Jacob Wrestling with the Angel

-An</ Jacob was left alone: and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

THE verse we have just read, forms a part of one of the most wonderful narratives contained in the Holy Scriptures; and upon which we intend to meditate on this and some future occasions.

Strengthened and refreshed by the promise, ‘I will do thee good,’ the Patriarch Jacob, at the express command of his God, had removed from Haran, where for a long period he had served his uncle Laban, in order to return to his native land. This displeased Laban so much, that he went in pursuit of his son-in-law, and overtook him on Mount Gilead. His anger was inflamed against him to such a degree, that he would certainly have done the Patriarch a serious injury: since he boasted that, with the help of God, he had power enough for that purpose, if God had not forbidden this Syrian, in a dream, to take heed not to speak otherwise than in a friendly manner to him: although Rachel was, nevertheless, in peril of her life. At length every thing was amicably settled, and they parted in a peaceful and friendly manner. Laban turned back; and whilst Jacob was proceeding on his journey, he was met, to his great comfort, by the angels of God. Thus pleasingly was he extricated from this trying situation.

Scarcely, however, had he been rescued from this danger, then he fell into another of a much more serious nature. The fury of his brother Esau, and his threat, c The days of mourning for my father are at hand, then will I slay my brother Jacob,’ had compelled the latter to seek his safety in flight. When he returned into Esau’s neighborhood, his first concern was to gain his favor. He attempted to accomplish this by sending messengers to him; who, in the humblest terms, were to endeavor to secure his good will. But they soon returned with the intelligence, that his brother Esau was coming to meet him, with four hundred men. * Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed;’ and that with reason: for what other intentions could Esau have than such as were hostile 7 And what had Jacob to oppose to such a host? Nothing; not even flight. What a distressing and helpless situation! O God, into what painful circumstances dost thou sometimes suffer thy favorites to fall; and yet it is only for the attainment of the most blessed ends.

Jacob’s anxiety, however, is not so great as to deprive him of all reflection; although his confidence in God is not lively enough to render him as courageous as a young lion. He makes such prudent arrangements that the possibility of escape it afforded to one part should the other be destroyed by Esau. Nor did he neglect any thing which seemed likely to reconcile Esau and win his heart: to which several considerable presents, which he prepared for that purpose, were intended to contribute.

But the pious Patriarch did not let the matter rest there; he did not ground his confidence upon these arrangements, but upon God. In the midst of his anxious preparations, he applied to Him by earnest prayer, which emanated from the depth of his distress. He appears openly before his covenant God; he frankly confesses his fears, and does not conceal his wretchedness; he thanks Him for all his former undeserved benefits; he bows himself in deep humility; he cleaves by faith to the command and gracious promise of the Lord ‘Thou, saidst, I will surely do thee good;’ he cleaves to the power and goodness of God, and beseeches Him to deliver him. He passed a sleepless night in making the arrangements he thought necessary; and conducted his flocks, his family, and his people over the brook Jabbok.

He was then left entirely alone: which he preferred, as being the best suited for his state of mind at the time. He was desirous of pouring out his heart still more fully before the Lord; of praying still more fervently; of pressing to the throne of Grace, unhindered by external things, at a time when he required help. The good hand of God which was extended over him, drew him into this retirement, because it had something great and particular in view with him.

It was night: a season calculated in itself to excite a feeling of awe. The heavens above him, with their countless stars, reminded him of the promise given to his holy forefather, and sealed it to him also, that thus numerous should his descendants be. The gloomy earth was full of terrors to him, and Esau not far off; perhaps even very near. His help was solely in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. What a blessed night he had already once enjoyed, when sleeping in a desert with a stone beneath his head, and when heaven opened itself above him! But this was a night of anxious fear. It was not only night around the holy Patriarch, but it had also become dark in his soul. He was greatly afraid. This fear seemed to be justified by the circumstances in which he was placed: yet still it had its root in his want of faith; and if Christ blamed his disciples on account of the unbelieving fear which they manifested in the most imminent danger of death, Jacob was also deserving of a similar reproof on account of similar misconduct; although that must be an uncommon confidence, which can preserve us from fear under such appalling circumstances.

Jacob was manifestly, according to the expression of the Apostle, ’ not perfect in love;’ for the latter expels fear. Fear, however, proceeds more especially from an evil and defiled conscience. No sooner had Adam incurred the latter by his disobedience, than he was afraid, and fled from the face of God. A guilty conscience is like a dangerous and poisonous imposthume in the individual, which finally prepares him for the flames of hell, unless healed by the blood of

Christ, the only remedy. This alone, appropriated by the power of the Holy Spirit, brings peace. Who does not know that Jacob was an object of God’s love, and therefore also a partaker of this peace. But as the renovation of the children of God here upon earth is progressive, so this part of it is particularly so, and is more obvious when trying occasions and circumstances occur, than at other tunes. Besides which, God, as Moses says in Psalm xc., places, in the times of visitation, ‘our trangressions before him, and our secret sins in the light of his countenance. He begins, at some after-period, to reckon with his servants, and to set before their eyes what they have done; and then is fulfilled what is written in Psalm xcix. 8, ( Thou answeredst them, thou forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.’ They are perhaps not sufficiently awrare of the greatness of the guilt; its abominable and culpable nature, and the aggravating circumstances which attend it. They have not been rendered sufficiently contrite, humble, and heart-broken on account of it; they have not sufficiently accused themselves before God because of it; they have been desirous of excusing, if not of justifying themselves in some measure; their hatred to sin is perhaps not sufficiently powerful; their desire for deliverance, and their gratitude on account of it, not sufficiently ardent. They must be made to ascend higher, and to descend deeper. Their self-knowledge is to receive an addition, and their view of the real nature, extent, necessity, and preciousness of Divine grace, to become brighter. Their conscience is to be rendered more tender, 2* their walk more circumspect, their looking unto the Lord more fixed, their abiding in Him and his abiding in them more intimate; and themselves, generally speaking, more fit for every good work, by faith in Christ Jesus. The potter takes the clay into his forming hand, and purifies and ennobles it from one degree to another. The path of the child of God is from faith to faith, from strength to strength. The fruitfulness which was at first but thirty-fold, becomes sixty-fold, and the latter an hundred-fold. In the blade the ear is formed; the latter shoots pleasingly forth from its envelopement, and fills itself with corn, which ripens in the sunshine and the storm. The child becomes a youth, the youth a man and a father in Christ; in whom, as the Head, they all grow together in all things. Such is the conduct of the Father with his elect, whom he has chosen in Christ, before the foundation of the world, that they might be holy and without blame before him in love; and such was the path by which he led Jacob whom he loved.

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