SEPTEBER 29, 2024

Bible verse “GENESIS 32:22~32”

Sermon title "The Jacob’s life 8"

preacher Rev. Joshua Oh

Today’s story is about Jacob wrestling with the angel at the Jabbok River. The victory Jacob won at the Jabbok River was not the end but rather the beginning. It marks the start of Jacob’s faith and belief. However, many people mistakenly think that it's the end—believing that once you win the battle, the hardships are over, happiness begins, and everything will be smooth sailing from then on. In the Bible, the paragraphs usually have subheadings that explain what follows. In the English Bible, the subheading is “Jacob’s Wrestling,” while in the Korean Bible, the subheading is “Jacob’s All-Night Prayer at the Jabbok.” The Korean perspective sees Jacob’s wrestling as an all-night prayer. This difference reflects the varying perspectives between the East and West when interpreting the Bible. There was much debate in seminary about whether Jacob's wrestling at the Jabbok was a prayer or not. Some students insisted it was an all-night prayer, while others argued it wasn’t. But in regular churches outside of seminary, 100% of the time, it is taught and believed to be an all-night prayer.  At revival meetings or prayer gatherings, preachers often say, “Just like Jacob held on to the angel and did not let go until he received a blessing from God, even as his hip was dislocated, tonight let us cry out and pray until we receive God's answer.” People would spend the entire night weeping and praying passionately. So, was this really prayer? Does it even matter whether it was prayer or not? The issue isn’t about how the story is interpreted by a third party but about understanding and believing the intention of the Author of the Bible, which is God. However, most believers interpret and believe in the Bible in a literal or self-interpreted way. When they do this, the content, meaning, and intention of the Bible become completely reversed.   Anyone can read the Bible, but if the reader interprets it based on what they want to believe, instead of seeking to understand the author’s intent, the Bible’s teachings become arbitrary. Many people accept such interpretations without verifying whether they are correct. If we claim that Jacob’s wrestling at the Jabbok River was a prayer, then we must also acknowledge that Jacob had already prayed before arriving there. In Genesis 32:9-12, Jacob had already prayed, and God had answered him. Even after receiving God's answer, Jacob was still anxious and restless. He couldn't fully trust God’s response. Jacob’s prayer was eloquent and well-constructed, yet he couldn’t bring himself to believe it.   This is a common issue among believers. Many pray beautifully and fluently, but few actually believe the content of their prayers. As a result, they become believers who are good at praying but lack faith in the things they pray for. This was the case with Jacob. After praying and receiving God’s answer, instead of trusting it, he resorted to the same tricks he used while living with Laban. He divided all his possessions into three groups and sent them across the Jabbok River. Jacob was terrified of his brother Esau. Even after 20 years, he still feared Esau far more than he had feared Laban, who had chased after him with a sword. Jacob knew Esau’s personality better than anyone, being his twin brother.

To assess the situation, Jacob sent scouts ahead. Genesis 32:5 says, "I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and servants, and I have sent this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes." Jacob instructed the scouts to tell Esau that all these things belonged to him. He wasn't boasting about his wealth; rather, he was saying that everything he had was for Esau. Jacob was so terrified of Esau that he was willing to offer all his possessions to him. Originally, Jacob had made a vow to give a tenth of everything he had to God (though he hadn't kept that promise). Yet here he was, offering everything he owned—his livestock, his servants, and even his four wives and twelve children—to Esau. He said, “I have sent this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.”   Jacob referred to Esau as “lord” and sought Esau’s favor, something only God should be addressed as. A believer's Lord is only God. Yet, Jacob was calling Esau “lord” and asking him for grace. Grace is something believers should seek only from God, not from others. Jacob’s actions showed not only a lack of faith but something truly heartbreaking.

Jacob’s cunning can leave us speechless. Where did this cleverness come from? It came from his name. Jacob means "deceiver." The dictionary defines "grace" as help or kindness given by a deity or person. But in the Bible, grace refers to salvation from death and sin, which is why we call it God’s grace. However, Jacob wasn’t seeking God’s grace but Esau’s. What grace or help had Esau ever given Jacob? Esau hadn’t supported Jacob while he was living in Haran. The only thing Esau had done was march out to meet Jacob with 400 men, intending to kill him.

The reason Jacob lived this way was because he had not yet truly met God. More precisely, Jacob had not experienced an encounter where God met him. Jacob was a superficial and outward Christian who had not yet encountered God, and the way he lived was characteristic of a worldly believer who relies on cunning schemes to survive. This is how many surface-level Christians live their lives—believing in Jesus only outwardly. If Jacob had offered all his wealth, wives, and children to God instead of to Esau, and sought God’s grace, wouldn’t the same God who saved him from Laban also save him from Esau? But Jacob didn’t even have this kind of faith. That’s why God was waiting for him at the Jabbok River, with an angel prepared.

Jacob heard that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men, and fear overtook him. His limbs trembled, his knees buckled, and cold sweat ran down his back. If Esau was coming to welcome him, why would he bring 400 armed men? It was clear that Esau intended to slaughter everything Jacob had. Genesis 32:7 says, "Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; he divided the people who were with him, the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps." It says Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed, so he decided to send his possessions and wealth to Esau, divided into two groups. In the end, he decided to send his wives and children too. Jacob thought, "No matter how barbaric Esau may be, he won’t kill his sisters-in-law and his nephews, will he?" After sending everything across the Jabbok River, Jacob remained alone on the other side. He didn’t stay there to have a final encounter with God, but because after sending his offerings to Esau, he didn’t have the courage to cross the river and meet him. He sat down at the riverbank, believing without a doubt that if he crossed, Esau would surely kill him with the sword.

Jacob didn’t stay behind to wrestle with God, or to pray. He had already prayed before arriving at the Jabbok River. In verse 5, Jacob calls Esau “my lord,” but in verse 10, he calls God “Lord.” This shows that Jacob was confused and not in his right mind, calling both Esau and God "lord." When a person faces a crisis, when they have no escape from a desperate situation, that’s when their true nature is revealed. That’s when you can see the quality of their faith. In peaceful times, it’s hard to tell. During times of comfort, everyone thinks they have good faith. Genesis 32:11 says, "Deliver me, I pray, 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." God immediately responded to Jacob's prayer. Verse 12: "But you have said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’" God said, "I will surely show you grace. Esau is not the one to show you grace—I will show you grace. So do not fear; cross the Jabbok and meet Esau." Even after this promise, Jacob couldn’t trust God’s words, so he sat trembling at the riverbank, unable to cross.

At this point, what more could God do for Jacob? God had already answered his prayer, promised to be with him, and assured him that his descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore. But Jacob still didn’t believe and sat in despair by the Jabbok River. What else could God do? He couldn’t throw Jacob aside or strike him to wake him up, because doing so would cause Jacob to vanish into dust. So, God sent an angel, who wrestled with Jacob until he finally woke up. Do you understand a little of God's frustration? That's why in today’s passage, Genesis 32:24, it says, “And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.” Was Jacob alone, preparing to pray? Did he build an altar, like he did at Bethel? Did he even bother to find a tree under which to pray? No, Jacob sat down in despair, and out of nowhere, a man appeared and wrestled with him all night. What kind of situation was this? Was this prayer?

If this was prayer, then no one after Jacob ever prayed, because prayer would mean that an angel has to appear and wrestle with you for it to be considered prayer. Without an angel to wrestle with or dance with, prayer would not be possible. If angels had to appear and wrestle every time we pray, then even right now, more than 20 angels would have to be wrestling with us as we pray. Prayer is not wrestling. Prayer is not about wrestling with an angel or defeating God to receive an answer. If prayer were about wrestling with God and winning to receive answers, this world would be in chaos—it would have already turned into hell. Why? Because sinful and greedy humans would have wrestled with God and taken control of the world.   Prayer is about laying my heart bare before God. The decision regarding my prayer is not made by me but entirely by God. Sometimes God gives a response, and sometimes He does not—that is what prayer is. It is God’s decision. Christianity does not teach that fervent prayer will automatically move the heavens. It is not as if praying diligently will move heaven to respond. If that were the case, what should we call the wrestling with the angel at the Jabbok River, if not prayer? In one word, we can call it a "turning point."

What is a turning point? Let’s take Paul as an example. Paul's original name was Saul. When was Saul’s turning point when he became Paul? It wasn’t when he fervently prayed in the temple or when he faithfully practiced his religion. It was on the road to Damascus when Jesus appeared to him. Saul was someone who did not believe in Jesus but believed only in God. Because he believed only in God, he was on his way to Damascus, filled with rage, to persecute the believers of Jesus. It was then that the very Jesus he had persecuted appeared to him. Saul wasn’t praying to believe in Jesus. He had not even the slightest intention of believing in Jesus. In fact, Saul thought that the Jewish faith in God was suffering because of Jesus. But it was Jesus who appeared to Saul unilaterally, just as the angel appeared to Jacob first. That is how Saul suddenly became Paul.

The God whom Saul believed in before meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus and the God whom he believed in afterward were not different gods. The one who changed was Saul. Before, he thought only God was God, but now, he also believed that Jesus was God. This is a very important point. When a person decides to believe in Jesus, it does not mean that their environment, circumstances, or position changes at that moment. A miserable life doesn’t suddenly turn into a happy one. Everything remains the same, but the person themselves changes. Saul changed, and Jacob changed. Into whom? Saul became Paul, and Jacob became Israel. They changed from someone who did not believe in Jesus to someone who does.  It doesn’t matter if circumstances and surroundings don’t change. If I’ve changed, that’s what matters. However, in today’s church, they teach that it’s okay if the person doesn’t change, but if their environment or situation changes—if their once unhappy life becomes happy—that’s what believing in Jesus is. If Jacob himself didn’t change but only his environment and circumstances did, if after wrestling with the angel at the Jabbok River he simply reconciled with Esau and became happy, what difference would that make from his life in Haran? Is that the life of a believer in Jesus?   After wrestling with the angel, Jacob’s thoughts, values, and even his life’s purpose, direction, and worldview completely changed. That’s why the angel appeared and wrestled with him—to change him. The person changed. The person was transformed. Someone who didn’t believe in God became someone who did. That’s why God changed Saul’s name to Paul and Jacob’s name to Israel. Saul didn’t change himself, and Jacob didn’t change himself. God met Jacob and Paul just once, and through that encounter, their hearts, thoughts, and values changed, and they became people who believed in God with their entire being. Of course, not everyone can be like Jacob or Paul. Some people may slowly change their hearts, thoughts, and values over the course of many years, gradually coming to believe in God with their whole being.

God continues to give us the grace to change our hearts, thoughts, and values so that, in the end, we surrender completely to God and believe in Jesus Christ alone. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” God knocked on the door of Jacob’s stubborn and hardened heart. He sent an angel to wrestle with Jacob. Only then did Jacob’s ears, blocked by sin, finally open, allowing him to hear God’s voice and open his heart. Even though God had already given him responses before, Jacob couldn’t hear God’s words until now. Finally, he could hear them, and Jacob became a person of faith who believed in God with his whole being.

Today, may we also hear the voice of God knocking on the doors of our hearts through His Word, open those closed hearts, and become people who believe in God and in Jesus Christ with our whole being. I bless you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.