TOUCHED BY GOD
[Genesis 32:22-32]
FCC 8-24-08
1. Hidden treasures:
a) June 6, 2003—A National Geographic team working with Iraqi and U.S. military authorities recovered one of the greatest archaeological treasure troves of all time.
• A vault was discovered below the Central Bank in Baghdad, where they found priceless objects from royal tombs.
• The Nimrud treasures -- date from the eighth and ninth centuries B.C. consist of gold jewelry, precious metals and other artifacts.
• It is considered to be one of the richest discoveries of the century.
b) In 1947, two Bedouin boys were looking after some sheep and goats at Qumran, by the North West cliffs of the Dead Sea.
• One of the boys threw a rock into a cave hoping to scare out any animal that was lurking in there.
• Instead of a sheep or goat scurrying out, they heard pottery breaking.
• The two boys crept into the cave and there on the floor, stuffed in pottery jars were scrolls made out of leather, they discovered the famous Dead Sea Scrolls.
2. Many priceless treasures have been discovered by accident.
a) We are going to look at a hidden treasure in the Bible.
b) It is a story so insignificant, so hidden amongst the great events of the Bible that it is nearly overlooked.
c) Yet it is so huge, that God chose to name a nation after it.
I. THE EVENT: GOD WRESTLES WITH MAN!
1. How many saw Hulk Hogan wrestling with Rocky Balboa in the movie: Rocky III?
a) Hulk Hogan became the most famous face of the WWF, World Wrestling Federation.
b) The Bible has its own version of WWF, but it would stand for “Wrestling with the Father.”
c) The famous man who wrestled with the Father, was a man named Jacob.
d) Jacob both won and lost that match with God.
e) Instead of carrying away a belt of victory, he carried away a permanent limp but he also received a new title from God: “Israel” (meaning: he struggles with God).
2. We will begin with the wrestling match.
a) Then we will do a flashback on how Jacob found himself in the ring with God.
b) And finally, we will see what happens when a person successfully wrestles with God and doesn’t quit.
3. Please turn to Genesis Chapter 32.
a) We have a ring-side seat to the most famous wrestling match of all time!
b) Genesis 32:22 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 New International Version (NIV)
4. Remember back when we were kids?
a) There was that other kid that we dreaded to see.
b) We would either rely on
• our fists,
• our feet,
• or our wits to get us out of trouble
• …and we are probably still using the same tactics today as an adult.
c) Jacob was a runner.
d) He spent his entire life running from his problems and running from one bad relationship after another.
e) This time though, by divine appointment, he ran straight into the arms of God.
f) At first he fought to get away and then he fought to stay with God.
5. The night of the wrestling match:
a) Jacob sent his family and possessions across the river.
b) He was all alone,
his life was in ruins,
All he had left was prayer.
6. It was exactly where God wanted him to be.
a) That’s when God made his move!
b) If you are already a Christian, you probably remember when God first grabbed you.
c) Maybe it was a broken time in your life that God sent a messenger to you to get your attention.
d) When Jacob was left alone, (and) a man wrestled with him till daybreak. Genesis 32:24 New International Version (NIV)
7. He struggled throughout the night with that unknown stranger.
a) The identity of Jacob’s attacker gradually began to dawn on him.
b) He must have considered the possibility that he was in the presence of an angel.
c) The first verse of this same chapter says, Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. When Jacob saw them, he said, "This is the camp of God!" Genesis 32:1 New International Version (NIV)
8. Jacob had avoided his problems all of his life.
a) He was a master at running away.
b) Not doing what God wanted him to do.
c) Like Jesus saying, Wake up! Strengthen what you have left before it dies completely. I have found that what you are doing is less than what my God wants. Revelation 3:2 New Century Version (NCV)
9. This heavenly wrestler could have defeated Jacob anytime he wished.
a) His power is seen by the fact that he disabled Jacob with a touch.
b) The …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… Genesis 32:24b-26a New International Version (NIV)
c) What kind of grip do we have on God?
10. Jacob wouldn’t give up on God.
a) He found himself desperately clinging to God and asking for his blessing.
b) …"I will not let you go unless you bless me." Genesis 32:26 New International Version (NIV)
c) A new day was dawning when 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. Genesis 32:28-29 New International Version (NIV)
11. The wrestler identified himself.
a) He said that Jacob had struggled with God.
b) He also said that He had struggled with man.
c) Is it possible that God and man could be in the same person?
d) John 14:7-11 Jesus said, If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ’Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. New International Version (NIV)
e) The One who blessed Jacob, who looked and felt like a man, identified himself as God.
12. Names have meanings.
a) 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." Genesis 32:27-28 New International Version (NIV)
b) What kind of name have we earned so far?
Peacemaker?
Destroyer?
Edifier?
Criticizer?
Runner?
Fixer?
Prodigal?
Child of God?
c) Jacob means “cheater, one who grabs (or ambushes) from behind.”
His new name, Israel, means “he struggles with God.”
Israel got her name by the description of people who struggle with God.
13. Jacob lost and won at the same time.
a) …he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man…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 32:25, 32 New International Version (NIV)
b) Jacob emerged broken and blessed.
c) His limp would be a lasting proof of the reality of the struggle; it had not been a dream.
14. He had an injury that he would carry the rest of his life, a testimony that would be told for all generations.
a) Jacob had always longed for spiritual things but he had been going about it in the wrong way.
b) He received a new start by getting alone, praying and holding on to God.
c) The new name would show his new standing; it was a badge of grace.
d) That’s what the name “Christian” is for us—a new name and fresh start.
15. God has many ways to “grab our attention.”
a) He wants us to make right, God-pleasing choices.
b) Like the example of self-righteous Saul, the Pharisee.
Saul sought spiritual things but he was going about it the wrong way.
Jesus struggled with him, gave him a new name (Paul) and turned him into a fully devoted follower of Christ!
c) Paul reflects, I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize. My friends, I don’t feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. Philippians 3:12-13 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
16. Why would God want to wrestle with any man (woman, teen or child)?
a) Because He loves us!
b) God wants us to pursue Him and follow Him according to His plans and not on our own terms!
c) God knew that Jacob loved Him but He insisted that Jacob do things God’s way.
II. EVENTS LEADING UP TO JACOB BEING IN THE RING WITH GOD
1. Jacob was sneaky.
a) Yet, God saw something valuable in him.
b) He saw Jacob’s desire for spiritual things and turned him into a treasure.
c) God can do the same with our life!
d) Ephesians 2:4-10 says …because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:4-10 New International Version (NIV)
2. Here is the “before” picture of Jacob:
a) He is introduced to us in Genesis 25 and he leaves us 10 chapters later in Genesis 35.
b) His parents named him: “Jacob” meaning "cheater, one who grabs from behind, one who takes the possessions of others (thief)."
c) Not a very flattering name but one that aptly describes his character.
3. Some of us fought with a brother or sister when we were growing up.
a) Genesis 25:22 says these two brothers were fighting each others even in their mother’s womb!
b) Genesis 25:22, The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the LORD. The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other and the older will serve the younger. When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Genesis 25:22, 25-26 New International Version (NIV)
4. The little heel-grabber…Jacob.
a) I want to be born first!
• No! Me!
• You’ll have to fight me for it!
b) But, God determined the birth order according to His own plans, and Esau was stronger.
c) This struggle for dominance was far from over.
5. As the brothers were growing up.
a) Esau was a man of the earth, a man’s man.
b) Genesis 25:25 describes Esau: “The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau (means “Hairy/red”). Genesis 25:25 New International Version (NIV)
c) He’s Daddy’s favorite.
• Sportsman,
• outdoorsman,
6. As in most families, Jacob is the opposite.
a) He hangs out around the kitchen.
b) Scheming, ambitious.
c) He’s mom’s favorite.
7. As firstborn, Esau was set to inherit the “Birthright & the Blessing.”
a) The birthright:
It would give him a double portion of the estate upon the father’s death and headship of the family.
He would also become the spiritual leader of the family.
b) The blessing:
All his life Esau longed for and waited for his father’s verbal blessing.
The blessing was those long awaited words of love and approval.
Words that predicted a successful future full of God’s blessings and his father’s own favor.
This too, was a spiritual blessing.
8. Jacob took Esau’s Birthright.
a) Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” …Jacob replied, “First sell me your Birthright.” “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.” Genesis 25:29-34 New International Version (NIV)
b) Satan will gladly trade us a bowl of bean stew for our soul!
c) Now that Jacob had the birthright, Jacob would be responsible for his mother’s welfare and provision for the family.
9. Esau’s life reflected his contempt for the things of God.
a) Esau married not one woman outside of his faith, but two!
b) Genesis 26:34-35 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah. New International Version (NIV)
• Do you know the meaning of the proverb: “Decide in haste, repent in leisure?”
• Esau had time to reflect over his life…and repent of his poor choices.
40 years old,
2 bad marriages,
disappointment to his parents,
lost the family business to his little brother…that little crook!
He took advantage of my weak moment!
He ruined my life!
He could have easily thought: “This is all his fault!”
10. At least, Esau could still look forward to The Blessing from his father!
a) The long awaited day finally arrived!
b) The Bible says father Isaac was 137 years old (the same age his brother had died (Genesis 25:17)).
c) That’s probably why he thought he was dying (he would live another 43 years).
d) Isaac asked his eldest, his favorite son Esau, to hunt and prepare him a meat dish, and then he would give him his personal blessing.
11. Mother Rebekah overheard the words between her husband and her eldest son.
a) She knew the youngest son, her favorite, now had the birthright.
b) Jacob had the responsibility of caring for her in her old age.
c) So, she wanted her husband’s blessing to go to him as well.
Esau went out to hunt.
Mom ordered Jacob to bring in two young goats so she could cook a dish for her husband.
She took goatskins and tied it to Jacob’s arms and the back of his neck to match the hairy skin of his brother.
She dressed him in Esau’s clothes, which smelled like Esau.
Jacob carried the meal to his blind father Isaac.
He smelled the clothes of Esau.
He touched the hairy arms and neck with the goatskin on it.
His father ate.
12. Then he delivered Esau’s long-awaited blessing…to the wrong kid:
a) ““Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me. So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness—an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.” After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, "My father, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing." His father Isaac asked him, "Who are you?" "I am your son," he answered, "your firstborn, Esau." Isaac trembled violently and said, "Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him--and indeed he will be blessed!" When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, "Bless me—me too, my father!" But he said, "Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing." Esau said, "Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing! Genesis 27:26-36a New International Version (NIV)
14. Muhammad Ali said when he was a child his parents gave him a brand new bicycle but, a few days later, someone stole it.
a) A policeman asked him what he was going to do if he caught the boy who stole it and Ali said he didn’t know.
b) That police officer bonded with Ali, took him and taught him how to box.
c) Ali says, “To this day, I never found my bike but every time I got into the ring I would look across to my opponent and I would say to myself, “That is the guy who stole my bike!””
d) Verse 41, Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob." When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. Genesis 27:32-35, 41-43 New International Version (NIV)
15. Jacob ran for his life to Uncle Laban as his mother instructed.
a) Sin has a terrible pricetag.
b) He would spend the next 20 years running from his past!
c) He would never see his dad again – he died.
d) He had been very close to his mother, but would never see her again.
e) When Mom joined her son in sneakiness, she ultimately lost everything precious to her!
f) Because of their trickery, the family would never be together again.
g) Jacob made a fool out of Esau, a mockery of brotherhood, and ruination of the family.
h) He would find out later what it felt like to be tricked by others (what goes around…).
i) If you don’t already know this story, read it this week.
16. Jacob ran from conflict with his uncle Laban too.
a) Genesis 31:20-21 …Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. So he fled with all he had, and crossing the River, he headed for the hill country of Gilead. New International Version (NIV)
b) “Jacob deceived Laban”
c) “He was running away”
d) “He fled with all he had”
e) De Ja Fool.
17. He ran out of the frying pan and into the fire!
a) Hostile Laban was behind Jacob.
b) Nothing good was ahead.
c) Genesis 32:6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, "We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him." New International Version (NIV)
d) Laban is behind me and Esau—with 400 men—is coming toward me!
e) There is no where else to run, no one to turn to for help!
18. The turning point in his life came when instead of running Jacob tried praying.
a) “I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to turn.”
b) Then Jacob prayed…"He spent the night there… Genesis 32:9, 13 New International Version (NIV)
c) At last, God is invited into Jacob’s ruined life!
d) Jacob is given a new name, a fresh start and God’s blessings.
III. A RESULT OF THE WRESTLING MATCH WITH GOD
1. Esau did the unexpected—you might say the miraculous.
a) He ran to meet limping Jacob.
b) Esau’s anger disappeared in a rush of emotion after seeing his brother after all these years of separation.
c) Jacob’s fears were proved to be groundless.
2. By God’s grace, twenty years of betrayal, resentment, and fear was resolved in one reunion, in one instant, in one day.
a) Christ wants us to reconcile, to come together with those we have feelings of hostility toward.
b) It doesn’t matter if we are the offender or the offended.
c) God wants healing of broken relationships.
d) It must begin with our relationship with God, then we will have God’s power to tear down walls of hostility with man.
e) Ephesians 2:13-15 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility…His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace… New International Version (NIV)
3. Esau ran to Jacob, kissed him, and called him "my brother."(Gen 33:9).
a) He was not the monster Jacob had feared him to be.
b) Esau had gone through a lot of growth and changes, too.
c) Before he said, "I will kill my brother Jacob"(Gen 27:41).
d) The second time he said to Jacob, "I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself." Genesis 33:9 New International Version (NIV)
e) When Jacob faced life God’s way, everything came together.
f) His bad relationship with Esau was healed.
4. Ernest Hemingway, in his short story, Capital of the World, tells about a father and son who lived in Spain.
a) The son could never live up to the father’s high expectations.
b) The son finally left.
c) The father longed to see his son again and tell him all was forgiven.
d) He placed an ad in the Madrid paper: “Dear Paco, please meet me in front of the newspaper office tomorrow at noon. All is forgiven. Signed, dad.”
e) The next morning, 800 lost, homeless boys named Paco were lined up in front of the newspaper office.
f) We all need to receive and need to give forgiveness.
g) Not like the two sisters who kept up their feud for 30 years. On Matilda’s 70th birthday, Alice felt a pang of remorse, but it passed. Yet later, when she heard that Matilda was ill, she felt compelled to visit. From her sickbed, Matilda looked sternly at her sister. At last she said in a faint voice, “The doctors say I’m seriously ill, Alice. If I pass away, I want you to know you’re forgiven. But, if I pull through, things stay as they are!”
a) In Matthew 6:14 Jesus says, “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you. If you do not forgive men their sins, your father will not forgive your sins.”
b) We cannot get into heaven unless our sins are forgiven!
c) But God will not forgive our sins if we will not forgive those who have sinned against us.
5. When East Berlin was divided from West Berlin, a group of East Berliners dumped a whole truckload of garbage on the west side.
a) The people in West Berlin could easily have retaliated, but instead, they took a truckload of canned goods, bread and milk and neatly lowered them on the East Berlin side. They put a sign on their gift that read: “Each gives what he has to give.”
b) When a wall of hostility and division exists each one will give what he has to give.
c) Jacob gave deceit, always taking, always running from bad relationships and lives he ruined.
d) Israel stopped running and began restoring what was broken.
6. In a world filled with hate, let’s give love.
a) In a world filled with errors and sin, let’s give forgiveness.
b) In a world that condemns people for past mistakes and underperformance, let’s offer new beginnings.
c) Because …if we say we love God and don’t love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don’t love the people we can see? The commandment that God has given us is: "Love God and love each other!" 1 John 4:20-21 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
INVITATION:
1. God loved Jacob’s desire for spiritual things.
a) He helped Jacob stop running and face his problems without being underhanded.
b) Even our desire for spiritual things should be pursued according to God’s will and not our own.
c) Jacob’s relationship with his brother was healed only after he did things God’s way.
d) Giving forgiveness, he received forgiveness, both from God and from man.
