Jacob realises that this man is not a robber he is looking at the face of God. Then the man touches Jacob’s hip and dislocates it. This must have been quite some wrestling match. However, by morning, Jacob will say that he has fought with God. Jacob may have thought the attacker was a robber or even his brother who had sworn to kill him. Who is this stranger who jumps Jacob in the night? The story only says “Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day” (Genesis 32:24). So Jacob, one again the schemer plans to outsmart his brother. But it is not as dangerous as being ambushed there in the morning. Yes, a river crossing is dangerous in the dark, especially for the children and smaller animals. If Esau had any thoughts of attacking as they crossed the river then Jacob would be one step ahead. Then he wakes up the whole camp and sends his wives and children across the river. In order to soothe the anger of his brother, Jacob organises presents from amongst his livestock to go ahead. He’s worried because his brother has come with a force of 400 men. Will Esau receive him or kill him? Jacob is worried. Tomorrow he will stand face-to-face with the brother whom he has so grievously wronged. (Isaac lived until he was 180 years old and both sons buried him). Back to the father he had cheated and lied to. Back to the brother who had threatened to kill him. Then after 20 years Jacob wants to go back home. He becomes a fugitive when his brother puts his name at the top of a hit list. He had become his mum’s favourite at home, swindled his brother Esau out of his birthright, and tricked his dying father into giving him, not Esau, the family inheritance. He spent his life getting out of one tight spot and quickly ending up in another. By hook or by crook Jacob wanted desperately to always be the winner by trickery, scheming and grabbing what he could get. This was sort of a prophetic foretaste of what kind of person Jacob would turn out to be. His parents named him Jacob, which means “grabber”. He came into this world with his hand grasping his brother’s heel, almost it seemed, trying to pull Esau back so that he could get out ahead. But let’s try by looking at the background of everything that has happened so far in Jacob’s life. The story of the wrestling match on the banks of the Jabbok is not an easy one and I’ve got more questions about this event in Jacob’s life than I have answers. Jacob, the son of Isaac, never gave up until he got what he wanted. No reasonable offer for one of these beauties will be turned down”. We have beautiful previously owned, low mileage automobiles with no deposit and payments that anyone can afford. I can just hear him say, “Hi! My name is Jake from Rusty Car Sales. I reckon Jacob would have made a great car salesman. As I said, the business world would clamour to have such a person on their pay roll. He was not one to give up easy in the face of trouble. Even when the chips were down as in today’s reading about his difficulties at the River Jabbok, he was determined to turn it into profit. If he had something in mind, he would go for broke to get it. He was not one to take “No” for an answer. Few scruples when it came to getting what he wanted. Lots of initiative, to the point of being aggressive. If he were alive today, Jacob, son of Isaac was the sort of character that lots of companies would love to have as one of their top executives. Sermon Genesis 32:22-31 Wrestling with God
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |