Title: Meet Peniel's dazzling morning
Contents
“The sun rose as he passed by Peniel, and he was limp because of his hip bone” (Genesis 32:31).
“He wrestled with the angels and prevailed, and wept and made supplications to him, and God found him at Bethel, and there he spoke to us” (Hosea 12:4).
I. text commentary
God loved Jacob more than Esau and wanted to continue the family of faith through him. However, Jacob was always first, and he liked to compete with others and win, and he was a crafty, envy and deceitful man. So, after suffering many hardships throughout his life, he is sanctified by God's grace and transformed into a person of faith. The text deals with the story of Jacob meeting the dark night of his life.
II. Jacob's Night of Life: A Night of Environment and Soul
First of all, he's getting into the middle of the night environmentally. After deceiving his brother and father to take away the blessing of the firstborn, he fled to his uncle Laban's house in Paddan Aram. Jacob could not solve the problem with his leftovers. He had faced hardships in his environment several times before, and in the midst of them, he had God's help, but the problem he encountered this time was incomparable to the previous ones, and it was a deep night beyond his power. But more difficult than the environment was the deep night of the soul. As Jacob was left alone, no one could help him.
III. Lessons learned from the Jabbok River
1. Put hope in the zeal of the body
In the midst of the nights of his life, he placed his hopes on the craftiness and zeal of the flesh.
① Flattery with a bribe: In order to solve the problem with Esau, he had to confess his sins to Esau first and repent. He tried to overcome the crisis by first sending Esau a gift. ②Preparing the escape route: He also divided the herds of livestock and left them in the hands of servants to cross over first, and then put the loved ones last, thus preparing a way for them to escape. ③ Wrestling with the angel: Jacob, who met the angel sent by God, held on to the angel and held that he could not go until he unconditionally blessed him. He realized God's will in the middle of his life and did not try to change himself, but rather, through an angel, to change God's attitude.
2. True Victory is Defeating God
① God's discipline: When we suffer, we must think about the meaning of it. Rather than the direct factors that caused suffering to come, we need to look at God's plan to deal with all of them in His providence. Then we experience the lightening of the intelligence darkened by disobedience. Despite the help of God he had experienced before, he did not develop deep faith in God. So, in the end, God wanted to teach that Jacob himself could not overcome this crisis with his own strength.
② Relying on God's mercy: When the angel struck his hip bone, Jacob could no longer hold the angel with his physical strength, and only then did he weep and repent of his sins. Faith that moves God is weakening before God. Previously, we overcame the crisis of life on our own strength and got out of the dark night, but now when we can no longer overcome the crisis we are facing in the way we have been doing, all we can do is to weaken infinitely before God. The reason we are still in the dark night of life while clinging to God is because our attitude toward God is wrong. What God requires is not the zeal of the flesh disguised as faith, but to realize one's mistake before God, repent, and rely on God with all his heart.
IV. an exceptionally dazzling morning
When Jacob wept and repented, God went to Esau and touched his heart. When he saw Jacob limping and crossing the Jabbok River, Esau's heart melted like water. This is how God deals with us. On the river Jabbok, where bloody revenge would have taken place, the two confirmed their brotherly love. After spending the whole night in mourning, the Bible records that the morning of Peniel was bright, and Peniel means the face of God. The night of Jacob's life had passed, and an exceptionally dazzling morning had dawned. Remember that deep repentance and being broken are the secret to victory.
2004-10-31