Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Genesis 32 (cont’d)
B. Jacob wrestles with God (32:22-32)
1. Jacob sends all his possessions over the river (v.
22-23)
This was a demonstration of faith!
Jacob left himself no retreat.
In the ancient world, crossing a river was a monumental task, considered to be laden with significance.
The Jabbok is a river in modern day Jordan (called the Zarqa River now)
It was particularly challenging due to the steep banks on both sides
Jacob spent the night alone.
The was his last night on the east side of the Jordan - he probably spent the night in prayer.
2. A man wrestles with Jacob (v.
24-25)
Jacob didn’t wrestle with a man…a man wrestled with him
Jacob didn’t start out wanting anything from God - God wanted something form him.
God wanted all of Jacob’s proud self-reliance and fleshly scheming and came to take it, by force if necessary
This was no mere man
This is another appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament before His incarnation in Bethlehem.
This was God in human form.
We can only imagine what this scene looked like.
Maybe it was like a bar room brawl
Maybe it was like an intense wrestling match
But Jacob fought all night long
He was determined!
As the fight progressed, it seemed Jacob was pretty evenly matched against the Man.
But the match was only even in appearance.
The Man could have easily won at any time, using supernatural power.
Sometimes we feel like man really can contend with God
Someone in rebellion against God might seem to do pretty well.
That match SEEMS even in appearance only.
God can turn the tide at any moment.
Jacob must have felt really defeated!
3. Jacob’s plea to the Man (v. 26
There was humbleness with this request
Jacob was reduced to the place where all he could do was to hold on to the Lord with everything he had.
He couldn’t fight anymore, but he could hold on.
That’s not a bad place to be.
Jacob thought the real enemy was outside of him - Esau.
The real enemy was his own carnal, fleshly nature, which had not been conquered by God.
4. Jacob’s name is changed, and he is a blessed man (v.
27-29)
Jacob must have felt a sense of shame, admitting his name was Jacob
Deception, cheating
This is who he was, he had to admit it
God says, that’s not your name anymore.
You are Israel.
Israel is a compound of two words: “Sarah” meaning fight, struggle, or rule / El: meaning God
Israel likely means, “God rules”
From this point on, he will be called Jacob twice as often as he is called Israel.
Apparently, there was still plenty of the old man left in Jacob!
Jacob prevailed in the sense that he endured through his struggle until God thoroughly conquered him.
5. Two memorials of this event (v.
30-32)
Peniel = “Face of God”
No man should be able to wrestle with God and live.
It was only by God’s grace and mercy he escaped from this with his life.
The second memorial was a perpetual limp
Jacob would be remembered his being conquered by God with every step he took for the rest of his life
This was a small price to pay for such a great gift.
Genesis 33
A. Esau’s warm welcome (33:1-11)
1. Jacob’s careful preparations (v.
1-2)
From this, we can see that Jacob preferred Rachel and her son, Joseph
He put the two maidservants up front, so at least they were more protected than the two maidservants Bilhah and Zilpah were
2. Jacob demonstrates his submission (v. 3)
He bows himself to the ground.
He’s already sent gifts ahead to show he didn’t want to take anything from Esau
By bowing down, he showed he was submitted to his brother and wanted no social power over him.
If Jacob had not tried to steal the blessing 20 years before, all this would have done the job.
Isaac’s promise to Jacob, “Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you.
Be master over your brethren (27:29) - that would have been more immediately fulfilled.
For us today, we can suffer some problems because we try to accomplish what we think to be God’s will or to protect our interest in merely human energy and wisdom.
God NEVER needs us to sin to help Him fulfill His plan in our life.
3. Esau warmly greets Jacob and his family (v.
4-7)
If you saw a man that had vowed to kill you, brought 400 of his friends with him, running at you…would you be a little scared?
But just as God had been working in Jacob’s life, He had been working in Esau’s life too.
He only wanted to bless Jacob.
Look at how forgiveness works here:
Neither felt a need to discuss and resolve the past.
God worked in both their hearts and there was no need to dredge it all up again.
What was past was past.
There’s real joy in that kind of forgiveness.
4. Esau receives Jacob’s gifts (v.
8-11)
“I don’t need that, you don’t have to do that!”
“No, no, no, I insist!”
Esau had found peace and contentment in the past 20 years
He was a remarkably blessed man, even though he didn’t get the promise of Abraham’s covenant like he had hoped for.
Why would Jacob insist on Esau accepting the gifts?
It would be Esau’s way of saying he forgave Jacob
In that culture, one never accepted a gift from an enemy, only from a friend.
To accept the gift was to accept the friendship.
B. Jacob’s travels to the Promised Land (33:12-20)
1. Jacob and Esau part their ways; Jacob goes to Succoth (v.
12-17)
“Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant”
Jacob is still a little bit scared of Esau
He was still acting like old Jacob some days instead of Israel
It’s hard to be Jacob AND Israel at the same time.
2. Jacob comes to Shechem (v.
18-20
It was good that Jacob returned to the Promised Land.
He settled there.
But he still came short of full obedience.
It seems that God had wanted Jacob to return to Bethel.
He called the altar there “El Elohe Israel.”
“El, God of Israel”
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