Right, Genesis chapter 32 now. Genesis 31, we're kind of on the back of this, aren't we?
Jacob getting blessed with a load of wealth by God, Laban and his sons, if you remember,
started getting getting leery and hating on him and his sons were mouthing off right at
the beginning and Laban, if you remember, not long after, was giving him the old dagger
stare, wasn't he? Like this, and we realise that this guy doesn't like me like he used
to, he's not appreciating me like he used to, and then God came to Jacob and told him
to get out of there. Okay, so Jacob called his sort of Jerry Springer-style harem together
and they explained to them that he wants a go, they made a financial decision. If you
remember, they were like, yeah, well, you know, what money are we going to get here?
So it was all a bit of a mess, obviously a bit of a covetous bunch. But Rachel then,
on top of that, stole Laban's images that he called his gods, which was at least, I
think, probably partly the reason why he chased after them for so many days. Maybe
he would have done anyway, I don't know, but definitely this was a big factor in that.
When he caught up, if you remember, he searched everywhere but got conned by Rachel and it
did seem a bit soft, didn't it? The fact that he didn't kind of go through the camel's furniture.
Jacob eventually lets rip, reminds him of what's gone on for the past 20 years, eventually
they agreed to make a covenant and that was the end of the chapter. So we just look again
for verse 51 of Genesis 31. It says that Laban said to Jacob, behold this heap, behold
this pillar which I have cast betwixt me and thee. This heap be witness and this pillar
be witness that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass
over this heap and this pillar unto me for harm. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor,
the God of their father judged betwixt us and Jacob sware by the fear of his father
Isaac. Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, called his brethren to eat bread and
they did eat bread and tarried all night in the mount. And early in the morning Laban
rose up and kissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them and Laban departed and returned
unto his place. And chapter 32 begins in verse 1, and Jacob went on his way and the angels
of God met him. I'm going to pray and then we're going to get going. Father thank you
for your word, thank you for this chapter of the Bible, Lord, and a chapter with some
great stuff in there to preach on, Lord, and help me to just preach that just accurately
and clearly, Lord, help everyone to have really attentive ears and really pay attention to
what your word's saying, Lord. Please just fill me with your spirit and in Jesus' name
we pray, Amen. Okay, so Jacob seems to have grown pretty close to God over time, hasn't
he? We saw how he was blessed to then be able to go and provide for his family, so that's
why he was given all this stuff and all these things. God was blessing him and, you know,
financial gain isn't always a blessing but here it was so that he could break away after
20 years of working with actually something to provide. He's got this massive family,
right, he's got, you know, 11 sons at this point, he's got the daughter, Dina, he's
got four wives and he's given all this stuff and we saw how he was told to leave and how
God then warned the Chasing Labour not to mistreat Jacob, so he's clearly being looked
after by God there as well, we saw that, which is probably why Labour didn't just kind
of do all sorts of nasty things. And that all ended, if you remember, with Jacob offering
a sacrifice on the mount, where we just read, and now God's angels are meeting him on
his way. So he's clearly, look, he's in God's world to at least some degree here,
isn't he? He's clearly close to God, he's offering sacrifices, he's being helped
out a lot and now he's meeting angels. And I would say there's probably a spiritual
message there that when you're close to God, when you're on the path that he wants
you to be on, there's spiritual protection, isn't there? Okay, when you're doing the
right thing, there's going to be spiritual protection there with that, there's going
to be some sort of help, some sort of spiritual help, because we do need the spiritual help,
because we're in a spiritual battle, we're in a spiritual war. As we know, we wrestle
not against flesh and blood, do we? It's principalities, it's powers, it's the rulers
of the darkness of this world, it's spiritual wickedness in high places. It's a spiritual
battle we're in and we need the spiritual protection, right? And those angels will meet
you on the way, okay? They will meet you on the way if you're doing the right thing
and when you're that close to God, maybe you'll see them, maybe you will see them.
Look at verse 2, it said, and when Jacob saw them, he said, this is God's host and he
called the name of that place Mahanaim. Now, before you think you're right, so where
these angels, why can't I see them? Well, when I say see them, I mean that you might
see God working in your life, you know, you might see him protecting you, you might see
him helping you avoid pitfalls. Maybe you look back and you'd be like, I can see how
God really actually intervened there, I can see how that decision or that or, you know,
whatever worked out there actually helped me out and protected me in that situation,
stopped me maybe doing this, stopped me messing up in this way, stopped that happening, protected
me in this situation. When you look at it, you can kind of see that, can't you? Sometimes
when you're feeling close to God, you can see him working, you can feel him working
in your life, you can see things going on and things happening which benefit your life.
You might look back and say, yeah, that would have gone seriously wrong had something not
suddenly, you know, something had just changed it. Someone seemed to intervene in one way
or another, something just got cancelled, something, some poor decision you're making
but you're praying to God, you're close to God, you're saying guide me on this and it
just doesn't work out and then you look back in a week, two weeks, a month, two, years,
whatever and you look back and go, wow, I'm really pleased I didn't end up doing that,
I'm really pleased that door shut, I'm really pleased because that would have been a disaster
and you can see that sometimes, can't you? You can see God working but it's one of those
things is a lot of the time where you can see it but if you try to explain it to someone
unsaved, they're going to have a rational, so-called rational view of it, aren't they,
which isn't going to involve God but however, we see him working in our lives in many ways
don't we, right? You might look back and see things like that, you might, look, you might
just be saying thank God that those angels bared me up in their hands, right, lest I
dashed my foot against the stone. You might just look at it and just sing. I could see
what was going to happen, I could see I literally was just about to trip up there and God gave
me a way out, God gave me some way out of that and I believe there are angels working
right now and the more that you're in God's will, the hotter the battle is and the closer
they are to you because the more we're living for God, the more we're doing the things of
God, well the more you're in the battle, aren't you? The more you've got the armour, you're
in the battle, you're in the thick of it and the more we need those angels looking after
us, the more we need that spiritual protection and Jacob definitely needed some protection
here. He was about to have a reunion with the brother that was planning to kill him,
okay, so this is a scary situation for him. If you turn back to Genesis 27 and I just
want to remind you what happened 20 years ago when Jacob was lost in town. So he had
just dressed up as Esau to con his blind father out of the blessing that Esau, the older brother,
was about to receive. I mean this was like crazy stuff going on, wasn't it? This is in
Genesis 27, look at verse 41, it said in verse 41 of Genesis 27,
Now as far as we're aware, that sending and fetching never came. We don't have any evidence
of it, although it seems she probably died during this time, again we don't know when
she died, we know she does die, and that was the last time we really see her, but she's
only mentioned again in regards to her burial place, being with her husband Abraham and
Sarah in Machpelah, that's much later on in the book of Genesis, so all we know is that
at some point she died during all of this and what we also don't know is that she ever
sent for him. We have no evidence of that. So you could understand Jacob being pretty
concerned here. He's probably thinking that's never come because Esau's still waiting to
kill me. I mean the sending never came, I'd imagine, and he's concerned and he needs a
protection that comes from God, doesn't he? Because he's about to turn up, look he's not
turning up with armies, he's turning up with a family, and a big family at that, right?
A load of women and a load of young children and he's probably thinking I'm in trouble
here and it doesn't sound like he's been doing much warfare, he's been doing a lot of farming
for many years. Now I'm sure he could probably look after himself, he's good at rolling big
stones away and he sleeps on pillows, I think he's quite hardcore, right? But I don't know
about dealing with, well, what we see in a minute, four hundred men coming. And often,
look, we're going into situations, we're going into battles, we're going up against
potential adversaries in many ways and when we do that, we need God's protection, don't we?
And we do, we really do, and you know, it's a funny thing because sometimes people think,
oh, you're just saying it. Look, we are on the front lines here, we really are, and I'm not trying
to just, you know, make you feel, well, so pleased, you know, about our little church in South End, you
know, we're the... just I don't see much going on around the nation, I don't see much going on around
the world, and I don't see hardly anyone soul winning and doing much, and that's why in the
short space of time we've had this church, we've had all sorts of stuff going on, all sorts of
attacks, spiritual attacks, weirdos coming in and trying to infiltrate and try and destroy the place,
we've had all sorts, in just a small, like, we're in a big spiritual battle and without
being close to God, we'd be finished pretty easily. If I was like, yeah, I know God wants us to do
it this way, but I've got a better idea, I'm going to do it that way, but this church wouldn't last long
at all, it really wouldn't, you know, and look, we need his protection and here you get the feeling
that what Jacob does next was guided by God, that's what I feel. It says in verse one,
Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him, and like I said, he's close to God at this point, I
believe, and when Jacob saw them, he said, this is God's host, and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
Now Mahanaim means two hosts or two camps, and I'm assuming he's talking probably about his and the
angels, that's what I think he's probably saying here, and Jacob sent messages before him to Esau,
his brother, unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom, and he commanded them, saying, thus shall you
speak unto my lord Esau. My servant Jacob said thus, I've sojourned with Laban and stayed there
until now, and I have oxen and asses, flocks, and men servants, and women servants, and I have sent to
tell my lord that I may find grace in thy sight. So aside from the family feud, he's about to pass
through Esau's land with herds of animals, okay, there's no sneaking past him, I mean, he's coming
with like hundreds of thousands, probably, I'd imagine, of animals, and he's not just going to
kind of sneak in and out and get past, but people are going to see him, he's going to be there,
it's not that he could just move on quickly, he's herding sheep and young and all sorts, right.
So his idea here, he's just thinking it's best just to be upfront about it, I'm just going to
have to announce I'm coming and see what happens. It says in verse 6, and the messages return to
Jacob saying, we came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and 400 men with him.
Now, like I said, he's got his big family, he's got a few servants, Esau is on his way with 400 men,
that's a small army, okay, this isn't looking good for him, is it, and considering what happened 20
years ago, you can understand Jacob feeling the worst here, it says in verse 7, then Jacob was
greatly afraid and distressed, and he divided the people that was with him and the flocks and herds
and the camels into two bands, and said if Esau come to the one company in Smite, then the other
company which is left shall escape. So he's not just a bit concerned, he's greatly, it's said here,
greatly afraid and distressed, not just for himself but for his family, his children, you can
understand that, right. So what does he do? Well, he does what any believer should do when they're
in trouble, he calls out to God. Now, yeah, first he kind of separated them, he's like, right, we're
going to split into two, okay, so he's in fear, but then it's not long after for me that he's
calling out to God. It says in verse 9, and Jacob said, oh God of my father Abraham and God of my
father Isaac, the Lord which said unto me, return unto thy country and to thy kindred, and I will
deal well with thee. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou
has showed unto thy servant, for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am 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 now said, I will surely do the
good and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. So he
basically does here what many Christians fail to do in times of trouble, and that's just pray.
So many people, as soon as trouble comes, as soon as there's issue, suddenly they feel like they must
be abandoned now, they're deserted, you know, or they're suddenly trying to do things in their own
strength, they don't want to talk to God, they don't want the things of God, because they're
scared, they're worried, they're feeling out of God's will, but that's when we need Him most, isn't it?
Times like this when you need to go, right, I need to get on my knees and pray, and I'm sure
what everyone here has probably been in situations in life, been at times of life, and not just
physical threats, just times when you're like, all I can do right now is get on my knees and pray to
God. Get on my knees and just say, God, I need your help. I can't do this. I need you to deal with it.
Well, that's what He does here. You don't have to turn to Psalm 46. One says, God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble. Do you know that? He's a very present help in trouble.
He's our refuge and our strength, so it's God that we rely on. It's with Him that we seek refuge,
and He's very present. That means He's there, okay? He's there in trouble, so it would be crazy not to
call on Him, wouldn't it? You would think that. It would be crazy not to call on someone who can help
you when you're in trouble, but so many people don't. Now, notice the way that he prays. He's not
saying, I'm so great, I deserve help, is he? Or, how could I be going through this, God? Why are you
letting this happen to me? You know, because people do that, don't they? I just can't believe I've had
to deal with it. I can't believe I'm going to have to deal with this. And really, that's pride,
isn't it? That's you going, I'm too good to go through any tribulation. I'm too good to go through
anything. Why aren't you stopping this happening? And people do that, don't they? Well, it says in
verse 9, and Jacob said, oh God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which
said unto me, return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee. Now, he's
remembering the promises of God, but he's got the right heart with it, because look at verse 10.
He says, I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies. That is a good heart, isn't it? That's the
sort of thing that God wants to hear. You're not going, I'm, why are you not helping me? What about,
it's a big me. It's me. What, I mean, how am I going through this? I mean, I understand that I'm
a lot. What about me, though? After all I've done? He's not doing that, is he? And I bet there are
people out there that have that sort of heart, right? But he's like, I am not worthy of the least
of all the mercies, and of all the truth which thou has showed unto thy servant. For with my staff
I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands. Now, that is the right attitude to be
praying to God. I am not worthy. He's saying I had nothing but a staff, and now I've got enough to
split into two bands, is what he's saying. I've got so much now I can split them into two, because,
look, and I came over here with just a staff in my hand, and he's giving all of that credit to God,
isn't he? Not like, well, after all I've done, look how clever I've been, and all the great farming
I've done. He's going, no, look, God, you've given me everything. You gave me all of this.
He's basically starting the prayer with thanks and humility, and do you know what? That's a good way
to start praying. That's why getting on your knees is a great way to pray, isn't it?
Like prostrate, face to the floor, just saying, look, you know, God, I'm nothing, right? And
when I think when you come with that humility, you come with that, you know, with thanks as well to
God for everything he has done for you, I think you're going to be much more likely praying in
his will then as well, aren't you? And that's what we see here, and it's a good example, isn't it? And
just, you know, if you could start your prayers with thank yous, thanks for what he's done for
you, thanks for, and remind yourself of so much of what God's done, it should give you more
confidence in your prayer as well. I think when you remember the things he's done, you're going
to be more likely to be confident when you're praying, because we need to have faith when we're
praying, don't we? We're praying and not believing that he's going to answer our prayers, well, they
aren't going to get answered. But if maybe you remind yourself of everything he's already done,
you're thanking God as well, and you're showing that humility, I think you're much more likely
to get your prayers answered. Well, he does that, and it says in verse 11, 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 a 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. So in prayer, he's reminding himself
really of the promises of God, okay? That was back in chapter 28, if you want to just flick there
quickly. So it was in Bethel where Jacob called the house of God, and it was those promises at
the house of God which he's recalling now. It says in verse 13, so we just read him basically
remembering that. He said, 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 in verse 13, this is what happened, it said,
and behold the Lord stood above it, this is chapter 28 in verse 13, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham
thy father, and the God of Isaac, the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it into thy seed,
and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, to the east,
to the north, to the south, and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And behold I'm with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou guys, and will bring me again
into this land, for I will not leave thee until I've done that which I have spoken to thee of.
So those promises which he heard in God's house are being recalled in times of trouble, aren't they?
You know what, there's a sermon there, but I've been hitting you a bit on God's house, so I'll give you
a break on that this week, but that's what he's saying, isn't he? He's remembering the
promises that he heard, and he's recalling now from when he was basically in what we see is
God's house being Bethel. And sometimes it takes being in trouble, doesn't it? Praying to God to
remember those promises, doesn't it? It does. Sometimes, you know, we forget all the promises
he gives us until we're in trouble, until we call you out to God, and then that's a good time to
remember them, isn't it? Because then what you're going to be doing, you're going to be praying with
more faith. So if you can recall the promises of God, the promises to be with you, to look after
you, to uphold you, with the right hand of my righteousness, with all those things, you'd be like,
yeah, actually, you know, you promised this, you promised to do this. I know I can pray with
confidence, with faith, that you're going to answer my prayers. But he still did it in a humble way.
He didn't do it going, you promised this, so why am I not getting it? He's doing it in a humble way.
No, I don't deserve any of this. However, this is a promise you gave me, God. So how did God answer?
Well, turn to Philippians 4, which shows us how God can answer prayer. Now, God can answer prayer
in any which way he wants, okay? God could do anything. God could have destroyed Esau, couldn't
he? He could have made all those 400 men turn on each other with their own swords, yeah? He could
have made all those 400 men get chased off by a swarm of hornets, couldn't he? He could
have done many things, right? Many different ways God could have answered this prayer.
Well, in Philippians 4, Paul says this, Philippians chapter 4 and verse 6, Paul says,
be careful for nothing. So he's basically saying, don't worry about anything. You don't have to worry
about anything. Now, do we worry? Yeah, we do. Do we fear? Yeah, we do. Do we get distressed? Yeah, we do.
But we're told not to, okay? He said, be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. So prayer, supplication,
which is basically humble and earnest prayer and worship and thanksgiving, is basically exactly
what Jacob did, isn't it? Jacob did, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let his requests
be made known unto God. Verse 7 says, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Now, as well as us getting, you know, we
will get a kind of a feeling of peace and we'll get a feeling of calmness and everything else,
knowing that ultimately I've put it in God's hands, I prayed to him. That's a great thing with prayer,
isn't it? When you're in a situation like, I don't even know how to deal with this. God, please just deal
with it. And you say, and it does give you a certain peace, and I put it into God's hands, right?
However, as well, I also believe that that peace with Jacob, for example, helped his emotions.
I reckon it helped his thoughts to then make a sensible decision. See, sometimes we pray to God
to guide our thoughts, don't we? Our plans, our decisions to be the right ones, yeah? That's
something that's a constant prayer for myself. I know many people as well. You're just like, God, just
guide me with this. I don't even want to make it. I don't want to make the decision. I just want you
to help me. I want you to make the decision because I know I'm going to get it wrong, yeah?
And sometimes I think he does that maybe by that peace and security helping us to make wise
decisions. So here the peace of God, after doing the prayer, the supplication, thanksgiving,
which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
So being in prayer results in us being less in the flesh and I think more able to make sensible
decisions. So the peace, you know, we're not going to be as emotional when we make the prayer.
We're not going to be as impulsive when we make our decisions, sorry. We're not going to be as
impulsive when we make our decision. We're not going to be as rash. We're praying and we're praying to
God and we get that peace and everything else and then we're going to be more likely
to be full of the Spirit and more likely to make a non-fleshly decision, yeah? Which I think is what
we see happens with Jacob. Back in Genesis 32, it says in verse 13, Genesis 32, 13,
and he lodged there that same night and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau,
his brother. See, God didn't just snap his fingers and they just were destroyed. No,
Jacob ends up doing something wise here. 200 she-goats and 20 he-goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams,
30 milch camels with their colts, 40 kine and 10 bulls, 20 she-asses and 10 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. So he's putting a gap between each
drove, each group of these animals. And he commanded the foremost, so the one at the front,
saying when Esau, 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 also he is behind us. And so commanded he the
second and the third and all that followed the drove saying on this manner shall you speak unto
Esau when you find them. So they're all going to be saying the same thing, they're all basically going
to be saying these are Jacob's, it's a present sent to you, like one after another after another. I
mean it's like a just a chain of presents, yeah. And say ye moreover, behold thy servant Jacob is
behind us, for he said, I will appease him. So he's saying to say this by the way, 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 basically Jacob, I believe, having prayed in the spirit, being guided by God,
he's polite, he's respectful, he's humble. And by the way, look, he'd done a dodgy move 20 years
ago, yeah. Okay, he should have been like that, yeah. He was well in the wrong, right.
And like I preached on Sunday evening, Proverbs 10 12, which says hatred stirs up strife, but love
covereth all sins. It's hard to hate on someone who's being kind to you, isn't it? It really is.
Who's doing good things to you. And that's what Jacob is here, he's being polite, respectful,
he's in effect asking for forgiveness, isn't he? Without bringing it all up again, he's just
basically, he's making it clear that I'm in the wrong, I'm coming humble to you, and he's giving
present after present after present, one after another. He's given well over 500 animals to him.
And remember, they had all the strong genetics and stuff as well, so he didn't give him like 500
dodgy old kind of three-legged sheep and things like that. He's given him some good stuff,
a little bit like ring-straked and all that, I don't know if that's good or bad. Is that good?
Bad, I don't know. But anyway, he's given him all this stuff and he's basically, if you notice what he's
given as well, he's not just giving random animals either, he's given what's required for them to
breed and multiply as well. So he gives like a load of the females and then a certain amount of males
as well with them, so it's all, you know, the kind of the most productive amount he can give
for them to breed and everything else. Then he commands his servants to space it out. So basically
Esau just, like I said, just keeps receiving a new gift, a new gift, a new gift. So he's kind of got
past one, a new gift comes, I get past another new gift. Verse 17 says, and he commanded the foremost,
saying, when Esau, my brother, meeteth thee, and asked he, saying, Whose art thou? And whither thou goest
thou, and whose are these before thee? Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant. He's being humble,
Jacob's. It is a present sent unto my Lord, Esau, saying, You're above me, Esau. Okay, I'm your servant,
and behold, also he is behind us. And so commanded he the second and third, and all that followed the
droves, saying, On this manner shall you speak unto Esau when you find him. So they're all saying the
same thing, and say ye moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us, for he said, so it's him saying,
I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face,
peradventure he will accept to me. So like I said, present after present, respect, and then not,
now finally there, he's not expecting forgiveness in return. He's still leaving it as Esau's right
to make the call either way. He said, and afterward I will see his face, peradventure, perhaps, maybe
he will accept of me. He's not saying, well, I've given you all this stuff, now you need to see me.
He's going, I'm giving you all this stuff, and it's still your choice, Esau. Okay, it's down to you,
almost sailor, I'd understand it if you didn't, because this, I'm not, you know, none of this is
going to buy you. I'm giving you all these gifts, but I understand that ultimately it's still your
decision, Esau, because I'm in the wrong and I'm coming through your land now with my family and
everything else, and as we see in the next chapter, okay, it was the correct decision, so if, sorry for
the spoiler here, if anyone's never read the book of Genesis before, he doesn't get butchered, okay,
and it all works out, and it was a correct decision, because, look, for me, there was only one reason
that Esau was riding out with 400 men. Okay, so, so think about that for a second. Why was Esau
riding out with 400 men at the beginning? I think probably thinking, okay, it's on. Jacob's back,
maybe you think he's bringing an army with him, maybe he doesn't, I don't know, but he's just been approached
and he doesn't ride out with a couple of people, he doesn't ride out with a few buddies to come
and see him and help, he rides out with 400 men. I think he was coming to kill him, and somehow
between Jacob praying and whatever's happened, he's ended up taking this course of action,
and the result is that he doesn't kill him, and by the end he actually says, well, who's all this stuff?
You know, you don't have to worry, it does appease him. Well, it said in verse 21,
so went the president 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, his 11 sons, and passed over the four
Jabok, and he took them and sent them over the brook and sent over that he had, and Jacob was
left alone, and they wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. Okay, so this is the night
before, okay, so Esau is on his way, he sent his family over the brook of Ford, and he's on his own.
Yes, he's prayed and everything, but you can imagine this is a stressful time, this is, you know,
it would be hard to put yourself in shoes, you just know someone's coming with 400 men,
and as much as he trusts God, as much as he's prayed to God, he's still probably thinking,
right, what's going to happen now? Okay, next thing you know, he's having a wrestling match.
Who is this man? Well, let's have a quick look at the story first. Verse 24 said,
And Jacob was left alone, and they wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
And 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 has our power with God and with men, and has prevailed.
And Jacob asked him and said, Tell me I pray thee thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou
does ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,
for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. Now this is a key verse here, okay,
said on the back of this night of wrestling that he's seen God face to face. Turn over to
Exodus chapter 33. Jacob couldn't have seen God the Father, his life wouldn't have been preserved.
Okay, he couldn't have done that. He couldn't have seen God the Father face to face.
In Exodus 33, Moses asked to see God in all his glory. Okay, Exodus chapter 33,
we're going to look from verse 18. Exodus 33, 18 says, And he said, I beseech thee,
show me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim
the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will
show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man
see me and live. He said that pretty clearly, didn't he? Thou canst not see my face, for there
shall no man see me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt
stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee
in a cliff of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away
mine hand, thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen. He said in verse 20,
Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. However, in verse 11 of the same
chapter, it said this, And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, this is verse 11,
as a man speaketh unto his friend. He said, The Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaks unto
his friend. And he turned again into the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of none, a young man
departed not out of the tabernacle. Why is that? Because it's God the Son, God manifest in the flesh,
the Lord Jesus Christ, talking to him face to face. Then later it's God in all his glory,
God the Father, whose face no man can see and live. That's the reason, okay? And like we've said before
in the Old Testament when you're going through, it's not always clear whether it's God the Father,
God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, okay? But the Trinity is like throughout the Bible, it really is.
And, you know, anyway, we're not going to go into that. But back in Genesis 32, Jacob is wrestling
with the Son of God, okay? That's who he's wrestling with here. He said he saw him face to face, God face
to face, okay? He's wrestling with the Son of God. And Jacob called the name of that place Peniel,
for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved. This is verse 30. Peniel meaning the
face of God, okay? Now back in verse 24 it said this, so with that in mind let's have a look
through the story again. And Jacob was left alone and they wrestled a man with him until the breaking
of the day. So he wrestled all night. I mean that's a long wrestling match, yeah? He wrestled all night
with this guy. And 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. So it seems like Jesus
Christ isn't prevailing over Jacob. Now just to make it clear, okay, just in case anyone's confused
about this or wondering, if Jesus wanted to, he would kill him in an instant. It's not like,
ah, just man, that Jacob, he's just too tough for the Son of God, okay? Seriously, right? At the
battle of Armageddon, he kills the armies of the world with the word of his mouth, okay? The armies
of the world, they've already kind of strung up the devil and whatnot. And then it says
in Revelation 19 21, it says, and a remnant was slain with the sword of him that sat upon the
horse which sword proceeded out of his mouth and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. So he
kills them with just the words of his mouth, right? Okay, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't have
to turn to Daniel 3, protects Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the white hot fiery furnace,
okay? So it's not just, you know, he's, well, he's got these special words, he can do amazing things
he's got, okay? But did it say, by the way, that Jacob was fighting? Did it say that? Didn't it
say that Jacob, or did it say that Jacob was in a fight for his life? Did it say that? Didn't say
that either, did it? No, he's wrestling, he's grappling, okay? It's not a violent fight to the
death. And I say that because, you've got to hit this point sometime, we're gonna have to hit this
point, okay? Because it needs hitting. It does need hitting, okay? Because there's just, there's just crazy
opinion out there, okay? Contact sports aren't real fighting, okay? And that's something a lot of people
get very confused about, it seems. And it's bizarre, okay? Contact sports aren't real fighting. I'll say
that again. They weren't having a fight to the death or Jesus Christ would have killed him like
that. They're having a grapple, a wrestle. And I don't, I don't believe that, look, the sports
themselves are sinful, okay? They're not the sport. Now there are things that go around certain sports
which can be. There are ways, and people can put sports up here and God down here, and that
is sinful, right? And there are certain things that around sports is, you know, all sorts of, you know,
things that go hand in hand. Sadly, you know, you go and join the local rugby team and next thing you
know, they're going to be throwing you around a bar above their head if you're small enough.
Or if, you know, there's all sorts of like weird, you know, sort of stuff that goes hand in hand with it.
But the sport itself isn't. And I said contact sports there because that's what things like
boxing and other striking sports, yeah, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, all that stuff is.
They're just contact sports. In the same way that rugby, that ice hockey, that football,
like all those things, are contact sports. Basketball. Football just about nowadays, okay?
Used to be a contact sport, okay? It's not anymore, okay? But, and I say that because there are these
ultra-spiritual idiots out there that have made their own man-made standards as to what is
apparently wicked and sinful. And it's completely bizarre. So while they'll be happy for,
for example, to sit down and watch the rainbow lace brigade playing football, and all the
queerness and everything else with that, oh well that's all right. Happy to watch people, you know,
playing what can be a serious, like there could be serious injuries in sports like rugby.
You know, in fact the injuries are up there with football by the way as well, just because of
people sliding in on tackles, it's fast-paced, things like that. People break their legs and worse.
Rugby, I remember a kid breaking his back when I was playing rugby. Actually, he actually fractured
his spine in the front row at school, just on a random Saturday afternoon playing rugby.
And look, there's so many injuries with all sports, right? But there's injuries with everything you do.
I mean there's injuries with jogging around the block. People hurt themselves and twist their
ankles and pull hamstrings and things like that. That's just life, right? You don't have a glorified
body yet. But my point is, is that that stuff, all that stuff is just contact sports. And
when you put some cushions on your hand, and seriously, and you get in a very padded area,
and you have a referee, judges, a long set of rules that you have to keep to,
you're not in a fight. Now they call it a fight, but it's not a fight. You're just playing a sport.
And yeah, some sports are a bit more fighting type than other sports, yeah? But they're not fighting.
And I just say that because people go crazy and then they make their own sense.
So what is their standard then? So is anything that you can get an injury, is that bad? Or anything
where you kind of maybe hurt someone, well okay, well that rules out most contact sports because
people get hurt in them. And a lot of the time, purposefully. You know, when you're tackling
someone in rugby, you're trying to hurt them. When you're tackling someone in American football,
you're trying to hurt them and give them a concussion by the looks of it.
It's true, isn't it? Like all this stuff. Because ultimately it's just a contact sport.
And here, it doesn't look like Jesus has got a problem with contact sports.
So all these ultra-spiritual, I'm holier than everyone else because I don't like contact. Look,
you don't have to like contact sports. You don't have to. And you're not less spiritual or more
spiritual than anyone else. Maybe a little less spiritual. Seriously, you don't have to. But
however, when you start making these standards, and people do that a lot, and I've been around
these people for years now because of the fact that, you know, when I got saved when I was going
to church, I was a Thai boxing coach. And I just had all these losers coming up to go. I mean,
what do you think God thinks about that? What do I think God thinks? God who was wrestling with
Jacob all night. And basically crippled him for life with some sort of mean hip move on him.
I mean, what do I think God thinks? What, God is just encouraging David to go out and hack
down all his enemies and everything else. Oh, but like you punch someone in the face with a pillow
on your fist. I mean, he must be so outraged. And they do. People think they've got to like shield
their eyes from this stuff. Oh, well, I'm a Christian. I better never see someone do something
violent. Come on, man. Don't be ridiculous. God isn't squeamish about this stuff. He wrestled
with Jacob all night. Looks like he had a bit of fun with it as well. And you know what he did as
well? He was playing with him. Let's be honest. He was playing with him. He just played to his level.
I mean, I kind of like sometimes think, well, maybe kind of just like he didn't use any of
the, obviously he's like got infinite power. He could do anything. And maybe just went, okay,
I'm just going to go like human on your head. I'm just going to use what I could. I don't know.
Or maybe he just literally goes, I'm going to go to your level. I think Jacob's quite tough,
though, isn't he? Jacob does well here. But really, the point is that Jacob's tenacious
and he just wants to keep going, keep going, keep going. And there's a level that obviously
the Lord goes to here. But I do think with that, just quickly on that, is that I think that the
issue that a lot of people have with this sort of thing and the issue that people have and they want
to make these standards here is I think a lot of them, they just really have no idea about real
fighting, really. So I think they see Hollywood and that's their education on fighting. So they're
like, well, that like someone spinning around three times with a helicopter kick and that person's out
or, you know, or Steven Seagal just, you know, that's real. But it's not really real fighting.
So then when they see the sports stuff, they're like, they're fighting. It's like, they're not.
Okay. They're playing a sport. Yeah. And it's quite similar. Right. And some of those skills
are quite easily transferable, but there's a big difference when someone really wants to hurt you.
I mean, you know, and I'm not trying to encourage anyone. Look, sometimes in life, you know,
you might have been in a fight before and it's a very different situation to being somewhere with
a judge and padding and all the rest of it and a referee. And you know that if it gets bad,
it's not going to get carry on. It's a lot different when you think this person might
want to kill me. And that's a pretty intense situation. And it's it's like it's like this
far apart, isn't it, to the sport in terms of the intent and everything that goes with it, you know.
And I just think that's probably the issue with a lot of people with that. But like I said, God
doesn't have a problem with it. Okay. So it says in verse twenty five, and when he saw that he
prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his side and the hollow of Jacob's side was
out of joint as he as he wrestled with him. So he's just crippled it, basically. He's just done
some some mean, I don't know what it was. What were we saying? Maybe a knee bar or something.
I don't know. He did something where he's just basically dislocated his hip by the looks of it.
Yeah. I mean, that was I don't know. And I don't know. When it says he touched him,
it's not like saying when he just like, you know, like E.T.
I don't think that's what it's talking about. I think it's just that he went for the thigh
type thing. You know, he grabbed it. He did whatever. And I don't think that it's him
trying to whip him. I think that he's toying with him and he does it, the dislocate move.
It's like it's time for the move. Okay. So he does a move with him. And he said, and this is talking
about Jacob, said this, let me go. Oh, sorry, sorry. This is the Lord saying this. He said,
let me go for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me.
So obviously that's Jacob wanting to continue. He's wanting the blessing. He's saying I'm not
letting you go. Verse twenty seven. 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 has our power
with God and with men and has prevailed. So Israel meaning the prince that prevails with God,
obviously prevail, meaning to advance, to overcome, to gain advantage. And verse twenty nine says,
and Jacob asked him and said, tell me, I pray thee thy name. And he said, wherefore is it that
thou does ask after my name? And he blessed him there. Now, I believe asking specifically the
son of God's name, however great was the mystery of godliness. That wasn't the time for that,
I suppose. Verse thirty says, and Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for I have seen
God face to face and my life is preserved. Peniel is the face of God. Now. Okay. So here we go.
What was it all about? So aside from the fact that there was a great wrestling match,
it would have been great. I hope we can get like a video replay of this. You know,
although maybe you might want to have the highlights because it sounds like quite a long
watch. I don't know. It could have been twelve hours. I don't know. Somewhere, somewhere long,
right? It went on all night. But I bet there were some good moves in there. But maybe some of you
would be like, just stand them up. Get the striking going. All this rolling around on the floor. Some
people don't like that stuff. But I don't know. But I believe that it's a very vivid picture,
both of Israel and the Christian wrestling to achieve, and Israel being Jacob here,
wrestling to achieve the blessings of God. So striving to stay close to God, not wanting to
let him go. Okay. So we're seeing that. Just staying very close. God, he doesn't want to let
him go without getting that blessing. Now some will say, and you probably would have heard it
before I remember when I was, you know, probably more newly saved, hearing people preach it about
being wrestling in prayer. You might have heard it preached like that before. Some will say,
well, it's a picture of prayer. But I believe that it's more than that. We saw the prayer in
the previous verse, didn't we? So we saw the praying and I don't think that's what we're
seeing here. I think it's more likely a picture of wrestling and staying close with the word of God
to receive the blessings that are there for us. So it's wanting to stay close to God and ultimately
it's the word of God, isn't it? And it's wrestling with the word of God, with that
Christian life, basically the wrestling, the grappling to stay close to God. Now not for
salvation, okay, obviously. So there's no wrestling for a gift, okay. No one has to,
if anyone says to you, I've got a gift for you but you've got to wrestle me for it, that wasn't a gift,
okay. That's some sort of swap, some return for the wrestling. The gift of God is eternal
life to Jesus Christ the Lord. That's a gift, okay. However, here specifically he wants to be blessed
before his meeting with Esau and he wants to know that his physical life will be preserved.
And I believe that in verse 30 there's a dual meaning where it says, and Jacob called the name
of the place Peniel, for I've seen God face to face and my life is preserved. Before meeting Esau
with that day dawning, okay, that day he's about to have him approached with 400 men, I believe that
it's both. Yes, he's seen God face to face, he's still alive. However, I think he's
saying I know I'm going to live through this. Turn to 2 Peter 3, Jacob wrestles with the
Word of God and prevails, you turn to 2 Peter 3 and he prevails to receive the blessings of God.
And we as believers, okay, we have to prevail too to receive blessings in life, don't we?
It's not automatic. You don't just receive all the blessings of God in life. Yes, salvation is a free
gift but the blessings of God in life, they're not automatic. They take effort, they take diligence.
Diligence with the Word of God, diligence in the Christian life. Yeah, that's not, all that stuff
isn't automatic. I talked about that the other day where people go, oh, you know, if you're saved
you'll never beg. Well, Lazarus was begging, you know, and oh well, you know, he said, you know,
he said, but seek your first scheme of God and his righteousness all these things shall be added
unto you. But it's talking about the Christian life, it's talking to save people. That's seeking
the things of God to them to be able to say, look, I'm doing the right thing here, I'm living how God
wants me to and that includes, by the way, being a diligent worker, that includes working hard,
that includes being honest, being upright and providing for your family and everything else.
And I know that he's not going to see me now go hungry. I know that I'm not going to do all of
that and then just get sacked off for being a Christian for my job and never be able to
provide for myself, my family again. No, because I'm doing the right thing, I'm working hard,
I'm trying my best. I know that God will provide for me with that, yeah. And that's, none of that's
automatic. Now, we have to be careful with this as well because you could go, you can start to go,
well, I'm obviously better than everyone else because I'm, you know, doing whatever,
I'm soul winning, I'm in church right now, I'm reading the Bible. Okay, but where does it all
really come from? It comes from the Word of God. So it's not that we're just, you know, oh well,
we must be great because we've managed to do some things. No, just praise God that we've heard good
preaching, we've been in the Word of God, we've, you know, done whatever it is, you know, we've
been inspired enough to do what we should be doing. We're doing what is a reasonable service.
And all the lazy Christians, it's not that we're good, it's just there's a lot of pretty pathetic
people out there that get saved and do nothing. And that's sad, isn't it? Okay, it doesn't mean
that we're still, look, we're not kind of these great, you know, just wow, what an amazing group
of people. No, look, don't be too down in yourselves either, all right, you're in church, you're doing
some good stuff, right. But however, we don't want to get puffed up with it, is my point, yeah.
Okay, but anyway, so he wants to be, he wants to be blessed, okay, and Jacob wrestles, he wrestles,
right, with basically the Word of God. And we as believers, okay, I believe, like I said, we have to,
we have to prevail too. And 2 Peter 3, Peter says it like this, it says in verse 13, in 2 Peter 3, 13,
says, nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you
may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless. He's telling us to be diligent, no, it's
not automatic, yeah. These people who think, like, you're just going to automatically live for God if
you're saved, all that kind of weird, where they kind of mix works with salvation, all that stuff.
They literally just ignore so much in the Bible, encouraging us, telling us, trying to just, you know,
imploring us, just going, please, like, live right, he's going, look, like, you need to, you need to reject
these things, you need to do this, like, it's just like letter after letter, encouraging saved people
to live right, yeah, because it's not automatic, is it. He said, be diligent that you may be found of him
in peace without spot and blameless, and account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation,
even as our beloved brother Paul, also called the wizard given unto him, has written unto you,
as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to be
understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable rest, as they do also the other scriptures
unto their own destruction. Now, of course there are the unsaved that can't understand Paul's writings,
okay, they're everywhere, okay, there's a lot of people that claim to be Christians, they ain't saved,
they haven't got a clue, okay, they can't look at Paul's writings and see, for example, the free gift
of salvation throughout the book of Romans, pretty much, they can't see many other things, right.
These people are unlearned and unstable in that they're not even saved in the first place, however,
there are also saved people that are unlearned and unstable, aren't there, okay, many of us have been,
many of us probably were, and hopefully won't be in the future, but people will. People will backside,
go out the things of God, and start to become more unlearned and unstable, like we said, you
want to go forwards, you go backwards in the Christian life, that's just the way it is, right,
and there are people, many people out there, that are saved and are unlearned and unstable,
okay, think about, for example, save Zionists, there, you know, that, did you know that not every
Zionist out there is unsaved, there are, there are many, many saved men, women, children of God out
there that sadly have been brainwashed and don't read their Bibles, or they do read their Bibles,
they just see it through a Zionist lens and just cannot just read it for what it says, and they're
Zionists, yeah, they're helping the ungodly, they're loving them that hate the Lord, yeah,
therefore is wrath upon them from before the Lord, I mean, what an absolute, what, what a terrible
situation, they're saved, but they're unlearned, they're unstable, they're wrestling with the
Scriptures, they're losing, they're not prevailing unto their own destruction, now I'm not talking
about permanent destruction in hell, if they're saved, they're saved, right, however, didn't God say
wrath be upon them, if they, if people do that, and who's really responsible, it should be them, really,
shouldn't it, think about, for example, think about those that are being convinced that faith
cometh by reading and reading by the word of God, there's a lot of them out there, I mean, around saved
people that have been conned by that, oh yeah, well, we just go out and we give out loads of fliers,
we just stand in, I've been around people, just standing in a high street, just giving out
invitations, thinking they're doing this great work for God, going and just not even knocking on
the door, and just posting things through the door, I've said it many times, I was at an old church once,
where they got, I think it was 10,000 New Testament bibles for free from some group out in the US
somewhere that give them out as long as they're going to be given through doors, and they posted
through letter boxes 10,000 New Testament bibles, and not one of them rang on the door,
apart from I managed to persuade the pastor to, could I maybe get involved, would you mind if I made,
you know, tried to do it politely, maybe it'd be a good idea to knock on the door and just, you know,
see if we could preach a gospel to him, and he kind of had to concede, you know, at the time,
and, but probably about 9,900 of those bibles got posted through doors, I mean, what a complete
waste of time, and how many blessings have they missed out on, haven't they, because of that, because
they're basically, they're wrestling with, they can't just see, so then faith cometh by
hearing him by the word of God, they just can't take that for what it says, and many other
scriptures like that, right, but hearing the word of truth, after that you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed, right, it comes from the word
of God, and we could look at many places well for that. Think about those that think that God
doesn't chastise every Sunday we receive it, who've just somehow been kind of conned by liberal
Christianity that, oh no, well it's all grace man, it's all grace, they're not recognizing it when
they're getting chastised, and again, how many, I mean, how much improvement will they miss out on,
because the chastisement should be for our own good, we should look at that, we should recognize
it and go, okay, I need to sort that out, I need to get right, and instead they're just getting
whipped throughout life, not really sorting themselves out, not getting any better, what a waste,
right, but it doesn't mean they're not saved, does it, doesn't mean they're not saved.
Said in verse 17, ye therefore beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware, he's calling them
beloved, he's saying beware, lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from
your own steadfastness, don't think you're going to lose your salvation, he's saying you want to be
careful that you're not led away with these sorts of errors, with these false doctrines, with these
things in the word of God, led away with the error of the wicked, because a false doctrine ultimately
probably comes from someone wicked in the first place usually, and look, we all get things wrong
sometimes, you know, I might teach something and it's a little bit wrong getting in interpretation
but these things that really harm your spiritual life, a lot of the time come from someone bad
originally, don't they, and but people, Christians, can be led away with that, can't they, led away
with the error of the wicked, fall from their own steadfastness, their strength, he said, but grow
in grace in the knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, that's what we should do, to him be
glory both now and forever, amen, but there's some effort to do that, isn't there, to grow in grace,
to be able to try to understand those things, to be learned, to be stable, to stay steadfast,
there's effort, there's diligence, there's some drawing nigh to God there, isn't there, there's
some wrestling with the scriptures there, and in a good way, not wrestling to our own destruction,
but we should be looking at the scriptures and learning daily, right, you don't have to
understand that the Bereans were described in Acts 17 11 as these were more noble than those
in Thessalonica, and they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures
daily, whether those things were so, and sometimes you just got to do that, don't you, and you know
what you've got to do as well, as believers, it's one thing, and look, you need to come to church,
you need to hear preaching in the house of God, it's a big difference, isn't it, very different,
if you've ever been at home and watch it online, it's completely different, get the fish,
now it's better than not watching it at all, not being able to keep up with what's being preached
at your church, but however you want to be in the house of God, don't you, okay, and you want to
listen to preaching and you want to read the word, you want to do all the things of Christian life,
but something you need to do as well is to have your own time with God at home, you need to read
the word of God, you need to be drawing close to God, you need to search the scriptures as well,
you need to be able to not just go, well, what did that person say, what did that preacher say,
oh, someone's asked me a question, I better find a sermon online, I could show someone,
no, you want to be able to go, right, what does my Bible say, what does my Bible say, I'm going to
show you what the word of God says, I know what the word of God says, and you know what, I'm going
to be so much more confident in my belief, in my whatever I'm standing on and whatever decision
I've made for my family or for myself, whatever else, if it's because I know it's in the word of God,
not because my favourite pastor told me that that's what I should do, and that's something
that, look, and we have a great church people that read the Bible and everything else,
but it is something that's really important because a lot of people, there are little
Christians out there, a lot of people in our sorts of, you know, circles and stuff that aren't like
that, and I remember when I first kind of, and this is something I really noticed when,
and of course a lot of these people are bad people, okay, but when a lot of us,
people here that were here from the beginning kind of got to know each other and stuff,
I remember hearing like a lot of people, I just constantly hear people ask a question go,
and being on this old group chat that we're on, the UK Soul Winning One, and the answer was usually
let me find a sermon, oh well I think the pastor whoever said this, pastor whoever's wife said that,
whoever said, and it was like yeah but what does the Bible say, and look, and you know what,
those people, look, usually those people were saying what the Bible said, but however they
didn't really know what the Bible said, they just knew what that person said, and you'll never be
a strong Christian like that, you really won't, and the Bereans were searching the scriptures,
not searching the sermon vault, they weren't, they were searching the scriptures daily,
and we need to be able to do that, and you do that by making sure you read your Bible,
firstly you need to be reading it every day, just for starters, and not just reading a
chapter a day and taking three years to get through the Bible, you need to be reading it through,
like at least, like I would say more than yearly, yearly is like the bare minimum,
because then you know where to go, you've got an idea, you're like I've seen that somewhere,
I know where that is, and of course we have software now that makes it easier,
you can search terms, you can think of half a verse and maybe put in some keywords and maybe
find it, but it's much easier when you know the word of God, right, you know the Bible,
you know what it should say, and even like if you're reading it through a lot, a lot of the
time at least you've got some of those words in your head and you can search them, even with
software and stuff like that, if you find it hard to remember where that verse is that you've seen,
and that's coming to your mind, that the Holy Ghost is bringing to your remembrance, but you
need to be able to search the scriptures, because going off what whoever said and someone else said,
you won't be as strong in your faith like that, will you? Well, we see the Bereans do that,
and here we see that there are those sadly that wrestle with the scriptures to their own
destruction, and Jacob though, for me the picture is he's wrestling with the word of God,
he's drawing close, he's drawing, you can't be much closer than when you're kind of,
you know, in a leg lock or something, so maybe even worse, right, you know, when you're wrestling, okay,
that's close quarters, he's doing it alone, he's alone with God, isn't he, close quarters alone,
wrestling with with the word of God, he's close, and well turn to Hosea 12, it was Jacob's steadfastness,
his strength, that meant then that he was more blessed, that he got that blessing, because of that.
Hosea chapter 12, it's the first book after Daniel, Hosea chapter 12, and it says this,
Hosea says this in verse 1, Hosea 12 and verse 1, Ephraim feedeth on wind and followeth after the
east wind, he daily increaseth lies and desolation, and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians,
and oil is carried into Egypt. The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish
Jacob according to his ways, according to his doings, will he recompense him. Now he's talking
about Israel itself, but he's talking about Israel as Jacob here, and he says this, he took his brother
by the heel and the womb, and by his strength he had power with God, so it was his strength that
was the reason he had this power with God, yet he had power over the angel, okay, and the angel,
the messenger here being Jesus Christ, and prevailed, he wept and made supplication unto
him, he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us. So the weeping and supplication for me
is when he prayed to God first, which goes hand in hand with the prevailing,
you can't really separate them, neither can you separate them from his vow to serve God in Bethel,
it's all part of his strength and power with God, all goes hand in hand. He prayed to God,
there was supplication to God, he's wrestling, he's getting close to God, he had already made
those vows to God and everything else that we looked at last week, so it's all part of the same
package, and that's why he had that strength, it's all part of his strength. Verse 5 says,
even the Lord God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial, therefore turn now to thy God, keep mercy and
judgment, and wait on thy God continually, and that's kind of part of how you prevail, isn't it?
Being close to God, keeping mercy and judgment, waiting on God, it's not just reading it, it's not,
well we just wrestle with the scriptures while we're just at home and kind of really get to the
bottom of things and make some notes and feel really wise, no, it's a whole package, isn't it?
It's being in the word of God, it's being close to God, through his word, in the house of God,
soul winning, all the other bits and beats that we talk about all the time, those clear, just so
you're not in presumptuous sin, you're upright, you're close to God, and that's how you prevail,
and that's how you then receive the blessings of God. Verse 24, back in Genesis 32 says,
And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. So it's
it's an ongoing thing as well, it's an ongoing closeness we need to seek to God, it's an ongoing
wrestling, it's ongoing until really the morning star rises, it's ongoing until the end really,
isn't it? The end of either our lives or the end of the world as we know it, right? Verse 25,
And 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. So here it could be a picture of humbling
him, I think. You don't have to turn it in, 2 Corinthians 12 9, Paul is talking about praying to God
for a thorn in the flesh to be removed, if you remember. And he said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee, this is this is what Paul's saying that God said, for my strength is made
perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of
Christ may rest upon me. Now he's about to go into a potential battling, fleeing, maybe just getting
like a beating from Esau, he doesn't really know, right? Probably he's thinking everyone's just going
to get cut to shreds, you know, his family's going to get butchered, and just before he goes into it
he gets a dislocated thigh. I mean, it's kind of, it's almost like, man, it couldn't even be any worse.
You know, in your mind you think he's about to go into this situation, maybe he's going to have to
leg it with everyone, or find a way out of it, and he's like, now he's hobbling to the fight as well.
But our weaknesses make us rely on the Lord more, don't they? They do, they really do, don't they?
The more you become aware of your weaknesses, the more you're like, God, I need you, I can't
do this, it makes you rely on it, it makes you pray more, it makes you seek him more, it makes you need,
no, I need to get closer to him, because I can't do it without you, because I'm not strong enough.
I've got too many weaknesses, I've got too many faults, I've got too many things, I need you to
help me through this. Our weaknesses draw us close, don't they? And his strength is made perfect in our weakness.
And he said, let me go, for the day breaketh, and he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
So Jacob is wrestling for a blessing, sticking close to God, close to the Word.
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 has our power with God and with men, and has prevailed.
So he prevailed, which has given him power with God and with men. And that's the other thing, is when
we prevail, when we're winning that Christian life battle, then we do have power
with God and with men, don't we? You can get through things, and whether it's by being humble enough
and being sensible enough to be like, I did a bad move on Esau, he's come with 400 men, I'm just
going to send him a load of my work, and he's clearly not a covetous guy. A lot of people just
probably couldn't have done that just purely due to greed. And he's just like, I'm sending it,
he's sending like droves and droves of animals as a gift. And I think a lot of people probably
wouldn't even be able to do that. It's mine, it's all mine, no way. God, you're going to sort this out,
surely I don't have to part with anything. Whereas he's like, he's just sending him stuff,
sending him stuff, and he has power with him really with that, doesn't he? Power by
being humble, power by being not greedy, power by just basically seeking forgiveness from
someone that really he's not owed it. And Jacob asked him and said, tell me I pray thee thy name.
And he said, wherefore is it that thou does ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob
called the name of that place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face, my life is preserved. So I
believe that as well as seeing God and living, he's saying that he's received a blessing and that he
will survive. I think that's the confidence he now has from this, from being close to God, from
prevailing in that wrestling, from obviously the prayer before that as well. And he's saying,
for I've seen God face to face and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel, and
they've changed the name, I think that's what they then call it, Penuel, that's what it's known as
afterwards. The sun rose upon him and he halted, and I think it means the same thing, and he halted
upon his sight. So for me he's left with an infirmity here. He halts, he stops upon his
thigh. He's got an issue here, he's got a problem now with his thigh. And it said in verse 32,
therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the
thigh unto this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank. A sinew
being a tendon, okay, likely in that hollow hip joint. I think going into the joint is what it's
talking about there. And the point is that it's a reminder of needing to rely on God's strength.
And that's what he will then have for the rest of his life, is just a reminder that he needs the
strength of God to rely on the strength of God. And that's something that should then have reminded
the children of Israel onwards from that point as well. And on that, that was, well that was Genesis
chapter 32. And yeah, that's what I believe about that. And hopefully I've explained that
in the right way. And on that we're going to finish up with a word of prayer.
Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for, well, the fact that we can rely on you,
the fact that you are there to help us, that you are present help in times of
trouble, Lord. And there are many various ways that you do help us, Lord. And the fact that,
you know, even when we are weak, even when we are infirm in one way or another,
in fact we, you know, we can prevail, we can keep going because of you, Lord, because of the fact
that you give us that strength, because you give us everything that we need to go on, to go forward,
to prevail in life, Lord. Help us to all just, we'll try and stay close to you this week going
forward, to think about this message and think about how important it is in our lives to be
close to you, to close, just be in the Word of God, to be in the things of God, just
not just in church but in our Bibles every day, Lord. To know how to search the Scriptures,
to know how to, you know, have our faith resting upon really that rock and not just on, you know,
sort of hearsay or things we've heard from other people. Help us to just be confident, bold in our,
in what the Word of God says to us, Lord, and help us to all get home safe for sound this evening,
to return on Sunday for another day in your house. Jesus name, pro-lives, amen.