The O.T. Part XII-Wrestling with a Name Change

Sunday Night Bible Study Recap
August 13, 2006
Genesis 32:22-32

A chain of interlocked fingers. Thumbs strethced high waiting for the familiar words:

"One, two, three, four, I declare thumb war."
(If your curious about the rules and other methods of massive multiplayer thumb wrestling, check this out: http://www.monochrom.at/daumen/netzwerk-eng.htm)

A roar goes up from the crowd as Heather Barden and Tyler Smart wrestle with all they have for the H2O 2006 Thumb Wrestling Championship.

"One, Two, Three!" And the winner is...Heather!

Why thumb wrestling? Well, because doing things WWE style would have been too dangerous and would have given the guys an unfair advantage.

Even after just a few minutes of thumb wrestling, most students were a little weary in the wrist and fingers. Imagine wrestling, full-body, olympic greco-roman, little brother getting pounced by big brother, leggo by eggo style all night long!

Oh yeah...and you'd be wrestling with God.

As we looked at the story of Jacob's wrestling match, let's remember a little about where Jacob is in his life right now:

He's just left his father in law with the threat of "if you come back this way, be ready for a fight".

He's just learned that his brother (from whom he took the birthright and blessing 20 years before) is coming to meet him with 400 men.

He's just sent pretty much everything he has to his brother as a present to try to appease him (even though he knows that God is with him and has protected him in the past-Jacob trusts his treasure more than he trusts God-see previous post)

And now he sends his wife and kids across the river and is left alone.

And WHAM! He get's jumped!

Now, Jacob isn't one to back away from a fight, so he starts wrestling with this man who has just jumped him. He wrestles with him until daybreak. He's fighting for his life here.

We know from hearing this story before that Jacob isn't wrestling with just any man here. He's, in fact, wrestling with God. (Scholars would call this the pre-incarnate person of Jesus or a Christophony...that just means it's God in the flesh before he was born in a manger in Bethlehem. There are quite a few times when God shows up like this in the O.T.-to Abraham, to Joshua, and others).

So, let me ask you this question: Have any of you ever wrestled with God over something? Jacob is definitely in a physical brawl with God right here. We may have never been in a fist fight with God, but most, if not all of us, have wrestled with God's spirit over a decision, a lifestyle, a thought, a challenging life direction, or a specific sin that keeps creeping up.

The purpose of the wrestling match is the same: God's spirit is wrestling with our desires for the purpose of heart and life change. When we are not at rest in God, becuase of sin, we will wrestle with God.

Verse 25 makes it obvious that, in this case, Jacob is in a physical brawl with God. God touches Jacob's hip and dislocates it! He just touched it! He could have taken Jacob's life at any moment, but he didn't, he just crippled him.

Jacob had wrestled with God for so long, his will was so set against the heart and life change that God wanted to make in him, that it cost him his ability to walk without a limp.

So what are you saying Ryan? Are you saying that our resistance of God's spirit could bring pysical consequences in my life? ABSOLUTELY! God wants us to wrestle with the sin that's in our lives, but he also wants us to put aside that sin and follow after Him. When we are unwilling to put aside that sin and follow his Spirit, we will face consequences with the hope that those consquences will produce the same reaction that Jacob had.

Jacob finally recognized who he was wrestling with. He wasn't wrestling with someone who wanted to take his life. He was wrestling with someone who wanted to give him abundant life!

Why do we so often wrestle with God over the changes that he wants to make in our lives? Is it because we like our life and think that God can't do any better? Is it selfishness? Is it pride? God doesn't want to take your life, he wants to give you a better life. He wants us to be obedient so that we can experience every blessing that he has made ready for us to receive. Jacob finally recognizes this, and asks for that blessing.

V27-28 tell us that Jacob had prevailed. Does this mean that he defeated God? NO! It means that he had defeated himself for the sake of following God. We only win when we put aside our selfish desires and cry "uncle" to the will of God. When our spirit gives in to God's Spirit, only then have we prevailed.

V30 gives us a warning. Jacob recognized that he had wrestled with God, and even though he was now limping, his life has been preserved. But what about next time? What if he gets into another wrestling match with God and does not want to give in? Will God preserve his life again?

What about you? What are you wrestling with God over? How long have you been wrestling? How much longer will you wrestle and risk facing the consequences that our sin brings on our lives? How much longer will God be patient with you and your sin before he takes your hip...or your life?

Here are some God Themes from this passage:
v24-Perseverance/Persistence
v25-Power/Permisiveness (not in a negative sense)-His love is not forced
v29-Ledership.Sovereignty/Knowledge/Uniqueness
V31-32-Mercy

Here are some Practical Applications to our Everyday Life:
1. It is important to get alone to spend time with God.
2. Look for and get rid of things in your life that distract you from the voice of God.
3. Learn from others.
4. If you continue to wrestle and give in to your desires, at some point it will result in consequences, and it may cost you your life!