.
Such a loving God calls the mediocre Jacob Israel.
Application: Today we are called the children of God, the true descendants of Abraham and the true Israelites. Likewise, God will shape us into people who rely solely on Him. Both individuals and the church have always been under the internal temptation to compromise with the world and the pressure of external persecution, and they have never stopped. We have also seen two completely different ways of coping with internal and external difficulties: compromise and escape; the other is to rely on trust. We see that every time the general environment changes, many people fall because of fear; but there are also many overcomers. God puts some tests and trials before us, and God also provides us with the strength and grace to overcome these trials and trials. When the lame Jacob was called a prince by God and blessed by God, his life underwent a great transformation. This change is reflected in the fact that he originally put himself at the back, but after this night he walked to the front of the team; the lame leg always reminded him not to rely on himself but to trust in trust; the lame leg would also repeat it again and again. Let Jacob remember that night's encounter with God, and let Jacob firmly remember that I am no longer the Jacob who is caught everywhere, but Israel, the prince of God. What a noble and glorious identity this is, God He will definitely protect the prince who looks after him.
Dear elders and DXJMs, have we been pressured by the environment and forgotten who we are today? We may think that only Christians like US President Trump look like the prince of God. When we get together, we have to be very careful, fearing that others will know that we don’t look like the prince of God. When Jacob passed the ford of Jabbok, the sun had just risen. How did Jacob feel when he saw his limping figure? I am excited! I am Israel! Or is he a self-pitying and self-deprecating prince? No matter what his mood was, Jacob believed what God told him.
Fathers, brothers and sisters, the angel of God who appeared to Jacob at the ford of Jabbok also came to this world to help you and I get through that difficult time. Since the fall of our ancestors, Adam and Eve, human beings have been faced with the bondage and accusations of the devil and Satan's sins on the one hand, and the requirements of God's holiness and justice on the other. They are unwilling to accept being in heaven and have no way to go to hell. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born into this world, and He saved us from this difficulty, which is a big problem that no one can solve by himself. The Lord Jesus humbled Himself and took on the form of a man. He was originally God but limited Himself to man, in order to represent us in living out the holy, righteous love required by God, and on the other hand, in order to accept it on behalf of us sinners. Righteous judgment died on the cross. In this way, today we are called the children of God. Today we are the true Israelites. We are the true princes of God. We did not catch this by ourselves, but were given by God in Christ.
Perhaps we have become indifferent to this statement. DXJMs, every word spoken by God must be fulfilled. When Jacob faced Esau, one of your servants on the left and one on the right, we might have thought, didn’t God say that the older should serve the younger, so why didn’t it come true? If we look further back, did the Kingdom of Edom later serve the Kingdom of Israel?
Similarly today, sometimes when we look at ourselves and sometimes at the environment, we may also wonder: Am I not a child of God? Why am I subject to restrictions everywhere, especially here in Xinjiang? Even normal gatherings have become princes who extravagantly seek to return God. If we, DXJMs, can take a longer view, although we will be under high pressure and even persecution temporarily, it will only last for a few decades for each of us, and we and Christ He will be king for a thousand years, and we will judge this generation in the future.
Today, perhaps some of us have gone to the mainland because of fear, some of us have stopped coming to the gathering because of fear, and some of us want to bribe the government and seek asylum. Here I pray to the Lord. Let them also let us not forget our identity as the prince of God. We are not orphans, nor children of men, nor children of the devil, but children of God. God will take care of us, and God will fight for us. We are now working together with the Lord to preach the gospel to all nations, and in the future we will reign with the Lord and rule the world for a thousand years. When we read Genesis, we see that God’s promises to the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, did not seem to be fulfilled when they were living on earth. If we continue to read, we will see that the promises were indeed fulfilled, and It will be fulfilled again when the Lord comes again.
As long as we live on this earth and as long as the Lord has not come again, troubles and dangers are inevitable; but we must not forget that we are the princes of the God of Israel, and God will fight for us. . May the Lord give us faith that will never waver.
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