YAB-BOKE’ A Place of Total Surrender
Gen 32:22
And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two women servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Yab-boke’
1. Yab-boke’ …. It may not Mean anything to you now
• But I Pray that after you hear this message it will become one of the most important words in your spiritual vocabulary.
2. Yab-boke’ is the place where Jacob wrestled with the Lord.
• It is where he made his total surrender to God.
• It is where he got his new character, and his new name, Israel.
3. It was the place where he cast down his last idol, and won his greatest victory.
4. Yab-boke’ means “a place of passing over”.
• It also stands for struggle; …….to empty and pour out.
• What a glorious truth is revealed in this place called Yab-boke’.
• It has everything to do with us today.
5. It is the place where God’s people discover the secret of power over every besetting sin.
• It represents a life and death crisis - one that leads to absolute surrender to the Lord
• We must face ourselves and be emptied of all evil desires and selfish ambitions.
II The children of Israel in the O.T. made three major crossings
A. The first was the Red Sea crossing
• The Red Sea Crossing in a believers life represents coming out of the world.
• It speaks of a new start. …….It symbolizes “getting saved”
• A lot of God’s people come out of Egypt, but they never get into the Promised Land.
• Like the Children of Israel they get stuck in the wilderness of unbelief, fear, and confusion.
• They leave the world system behind them …..but they never enter the joy of the Lord.
B. Another crossing that was required was the Jordan!
• In order to enter the promised Land Israel had to cross over the Jordan
• It was a crossing by faith because remember it was at flood stage when God told them to cross
• The Jordan represents a commitment to go on with the Lord into deeper things
• Repentance…salvation….Baptism! …Bible reading! Witnessing! A desire to
grow in Christ!
• It is a passing over into a life of daily praise as one journeys by faith
following the Lord.
• For many, the Promised Land represents the fullness of the Holy Spirit. A
baptism in, and with, the Holy Ghost.
6. One might ask but Pastor Steve isn’t that all there is…what more is there
• A Promised Land? …..A spiritual Canaan for the children of God?
• Getting Saved, baptized, and filled with the Holy Ghost to overflowing and having a joy unspeakable and full of Glory?
• Listen….The children of Israel entered their Promised Land….. They received their inheritance.
• But they never did enter into the rest God wanted them to have!
• These God-fearing children of God, Spirit led, still had sin in their hearts! They had hearts that held onto secret lust and idolatry. The writer to the Hebrews said they held on to unbelief.
7. How tragic that the same is true of many today.
• Multitudes of Spirit-filled, Spirit-led believers have never known the true rest of God!
• Their peace is disturbed by a troubled conscience.
• God said Israel “...could not enter in because of unbelief ...
• and then He said, there remaineth yet a rest to the people of God...” (Hebrew. 3:19 - 4:9).
But there is a third crossing at Yab-boke’
1. Yab-boke’ was a tributary of the Jordan River. …It was a very secluded and lonely place.
2. Our Yab-boke’ is a lonely place and must be faced alone.
• You can cross the Red Sea with a mighty host of the redeemed who leave Egypt shouting
• You can cross the Jordan with the victorious army of the Lord all about you.
• But you will cross Yab boke’ all alone!
• No counselors, no friends, no helpers. ….This is a private moment…between you and the Lord alone.
Gen 32:24 tells reads, “And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day”
3. Yab-boke’ is where the “Jacob” in us (which represents our fleshly man) is given its final death blow.
• It is where God deals with us not only about our sin, but about our very character.
• Jacob was a troubled, desperate man.
• He was returning after many years, to claim his inheritance.
• Esau, the brother he had stolen the family birthright from, was headed in his direction with an army of 400 men.
A. Jacob had matured in many ways over the past 20 years.
• He was now a loving father. ….
• He was obedient ….He was following the Lord’s command to return home.
• He loved truth. ….He was a humble man …..He was a praying man.
• Listen to his prayer: “O God, I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant...” (Gen. 32:10).
B. But this humble, obedient, praying, God-fearing, truth-loving servant of God was still walking by sight (The sin of unbelief was still working in him)
• He was giving in to a dangerous power to avoid trouble.”
• Peace at any cost always includes compromise!
• Instead of trusting God in his crisis, he designed Plan A B C
• He tried to think his way through his problems and solve them Himself
C. Jacob divided his cattle into separate droves, sending them on ahead to soften his brother’s heart.
• He would bombard Esau with wave after wave of gifts ……goats, camels, bulls, sheep, donkeys, and rams. …
• after all he bought Esau off before with a bowl of beans didn’t he
• Listen …..“For he said, I will appease him...” (v. 20).
• Appeasement! That is what multitudes of Christians are into!
• They give in to a dangerous power, because they are afraid they are helpless!
• You hear it everywhere nowadays “I just can’t help it! I don’t want to do it. I hate my sin. But in spite of all my efforts, I give in and fail!
• The devil made me do it…Thats appeasement….thats giving in….that an excuse for your sin
D. So over and over again, we appease! …..We sin and then confess, then we weep and confess again,
• We try to think our way out. …We apply our schemes, we justify our excuses, – But all in vain.
• We give in to the haunting sin that SO EASILY BESETS US….It is called the sin of unbelief
• Obedient! Praying! Seeking the truth! Humble! Loving! Kind! God-fearing! People of God
• But there is still that fly in the ointment!
• There is still a secret closet deep in our heart and we keep the door locked.
• A secret place not yet totally yielded. …..Not yet under the total Lordship of Christ.
Let Me Show You What Must Happen at Yab boke’!
1. At YAB BOKE – “Religion” Gives Way to Spirituality!
• One can be very religious and not be at all spiritual.
• You can go to church and not be spiritual….did you know that
A. Jacob had had a very religious experience at Bethel as he traveled to find a wife among his own people,
• “ (Gen. 28:12). Says “And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold the angels of God ascending and descending it ... God appeared and made a covenant with him! It was a promise of material blessings -
• “I will give you the land whereon thou liest ... I will bless thy seed ... (v.13,14).
• Jacob cried out - “How awesome - the Lord is in this place” (vs. 16,17).
• Jacob called the place Bethel, and proceeded to make a deal with God.
Jacob says “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God.... If you bless me, I will surely give you back the tenth...” (Gen. 28:20-22).
B. Think of it! God is in the place - the heavens are open! Angels appear! God speaks!
• What a supernatural, religious experience!
• And all Jacob can see out of it is a deal for land, food, clothes, prosperity, and success in all his ways!…. It was strictly a religious experience.
C. Bethel is the popular religion of our day.
• Like Jacob, covetous spirits interpret God’s promises in materialistic ways.
• Some only see God for what they can get out of the deal
• To them, the atonement means only health, wealth, and prosperity,
• They are blind to the true meaning of Christ’s victory on the Cross.
• His power over sin! The suffering and serving willingly to advance His kingdom on earth!
• To endure hardship, and suffer the loss of all things, if necessary, to gain an incorruptible crown.
D. What about the multitudes who worship at Bethel?
• What about all the preachers and teachers who are stuck at Bethel - claiming the Bethel promises?
• Like Jacob they may have experienced great revelations, seen angels, and perhaps have heard from God.
• But at Bethel - the flesh is still in control –
• It is a place of religion - but not true spirituality.
• It is a partial revelation. That goes for all the blessings while ignoring the deep inner struggle!
• Bethel is being in the presence of the Lord without dealing with the Jacob nature! …..That can only happen at Yab-boke’
2. Yab-boke’ Is A Place of Absolute Surrender!
• It is a place of total victory over your doubts and your fears
• Yab-Boke is the place of victory over every besetting sin!
• You are not ready for Yab-boke’ until you are desperate!
• Your burden of sin must bring you to a life or death crisis.
A. What a crisis Jacob faced.
• On one side, Esau (his past) was closing in on him.
• On the other side stood the Lord Himself, and a host of heavenly witnesses.
• He could go no further. ….It was the absolute end of the line!
• Outside of a miracle, he was a dead man.
• His sins had caught up with him.
• For over twenty years he had been able to bluff his way through.
• He had survived on his cunning cover ups. And his silver tongue ability to smooth talk anyone
• But today Jacob could not cover up or smoothh talk his way out of this situation
B. Jacob was forced to expose himself before the awesome presence of the Lord
• Jacob for the first time would see himself for what he was! ….All night long the battle raged.
• This time Jacob meant business! He wanted to be free..He wanted deliverance.
C. As he wrestled with the Angel (the Lord) the angel asked him his name in Gen 32:27
• “And He said unto him, what is thy name? And he said, Jacob!”
• Jacob knew what his name stood for: “heel grabber” or trickster
• What the Lord was saying to Jacob was this:
• “Look at yourself …See who you rally are…No excuses now!
• For once in your life, face reality! Face the truth - be deadly honest - or there will be no victory!”
• Out it all comes - all the pent-up fears and confessions:
• “Oh, Lord! I’m a phony! I’m so religious outwardly, but inwardly I’m a cheat! I’m a grabber! I’ve played with fire too long! I’ve been excusing my actions, justifying my sins. Forgive, O Lord ....”
• At Yab-boke’, Christ delivers us from our besetting sin by changing our very character.
“And he said, thy name shall be called no more Jacob,(trickster) but Israel, for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed...” (Gen 32:38).
II. Our Lord is not interested simply in our getting victory over certain sins.
• He wants to change us into new people with pure hearts and clean hands.
• We need a character change.
• It took only one desperate night of facing the truth. …One night of struggle with the old nature!
2. The Lord saw Jacobs desperation, heard his pitiful plea - and touched him!
• The Lord purposely weakened him! He put his thigh out of joint!
• One of the greatest miracles the Lord can perform in our behalf is to cripple all our human efforts and make us totally dependent on Him.
• You will hobble away from Yab-boke’ humbled and crippled
• But you will be able to shout, “Oh, Lord, I’ve made my total surrender.
• I’ve laid down all my sins. …My idol has been crushed.
Now as I bring this message to a conclusion I want you to see that…
3. Yab-boke’ is the Place Of An Open Heaven
• God reveals Himself only to those who “get rid of their guile.”
• Guile is deceit, dishonesty, secret sin!
• Listen to the promise Jesus made to Nathaniel, one of the twelve disciples in the NT in Jn 1:47-51
“Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.... Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believe thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these...” “Verily, verily, I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man...”
• Only Nathaniel was given this promise –
• You will see things few others see. ….
• A full revelation is yours because you have no guile in you!
Here’s the wonderful part of this Journey with Jacob
• Jacob renamed Yab-boke’ “Pen-iel”. …It means “the face of God.”
• “Because I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved...” (Gen.32:30).
• Jacob went from a religious man to a spiritual man.
• No more talk about material blessings - lands, food, clothes, success.
• He had seen God and he had been touched. ….He’s not wheeling and dealing with God. He’s not talking about cattle or lands and wealth He’s talking about God. The heavens once again opened top him
• The ladder appears once again with angels ascending and descending.
• Jacob had wasted over twenty years.
• He could have enjoyed years of an open heaven.
• He could have had unity with his brother and Laban. But the heavens had closed to him - because of his guile. Secret sin, pride, unbelief, fear of his past trickery and deception
Altar call: Bow your heads
1. Salvation………………
2. Hidden sin
