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Sermon
of 01-19-02
WRESTLING WITH GOD AT JABBOK
by Dr. David A. Farmer, pastor
Scripture - Gen. 32:24-26; "And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. V:25
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
V:26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me."
Have you ever wrestled with God before? I remember a time when I did. It was in 1992 when I received my first letter from General Conference asking me to form a team and travel to Russia to conduct an Evangelistic Crusade. My target area was a city of 300,000 called Vologda. It was 300 Miles north of Moscow. Needless to say I was ecstatic. I was in on cloud nine.
I went right to work trying to form a team. But nothing was working out. I couldn't find a doctor. Kathy wasn't being impressed to go. I couldn't raise the funds to take anyone with me. And it was beginning to look as if I was going to have to go alone. Folks, I did not want to go to Russia alone!
It was about this time I started wrestling with God. I told Him I didn't want to go to Russia by myself. I went as far as telling God I refuse to go alone. I wrestled until I could wrestle no more. Then after telling God how it was going to be, it was then as if He reached down and touched my thigh and my legs gave out from under me. I was crippled. In fact, I was crippled for life. The pain was great. But that is when it happened. I told the Lord at this point I don't understand why You are calling me to go alone Lord, but if that is Your will, OK, I'm Your man. Lord, bless my effort. May many souls be won to Your Kingdom.
That is when the sweetest calm I have ever felt before came over me. After all humanly possible had be accomplished, this is when the Lord said, "David step aside and let Me show you how it is done."
In the matter of a couple days a doctor from Washington State called and said he and his wife, who spoke Russian, could come. The much-needed funds came in almost two fold. I had been praying for $8,000.00. But the Lord sent another doctor from Greenwood, MS to me with a check for over $13,000.00 to be added to the funds I had already raised.
Then probably the greatest miracle took place. Kathy had already informed me that she wasn't being impressed to go. But what she hadn't told me was she had prayed about it. She told the Lord that if He wanted to go to Russia He would have to come down and personally tell her or send us thousands of dollars. When I stood there in front of her holding a check for $13,067.62 she said; "I guess the Lord wants me to go to Russia with you."
Return with me to Genesis 32:24.
Most of us know the story here. Jacob is being chased by his brother Esau. In verse's 22-23 we are told that Jacob wakes up in the middle of the night.
"And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.
V:23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had."
He loads up his everything he owns. He takes his wives and kids with him and crossover the River Jabbok. In verse 24 we find Jacob alone. He's scared and praying. But then something happens. Out of nowhere, Someone shows up and Jacob thinks He is about to attack him. So he wrestles with this Stranger till daybreak.
In verse 30 we see that finally Jacob realized that it was God he had been wrestling with.
"And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."
Have you ever noticed that most conversion stories are of people who wrestled with the devil? Many people never hesitate to tell their story of how they wrestled with Satan and won only because God came into their life. Some even go as far as to write a book about their struggle with the devil. But rarely do you hear or read where someone wrestles with God. Why is that?
Is it because we are afraid to admit we wrestled with God? Or is it because we are too proud to admit we lost the
battle? Why is it we hesitant to tell others of our struggles we encounter with God? But this is exactly what our story here in Genesis 32 is all about.
Have you ever wrestled with God? If so then you probably understood my opening story of my encounter with God about going to Russia. When you wrestle with the Lord you always come away weak, powerless, and exhausted. And it's only after your strength is completely drained, that you can repeat Jacob's word found in verse 26;
"I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." This was what Jacob's struggle was all about.
Jacob was hated greatly by his twin brother, Esau. Hopefully you may recall the story from Genesis 25. Esau was the first-born. Genesis 25:25 says that when Esau was born he was red and his body was covered with hair. Some theologians believe that Esau means "hairy or to be covered with hair."
Listen to what happens just before Esau was born, verse 26 of Genesis 25;
"And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:" Jacob's name means; "to take by the heel or deceiver."
So here we have "Hairy Big Red and Heel Grabber." Both lived up to their birth names.
It has often puzzled me why any parent would name their child Jacob knowing what it means - "deceiver."
Now the Bible says that Jacob hated being born 2nd. In Genesis 25:31 we find Jacob deceiving Esau of his birthright. This started Jacob's long uphill climb of deceiving others that would someday cause him to have to wrestle with God.
His story goes in Genesis 27, that he and his mother pulled off what they though would be his masterpiece deception. They deceived Isaac into giving Jacob Esau's rightful inheritance. This would cause Jacob to have to leave town before Esau kills him.
This is when he meets a man by the name of Laban in Genesis 29. It is here that Jacob falls in love with one of Laban's daughters by the name of Rachel. It's love at first sight and he wants to marry her. He strikes up a bargain to work for Laban seven years for her. But when the big day comes Jacob receives a good dose of his own medicine. Laban sends Leah, his first born, into the tent for the honeymoon.
You know friends, when I get to heaven I want to ask Jacob how he could spend the entire
night with Leah and not know it wasn't Rachel? I'm sorry, it just sounds fishy to me!
Well, the story goes that Jacob doesn't like being deceived. But what could he do? So he strikes up another deal with Laban to work another seven years for Rachel.
After Jacob fulfills all his obligations, some 20 years later, Jacob packs up his wives and children and headed for his home country. Friends, this did not get him elected for the "Father of the Year" award. He had already informed his family of how he had cheated his brother and that his brother was out to kill him.
Which brings us to Genesis 32:22-23. Here we find Jacob alone on the other side of the River Jabbok.
Have you ever felt like Jacob before? Alone, scared, hoping your past will stay in the past? When Jacob left the River Jacob he came away different than when he arrived. He was born-again. He was a new man. He was a victor over deceit, dishonesty, and self-confidence. (see Vol. 1 SDA Comm. 407).
Listen to this quote I found in Vol. 4 of the Seventh-day Adventist Commentaries, page 925; "Jacob began that night with struggle but ended it in supplication. The end of all wrestling with God is not to conquer Him but to conquer self. The acknowledgment of weakness is our power, and those who come with the supplication, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me," discover that it gives to them power with God."
You see we must sometimes deal with our past before we can face our future. And just like the Rio Grande River separates Texas from Mexico, our past and our future are separated by a River Jabbok experience. The Jabbok experience is a place of complete honesty. The Jabbok experience is a place of complete repentance. The Jabbok experience is a place we struggle and wrestle with God.
In my opening story with God wanting me to go to Russia alone, I encountered a Jabbok experience. And it hurt. So much so I came away with a limp. I was badly crippled and could not walk without support. Support only Jesus could give me.
The Bible gives us a story of another man God called and he too refused to go. He wrestled with God and boarded a boat going the opposite direction than what God told him to go. During the night a terrible storm came up and soon the crew was throwing freight overboard. And soon they threw Jonah overboard. It was here that Jonah encountered the Jabbok experience. And he did so inside the belly of a great fish.
For 3 days Jonah wrestled with God. Then in Jonah 2:7, he finally admitted the truth. He said;
"When my life was slipping away, I remembered You oh Lord, and in Your Holy Temple You heard my prayer."
(Contemporary English Version)
Jonah felt what it is like to wrestle with God. And it wasn't until gave in and admitted that he was no match for God before God could use him.
Have you any sins you have been wrestling with? Wrestling with God for victory? But the victory hasn't seemed to come - yet?
Friends I'm about to show you the most exciting, the most thrilling, the most electrifying quote I've ever read. It came from the pen of a woman that knew what it was like to wrestle with God.
It was written in 1907. Listen; "Before one is prepared for Christ's coming there must be seen in the life the fruits of the Spirit. There must be a self-discipline, a wrestling with God for victory till the victory is gained." (RH, September 12, 1907)
In other words folks, you keep wrestling with God until you receive the victory! Never give up!!! Jacob wrestled all night! Wrestled until God blessed him.
Wrestling with God builds our trust in Him. Wrestling with God teaches us to have total dependence, total confidence, total belief, and total hope in Him.
Do you remember when Peter wrestled with God? It was during the Crucifixion of Christ. Peter had followed Jesus from Gethsemane to Pilate's Courtroom. There he listened to the lies others accused Jesus with.
But before the day was over Luke 22:60 -62 says; "And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly."
Here is when Peter crossed over the Jabbok experience. The Bible reports that Peter wrestled with God until many days after the Resurrection.
Throughout the Bible we find stories of those that wrestled with God. Wrestled until they received victory. They would not let go of God until they received a blessing.
What about you this morning? Any sin in your life you are still wrestling with? Any problem in your life that you have not yet received the answer? Then friends, may I suggest you crossover a Jabbok experience. May I recommend you take hold of God and not turn Him loose until you have your answer. Even if it takes all night.
And if you walk away with a limp after your wrestling experience with God, remember that limp is to remind you that God heard your prayer.
Shall we pray;
Lord; bring us all to the River Jabbok this morning. Teach us to wrestle with You. Then Lord - may our wrestling experience with You teach, educate, explain and clarify why things are the way they are. May we never give up our hold until we have received our answers and a blessing. In Jesus name, Amen
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