“The Old Has Gone; the New Has Come (Genesis 31-32)” | 6/13/2021
Genesis 31-32 | 6/13/21 | Will DuVal
This morning, we’re continuing our study of the book of GENESIS, in chapters 31 and 32, and we’re talking about CHANGE. You’ve heard it said that “a leopard can’t change its spots”. But what about PEOPLE?
I stole our sermon title from one of the most beautiful, powerful verses in all of Scripture; many of you will already have it memorized, I hope you ALL will after today: 2 Corinthians ch5, v17:
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone; behold, the new has come!”
That didn’t get NEARLY enough “Amens”; let’s try that again:
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone; behold, the new has come!”
Would you say it with me one time: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone; behold, the new has come!”
Christian - if you are “in Christ”, if you have by repentance been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20), and have by faith been raised WITH Christ to newness of life (Romans 6:4), that means that when the Almighty God of the Universe now looks at you - no matter WHO you are, or WHAT you have done -
He no longer sees a Sinner; He sees a SAINT.
He no longer sees your Brokenness; He sees your BEAUTY.
He doesn’t look at you with Disapproval; He looks at you with DELIGHT.
Because when GOD now looks at YOU, He no longer SEES you; he sees JESUS!
For all who are “in CHRIST”, God sees us no longer as dressed in the filthy rags of our sin, but as dressed in all the righteousness of Christ! The REST of 2 Corinthians 5 reads “For our sake God made Christ to BE sin, though He knew no sin, so that in him - in Christ - we might become the righteousness of God”.
“The old has gone; BEHOLD, the new has come!”
Now, I WISH that we could just stop right there. But... the PROBLEM is that you and I have a REALLY hard time actually living in the light of this glorious new REALITY, of who we are, now, in Christ. We all suffer from visual impairment, our spiritual vision; if we could just SEE ourselves the way that GOD now sees us, all those truths we just resounded together:
“I am CHOSEN, not FORSAKEN…
Welcomed… Loved… Set FREE…
I’m a Child of GOD”!
If we would just LIVE like it, like the new creations that Christ has MADE us, TRANSFORMED us to be, we’d be fine. But like the beggar-turned-prince, adopted by the KING, who keeps forgetting his new identity and sneaking out of the castle to go beg at the city gates instead, we all suffer from spiritual amnesia.
And no matter how filthy we now know those old beggar’s rags to BE, in our SIN, we’re still tempted… continually… to try and trade the royal ROBE of Christ’s righteousness for rags. “You can take the beggar out the streets; but it’s MUCH harder to take the STREETS out of the beggar.”
Now, what does any of this have to do with GENESIS? This morning, in Genesis 31 & 32, we find 3 core truths on full display, in the life of the patriarch JACOB, and in the various supporting actors & actresses here - Rachel, Laban, Esau… - I wanna give you those main points from your bulletin right here up front:
1) We struggle to LEAVE the past behind (31:1-32:2)...
2) We struggle to BE-lieve the past is truly behind us (32:3-21)...
But 3) God makes us NEW (32:22-32).
For starters, You and I, Jacob and Rachel - we ALL have parts of our past that, if we are really honest, we don’t WANT to leave behind. If Jesus would only give us the OPTION of following him... while ALSO continuing to date THAT person, pursue THAT career, binge-watch THAT show, spend our free time on THOSE activities, treat our enemies THAT way… we would DO it. Cuz in our sin, we don’t WANT to change, certain parts of our past.
On the FLIP side, secondly, also like Jacob, there are OTHER parts of our past that we desperately WANT to leave behind, but fear that we CAN’T. We WANT to put that death, that trauma, that sexual assault, that spiritual abuse, that marital affair, that divorce… we WANT to put it behind us. But it seems so BIG, so egregious, so LIFE-DEFINING, that we have trouble believing it could ever BE our past, instead of our present. It feels like it’s ALWAYS doomed to be there, following us wherever we go, and determining our future as well.
BUT... point #3 - we opened with the gospel, and you’re gonna have to wait until the END today to be reminded of it once again - the GOOD news, that in SPITE of both the past that we WANT to leave behind but CAN’T seem to... AND the past we’ve been CALLED to leave behind, but HAVEN’T faithfully obeyed… listen: God makes us NEW! No MATTER your past, this morning, God is offering you NEW LIFE in His Son, Jesus, if you will but surrender to Him, by faith.
Let’s pray…
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Main Point #1: We struggle to LEAVE the past behind (31:1-32:2).
We pick back up in Genesis 31, v1: “Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father's, and from what was our father's he has gained all this wealth.” 2 And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before.”
Now, you remember last week, in ch.30, God had BEEN blessing Laban simply because Jacob was LIVING with him, but Laban was hoarding all the wealth, so God appeared to Jacob in a dream and told him to propose this RIDICULOUS deal, that SHOULD have resulted in Laban cheating Jacob out of even MORE wages, but instead, God worked miraculously to bless Jacob with an abundance of Laban’s sheep and goats and livestock. But neither Uncle Laban nor his sons, who now feel robbed of their inheritance, are very happy about it. So...
V3: “Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”
Last week, again, God worked in SPITE of Leah, and Rachel, and Jacob’s faithlessness, their superstitious idolatry, to fulfill God’s promise to Jacob of a PEOPLE - 11 sons and counting - and PROSPERITY, all that wealth. And the third patriarchal promise from Genesis 28 was a PLACE; namely, the Promised Land, Canaan. Jacob has been sojourning in Mesopotamia now for 20 long years, but God is finally saying: “It’s time to go home.”
And Jacob, to his credit, has NO trouble leaving THIS part of his past behind him! For Jacob, Uncle Laban fits squarely in category #2 of your outline: Jacob would LOVE to leave him behind, but as we’ll see, he just can’t seem to shake him.
V4: “So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was 5 and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. 6 You know that I have served your father with all my strength, 7 yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me. 8 If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. 9 Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. 10 In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. 11 Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ 12 And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me [back in chapter 28]. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’””
Jacob has been putting up with Laban’s shenanigans for 20 years now! He served Laban for 7 years to marry his daughter Rachel, only to discover that Laban had tricked him into marrying LEAH instead, so he served ANOTHER 7 years for Rachel, and then another SIX and counting now, simply because Laban knows that Jacob is good luck and he won’t let him leave. But Jacob is BEYOND ready to GO.
And the sister-wives realize it too:
V14: “Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father's house? 15 Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money. 16 All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”
All that prosperity that God had brought Laban’s way, for Jacob’s sake, these 20 long years, it was SUPPOSED to have served as a dowry for Leah and Rachel; Laban was supposed to SAVE it, in the event that Jacob DIED or divorced them, so that Laban’s daughters would be taken care of. But Laban has selfishly “devoured” their dowry. So Leah and Rachel say, “What’s keeping us here? Let’s go!”
V17: “So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. 18 He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac.
Now, here’s where things get interesting; v19: “Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father's household gods.”
Some commentators suggest these household gods would determine the rightful heir of the family inheritance, but Rachel has already TOLD us that Laban devoured all the inheritance. Other commentators suggest that possessing these teraphim conveyed some sense of authority or control. But I think the best interpretation, given both what we know from the archaeological remains of ancient teraphim, as well as what we know of Rachel’s CHARACTER, is that these were FERTILITY gods or goddesses that Rachel believed might somehow help her have that “added son”, remember her naming of Joseph from last week - “May God add to me another son” - Rachel wants that second child. And Leah’s mandrakes didn’t help, so now she is turning to Laban’s idols instead. And speaking of not leaving one’s waywardness behind…
V20: “And Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee. [Jacob, the “heel grabber”, the “supplanter”, the “trickster”, is still up to his deceitful ways.] He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates,[b] and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.”
So v22: “When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, 23 he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. 24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.””
V25: “And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead. 26 And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27 Why did you flee secretly and trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? 28 And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell?”
Laban more than ANYONE proves that you can’t teach some old dogs new tricks. He has proven himself thus far to be a MASTER manipulator. But he’s all OUT of tricks here. Jacob is holding ALL the cards. If there was ever a time for repentance, for CHANGE, to drop the charade and finally admit: “Jacob, I screwed up! I abused you, I took God’s favor, not to mention my own daughters and grandkids for granted; can you ever forgive me?” Nevermind the fact that God had COME to him and directly warned him not to say ANYTHING.
But Laban just can’t help himself. He’s desperate. So he plays the only card he’s got left up his swindling sleeve: the MARTYR card. “How COULD you, Jacob?!” You KIDNAP my daughters (Laban must not have read v15, where Leah and Rachel admitted they couldn’t get away from him fast enough!)...
“Jacob, you TRICKED me! (this coming from the guy who switched BRIDES on Jacob on his wedding night, the guy who fraudulently changed poor Jacob’s wages 10 times…!).
“Jacob, you didn’t even let me throw you a GOING AWAY party!” (Yeah, maybe because the LAST time Jacob ASKED you about leaving, he ended up 6 years a slave).
Then all out of cards, Laban outright THREATENS him:
V29: “It is in my power to do you harm. But the God of your[c] father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ 30 And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father's house, but why did you steal my gods?””
This is the first LEGITIMATE question that Laban asks Jacob: “Look, if you want to go HOME so badly, back to your FATHER, back to your FATHER’S God, then why did you steal MY gods??”
And Jacob is so taken aback, he starts addressing Laban’s earlier complaints before the question about the gods even registers with him: “Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. [“You weren’t gonna throw me a party; wait, WHAT? Gods? WHAT gods?!”] 32 Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.””
But v32: “ Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. 33 So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel's saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. 35 And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods.”
Now, it’s possible that Rachel is herself LYING here, but personally, I like to believe she’s telling the truth. That God is using the very thing that Rachel hates and fears the most, every month, her period, to save her life. After all, that’s the kind of thing a redemptive God, like ours, who works ALL things together for our good, would do, isn’t it? I also love the irony of Rachel menstruating all over her “fertility gods”. It’s as if God is saying, “Let me show you exactly what I think of those so-called “gods” of yours, Rachel…” And that is ALSO the kind of God we serve. Who unapologetically commands “You shall have NO other gods but me.”
Now, Jacob could just say, “See, no teraphim here. Can we GO now, please?!” But like Rachel with her idolatry, and Laban with his manipulation, Jacob too has trouble leaving HIS past behind. HIS old ways. The Jacob who always has to have the upper hand. Whether it was asserting himself over against ESAU for the birthright, or over against ISAAC for the blessing, or over against LABAN in the previous chapter, in the livestock birth wars; Jacob always has to maintain the upper hand. So he can’t help himself here, he gets “angry” and “berates” Laban; and finally puts him in his PLACE; v36: ““What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? 37 For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. 38 These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. 39 What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40 There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41 These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.””
It’s a moving speech. Laban certainly deserved it. The issue is that Rachel actually DID steal the teraphim. But in his rush to put Laban in his place, Jacob doesn’t bother to even ASK his traveling party whether perhaps someone had mistakenly packed the fertility gods. Instead, he jumps straight to “we’re gonna KILL that person”. That’s how much Jacob needed to prove his innocence, that he is in the right. And Laban’s response, and even the “covenant” that the two forge here, proves that he too, just HAS to get the final word, HAS to save face; Laban tries to take the moral HIGH ground here! Like he’s the “bigger man” for backing down:
V43: “Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day, for these my daughters or for their children whom they have borne? [What’s best for THEM; like LABAN cares...] Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I. And let it be a witness between you and me.””
So they construct a little PILLAR to commemorate it, and then a heap of rocks, and they even fight over the NAME of the memorial - it’s all very petty and passive aggressive - but then they eat a meal together and then FINALLY v55: “Laban departed and returned home.”
But watch how ch.32 opens: “Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. [Just like they did on his way OUT of Canaan INTO Paddan-Aram 20 years prior, at Bethel, the angel-staircase. But THIS time, v2…] when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God's camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.”
Now, we know that Hebrew names are significant. Mahanaim means “two camps”. Here’s how I interpret that: Abraham Lincoln once famously said, “My concern is not whether God is on OUR side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.”
Jacob, in v2, rightly recognizes that this camp belongs to GOD. But instead of naming it “God’s camp”, he names it “TWO camps.” In other words, “God, I’m not so SURE that I’m fully on board with YOUR camp yet”. I think I’m gonna camp separately. Jacob STILL hasn’t fully surrendered and trusted God. And ch32 makes that abundantly clear...
As we segue way to Core Truth #2: Like Jacob, we struggle to BELIEVE that our past is really behind us. For Jacob, this meant all the drama that he hoped to leave behind in Canaan with his brother ESAU. You recall, when we last heard from Esau, back in ch.27, he was day-dreaming about all the different ways he wanted to kill Jacob. Well, 5 chapters and 20 years later, Jacob is finally heading home. When he LEFT home, his mother Rebekah had promised to SEND for Jacob when Esau’s anger had subsided. Guess what: she never sent for him. In fact, Rebekah has probably been dead for years at this point. So Jacob has NO way of knowing whether Esau has forgiven him, or whether he’s just been STEWING for the past 20 years, plotting all sorts of NEW diabolical ways to exact his revenge. So…
V3: “Jacob sent[b] messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, 4 instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. 5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’””
Jacob is TERRIFIED, of how Esau is gonna receive him, so Jacob throws the whole PLAYBOOK at Esau here:
*First, he attempts to butter Esau up: “Make sure you call him ‘LORD’, and remind him that I’m his SERVANT Jacob…”
*But if that doesn’t work, pull the sympathy card: “I’ve been sojourning, living out of a SUITCASE, with mean old uncle Laban for TWENTY YEARS now! Please feel sorry for me and don’t kill me…”
*And if that STILL doesn’t work, strategy #3: BRIBE him: “Did I mention I have oxen? Donkeys? Flocks, servants… just let me find FAVOR in your sight!”
But v6: “The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.””
Well THAT can’t be good, right. That’s like the militaristic equivalent of your boo saying, “We need to talk.” That’s never good. EVERYONE knows what “we need to talk” means. And Jacob is pretty sure he knows what Esau bringing a posse of 400 guys with him means. That doesn’t SOUND like a PEACE delegation.
V7: “Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. [So… He PRAYED? No, just kidding…] He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, 8 thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.””
Hey, at least I’ve got a 50/50 chance he attacks the wrong camp first, and they’ll slow him down enough for the rest of us to get away!
Now, to his credit, even though prayer is less of a first response than it is his last resort, Jacob does eventually turn to God in prayer here in v9. And as far as prayers go, it’s a pretty good one; oftentimes the ones that come from such a place of desperation, when we have no one BUT God left to turn to, are pretty genuine:
“Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan [20 years ago…], and now I have become two [whole] camps [of livestock and people]. 11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. 12 But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”” Jacob confesses his unworthiness, and throws himself on God’s mercy, and he pleads the PROMISES of God, to do him good and to protect him.
But then, instead of TRUSTING God, watch what he does next: “So Jacob stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.” 17 He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’” 19 He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, 20 and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him[c] with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”[d] 21 So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.”
This is classic Jacob. Very strategic, from a worldly perspective. Not very faithful, from a spiritual perspective.
But ALL of this is building UP to this climactic, enigmatic WRESTLING match at the end of ch32:
“The same night Jacob arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children,[e] and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone.”
Finally he’s back where God wants him. Where God can actually USE him. Not trusting in his STUFF. Not trusting in his SCHEMES. But empty-handed, all alone, in the middle of the desert, rock-for-a-pillow place of NEED, once again. That’s exactly where God loves to meet us most.
V24: “And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,[f] for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,[g] saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip on the sinew of the thigh”.
Now I could preach a whole sermon on just these 11 verses. There is a WEALTH of wisdom here, worth our attention.
Like the recognition that *CHRIST, the preincarnate CHRIST, actually shows UP here in the Old Testament! A “man”, v24, who is ALSO God, v30…
The truth that *Sometimes we THINK need a HUG from God; but we ACTUALLY need him to rough us up.
Or the truth that *God roughs us up, NOT to “prevail against” us, v25. To prove his dominance. To put US, in OUR place. No, He does it to CHANGE us, for the better.
Or the truism that *Change HURTS. God throws Jacob’s HIP out of joint. Dan Allender wrote a book on Christian leadership entitled “Leading with a Limp”. Jacob has been leading with STRENGTH, with his wealth, with his calculated strategies; God says, “Jacob, I’m gonna BREAK you, so that I can prove “My grace is sufficient for you, and my power is made perfect in your weakness.””
Or the truth that *Wrestling is TIRING. Especially when you’re wrestling with GOD. Yes, God wants us to engage with Him in deep, direct, personal, intimate ways… and then He expects us to go to bed. Go to work. Eat a meal with friends. God says, “Let me GO, Jacob; it’s day-break; time for you to go face Esau.” You can’t stay here with me, like this, forever. And yet, even when we’re not actively DUKING it out, take heart: I am always WITH you.
Or that *Wrestling with God is OKAY. Jacob doesn’t get reprimanded for fighting back; in fact, he gets REWARDED. Let me ask you: do you believe that God is BIG enough to handle your honest questions and doubts? Your struggles, your wrestlings - do you know that God can TAKE it?
And that *Even when, ESPECIALLY when, it feels like you are barely hanging on for dear life, that’s when you cling to God the tightest. Jacob says, “I am NOT letting go; I’ve got nothing else LEFT! No one else to TURN to! If you don’t come through for me here, God, I am DEAD!” That is precisely the kind of desperate, utter RELIANCE on Christ that God desires and blesses in us.
Or the fact that *You cannot have God on YOUR OWN terms. Jacob wants to know God’s name - again, he wants to gain the upper hand - but God won’t tell him. God makes it clear: I name YOU, not the other way around. I bless YOU. I’m calling the shots here. And it’s for your good, Jacob.
Or the fact that Jews don’t eat THIGH meat. Who knew?
But more than ANY of that, I want to close with the observation that *God makes us NEW. Jacob gets a NEW name here. “You will no longer be called “Heel-Grabber; Supplanter;” you are no longer contending with MEN; I’m calling you to contend with ME. Quit focusing horizontally and look vertically. And this brief, bizarre story explains the very NAME of God’s Old Covenant people. “Israel”. The “God wrestlers”. It doesn’t mean “God followers”, because God knows they won’t do THAT perfectly throughout the OT! It doesn’t even mean “God believers”, because God’s people will DOUBT him, even distrust him, at various points of their history. But they never stop WRESTLING with Him.
And friends, when GOD changes you, it is ALWAYS for the better. Jacob may walk away limping, but v30: his LIFE has been DELIVERED. Ransomed. Redeemed.
So let me close by asking you to consider PERSONALLY this morning:
*What parts of your past are you struggling to leave behind? Do you trust that NEW LIFE in Christ is available to you, and He is BETTER than your old, sinful rags?
*What parts of your past do you struggle to BELIEVE He can put behind you? God promises us “as far as the east is from the west,
so far have I removed your transgressions from you.” (Ps 103:12)
You can TRUST his forgiveness. And leave your past where it belongs.
*And MOST importantly, have you personally experienced God’s death-to-life, transformative power to make YOU NEW this morning? If you haven’t, hear his invitation to you once more :
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone; behold, the new has come!”
Amen. Let’s pray...