["Pomp and Circumstance"]
For with my staff I passed over this Jordan,
and have now become two bands.
Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother,
from the hand of Esau, for I fear him,
lest he will come and smite me and the mother with the children.
And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good
and make thy seed as the sand of the sea,
which cannot be numbered for multitude.
And he lodged there that same night,
and took of that which came to his hand
a present for Esau his brother.
Two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats,
two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
thirty milch-cammels with their colts,
forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she-asses, and ten foals.
And he delivered them into the hand of his servants,
every drove by themselves, and said unto his servants,
Pass over before me, and put a space
betwixt drove and drove.
And he commanded the foremost, saying,
When ye saw my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee,
saying, Whose art thou, and whither goest thou,
and whose are these before thee?
Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's.
It is a present sent unto my lord Esau,
and behold, he is behind us.
And so commanded he the second and the third,
and all that followed the drove, saying,
On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau when ye find him.
And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us.
For he said, I will appease him with the present
that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face.
Peradventure he will accept of me.
So he went the present over before him,
and himself lodged that night in the company.
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 Jabbok.
And he took them, and sent them over the brook,
and sent over that he had.
And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him
unto the breaking of the day.
When he saw that he prevailed not against him,
he touched the hollow of his thigh,
and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint,
as he wrestled with him.
And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh.
And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
And he said unto him, What is thy name?
And he said, Jacob.
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob,
but Israel, for as a prince hast thou power with God
and with men, and hast prevailed.
And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me I pray thee thy name.
And he said, Wherefore is it that thou just ask after my name?
And he blessed him there.
And Jacob called the name of the place Penuel,
for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
And as he passed over Penuel, the sun rose upon him,
and he halted upon his thigh.
Therefore the trail of Israel eaten out of the sinew
would shrink, which is upon the hollow of the thigh,
unto this day, because he touched the hollow
of Jacob's thigh, and the sinew that shrank.
Let's pray to the Lord God.
Thank you for this church.
Thank you for our pastor.
Just ask that you would fill in with your Holy Spirit now
as he preaches a word unto us.
And pray that we be edified by the preaching.
And in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
OK, we're in Genesis chapter 32 this morning.
Look down at verse 27.
It says, And he said unto him, What is thy name?
And he said, Jacob.
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob,
but Israel, for as a prince hast thou power with God
and with men, and hast prevailed.
And the title of my sermon this morning
is No More Jacob, But Israel.
No More Jacob, But Israel.
This morning I want to do a character analysis
on the Bible character Jacob.
Now if you're reading through your Bible reading schedules,
if you got one last week, you probably already read
through this particular story.
And of course it spans over a couple of chapters.
And it's very interesting to look at the life of Jacob
because of the fact that he's played such an important role
in the history of Israel, right?
I mean, we know him to be Jacob, but he's also named Israel.
He's essentially the father of the 12 tribes of Israel.
He's often described Old Testament, New Testament,
when they talk about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And so he's a very important person in the Bible,
but he's not without flaw.
He's not without error.
And we're going to look at that this morning,
some of the things that characterize Jacob
and how God wanted to change him from Jacob to Israel.
Now we're going to look at the story in Genesis 32
in just a bit, but go back to Genesis 25, if you would,
Genesis chapter 25.
First and foremost, let's talk about his name, Jacob, okay?
People in the Bible that were named a specific name or so,
it's often because it carries with it a connotation.
It has a definition along with it.
And it's no different with Jacob.
Jacob actually means deceiving,
Jacob actually means deceiver and supplanter, okay?
Someone who is deceptive, someone who lies,
someone who's conniving.
This is essentially what Jacob means, okay?
And it's fitting for Jacob because of the fact
that he is a deceiver.
He is a supplanter.
He is conniving.
He's a plotter.
And we're going to see that from the beginning of his life
all the way to Genesis chapter 32.
Now, before we get into the actual points
that characterize Jacob,
let me start off by saying by way of introduction
that God had actually already intended
to bless Jacob from the womb, okay?
God already had a plan for Jacob.
He wanted to bless him.
He wanted to use him greatly.
He had a specific plan for Jacob.
And the reason I want to say that is because of the fact
that it kind of shows you, you know,
Jacob didn't have to do all these things.
He didn't have to be deceptive.
He didn't have to be conniving.
He didn't have to plot against his brother,
you know, conspire with his mother.
Why?
Because God had already chosen and already planned
to bless him anyways.
Look at verse 23, if you would.
It says, and the Lord said unto her,
two nations are in thy womb,
and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels.
The one people shall be stronger than the other people,
and the elder shall serve the younger.
So right off the bat, God is telling Rebecca here,
hey, you're going to have twins,
and essentially Jacob is going to rule over Esau.
Now, what he's referring to is actually the nations
that shall come forth out of Jacob and Esau.
Of course, we know that the nation that shall come forth
out of Jacob is Israel, and the nation that shall come forth
out of Esau is Edom.
And he's saying there that Israel will be stronger
than Edom, and Israel will rule over Edom,
essentially marking the fact that God is going to bless
the descendants and the progeny of Jacob.
So she's already telling her this,
and I'm sure this is something that was communicated
unto Jacob as a means to kind of cast vision in his life.
So the point that I'm making here is the fact
that God was already planning to bless them.
He was already planning to bless him, to use him greatly.
Therefore, there was no need to be conniving and deceptive
and to go through all these actions that he took
against his family in order to be blessed of God.
So let's look at some of the characteristics
of Jacob here.
Number one, first and foremost,
I want you to notice that he is opportunistic.
Jacob was very opportunistic.
What do I mean by that?
Well, based upon the story, we see that he's known
for exploiting people's vulnerabilities
for his benefit and gain.
Look at verse 29, if you would.
Of course, now there Jacob and Esau are older.
It says here in verse 29, and Jacob sawed pottage.
Of course, earlier we see that Jacob is a plain man
dwelling in tents.
He's not necessarily an outdoors person.
Esau is, he's a hunter.
And so Jacob is in his tent.
He's making pottage.
It says in verse 29, Esau came from the field
and he was faint.
And Esau said to Jacob,
feed me I pray thee with the same red pottage
for I am faint, therefore was his name called Edom.
And Jacob said, sell me this day thy birthright.
So what do we have here?
We have Esau.
He's out hunting.
He's an outdoors person.
He's under the Middle Eastern sun all day,
just working physically.
And he finds himself on a day
where maybe he just didn't catch anything at all.
He's faint.
He's famished.
He's probably dehydrated.
He needs food.
He comes to his brother.
He's like, feed me.
And his brother's like, well, sell me your birthright
or I'll feed you.
I mean, that's pretty wicked.
I mean, these guys are blood brothers.
They're family.
And even if they weren't, just common courtesy
for any person is to say, oh, yeah, just take some food.
Let me help you replenish here.
You look like you're at the point to die.
But what does Jacob do?
He sees this as an opportunity to seize
upon the blessing of Esau, to take it for himself,
knowing full well that Edom or Esau
is very vulnerable in this state.
He's faint.
He's willing to do anything to get replenished and be fed.
And so he tells him there, sell me this day thy birthright.
Now, it's my assumption here that Jacob,
based upon this statement, Jacob's
been wanting the birthright for a long time,
kind of just looking for an opportunity
to get the birthright.
Because as soon as he asks for the pottage, for the soup,
he's like, oh, yeah, well, give me your birthright,
showing that this is something that's been mulling
over in his mind for a while.
Now, let me give you the principle of the birthright.
Because what is he referring to here?
What is the birthright?
Well, the birthright is referring to the rights
and privileges of the firstborn.
You know, in the Old Testament, many times
the firstborn will receive certain rights and privileges.
They would receive double than the other siblings
as far as possessions, property, resources.
They would essentially also assume authority
over the family if the father passed away, OK?
And authority as the father, so to speak.
If the father were to pass away, they
would receive goods, property.
There's a lot of privileges that they would get.
And so this is very important to Jacob.
But he's a second born, right?
He came after.
He's the heel catcher who comes after Esau.
Esau was born first, even though they're twins.
And he's a couple seconds younger, so to speak,
than Edom.
And so Esau gets that birthright because he's the first born,
so to speak.
But this is what Jacob wants.
He wants the resources.
He wants the property.
He wants all the privileges.
He wants the rights.
And he wants Esau to essentially agree and covet it
that he's going to give him that birthright if he gives them
the pottage.
Look at verse 32.
And Esau said, behold, I am at the point to die.
And what profit shall this birthright do to me?
Sounds like Esau is pretty desperate.
And obviously, anyone who's in that particular state
would be desperate for anything, right?
You know, in the desert, if you are famished,
if you are dehydrated, you can offer anybody in the desert
any amount of money or water.
And they'd say, give me the water, right?
Because obviously, that's a more valuable resource
in that particular situation.
So in Esau's mind, he's like, you know,
a birthright is not going to, you know, quench my thirst.
I need to be fed.
And so what does he do?
He sells it.
Look at verse 33.
And Jacob said, swear to me this day.
And he's swearing to him.
And he sold him his birthright.
He sold his birthright unto Jacob.
Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils.
Now let me just stop right there and say
that it wasn't even good soup.
It's like bean soup.
Lentils?
Really?
You know, it's a lame bowl of soup here.
I don't even know if there's meat in it, right?
He says he gives him bread, a pottage of lentils,
and he did eat and drink and rose up and went his way.
Thus Esau despised his birthright,
meaning he didn't esteem his birthright.
So Esau sells his birthright for a bowl of soup.
And that's how he gives it up.
Now in this particular instance,
aside from the fact that we see that Jacob
is characterized by being an opportunistic fellow,
we also see that unfortunately because of this,
he also pictures Satan.
Because Satan also is an opportunistic being, right?
He looks to try to exploit Christians
when they are the most vulnerable,
when they are the most desperate.
What does he do?
He brings and he tempts with sin.
He tempts with transgressions.
He tempts with a season of pleasure through sin,
and he sells it to you for a bowl of lentils,
something that's not even worth it.
But when you are vulnerable, you're desperate,
you're discouraged, you're going through a tough time,
you're going through a hard situation,
Satan comes and he tries to exploit that vulnerability
and sell you a bowl of lentils.
You know, as Christians,
we also have a birthright in Christ, right?
We have an inheritance with Christ.
We have certain blessings that we inherit
with being children of God.
And the Bible tells us that Satan comes to steal,
to kill, and to destroy.
How does he do it?
He comes when you're most weakest.
He comes when you haven't read your Bible.
He comes when you haven't been in church.
He comes when you've been defrauded.
He comes when you're discouraged.
He comes when you're depressed.
He comes when you're disillusioned.
He comes when you're at your lowest,
and he comes with a bowl of lentils and he says,
sell me your birthright
and I will give you a season of pleasure.
I will sell you a bowl of pleasure.
I will sell you a bowl of sin.
You'll have a great time.
Just sell me your birthright of God's blessing
and I'll give it to you.
But hold on a second.
What does the Bible say?
The Bible says that afterwards,
thy mouth shall be filled with gravel.
And yeah, to the hungry soul,
every bitter thing is sweet.
But you know, after you're done eating
that bowl of lentils,
you're gonna realize this wasn't even worth it.
There's no meat here.
It's a bowl of beans.
It's lentils.
I could have gotten something so much better than this,
but in your desperation, in your vulnerability,
some people are willing to give that up.
You know, they're willing to give up their birthright
for something inferior in quality.
They're willing to give up God's blessing
for a pleasure of sin that only lasts for a season.
And here's the thing is that, you know,
often when people allow themselves
or when they sell their birthright
for a bowl of beans,
they consume it.
They might even enjoy it for a season,
but then afterwards, they what?
They regret it.
And then they realize what they've lost later on, right?
And it's like what it says in Proverbs 20
when the buyer says it is not, it is not.
But then he goeth his way, and then he boasts, right?
And what happens to that person who regrets?
What happens to that person who repents?
Sometimes they want to get the blessing back.
They want to get the privileges back.
They want the birthright back.
But guess what?
It's too late.
You've already sold your birthright.
And in fact, let me read to you
from Hebrew chapter 11 verse 16.
Speaking of Esau, you don't have to turn there.
It says, lest there be any fornicator
or profane person as Esau,
who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
For ye know how that afterward,
when he would have inherited the blessing,
he was rejected.
For he found no place of repentance.
Listen to this.
Though he sought it carefully with tears.
You know, you can get to a point
where you sell your birthright.
You sell the blessing.
There's certain privileges you get as a Christian
that you can forfeit because of sin.
And you know what?
At the end, when you begin to cry and weep
and repent and lament over the lost,
guess what?
It's too late.
There's certain blessings that come.
It's only redeemable for one.
And if you choose to sell that birthright,
you choose to sell that blessing,
guess what?
You can repent.
You can be remorseful.
You can cry.
You can weep and lament.
But it's never going to come back to you
because that's just the way the ball bounces.
That's the way the cookie crumbles.
And that is the way Jacob, the deceiver,
the supplanter, the opportunistic fellow operates.
He exploits your vulnerability as a Christian.
And you know what?
This principle applies more so obviously to all of us,
but especially to young people.
Because young people are often tempted.
The Bible talks about the lust of the youth, right?
The sins of the youth.
And they can be tempted to get involved in fornication.
They can be tempted to get involved in things
that are not pleasing unto the Lord
because they're not willing to wait for marriage.
They're not willing to wait for that wedding altar.
And what do they do?
They sell their birthright for a bowl of lentils
and guess what?
They regret it later on.
Amen.
Okay.
And so it's important for us to realize that,
you know, Satan, just like Jacob,
tries to capitalize when you're vulnerable.
I hope that you know your vulnerabilities.
I hope that you know when you are the most discouraged.
I hope you know when you become the most disillusioned.
And let me say this.
All of us go through those stages.
And you need to learn how to manage yourself.
Listen to me.
You need to learn how to manage yourself
when you are discouraged, when you are depressed,
when you're disillusioned,
when you're going through a tough time.
Why?
Because Satan is a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
He's looking to take advantage of you.
And we're not ignorant of his devices, the Bible says.
And so we need to be able to resist Satan
in the day of temptation
and quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one
when we're going through a tough time
because we're vulnerable.
Okay.
We're weak.
There's instances when we're strong in the Lord,
but there's other seasons when we're not.
And it's the seasons when we're not
that we need to make sure we keep our guard up
and say, you know what, Jacob,
that bowl of beans sucks.
I don't even like beans anyways.
I'll just walk a couple extra miles and go to mom
because I know she has a home cooked meal for me anyways.
You know, why not just, you know,
walk a couple more miles and say,
I'm keeping my birthright, by the way.
I know what you're trying to do, Jacob.
I know what you want, Jacob,
but you're not going to have it, Jacob.
So I'm going to go get fed a greater meal.
I'm going to go get fed venison.
I'm going to actually go eat an actual meal
that will satiate my hunger,
and I don't have to sell my birthright for.
It's important.
So Jacob, unfortunately,
pictured Satan in this particular, you know, area.
And so, you know, it's kind of sad
when you see certain good people in the Bible
make really bad mistakes and they end up
becoming a picture of like a really bad person.
You know, think of like Aaron, for example,
in the Bible.
Aaron's really godly.
He's kind of a weak leader, but he's really godly.
But one mistake made him picture the antichrist.
You know, it's just like, be careful
because you might become a byword in a proverb
by your actions.
So Jacob here is opportunistic.
Look at verse 26, if you would.
Verse 26.
So, by the way, Jacob is also characterized
as being a heel catcher.
That's what literally what Jacob means.
Deceiver, supplanter.
Well, it doesn't mean heel catcher,
but that's what he's characterized by.
That's what he's, that's kind of like a label
that people have given to him because of verse 26.
It says, after that came his brother out
and his hand took hold on Esau's heel
and his name was called Jacob and Isaac
was three score years old when she bare them.
So heel catcher has the meaning that
he intrinsically has this nature of using people
for his advantage, for his benefit.
You know, his brother's coming out of the womb
and what does he do?
He goes, oh, let me get on that train too.
He's kind of trying to pull him down
to get himself back up.
And that's essentially how Jacob operates
for the rest of his life.
So from the time of his birth,
he's already trying to grab a hold of Esau,
trying to bring him down,
trying to decrease Esau that he may increase.
Heel catcher, he is using those around him
to exalt himself in order to, you know,
succeed and have God's blessing
in a superficial manner.
Go to chapter 27, if you would, chapter 27.
And I'm sorry if your name is Jacob today.
I'm not preaching against you.
I was talking to Jacob outside.
I was like, I'm preaching against you.
But, you know, it is what it is.
Number two.
So what are some characteristics of Jacob?
Well, number one, he's opportunistic,
but he's also a, number two, schemer.
What does this mean?
It means he makes underhanded plans.
And unfortunately, this is kind of an attribute
that he learns from his mom, okay?
Because both Jacob and his mother
conspire to steal the blessing from Esau,
his brother, Esau, her son.
I mean, this is pretty wicked to conspire,
to get together in order to plot against Esau.
Look at chapter 27 and verse number one.
It says, and it came to pass that when Isaac was old
and his eyes were dimmed so that he could not see,
he called Esau his eldest son and said unto him,
my son, and he said unto him, behold, here am I.
And he said, behold, now I am old.
I know not the day of my death.
Now therefore, take I pray thee thy weapons,
thy quiver, thy bow, and go out to the field
and take me some venison and make me savory meat
such as I love and bring it to me that I may eat,
that my soul may bless thee before I die.
So he's basically saying, hey, you know,
I'm gonna be dying soon and before I die,
I just wanna have a really good meal
and I love your venison.
I like the way you hunt and so make sure you go get that
and then that will be an indication that I can bless you.
Verse five says, and Rebecca, the mother,
heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son
and Esau went to the field to hunt for venison
and to bring it and Rebecca spake unto Jacob her son
saying, behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau
thy brother saying, bring me venison
and make me savory meat that I may eat
and bless thee before the Lord before my death.
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice
according to that which I command thee.
Go now to the flock and fetch me from thence
two good kids of the goats and I will make them savory meat
for thy father such as he love it
and now shall bring it to thy father that he may eat
and that he may bless thee before his death.
Now based upon the story, we obviously see
that Isaac loves Esau and Rebecca loves Jacob
and so there's obviously favorites being played here, right?
And this is a lesson for us
that we should not have favorites with our children.
We should love them all equally and bless them all equally.
Obviously, you know, the older ones
have the strength of their parents, so to speak,
and therefore, they're gonna be more confident at times.
There's certain inherent blessings
that come with the firstborn,
but in general, the parents should favor both, right?
They shouldn't be scheming
and plotting against one over the other.
And the parents definitely shouldn't help
with the plotting and the scheming, right?
She's like, you know, I got an idea.
This is what you can do.
While he's out hunting, I'll just make,
I'll whip something up real quick, give it to your dad,
give it to your dad and he can bless you.
And what he's basically saying is he's gonna agree
or make a covenant with you to bless you.
Therefore, it's kind of forced upon you.
The covenant cannot be broken, okay?
Look at verse 11.
He says, and Jacob said to Rebecca's mother,
behold, Esau, my brother is a hairy man
and I am a smooth man.
So basically, Esau is like, he's like an Armenian guy
and Jacob is like a Filipino, right?
He's like an Asian.
My father, my father's prayer adventure will fill me
and I shall seem to him as a deceiver
and shall bring a curse upon me and not a blessing.
Now, obviously, this is really funny,
the fact that he calls himself a smooth man
and his brother's a hairy man,
but it's actually symbolic of their character, right?
It's symbolic of their attributes
because throughout the Bible,
being smooth is actually associated with deception, okay?
Being a smooth person is actually considered
something that false prophets have.
And in fact, let me read to you from Isaiah chapter 30
and verse number nine,
preaching against the children of Israel,
it says that this is a rebellious people, lying children,
children that will not hear the law of the Lord,
would say to the seers, see not,
and to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things,
speaking to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.
So here we see that smooth is synonymous
with being deceptive.
And you know, it's true back then and it's true today.
You know, you think of Joel's thing,
he's a smooth preacher, you know?
He's very deceptive.
He's always nice.
He's just always,
there's nothing negative about his preaching.
It's smooth.
Whereas the rough preaching or the hairy preaching
is actually the biblical preaching.
When describing Elijah, the prophet,
he's described as a very hairy man.
And we see John the Baptist carries on a girdle,
a camel's hair, right?
Girded about his loins,
indicative of the fact that he's a hard, hairy preacher.
It's coarse, it's rough, okay?
Now in the story with Jacob, you know,
he's physically smooth,
but he's also spiritually smooth as well.
Meaning that he's very deceptive.
He's a liar, et cetera.
Genesis 27, look at verse 15.
It says that Rebecca took goodly raiment
of her eldest son Esau,
which were with her in the house
and put them upon Jacob, her younger son.
And she put the skins of the goats,
the kids of the goats upon his hands
and upon the smooth of his neck.
So here we see that, you know,
apparently Esau's just really hairy.
When you can put a coat on him
and it's just like, yeah, this feels like Esau, okay?
Look at verse 18.
And he came into his father and said,
my father, and he said, here am I,
who art thou, my son?
And Jacob said unto his father,
I am Esau thy firstborn.
I have done according as thou batest me,
arise I pray thee,
sit and eat of my venison,
that thy soul may bless me.
And Isaac said unto his son,
how is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son?
And he said, because the Lord thy God
brought it to me.
So what do we see here?
We see Jacob is deceptive.
He's a liar.
And in fact, he's accrediting God
with bringing the venison.
How'd you do it?
God gave it to me.
It was God who blessed me with it.
Now this is pretty wicked.
You know, he's accrediting God with this.
He's saying that God is the one
who provided this for him.
And you know what?
People do this today where they try to accredit God
or blame God for things that he did not participate in.
Right?
It's just like, oh man, you know,
God told me to divorce my wife.
God told me to divorce my husband.
God told me to do this.
And it's completely contrary to the word of God.
God didn't tell you.
It came from your own deceptive heart, Jacob.
And it came from the imagination of your own heart,
from the lust of your own heart.
You are prophesying deceits.
You're accrediting God with things
that he did not say, did not do.
But he's obviously trying to lend veracity
to his claims of how he got it so quickly
so therefore he's blaming God for this
and saying that God is the one who provided it for him.
Look at verse 30.
And it came to pass as soon as Isaac
had made an end of blessing Jacob
and Jacob was scarce, gone out of the presence,
from the presence of Isaac his father
that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
Now by the way, obviously it says
that Isaac's eyes were dim,
meaning that he's kind of blind.
You know, he's having a hard time seeing.
But you think to yourself,
you know, how did he not discern his voice?
Well, they're twins.
You know, they're twins.
So they probably sound alike, okay?
Nick and Mike sound alike.
They look different.
One's like Esau, one's like Jacob, right?
But if you close your eyes,
they can sound somewhat similar, right?
And so this is why, you know,
Isaac could not discern who this was.
And obviously when he felt him,
he's like, oh yeah, he's pretty hairy, you know?
That's like Esau.
This guy is Armenian, okay?
From the Middle East somewhere, you know?
So Isaac does this.
Jacob blesses him.
And it says that he scares God out
from the presence of Isaac and Esau comes in.
So it's just like as soon as Jacob leaves,
Esau comes in, like right the self-same minute.
Verse 31 says,
And he also had made savory meat
and brought it unto his father,
and said unto his father,
Let my father arise
and eat of his son's venison,
that thy soul may bless me.
And Isaac his father said unto him,
Who art thou?
He said, I am thy son,
thy firstborn Esau.
And Isaac trembled very exceedingly and said,
Who?
Where is he that hath taken venison
and brought it me,
and have eaten of all before thou camest,
and have blessed them?
Yea, and he shall be blessed.
And when Esau heard the words of his father,
he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry,
and said unto his father,
Bless me, even me also, my father.
And he said, Thy brother came with subtlety
and hath taken away thy blessing.
And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob?
For he hath supplanted me these two times,
he took away my birthright,
and behold, now he hath taken away my blessing.
And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?
Pretty sad story for Esau, right?
And obviously, he did wrong by selling his birthright.
But, you know, he didn't really do any wrong
by obeying his father
and going out to catch the venison for his father.
He's obeying his dad, right?
By the way, this is why I believe that
this is why Esau is blessed in his latter end.
Because, quite frankly, he did do some things right.
He did obey his father.
He was not conniving.
He was not deceptive as his brother.
But we see here that he was defrauded.
He was taken advantage of.
Why?
Because his brother is not only opportunistic
in taking his birthright,
but he's also a schemer,
plotting with his mother against him
to steal his blessing.
Jacob is getting the right things the wrong way.
There's nothing wrong with wanting a blessing.
There's nothing wrong with wanting good things from the Lord.
But it's wrong to get them in the wrong way, right?
Through deception, through scheming.
Now, this in turn results in Esau plotting to kill Jacob,
which in turn causes Jacob to flee to Haran
and to dwell with his uncle Laban.
Now, go to Genesis 28, if you would.
Genesis chapter 28.
So Esau's pretty mad and he's angry
and he's thinking to himself,
well, once my father dies,
then I'm gonna go after Jacob
and I'm gonna kill him because he did me wrong.
Okay, which, you know, kind of extreme,
but hey, you know, this is just how he feels.
So Rebecca tells Jacob,
hey, you need to flee to my brother's land, Haran.
Dwell there till he cools down
so he doesn't take your life and just stay there.
So he goes, look at Genesis 28.
Number one, we said that he's opportunistic.
Number two, we said that he's a schemer.
But number three, we also see
that he was doubtful of God's word.
He was doubtful of God's word.
Look at verse 10.
It says, and Jacob went out from Beersheba
and went toward Haran
and he lighted upon a certain place
and tarried there all night because the sun was set
and he took of the stones of that place
and put them for his pillows
and laid down in that place to sleep
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 on it.
Now, this isn't the sermon, but verse 12
is a prophetic verse regarding Jesus Christ.
We see this in John chapter one
that essentially Jesus Christ is the ladder, right?
Because he is the way to heaven.
He is how people, he's the only ladder to heaven.
There's no other way that people can get
to eternal life or get to the Father
but through Jesus Christ.
So this is actually a picture of Jesus himself.
Verse 13, and behold, the Lord stood above it
and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham,
thy father and the God of Isaac,
the land where on thou liest
to thee will I give it
and to thy seed
and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth
and that shall spread abroad to the west
and to the east and to the north to the south
and indeed and in thy seed shall all the families
of the earth be blessed.
Now, read that.
It's like, oh, why am I doing all this then?
God's already gonna bless me.
He's gonna give me all these things.
He's already promising to bless my progeny.
Verse 15, and behold, I am with thee
and I will keep thee in all places
whether thou goest
and will bring thee again into this land
for I will not leave thee until I have done that
which I have spoken to thee of.
So he's basically saying like,
I'm not gonna forsake you.
I'm gonna be there with you
and partly the reason why is because of the covenant
that he made with Abraham.
So this is God's plan to establish the nation of Israel
from which comes those 12 tribes,
from which comes a great nation,
from which comes Judah,
from which comes Jesus Christ, right?
So this is all part of the plan here
and he's trying to confirm to Jacob like,
hey, I'm gonna bless you.
Verse 16, and Jacob awake out of his sleep
and said, surely the Lord is in this place
and I knew it not
and he was afraid and said,
how dreadful is this place?
This is none other but the house of God
and this is the gate of heaven.
Now he should have continued to said,
you know what?
I'm gonna forsake being so deceptive
and manipulative and a schemer and opportunistic
and I'm just gonna serve God from here on out.
I'm just gonna obey the Lord
and be honest and have integrity.
Look at verse 20,
and Jacob vowed about saying,
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 may come again
to my father's house in peace,
then shall the Lord be my God.
What do you mean then?
God already said he's your God.
He's like, well, if these things take place
and if I get blessed and if he feeds me
and if he does all these things,
then for sure what he said is true.
What he said is true, Jacob.
Now what is this?
This is him doubting the Bible,
doubting the word of God.
And obviously we're getting on Jacob here,
but quite frankly,
you and I are the same exact way
because when we are vulnerable,
maybe we're weak,
maybe we're carnal, we're fleshly,
even though we believe the Bible,
even though we read the Bible,
we can quote the Bible,
we know the promises of God,
we've heard multiple sermons
on all how God's gonna provide for us,
how he's gonna protect us.
We still in the back of our minds
are like Jacob when we say,
then, if he does all these things though,
then he'll be my God.
Then I'll actually obey.
Then we'll see if it's true or not.
But quite frankly,
it's true whether it happens to you or not
because whatever God says will come to pass.
If God said it, that settles it.
So we see that he's doubtful of God's word
and he's placing conditions
upon the promises of God.
But you know what, folks,
we're not supposed to put conditions
upon the promises of God.
If God says to seek ye first
the kingdom of God and his righteousness
and these things shall be added unto you
and if the things are not added unto you
in your season, do it anyways.
If you're not blessed immediately,
seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness
anyways.
Why?
Because it's right to do.
It's right to do.
You know, if you're not blessed this year,
if you were not blessed last year,
if you felt like you came out losing
in 2024 with your relationships
and your job and your situation,
well, do right anyways.
Do right till the stars fall.
Do right to the very end.
Why?
Because it's the right thing to do.
But let's just be honest.
That is very, that's a very extreme situation
and probably won't happen to a lot of us.
When we serve God,
when we seek the kingdom of God,
when we insult to Christ,
we obey the Lord,
we will be blessed of God.
Maybe not the microwave way that we want it
or just like two minutes, beep,
and just, you know, wait till it comes out.
You know, everything's beautiful in his time.
And you have to trust in the Lord
that when you're serving God
and obeying his commandments,
you know, the blessing of the Lord,
it maketh rich and he added no sorrow to it.
He's not going to, you know,
owe you a blessing.
He's not gonna defraud you.
God will come through and bless you anyways.
But I'm just saying if he doesn't,
don't place any conditions upon it.
Well, I'll serve God as long as, you know,
God brings me that special someone.
I'll serve God as long as he gives me this promotion.
And then we'll see if God is really with me.
I'll obey him as long as, fill in the blank or whatever.
You know, don't be like Jacob placing conditions
upon the blessings of God when he's already set forth.
I'm gonna bless you.
Just keep serving me.
You know, even if it doesn't come
in your particular timing, it's gonna come, okay?
Go to Genesis chapter 29, if you will,
Genesis chapter 29.
So what do we see?
We see that Jacob, who is the deceiver,
he's the supplancer, the heel catcher,
he is opportunistic, he is a schemer,
he's doubtful of God's word.
Number four, he's a cheat.
He's a cheater, okay?
Now before we look at his manipulating tactics,
let's first kind of look at what he reaps, okay?
Because he flees to Haran and he joins his uncle Laban
and falls in love with his daughter Rachel,
which is his cousin.
Kind of weird, huh?
Whatever, you know?
Did this take place in the south?
Is this where the south gets the idea from?
So he falls in love with Rachel,
who's the younger of the two.
There's Leah and there's Rachel.
And basically Laban says, hey, what do you want to do?
What shall the wages be?
You know, and basically he's just like,
give me one of your daughters and Laban basically says,
you know, work seven years for this daughter,
and he agrees to do so and give her away in marriage.
So he's like laboring for seven years for Rachel.
And you know, the Bible seems to imply
that Rachel is very good looking,
she's beautiful, but her sister is tender-eyed, okay?
I think that's just the Bible's way of saying that,
you know, I don't know, she's not a 10, I guess, whatever.
Wait, wait, what was these Gen Z terms I just heard?
She's got a good personality, okay?
God is being very crazy, he's like,
she's tender-eyed, okay?
So he wants Rachel, so he labors for her
and it seems unto him but a few days.
And so finally the seven years are over
and the wedding day comes and, you know,
they get married and then they go through the honeymoon,
they come together, and in the morning he wakes up
and he sees that it's Leah, it's not Rachel.
Now people think like, how did you not know?
And, you know, there's different speculations,
maybe in those days they covered him with a veil
and you couldn't see their face and it's dark or whatever,
I don't know, okay?
You know, it's beyond me how he did not know.
But he wakes up and he sees that it's Leah
and obviously he's very angry, he's frustrated
because he labored seven years for Rachel, not Leah.
So then, you know, look what it says in verse 25.
It says, and it came to pass that in the morning,
behold it was Leah, and he said to Laban,
what is this that thou hast done unto me?
Did not I serve with thee for Rachel?
Wherefore then hast thou beguiled me,
lied to me, right, deceived me?
And Laban said, it must not be so done in our country
to give the younger before the firstborn.
Well, you know, you could have mentioned that
when I asked for Rachel.
You didn't even put that in the terms and services.
It was in the fine print.
Fulfill her week and we will give thee this also
for the service which thou shalt serve with me
yet seven other years.
And Jacob did so and fulfilled her week
and he gave him Rachel, his daughter, to wife also.
So what happens here?
We have this man serving a total of 14 years
for basically both, okay?
And you think to yourself, well, that was wrong of Laban to do.
Yeah, that was wrong, but here's the thing.
What goes around comes around, though, okay?
What goes around comes around.
Whoso digget the pit shall father in.
He that rolleth the stone will return unto him again.
Be not deceived, God is not mocked,
for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
And Jacob shouldn't be complaining
about Laban, his uncle, deceiving him
because he's been doing that his whole life, okay?
And the principle that we can learn there
is that you better take heed to your actions
because with judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged,
and with what measure ye meet,
it shall be measured to you again.
We need to make sure that as Christians
we treat others how we would want to be treated.
We favor others.
We follow biblical principles to benefit others,
to be a blessing to others, and not to do others wrong
because guess what?
It'll come back to you again.
What goes around comes around.
He ended up suffering the consequences because of that.
And obviously, Laban is not a good boss either, you know?
He is taking advantage of Jacob,
and he realizes that Jacob has God with him.
You know, later on he talks about the fact that he says,
you know, God has blessed me because of you,
and he wants to keep Jacob,
and he wants him there because he's benefiting from it.
His resources are multiplying.
You know, God is just touching all that he has,
and it's basically residual blessing
that comes from having Jacob there, okay?
So obviously there's nothing wrong with him
wanting to keep him there.
What's wrong is how he's doing it through deception.
And you know, Laban is a little possessive too
because after they leave,
and even though they didn't leave in the best of terms,
you know, Laban catches up with him,
and he's like, these are my daughters.
These are my kids.
This is my stuff.
And it's just like, no, that's his wife.
Those are his kids.
You know, let him go.
He's already served you.
Be done with it.
So we see here that Jacob ends up getting
a taste of his own medicine.
He's deceived.
He was schemed against.
He was plotted against,
and that's what happens.
Another thing that we see
just by way of the same point here
regarding the same story
is that Jacob was also a polygamist.
So obviously he marries two wives,
and he ends up having children
not just through these two wives
but even through their handmaidens.
And obviously this is how you get
the 12 tribes of Israel, okay?
And that's against God's will.
You know, God never intended for a man
to have more than one wife, okay?
They twain shall be one flesh,
not they three, not they four, just twain.
And he said, then why God allow it?
Well, just because God allow it
doesn't mean that he permitted it, okay?
And you have to read the Old Testament
when you read stories like this
because there's a ton of polygamists
in the Old Testament,
and a lot of great men of God.
I mean, David had more than one.
He was collecting wives like Beanie Babies.
He was just like, anywhere he went,
he's just like, I want you, I want you.
And then, you know, what he did in moderation,
his son did it in excess
because Solomon had 700.
And, you know, some guys in here
might be thinking, oh, man, that's pretty good.
You know, more than one wife.
I don't know.
Well, you might want to read through the stories
and see how that ended for them, okay?
One is enough, okay?
One is sufficient.
You know, one drama isn't,
I mean, one wife is enough.
You know, it's enough drama for one man.
But imagine 700,
and they all have different personalities.
They're all fighting over you.
You're like, ah, that's great.
No, it's not.
Read the testimonies of the Old Testament
and see how that came,
how that ended up with them.
It's not good.
So, yeah, God allowed it,
but here's the thing.
It's of my humble opinion
that if Jacob was not a polygamist
and he just kept Leah, for example,
God could have blessed Leah's womb
with all 12 tribes.
God could have done it.
Fact.
You know, but this is just a case
where they're kind of taking things
into their own hands,
and God, you know, all things work together
for good to them that love God.
And obviously, Jacob does love the Lord.
He wants to serve God.
He wants to do that, which is right.
And God is kind of just like,
all right, well, I'm still going to try to use you
and bless you and bless your progeny.
And so, you know, that's the situation there.
So he's a polygamist
and has all these kids by various different women.
Okay.
And he ends up having issues with them
and all that.
And so you can read that on your own
or you probably already have.
Okay.
Now, look at Genesis 30 here.
Now, you would think that after that situation
with Laban and how Laban deceived him
and, you know, he would come to the conclusion,
you know what?
I got what I deserved.
I did that to Esau, my brother.
I did that to my dad.
You know, I've done it to people.
It was just, I can see what's happening here.
I'm reaping what I've sown.
I'm going to renounce my ways
and just not be that way anymore.
And I'm going to turn over a new leaf.
I'm going to start being an honest man.
No.
Okay.
Because he continues to cheat his uncle
of the good stock.
Look at verse 31.
He said, what shall I give thee?
Jacob said, thou shall not give me anything
if thou wilt do this thing for me,
I will again feed and keep thy flock.
He says, I will pass through all thy flock today,
removing from thence all the speckled
and spotted cattle and all the brown cattle
among the sheep and the spotted and speckled
among the goats and of such shall be my hire.
So, basically, he's saying, you know what?
When it comes to the cattle,
I'll pull out the ones with the blemishes,
the speckled and spotted,
that's what he's referring to,
the inferior cattle,
and I'll take that as my wage.
You know, like, oh, man,
what a humble guy.
Wow.
Look at verse 33.
So shall my righteousness answer for me
in time to come.
When it shall come for my hire before thy face,
even one that is not speckled and spotted
among the goats and brown among the sheep,
that shall be counted stolen with me.
He says, look, if you find one that's,
like, really good amongst mine,
it was probably stolen among me.
Just my righteousness shall answer for me.
He's basically saying, like, hey,
you don't have to worry.
I'm going to take the worst of them
and it's only by accident
or maybe someone's stealing one
and they're placing it among my cattle
if they look good,
if they're, you know, superior cattle.
I like what Laban says here in verse 34.
Laban said, behold, I would
and might be according to thy word.
He's like, I hope that that's the case.
You know, my will is that that would be the case.
You know, because obviously Laban knows
Jacob's character.
Verse 35 says, and he removed that day
the he goats that were ringed straight and spotted
and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted
and everyone that had some white in it
and all the brown among the sheep
and gave them into the hands of his sons.
And he set three days' journey
betwixt himself and Jacob
and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks
and Jacob took him rods of green poplar
and of the haze of the chestnut tree
and peeled or peeled white streaks in them
and made them and made the white appear
which was in the rods.
And he set the rods which he had peeled
before the flocks in the gutters
of the watering troughs
when the flocks came to drink
that they should conceive when they came to drink
and the flocks conceived before the rods
and brought forth cattle ringed straight, speckled
and spotted.
So what is he doing?
He's basically manipulating the good cattle
to look as though they're inferior
by superficially putting the speckled
and spots on them.
So he's seeing the good cattle
and he creates this little system or whatever
and with the poplar
to make him appear as though they're inferior.
So he makes some of the good cattle
blemish by superficially adding the spots
and the speckles.
Look at verse 40.
And Jacob did separate the lambs
and set the faces of the flocks
toward the ringed straight
and all the brown on the flocks of Laban
he put his own flocks by themselves
and put them not into Laban's cattle
and it came to pass
when so ever the stronger cattle did conceive
that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes
of the cattle in the gutters
that they might conceive among the rods.
But when the cattle were feeble
he put them not in
so the feebler were Laban's
and the stronger Jacob's.
So he's just like,
oh this one's gonna be a strong one.
Put spots on that one.
Put speckles on that one.
So then at the end
though he looked so spiritual
by taking the inferior cattle
he's still being deceptive.
He has no integrity.
He's still essentially stealing from his boss
so to speak, right?
Because he's taking all the stronger cattle
and he's leaving the feeble
with his uncle
showing that he lacks integrity.
He has no integrity.
But you know what the Bible says?
Better is the poor
that walketh in his integrity
than he that is perverse in his lips
and as a fool.
It would have been better for Jacob
to take the speckled and spotted calves
the cattle
and you know what?
God would have blessed them anyways.
Yeah they're inferior
but you know what?
Your character's not inferior though.
You know if you were honest with your uncle
far more valuable
than the cattle that you inherited
is the integrity that you have.
The virtues that you have, right?
And what is God trying to show us here?
He's trying to show us
that we should esteem
being honest
having integrity
being truthful
being a person of integrity
rather than having
you know, filthy lucre.
Gaining
having unjust gain.
Doing things through dishonest means, right?
You're like oh yeah
but I made so much money from it though
but did you do it in an honest way?
Or did you do it in a dishonest way?
Okay.
God values you far more
if you did it in an honest way
and you're broke.
You did it in an honest way
and you came out losing.
And the truth of the matter is
yeah you might have come out losing financially
but you came out winning in the long run
because God will bless you for it.
God will bless your resources
He'll bless your household
He'll bless your possessions
and you know the principle that we can learn here
is that as employees
you should be faithful to your boss.
Love your boss
be faithful to your boss
don't lie to your boss
don't steal from your boss
yeah but he's a wicked person
you know I miss that verse in the Bible
that says that you know
be faithful and kind and generous
and loyal to your boss
unless he's wicked then just cheat him.
You know the Bible says in Titus 2 9
exhort servants to be obedient
unto their own masters
and to please them well in all things
not answering again
not purloining
but showing all good fidelity
that they may adorn the doctrine of God
our Savior in all things
1 Peter chapter 2 verse 18 says
servants referring to employees
be subject to your own masters
referring to their bosses
with all fear
not only to the good and gentle
but also to the forward
so the Bible says that you should submit yourself
as an employee to your boss
even if he's not a Christian
yeah because a lot of people have
especially young people
young guys often have this attitude
it's like well I can't work there
because my boss is just an unsaved person
you think you're gonna
go work in an Amish community then
not that there's any Christians there anyways
but you know like
the world in which you live
the vast majority of the people
are unsaved
yeah but you know
he cussed me out
you know and he's mean to me
but does he pay you though
does he sign the checks though
you know
take an F word every once in a while
as long as you're getting paid
and you know what
I'm not saying it's right for
a boss to just
you know cuss their employees out
and be rude to them
but let me just be real honest with you
you know this generation is just weak
they're so sensitive
you know sticks and stones
may break their bones
and words will too
just like you just say anything
and they just fold and cripple and crumble
okay
and so
you know
and here's the thing
like you think I should take that though
just above
well here's the thing
if he is
you know
if you're not doing a good job
and he does that to you
and he's still paying you
you know
then learn from it
right just be a better employee
but if you truly just can't take it anymore
then go find another job
don't sue your boss
don't
adhere to the billboards
that says are you experiencing
abuse at your job
verbal abuse at your job
you know
sue your boss
and that's wicked
not as a Christian
you know
go somewhere else
go be an employee somewhere else
and if your boss pays good
you just put up with it
it says to be subject
not only to the good and gentle
but also to the fraud
and I've had bosses who are good and gentle
and I've had fraud bosses as well
and never once have I ever desired
or tried to cheat those who were fraud
you know
if they yelled at me
and humbled me
and yelled at me
or said whatever against me
because they weren't happy with me
you know
I just kind of took it
and I apologized
and I tried to do better
and so it says verse 19
so why
why do you
why should I take that
well it says in verse 19
for this is thank worthy
if a man for conscience toward God
endure grief suffering wrongfully
for what glory is it
if when you be buffeted for your faults
you shall take it patiently
but if when you do well
and suffer for it
you take it patiently
this is acceptable with God
now obviously
if you have a boss who's cussing you out
and he's not paying you
then obviously go somewhere else
and something needs to change about that
right
but you know
if your boss is
just kind of hard on you
and you know
he's yelling at you
first of all
stop doing things that makes him yell at you
that's a good place to start
second off
you know
if he's still giving you paychecks
and still giving you raises
you know
I'll take an F word every single day
of my life
if that happens
if that's his manner
you know
if he's not a Christian
why am I going to try to change his character in that area
my job as a Christian
is to serve him as unto Christ
okay
and so
that's important
but we see here with Jacob
is that
he feels as though
just because Laban
maybe has cheated him
well I'm going to get him back
well you know what
that's called vengeance
you know
as Christians we're not supposed to be vengeful
okay
give place unto wrath
vengeance belongeth unto me
say it the Lord
I will repay
we shouldn't have a vindictive attitude towards people
when they do us wrong
okay
if you have enemies
friends
family
spouses
people who have
wronged you
defrauded you
cheated you
it doesn't give you permission
to kind of reciprocate that same
malice
and malicious behavior towards them
it's against the Bible
right
you know
if you're wrong by someone who's very close to you
say Lord forgive them
for they know not what to do
and bless me in spite of it
you know
you have someone who has defrauded you
cheated you out of money
cheated you out of resources
cheated you out of possessions
people that were close to you
people who weren't close to you
and you know
and they did it
just pray
Lord
I pray
that you would not hold it
to their account
because
they're not saved
they don't know what they're doing
they're just behaving as unsaved people
but bless me anyways
in spite of it
because I want to be vengeful
I want to be malicious
but I'm not going to
because the Bible forbids me to do so
okay
so we see here
that he cheats them
of the
flocks and the herds
and so forth
go to chapter 32
chapter 32
so at this point
Jacob has matured
a little bit
he's grown
he has two wives
a bunch of kids
he has tons of resources
God has blessed him financially
and he decides to leave
he decides to leave
Laban
and go back home
but here's the thing
there's still some problems at home
that he has not resolved yet
and he's finally gotten to a point
where he realizes
you know what
I wronged my brother Esau
so he sends people before him
to go
essentially talk to Esau
and
they come back and they're like
Esau's coming with a ton of people
he's coming with like an army
and you know
Jacob is a smooth man
he's a plain man
he's not a fighting man
per se
right
he's not a hunter
and he's thinking
oh man Esau's not over it
so you know
he's afraid
because you know
it's one thing
if Esau's coming to take him
but now he's
he has like
wives
and children
he has a family
that he's responsible for
so obviously
there's a sense of worry
there's a sense of anxiety
that he has
and what happens here
well
before he meets Esau
he actually meets God
right
he has this encounter
with the Lord
and it's this encounter
that he has with God
that really breaks him
and changes him
okay
before he meets Esau
and of course
after that
when he meets Esau
he realizes that Esau
has no
you know
malice towards him
they end up reconciling
and you know
Jacob's trying to give him gifts
and Esau
says this really
just powerful statement
when he says
I have enough
like I have enough
you know
and everything goes well
and then they end up
burying their father
they're reconciling
but prior to that
you know
he meets with God
look at verse 24
and Jacob was left alone
by the way
that's a good way
to meet with the Lord
is alone
you know
reading your Bible
alone
in your room
in your vehicle
by yourself
you in God's presence alone
and there wrestled the man
with him
until the breaking of the day
and when he saw that
he prevailed not against him
he touched the hollow
okay
and the hollow of Jacob's thigh
was out of joint
as he wrestled with him
so this is obviously
the Lord right
the Lord who's wrestling
with Jacob
I believe
it's referring to Jesus
it's a pre-incarnate Christ
and he's
he's physically wrestling
with this angel
now obviously
the Lord can just be like
snap you know
pick him up
and you know
just break his back
and just destroy him
but he's allowing
Jacob to put up a fight
he's allowing him
to wrestle with him
for a reason right
and obviously
the wrestling here
pictures that
you know
that spiritual yearning
of just trying to get
a hold of God
you're trying to get
a hold of God
and you know
there's instances
in our life
where we read the Bible
out of discipline
but there's other instances
where we just need
to get a hold of God
reading the Bible
we say Lord please
help me with this situation
give me an answer
for this situation
I'm gonna keep reading
and I'm gonna wrestle
through the scriptures
I'm gonna wrestle
in prayer
I'm gonna wrestle
day in
and day out
week in
and week out
until I get this answer
to prayer
and what is that
that's like wrestling with God
I'm back Lord
please give me an answer
I need this
help me with this
I need this resource
I need you to pay this bill
I need you to help me
with my health
I need you to help me
with my resources
I need you to help me
with this relationship
help me
what is that
that's wrestling with God
and you might open up
the Bible one day
and read it
you read the Bible
and you read about
just you know
something that's completely
unrelated to your situation
you come back the next day
and you wrestle again
and you don't let go
until you get something
out of it
and this is what Jacob's doing
why is Jacob wrestling
with the angel
I'll tell you why
cause he's afraid
cause he's gonna meet
with his brother
it's a very
you know
serious meeting here
and so he needs
he needs to know
that God is on his side
he needs to know
that God is with him
and what does the Lord do
he touches the hollow
of his thigh
and the hollow of his thigh
is just out of joint
picturing the fact that
the Lord breaks Jacob
he changes Jacob
physically is what he does
but what does Jacob do
he continues to wrestle
he doesn't even let go
as painful as it is
he doesn't let go
and you know what
your situation might get
even more painful
don't let go
your situation might become
even harder
God might break you
even more
and what do you do
just hold on
right
as you're wrestling
you're just like
dang he just
he messed me up right now
he put me in the leg lock
he just put a knee bar
you know
now you're like limping
now it's almost as if
now you have
you have to hold on to him
not because you want to win
but just because
you don't want to fall
and you're just wrestling
and that's what he's doing
you know what
sometimes that's what we have to do
when you're going through
a difficult time
hey if you're going through
a trial
don't let go of prayer
don't let go of the preaching
of God's word
don't let go of God
that's the worst thing you could do
look at verse 26
and he said
let me go for the day breaketh
and he said
I will not let thee go
except thou bless me
now that's powerful
you know Jacob
as smooth as he was
the man actually is pretty strong
he's holding on to the Lord
and the Lord's like
let me go
this is over
he's like I'm not letting you go
until you bless me
and you know what
some of us need to get on our knees
and pray and say
I'm not going to get off my knees
until you bless me
I'm not going to stop reading the Bible
until you bless me
I'm not going to stop until
you show yourself strong on my behalf
I'm not going to stop until you show me
greatly mighty things
which I know not
and I'm in pain
I'm suffering
I'm going through a hard time
I'm not going to let you go
verse 27
he said it to him
what is thy name
and he said
Jacob
and he said
thy name
shall be called no more Jacob
but Israel
for as a prince has thou power with God
and with men
and has prevailed
the last point here is that
yeah you know what
he was opportunistic
yes he was a schemer
yeah he was a cheat
but you know what
he was also a prince
he was a prince
what did God bless him with
a new identity
you know
Jacob was a deceiver for most of his life
and it took God breaking him
to change him
Jacob had a lot of issues
a lot of problems
but God gave him a new name
and a new nature
listen to this
that he expected him to live up to
you know
this is what he's saying
he goes I don't want you to be called
and later on he tells him again
thy name shall be no more called Jacob
thou shall be Israel
and what is that a picture of
it's a picture of the new man
right
you know you
as an individual
might be characterized
by certain flaws
from your past life
certain flaws that you grew up with
maybe you're deceptive
maybe you're a cheat
maybe you're a drunkard
maybe you were a fornicator
maybe you were
fill in the blank
of whatever sin
you can fill it up with
but at the end of the day
thy name shall be no more called Jacob
thou shall be Israel
and here's the thing
Jacob just didn't pass away
he became both Jacob and Israel
but God wanted him to live up
to being Israel though
Israel is not the one
who won the battle
excuse me
Jacob's not the one who won the fight
it was Israel who won the fight
Jacob's not the one who
essentially prevailed
it was Israel who prevailed
with God
and what does the Bible tell us
what does it teach us
in this regard
you know
the Bible says therefore
if any man be in Christ
he is a new creature
old things have passed away
behold all things
are become new
and you know what
one thing that we can learn
from Jacob
is the fact that
you know
we might have the old man
not we might
we do have the old man
present with us
we have that old nature
we have the old way of thinking
we have old habits
but you know what
God expects you
and he expects me
to live up to that new
that new name
that new identity
thy name shall be
no more called Jacob
you're Israel now
live up to that
live up to integrity
and honesty
and wrestling with God
and prevailing
and being strong
and being a person
who loves the Lord
live up to that
you know
live up to that
you know
that that vocation
wherewith ye are called
for we are as workmanship
created in Christ Jesus
that which got it before
then that we should
walk in them
the Bible says
that's the Israel part
right
and so
the point
here with Jacob
is that
it took him
having this
drastic dramatic
painful encounter
with the Lord
that it physically
changed him
you know
it could be that he
walked with the limp thereafter
you know
he's walking up to his brother
maybe that was what his brother
was just like
oh I can't
I can't beat up this crippled guy
you know
God has a handicap
I'm gonna whoop him
with the handicap
you know
but he's probably
he probably walked like that
for the rest of his life
it's something that marked him
for the rest of his life
and in fact
the people that didn't eat of the sinew
because of Jacob
right
so he's just walking around
but you know what
that was an indicator
that he met God
he bore in his body
the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ
so to speak right
and it changed him
it changed his disposition
he was used greatly of God thereafter
he was able to reconcile with his brother
so even though he had
all these bad attributes
and characteristics
in times past
you know
it was one of those things that
from here on out though
I need to start acting like Israel
and stop acting like Jacob
and you know what
you might be in this situation
where you know
you're like Jacob
you might be
kind of like a deceptive person
you have character flaws
you have issues
that you got to work through
but just understand
you
if you're saved
you have the new man though
right
the Bible says
what shall we say
shall we continue in sin
that grace may abound
God forbid
how should we
that are dead to sin
live any longer therein
knowing that so many of us
as we're baptized into Jesus Christ
we're baptized into his death
and that we should walk
in newness of life
right
we should walk in that life
and so
what's
what is it that we can learn
from the life of Jacob
well one thing we learn is that
God uses imperfect people
and he's very merciful
and patient with us
you know
we're reading his story
we're like
oh Jacob
oh man
what are you doing
but you know what
if someone read our story
they'd be doing the same thing
if they
if they put our story in a book
they'd be like
oh Bruce
what are you doing
oh man
wow God must really like
love this man
he must be really
he wants to use this
and then
but more so than that
people would see
man God is gracious
if God read your story
he'd be like
this is a testament
to the grace of God
this is a testament
to God's mercy
you know what
because God is merciful
he is gracious to us
he uses us
in spite of our flaws
in spite of our shortcomings
in spite of our doubt
in spite of
past failings
he still wants to continue
to use us
and bless us
but let me say this
the blessing comes also
when you take on
and live up to
that new identity
when you're that prince
amen
let's pray
Father we thank you so much
for your word
thank you for the life of Jacob
and all that we learned
from his life Lord
and
though we can sit here
and criticize him
for his actions
many of us
probably have a story
that's similar to this
and things that we've done
that we're ashamed of
and what fruit
had we then
now and where of
we are now ashamed
and Lord I pray
that you'd help us
as your people
to realize that
our past failings
doesn't necessarily
have to characterize
our future
and sometimes
we just need to get
a hold of you
we need to get
a hold of God
through the Bible
through prayer
and maybe we're wrestling
with a specific situation
in our lives
it keeps us up at night
gives us anxiety
makes us worry
and maybe what we
just need to do
is open up the Bible
and wrestle with you
maybe we need to get
on our knees
and pray
and wrestle with you
and when do we
close the Bible
when do we get up
from prayer
once you've blessed us
and I pray that
you'd help us
to do so
help us to have
that endurance
and help us to
learn from this story
Lord
to be better Christians
and better believers
we love you
we thank you
pray these things
in Jesus name
Amen