GRAB ONTO GOD AND DON'T LET GO

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants 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 men 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

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In today’s message, we go back to the future a little bit, dropping back into the 32nd chapter of Genesis to look at an event that occurred before he was reunited with his older brother Esau, the very brother that he had cheated out of an inheritance.

We know that Jacob knew the encounter was looming and he feared what was ahead, feeling certain that Esau was coming with his army to exact revenge on him his prior  deceitfulness.

The scriptures tell us that it was evening and Jacob had sent his entire family ahead of him, "across the stream" and with "all his possessions." Left alone, we’re not privy to what Jacob’s exact thoughts are but we do read where he is feeling "fear and distress" (32:7), feelings that had led him to exclaim in prayer:

"Save me, I pray from the hands of my brother Esau." (32:11).

Through his words, Jacob asked for God to enter in and as we see in today’s passage, God answered.

For we read where "a man wrestled with” Jacob “till daybreak". At first, we’re not told who the man is. We only know that the wrestling match lasts hours with neither Jacob or the one he wrestled gaining victory. In fact, the man is so desperate to end the match that he tries to injure Jacob’s hip to get him to let go. The scriptures tell us that a mere “touch” of Jacob’s hip caused it to be “wrenched” and yet, Jacob wouldn’t surrender. He never let go of his grip.

Indeed, we see where Jacob is determined and demanding, refusing to submit to the man unless he received a blessing. We read where this request prompted the man to ask Jacob for his name and when he shared it, the man lets him know that he would now be known as Israel.

Now, we’ve examined the importance of biblical names in a prior message and as we see in this passage, the matter is a running theme throughout the Bible. In the context of this story in Genesis, chapter 32, it’s important to note that the name, Jacob, translated to "he who supplants", or put in other words, "he who supersedes another by force or treachery". We know that Jacob truly lived up to that name when he duped his own father, Isaac, to take what was rightfully his brother Esau’s. We also need to remember that there were also the times of deception with King Abimalek and Jacob’s uncle Laban.  

But that was then and a new era was dawning for Jacob now that he would bear the name “Israel”.

For when we look at the meaning of that name, here’s what we find:

"You have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”

Born out of the wrestling match between Jacob and we later learn is God, Jacob emerges as Israel, the man God blesses before departing. Indeed, Jacob had overcome his encounter with God and as result, he was transformed into Israel, knowing that he had been in the very presence of the Lord Himself.

And so, now limping because of his injured hip, we find Israel about to move forward to meet his brother and a future life where he will indeed struggle with men and overcome.

You know, this account holds great significance for us because we are so much like Jacob. For we all have things that we struggle with and sometimes we find ourselves in direct conflict between our sinfulness and the Lord’s holiness as we seek to try and please Him.

Truly, there is a battle that rages with us, a wrestling match if you may as God tries to gain a hold on us that will never be broken while sin seeks to separate us from that hold. Too often, we let sin get the upper hand but this doesn’t stop God from continuing to wrestle with us for He ever pursues us with dogged determination and a love that refuses to give up.

If only we would exhibit the same determination and love toward not letting go of Him, right?.

Going back to Jacob, we saw where he had let go of God too many times in favor of sinful dishonesty but then, something awesome happens as highlighted in the scriptures. For Jacob latches onto God so hard that God wasn’t willing to escape, even though He had the power to do so. We read that it was only after He gives special blessing to Jacob that He releases from the grip, leaving Jacob a better man than before.

Indeed, in becoming Israel, Jacob emerged as a changed person from his God encounter and he would never deceive another again or supersede through force or treachery.

We need to know and trust that God is ready to transform us as well but only if we are ready to let go of sin and hold onto God in such a way that He won’t be willing to get away, bringing His blessings to us as He did Jacob.

The moral of the story is to grab onto God and don’t let go. As believers, let’s all commit ourselves to do just that.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.