Genesis 32 | The Blessing Of Jacob

PREVIOUSLY:
JACOB'S LIE:
Key Takeaway:

WHEN WE SEEK OUR OWN WAY,

WE WILL NEVER GET WHAT WE WANT,

WE WILL ALWAYS PAY THE PRICE.

Rebekah:

• Thought She Could Devise A Plan To Help Jacob.
• Thought God's Plan Were In Danger.
• Thought She Could Help God Out.
• Thought That God DID NOT Remember His Promise.
• Thought That God WOULD NOT Keep His Promise.

Jacob Impersonates His Brother.
Isaac Gives Him The Birthright.

WHY GOD PERMITTED THE ACTION OF JACOB?
Sovereign God Allows Many Things To Carry Our His Will.

THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN PATIENT AND WAITED ON GOD.

Isaac Blesses Jacob And Gives Him The Birthright.

• Esau And Isaac Discover: Jacob Has The Birthright.
• Esau Realized The Loss Of Blessings.
• Esau Was Furious And Blames Jacob For Everything.
• Esau Willingly Sold His Birthright.
• Esau Tried To Blame Others For His Rebellion To God
• Esau Was Mad Enough To Kill.
• Esau Determines Murder Jacob After His Father Dies.

Rebekah Hears Of This And Tells Her Son Jacob.
Rebekah Was Very Possessive Over Jacob.
Rebekah Wanted Jacob To Flee.

REMEMBER: WHAT WE SOW WE REAP.

• Isaac Sinned And God Did Not Use Him For 40 Years.
• Rebekah Would Never Jacob Again.
• Esau Sinned And Never Regained His Birthright.
• Esau Became Hardened And Never Believed In God.
• Jacob Sinned By Lying And Deceit.
• Jacob Would Be Cheated And Swindled By His Uncle Laban.

THE LORD IS IN CONTROL.

• The Lord Reigns.

• It Is Futile To Suppose That We Can Thwart God's Purposes.

• A Man's Heart Devises His Way ; But The Lord Directs His Steps.

NOW,
THE BLESSING OF JACOB: JACOB MEETS GOD: GEN 32:
Chapters 31 And Chapters 32:

• God Providence In The Life Of A Believer.

• God Might Bring Crisis Into Your Life.

• God Wants It To Cause Us To Cast Ourselves Totally On Him.

• God Wants Us To Look To Him For Deliverance.

• God Will Always Accomplish His Perfect Will.

To Know Jacob’s Story Is To Know:

• His Life Was One Of Never-Ending Struggles.

• God Promised Jacob A Great Nation From His Seed.

But He Was A Man Full Of Fears And Anxieties.

• At A PIVOTAL POINT IN HIS LIFE:

• Jacob Was About To Meet His Brother, Esau.

• Esau Had Vowed To Kill Him.

All Jacob’s Struggles And Fears Were About To Be Realized.

• Sick Of His Father-In-Law’s Treatment,

• Jacob Had Fled Laban,

• Only To Encounter His Embittered Brother, Esau.

Anxious For His Very Life:

• Jacob Concocted A Bribe.

• Jacob Sent A Caravan Of Gifts To Appease Esau.

• Jacob Sent His Family To A Different Camp Than His.

Now Physically Exhausted,

• Alone In The Desert Wilderness.

• Facing Sure Death.

• He Was Divested Of All His Worldly Possessions.

• In Fact, He Was Powerless To Control His Fate.

He Collapsed Into A Deep Sleep On The Banks Of The Jabbok River.

• With His Father-In-Law Behind Him.

• And Esau Before Him.

• He Was Too Spent To Struggle Any Longer.

IN THE END, JACOB DOES WHAT WE ALL MUST DO.

• He Confronts His Failures.

• His Weaknesses, His Sins.

• He Confronts All The Things That Are Hurting Him.

• And Faces God.

WHAT WE LEARN FROM THIS INCIDENT.
WE LEARN FROM THE LIFE OF JACOB:
OUR LIVES ARE NEVER MEANT TO BE EASY.

We Learn That As Christians:

• Despite Our Trials And Tribulations.

• Our Strivings Are Never Void Of God’s Presence.

• His Blessing Follows The Chaotic Struggle.

REAL GROWTH EXPERIENCES
ALWAYS INVOLVE STRUGGLE AND PAIN.

• Though We May Fight God's Will For Us,
• God Will Bring Blessing When We Surrender To Him.

MAIN IDEA OF TEXT:

GOD’S PLAN STANDS ON HIS SURE PROMISES.

NOT ON OUR UNSTEADY PERFORMANCE.

PREPARATION TO FACE ESAU 32:1-32:

OUTLINE

I. JACOB FACES ESAU (32:1–21).

II. JACOB FACES THE LORD (32:22–26).

III. JACOB FACES HIMSELF (32:27–32).

I. JACOB FACES ESAU.

PREPARES TO MEET ESAU.

TRIES APPEASING ESAU.

A. Sight Of Angels At Mahanaim (Which Means 2 Camps).

• Jacob Moved Back Towards The Land.
• Angels Appears To Him.
• Angels Assured Jacob Of Safely Getting The Land.
• Jacob Must Face Esau His Brother.
• Jacob Must Learn To Trust In God.

B. Sending Of Messengers (32:3-8).

• Jacob Is Weak In Faith When Is About To Meet Esau.
• Jacob Leans On His Own Schemes In Facing Esau.
• Jacob Assumes Esau Is Coming To Fight And Kill Him.
• Jacob Divides His Possessions Into TWO CAMPS,
• Jacob Is Attempting To Preserve His Family His Way.
• Jacob Is Leaning On His Own Plans More Than On God.

C. Supplication To God (32:9-12).

• Jacob Prays And Remembers The Promises Of God.
• Jacob Reminds God Of Them.
• But He Really Fears What Esau Will Do To Him.

JACOB FACES ESAU (32:1–21)

SENDS GIFTS:

• Jacob Resorts To His Wits Rather Than Faith In God.
• He Sends Gifts To Esau With Idea Of Appeasing Him.

Esau's Mind Will Be Changed.

• Not By Jacob's Gifts But By Jacob's God.
• In Case His Plan Does Not Work He Divides Up In Family.
• Jacob Is Always Making Plans Instead Of Trusting In God.

So, JACOB FACES ESAU.

NOW,

II. JACOB FACES THE LORD.

HE STRUGGLES WITH GOD AT PENIEL:

1. Jacob Was Alone For He Needed Time For Prayer.

• He Realized He Was In Crisis And Needed Time To Think.
• He Knew That Soon He Would Have To Face A Showdown.
• Esau Had Threatened His Life.
• Esau Had Been Lied To By Isaac.
• Jacob Was Concerned About Meeting ESAU.

BUT WHAT HE REALLY NEEDED WAS TO MEET GOD.

FOR HE COULD NEVER MEET HIS BROTHER IF HE WAS NOT RIGHT WITH GOD.

2. While In Quiet, A Man Wrestled With Him Until The Breaking Of The Day.

• The Man Was Probably The Angel Of Jehovah,
• (The Pre-Incarnate Christ), Who Is Called God.
• (32:30).

God Wrestled With Jacob.

NOT Jacob Who Wrestled With God.

It Was Not That Jacob Wrestled With God In Prayer,

But God Wrestled With Jacob To Break Down His Will.

To Bring Him To An End Of Himself.

So That He Would Not Trust In His Self.

Jacob Had To Learn That God Would Deliver.

Jacob Had To Learn That His Own Cleverness Was Not Adequate.

3. Jacob Thought He Was Fighting For His Physical Life But He Was Fighting About His Spiritual Life (32:25).

• He Was Strong And God Touched His Thigh.
• His Hip Was Out Of Joint So As To Make Him Powerless.
• God Was Breaking Jacob.
• He Fought Physically And Spiritually To The Last.
• God Is In The Process Of Breaking Jacob For Years.

All Believers Are At Times Like Jacob.

• We Refuse To Trust God.
• We Refuse To Put Him First.
• And Then God Has To Get Rough And Break Us.

God Did Not Leave Jacob Alone.

• God Will Not Leave Any True Believer Alone.
• The Lord Could Have Broken Jacob Earlier In The Night.
• But He Wanted Him To Voluntarily Yield To The Lord.

4. The Lord Says, LET ME GO.

• Jacob Has Been Broken.
• Jacob Would Not Let Go Of The Lord.
• Jacob Now Could Not Live Without God.
• Jacob Now Understood God Was His Source Of Life.
• Jacob Insisted On Being Blessed By God.

Jacob Wrestled With God All Night.

HE RECEIVED GOD’S BLESSING (GENESIS 32:29).

It Was An Exhausting Struggle That Left Him Crippled.

After He Came To Grips With God.

Jacob Ceased His Struggling,

Jacob Realized He Could Not Go On Without Him.

5. God Changed The Name JACOB TO The Name ISRAEL.

Jacob Means Supplanter, Usurper.

Israel Means Prince With God.

A New Experience With God

Brought Jacob A New Name.

Jacob Would Now Have Power With God And With Men.

Jacob Had To Be Broken Before God Could Use Him.

6. This FACE TO FACE Encounter With God Causes Jacob To Name The Place PENIEL Meaning The Face Of God.

John 1:18: No Man Has Seen God At Any Time.

• Certainly No Man Has Seen God In His Essence As Spirit.
• But Men Have Seen God In The Sense Of Certain Manifest Glory.

Not Every Believer Needs This Same Kind Of Experience.

• It Creates An Attitude Of Expectancy NOT Dependency.
• It Results In Frustration And Looking For Experiences.
• However God CAN Give Crisis Experiences IF HE DESIRES.

JACOB FACES ESAU.

JACOB FACES THE LORD.

NOW,

III. JACOB FACES HIMSELF.

Jacob Was Permanently Marked By A Limp.

Jacob He Had Been Touched By God And All Knew It.

Jacob Had A Crisis Experience That Changed His Life,

• But Not All Believers Need This Kind Of Experience.
• Jacob Is NOW A Man Of God Who Came To The Place Where He Let God Lead Him.
• Certainly He Came To The Place Where He Gave God The Glory.

The Story Of Jacob’s Fear In Meeting Esau Taught Them And Teaches Us That …

WHEN FEAR GRIPS YOU,

RELY ON GOD’S PROVISION,

NOT ON YOUR PLANS.

NOTICE FIVE ASPECTS OF JACOB’S PRAYER:

(1) He Approaches God As Yahweh.

• He Is Approaching God Who Can Be Counted On To Keep That Covenant.
• We Approach God Through The New Covenant Established By The Lord Jesus Christ.

(2) He Bases His Prayer On God’s Word.

Twice He Reminds God Of What God Said (32:9, 12).

• He Reminds God That He Is Obeying Him.
• He Reminds God That He Is Doing As Told To Do.
• On God’s Previous Promise To Prosper Him.
• On God's Previous Promise To Multiply His Descendants.
• SO, Jacob Asks For Deliverance From Esau.

God Delights To Have Us Take His Word.

• God Delights To Have Us Pray It Back To Him.
• God Delights To Have Us Remember His Promises.

(3) He Appeals To God On The Basis Of Grace, Not Merit.

• He Admits His Own Unworthiness.
• He Thanks The Lord For All His Past Mercies And Blessings.

We Should Never Come To God On The Basis Of Our Good.

We Should Only Come To God On The Basis Of His Grace.

(4) He Presents His Request Honestly From The Heart.

• Deliver Me ... From The Hand Of Esau; For I Fear Him ...
• Jacob Should Be Focused On The Camp Of Angels.
• But God Didn’t Scold Him For His Weak Faith.
• He Accepted His Cry For Help.

You Can Bring Your Requests Honestly Before God.

• He Knows Your Fears.
• He Wants You To Bring Them To Him.

(5) He Prays For God’s Purpose.

• He Asked God To Fulfill His Promises Concerning The Seed Of Abraham (32:12).
• Jacob Is Arguing His Case Based On The Revealed Purpose Of God.
• If Your Prayer Is Aimed At Fulfilling God’s Purpose In Christ, God Will Hear Your Prayer.

CONCLUSION:

• Whatever Your Fears:
• Take Them To Your Heavenly Father.
• Rely On His Provision, Not On Your Plans.