Genesis xxxii. 24
-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.
Something had occured in the life of this Patriarch, which was out of order, and this was the blessing of his father. Isaac intended to have bestowed it upon Esau; but with the assistance of his mother, who gave the preference to Jacob, even as Isaac strangely did to Esau, he deprived Esau of the blessing intended for him, and procured its bestowment upon himself. We know the artful manner in which this was accomplished, and how the old blind patriarch was deceived, who took Jacob for Esau, and blessed him instead of the latter. It is true that the blessing descended upon him for whom God had intended it. For before the children were born, and had done neither good nor evil, it was said to Rebecca, the elder shall serve the younger, in order ’ that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him that calleth, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.’ It is true also, that Isaac, on afterwards learning the real state of the case, instead of retracting his blessing, confirmed it, and did not suffer a single word of disapprobation to fall, respecting the manner in which he had been deceived and imposed upon. But deception continues to be deception, and consequently sinful and not to be excused but reproved, in whatever cause it may be employed. Some, indeed, with the venerable Luther at their head, have not only excused the mode of acting of Rebecca and her son, but have even justified and defended it as the consequence of a noble faith. Jacob, however, did not regard it in this light, but was apprehensive, lest by such conduct he should have inherited a curse instead of a blessing from his father; and when his mother endeavored to pacify him by saying, i Upon me be thy curse, my soul’ it is evident she means nothing by it, and is a proof that she was unable to make a proper reply. To defend such a transaction, is in reality only to maintain the abominable position, that the end sanctifies the means. But this is certain, that God never fails of attaining his aim, and that even the improper conduct of individuals must promote the accomplishment of his purposes. Yet these improprieties are not thereby justified; otherwise the curse on account of the crucifixion of Christ, would have unjustly adhered to the Jews to the present day. ‘Shall we do evil, that good may come? God forbid!’ The condemnation of those who act from such a motive is just.
Those words in Psalm I. are often verified, ‘These things hast thou done and I kept silence: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.’ Jacob’s conduct in that affair now seemed ready to avenge itself upon him, and he might be apprehensive of the curse, respecting which he had previously so easily satisfied himself with the unmeaning words of his mother. How easily might such thoughts as the following occur to him:” Thy father did not in reality bless thee, but Esau, his first born, for whom thou didst give thyself out. The blessing has no reference to thee. Thou art a deceiver, and that of the basest kind. Although thou hast imposed upon thy venerable father, and abused his lamentable blindness, which ought to have induced thee to act with the greatest sincerity; yet the eye of God has only been the more acutely fixed upon thee; thou hast been unable to deceive Him. Thou art a deceiver; thou art worthy of death! And lo! Esau, who was blessed in thy person, is now coming against thee with four hundred men, to execute, as a servant of Divine justice, the sentence of death upon thee! Thou oughtest to have acknowledged, confessed, and made reparation for thy fault. The long-restrained wrath of God is awaking over thee. It is now too late. How couldst thou dare, how could such a man as thou venture to suppose that God had said to thee, ‘I will do thee good.’
Wilt thou make God the minister of sin, by supposing that he will be gracious to such a wretch as thou art? The Devil must have been justly permitted to suggest such pleasing thoughts to thee, in order the more infallibly to destroy thee. Instead of making the commencement with repentance, thou hast imagined thyself, to thy own injury, in a state of grace. It will now be proved. Esau — what a noble character he is compared with thee! He has threatened thee with death; and what else dost thou deserve at his hands? Hast thou not most basely endeavored to rob and murder him, by cunningly stealing the blessing intended for, and in reality pronounced upon him? ‘Be Lord over thy brother!’ it was said in the blessing which thou didst so unjustly seek to appropriate to thyself. Dost thou not now evidently see who has experienced the fulfilment of it 1 Thou, a poor servant; he, a lord with four hundred men; and thou entirely in his hand, O thou poor deceived Jacob! Where is there a poorer man than tlfou V9 And he lifted up his voice and wept bitterly.
And are you, my friends, entirely unacquainted with trials of this kind? I can scarcely suppose it, unless you are novices in the Christian course. You have put on the armor. Until you are at liberty to put it off, many things may occur, of which it is unnecessary now to speak in detail. Let this suffice; if you are children, call upon the Father, who without respect of persons, judgeth according to every man’s work. Therefore pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. If you are children, you will not be without chastisement; and the dearer the child the sharper the discipline. David once said when it went well with him, ‘I shall never be moved;’ for the Lord, in his mercy, had made his mountain to stand strong. But no sooner did he hide his face than he was troubled. Therefore be not high-minded, but humble. Be not self-confident, but take heed lest thou fall, whilst thinking thou art standing. Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Build thy house upon the rock, and take heed lest thou regard that as a rock, which is not so in reality. And though it be the rock, yet remember how easily thou mayest build wood and stubble upon it, which the fire will destroy. If it be genuine gold, it must still pass through the fire. For the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 6 Thy filthiness is so abominable,’ it is said in Ezekiel xxiv. 13, ’ that although I have purged thee, yet thou wast not cleansed, therefore thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.’ The holy Patriarch wrestled in faith with the temptations above-mentioned, and prayed, or at least wished to do so, and to hold converse with the Lord. The following was probably his train of thought and anxious inquiry: “Art thou then really my God and Father, or art thou so no longer? Have I deceived myself in firmly believing, that notwithstanding all my un worthiness, thou lovest me, that I might be so much the more to the praise of the glory of thy grace, after seeing and tasting it, and when I loved and praised thee on account of it? Certainly it can never be. But the feeling of it is now so much obscured, and so doubtful, that I can no longer rejoice in it; especially now, in this my time of trouble, when I so particularly need it. O look upon me therefore in mercy, and cause thy face to shine! Cast a friendly ray into my darkness.”
In this manner probably he prayed. ‘And there wrestled a man with him.’ Wonderful occurrence. What terror must it have inspired! Jacob justly thought himself quite alone. All at once he suddenly feels himself laid hold of by some one. Who it is he knows not; he is only conscious that it is not a wild beast s- eking to devour him, but a man. This man does not appear to be his friend, but his foe — perhaps one of Esau’s four hundred men. Whoever it is, he struggles with him. He lays hold of the terrified patriarch in such a manner as if he would either push him away from his place, or throw him upon the ground. Jacob defends himself; he grasps his antagonist, whom he does not yet know, and refuses either to move from the spot, or to let himself be thrown down. He exerts all his strength, and the conflict lasts l until the breaking of the day.’
Who was this man? Jacob did not know at first: but by degrees it became apparent to him who he was. If we form an opinion of him from the circumstance of his seeing that * he prevailed not against Jacob,’ we shall think very differently of him on reading what immediately follows: — * he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint,’ for to this, a more than human power is requisite. When he says, ‘Let me go,’ he appears inferior to Jacob, and dependent upon him. But when Jacob entreats his blessing — he exalts him far above him, and even above his father Isaac, who had already blessed him in the name of God. When the man gives him the name of Israel, and explains to him the meaning of that appellation, by telling him with whom he had been wrestling, and over whom he has prevailed — * with God and with men ’ — every veil falls away, and the man presents himself to us in his true form. Although he declines mentioning his name, in reply to Jacob’s simple question, yet he reveals it the more clearly by the act of c his blessing him there.’ But when the sun arose in Jacob’s comprehension, upon the whole affair, he called the place Peniel; f for,’ said he, ‘I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.’
“Extraordinary occurrence! Who can fathom it?” What! does this appear so strange to you, although you have seen the Son of man under such entirely different circumstances 1 Remember that it was predicted of old, that His name should be called ‘Wonderful.’
This man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. This man had for a time, assumed a human body, in order to wrestle with Jacob bodily. He seized him with his hands, and held him fast with his arms, in order to expel him from the place, or else throw him upon the ground. Can we suppose that complete silence was observed during the conflict; and that nothing more was spoken than what we find recorded? We can scarcely imagine it. But may we venture to fill up the gap which Moses has left here, by our own suppositions, if they are religious, founded on the word of God, and conformable to faith and experience? Why should we not? It is at least certain, that if any thing was spoken during the struggle, it was nothing consolatory and encouraging on the part of the angel of God; but in character with the act of wrestling, which was no token of friendship. But what is it that the Spirit discovers to the individual, and with which he upbraids him? Is it not his sin? And had Jacob no sin? Might it not have been said to him, ( Away with thee from this holy place where angels linger!’ Might not the whole catalogue of his guilt have been unfolded to him in all its particulars; and might it not have been most clearly proved to him, that in himself there did not seem the slightest ground for that love which God had toward him; but that it must be sought and found in quite a different place? In this way, in a spiritual manner also, his hip might have been disjointed, and the last idea of his own worthiness, &c. destroyed. If Satan upbraids a soul with sins; if he appears at the right hand of a Joshua in unclean garments, to accuse him; we are well aware what his intentions are — to distress, to plunge into immoderate grief, to cast into despair, and entirely to destroy. But the Son of God does not act thus. He does it only to humble us, and to allure us to himself, in order afterwards to comfort us the more. How did he act towards Saul? Did he not call out to him, ‘Thou persecutest me?’ How towards Peter? Did he not thrice inquire if he loved him? How did he conduct himself towards the Syrophenician woman? Did he not almost call her a dog? And did not the angels of the seven churches receive almost all of them a particular and emphatic reproof? We know for what purpose. As soon as Paul perceived that Satan had his hand in the matter, he advised the Corinthians to comfort and forgive the sinners amongst them so much the more, that they might not sink into excessive sorrow, and be over-reached by Satan.
If the angel of God wrestled with Jacob, the latter struggled also with all his might with God, or acted as a prince towards him. He would by no means let himself be moved away from his place, but resisted with all his strength, both bodily and spiritual. Tears and prayers were the most powerful and victorious weapons with which he wrestled and overcame the Son of God. “Upbraid me,” — will have been his prayerful language, amidst a flood of tears, — “upbraid me with all my sins; unfold and develope them in all their odiousness; reveal to me each aggravating circumstance; shew me my whole desert. I grant it all, I do not excuse, cloke, or palliate any thing. But this I tell thee also, I do not stand here on my own righteousness, for I have none; but rely upon thy mercy. Art thou, yea, art thou not thyself, however hostile may be thy position towards me — art not thou thyself JEHOVAH ZIE-KENU, the Lord my righteousness? Is there the slightest spot, wrinkle, or blemish in it? Was my forefather Abraham justified by his works — was he not by thy grace? No; thou wilt never reject the poor sinner who takes refuge with thee. Hast thou not given thy word upon it, that thou art not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance? Wilt thou begin with met o invalidate thine own word? Thy truth and faithfulness will not suffer this. Thy great mercy itself presents me with weapons against thy justice.”
In this, or a similar manner, the fight of faith is carried on. Secretly and imperceptibly all kinds of suitable weapons are handed to the warrior, even as to the Canaanitish woman the suitable reply, * Yea, Lord, but the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table,’ by which she set Jesus fast — so to speak — and obliged him to yield the victory to her.
The conflict was violent and lasted long, even until the breaking of the day.’ The longer it lasted the more profound were the views which the struggling patriarch received of his corruption, and the grounds of his faith. The longer it lasted, the humbler and weaker he became, the more compelled to build every thing on mere mercy, and entirely despair of himself: to which a circumstance — the dislocating of his hip, which we shall afterwards consider — greatly contributed. For the present, we will break off, with the intention of taking an early opportunity of considering the result.
My hearers will doubtless have already been able to make their observations and useful application of the subject. The chiefest of these is, See to it, that you build the house of your hope upon the rock, that it may stand firm when assaulted. So much is certain, that Jacob hazarded too much, when at his mother’s words, * the curse be upon me,’ he exposed himself to the danger. He ought to have had very different reasons for so doing. Rebecca, indeed, was certain of her cause; but this was not sufficient for her son: Do not mimic others, nor rejoice in the light of another. It is in ourselves that we must be regenerated, experience Divine influence, and be sealed with the Spirit of promise, for godliness does not consist in words, but in power.
May those that are inwardly assaulted, also learn from Jacob’s conflict, an appropriate demeanor in the attacks upon their confidence and their hope. Expect them, but do not flee from them; at least no where but to Jesus! Ask boldly, even when it seems as if he would drive you from the place. Lay hold of the promises; strive with them against the threatenings; weep and supplicate, even though he seem to be himself opposed to you. May he strengthen us for this purpose! Amen.