CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.
CLICK HERE for the sermon video.
Is God the Enemy?
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jacob and his entourage had reached the Jabbok, a stream that flows into the Jordan from the east about midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. After sending his family and flocks across the Jabbok under the cover of darkness, Jacob remained on the other side to spend the night alone. He knew not what to expect the next day, and, as we all do, he feared the unexpected. He hadn’t seen his brother in many years. Did Esau still carry a grudge toward Jacob? As he began to pour out his heart in prayer to God, he suddenly became aware that someone had grabbed hold of him and was wrestling him to the ground. The mysterious struggle continued for hours, until the first streaks of dawn appeared in the eastern sky.
Though some elements of this wrestling match are difficult to understand, some basic truths are immediately clear. Jacob was struggling with God in earnest prayer. This struggle involved a spiritual striving with God for His blessing, but it also involved a physical struggle. And if you have ever really struggled with God in prayer, then you know that such prayer demands a physical cost.
Jacob’s Opponent, referred to as “the Man,” later identifies Himself as God. But why should God appear to one of His children as an opponent, as an enemy, fighting against him? Surely He did not mean to crush the life out of Jacob. If God had been of a mind to crush him, the wrestling match would have been over as quickly as it began. In the heat of the struggle, Jacob may well have been tempted to think of God as an enemy. But God had promised to bless him, and Jacob knew that God cannot lie.
The struggle continued until Jacob’s divine Opponent, by merely touching Jacob’s hip, threw the entire hip socket out of joint. And now Jacob couldn’t continue the painful struggle any longer. So he threw his arms around his Opponent and held on to Him. His Opponent said: “Let me go, for the day has broken.” And He was then delighted to hear Jacob answer: “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” God didn’t want Jacob to be timid with Him, and He does not want us to be timid toward Him. He takes great delight in pouring out His blessings on us when we have struggled with Him in humble, believing prayer. Jacob clung in faith to God and to His promises. And he received the blessing he desired.
“What is your name?” the Lord asked him, not because He had forgotten, but to remind Jacob of what his name meant. The name Jacob means “heel grabber,” referring to the fact that, as he came forth from his mother Rebekah’s womb, he had hold of his brother Esau’s heel. And from that moment on, Jacob was one who willingly took advantage of a rival. But that old name no longer fit this man. Jacob had learned and repented the error of his ways. And so, God gave him a new name. “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Jacob’s new name describes the new nature and character the Holy Spirit had patiently created in him. No longer would he rely on his own cleverness to overcome anyone who opposed him. The “heel grabber” had become the persistent fighter who clung to God’s promises and won God’s blessings legitimately. Jacob had learned to lean on God.
Still, God apparently felt that Jacob needed a reminder of his victory as a warning against relapsing into his old “Jacob” nature. And so, as Jacob left the scene of the wrestling match, he was limping. And here is a reminder to all of God’s children: in and of ourselves, we have no strength, no power with God or with men. We are all spiritually among the walking wounded. Our only strength, like Jacob’s, lies in holding firmly to what God has promised. With God’s promises ringing in his ears, Jacob was ready to meet Esau, ready for whatever that new day might bring.
God still appears to His people at times as though He were an enemy. Each of us has known dark hours when we were unable to see God’s mercy, when He seemed angry and begrudging of His gifts. We have known fear and doubt; we have known sorrow and grief, when it seemed that we had little left to live for and nothing to hope. The Canaanite women in today’s Gospel reading might have thought Jesus to be an unfeeling Redeemer. He may have come to suffer and die for sin, but it seemed He had not come to help her and her daughter. But she was persistent; she would not let go of Jesus until He blessed her.
I urge you, my brothers and sisters in Christ: watch and pray; never give up your faith in God; never doubt His love for you in Christ, even when He seems to turn away and leave your prayers unanswered. Like Jacob, boldly cling to Him and say, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Persistently, shamelessly press your needs and desires upon God, your Father. Place your trust in His Word and promises. He bids you pray with persistence and certainty for everything you need. May God, by His Holy Spirit, help you to take Him at His Word and wrestle with Him until He gives you every temporal and eternal blessing. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment