Genesis xxxii. 30, 31

It was an unparalleled, wonderful, and incredible method, in reference to ’ which it is impossible to find language sufficiently glorifying to God, that king Jehoshaphat employed, when he went forth to war, and gained the victory; on which occasion it pleased God to manifest his glory in such an extremely striking manner, as we read in 2 Chron. xx.

In the enemy’s great superiority of power, which constrained Jehoshaphat to confess and say, ‘We have no might against this great company that cometh against us;’ and which placed him in such a dilemma that he exclaimed, e Neither know we what to do;’ and which urged him to call upon God, saying, ‘Our eyes are upon thee;’ we see, at the same time, the object of all the afflictions through which we are called to pass. We are by them to be rendered lowly, little, nothing, impotent, and helpless, and to give God the glory; even as Jehoshaphat said, ‘Wilt thou not judge them V How desirable, that we should also be brought, from heartfelt conviction, to say, ( We have no might;’ and be enabled at the same time to lift up our eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh our help. How admirable is the power of faith! Its basis is the promise, Thus saith the Lord.’ Its object is God: ‘The battle s not yours, but God’s.’ Its effect is peace and composure: Ye shall not need to fight in this battle; set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord, who is .with you J’ It also produces deep humility. The king prostrates himself with his whole people. It excites to thanksgiving and praise, and the ground of thankfulness is this, His mercy endureth forever.’ It terminates in compile victory. Behold what power God can give toi Osc, in whom there is no might, and who know not at they ought to do. He can enable them still to believe in the Lord, and to feel safe, when everything appears against them; and can cause them to thank and praise ’ with a loud voice on high,’ not merely after having obtained the victory, but even before the commencement of the fight; for the Lord is wonderful in his believing people, and glorious in his saints.

Oh, if we could only believe, and do nothing else but believe! For all things are possible to him that believeth. But this is only learnt in those paths in which Jehoshaphat learned it: ‘Not in us, but in thy hand is the might and the power.’ In this manner the Patriarch Jacob also learned it

GENESIS XXXII. 30, 31.

And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel; for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Peniel, the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.

THE Lord had blessed Jacob; therefore he now let him go. He inwardly felt, that though the Lord might visibly disappear from him, yet he remained with him and in him. Such was also the case with the disciples at the ascension of Jesus. He departed from them bodily, but spiritually and essentially he remained with them, and continues with us even to the end of the world. And of this we are conscious from his Spirit. which he hath given us; and from the peace, joy, and power, which operate in us.

The whole affair with Jacob deserved a memorial. He instituted this, by giving a new name to the place where this remarkable event occurred. Nature presented him with an emblem of it — the rising sun; and he had a memento of it in his own body — he was lame.

The Son of God had given Jacob a new name. The Patriarch could not apply a new name to God in return, since his goodness is every morning new, ever alike fresh and lovely. He therefore gave the place a new and suitable name, by calling it Peniel — that is, the face of God. He explained what he meant by this new name, by adding, f I have seen God face to face;’ and the effect of this was, ‘My life is preserved.’ But God himself instituted a memorial of the event, which shall last as long as the world stands, by causing it to be recorded by His servant Moses, and to be called -to mind by the Prophet Hosea. But what am I saying? — as long as the world stands? To all eternity will Jacob himself be” a memorial of this event; and even as he was so here by his lameness, so he will be there by his glory.

Peniel. This world possesses many uncommonly glorious places. The natural man finds those the most remarkable, where Nature manifests herself in peculiar splendor and majesty; where lofty mountains yield delightful prospects, and smiling plains exhibit the blessings of heaven; where majestic rivers roll along, or the wide ocean expands itself like an eternity before the eye, which seeks in vain its limit. The scientific man lingers with pleasure on the monuments of ancient and modern art; he gazes with admiration at the enormous dome which ancient times reared heavenwards, or is ravished with the productions of the painter or the statuary, which animate, as it were, the lifeless canvass and the solid marble. He admires the magnificence and beauty of princely palaces, and lingers astonished at the works of art. The historian loses himself in reflection, when visiting the scene of former important events; when coming in sight of ancient Rome, with all its reminiscences; or when upon a field, where memorable battles have been fought Who, at this present period, does not think with admiration of Wittenberg, and its royal chapel; of the Wartburg, of Zurich and Geneva, and of the names of Luther, Zuinglius, and Calvin, because they remind us of a multiplicity of events connected with them?

The Christian has also his memorable spots and places in the world; Bethlehem, Capernaum, Jerusalem, Calvary, and the Mount of Olives, are these remarkable spots. Formerly they were* personally visited by the piously superstitious pilgrim, whilst his heart, perhaps, was far from God. His bodily eye saw the remarkable places, whilst the eye of his Spirit, remained closed against the wonders which there took place for the salvation of sinners. His feet wandered in what is called the Holy Land, where Abraham once sojourned; which the Son of God touched with his sacred feet, and even with his face; which he bedewed with his tears, his bloody sweat, and his atoning Wood; in which his lifeless body slumbered three days, and where he again rose to heaveh from whence he had come down. There the foot of many a pilgrim wanders, whilst it is not given him to walk in the steps of faithful Abraham, and to know the way of peace — nay, whilst rejecting the Son of God, by thinking to render his own works effectual as an atonement for his sins. These places are Peniels to believers, revelations of the glory of God, since his faith and love find the pastures of eternal life in that which there took place. And has not every Christian his particular Peniels, in which God revealed himself to him in an especial manner 1 — his closet, a sermon, a book, a company, a solitary hour, and the like, which continue ever memorable to him.

Jacob called this remarkable place Peniel — not as a memorial of himself, nor of that which he had there performed and accomplished: but of that which he had apprehended and experienced of God, arid of the gracious benefit bestowed upon him. You see here the character of all God’s children. The world is proud, and boasts that she has done this or accomplished that; she desires to be regarded and commended for it, and to be honored for zeal, prudence, and ability. Her own glory is her aim, and the being denied it her most sensible mortification. Like the Pharisee in the Gospel, she ascribes it to herself, that she is not this and that, and that she is and does the other; she will not give her glory to another, and feels much offended if any one seeks to possess it in her stead. Even when the Son of God says, ‘Without me ye can do nothing,’ he has only contradiction to expect from her; and when Paul says, * Not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,’ the proud world is insulted by it. The Lord knows how to produce a different effect in his children, even though he be obliged to deprive them of their strength. He does so, in order that if any one will glory, he may glory in his weakness, and in the Lord; and that all glorying in himself, may cease and perish.

Jacob gives the reason for the appellation of this place in the words, * For I have seen God, face to face.’ Here we find a complete explanation who it was who wrestled with Jacob, dislocated his thigh, gave him a new name, and blessed him. It was not a mere angel. With these Jacob was well acquainted. During his flight with his brother, when sleeping solitarily in a wilderness upon the earth, with a stone under his head for a pillow, he saw in a dream the angels of God ascending and descending upon a ladder, on the top of which stood the Lord himself;’ on his return, lie was again met by two hosts of angels, and he called the place where this occurred, Mahanaim. Here, however, it was no created angel, but God himself — that person in the Divine Being, who- is called the Messiah, ( the sent of God,’ Jesus Christ, who in the fulness of time was really manifested in ‘flesh and blood. If we ask, by what it was that Jacob perceived with such certainty that it was a Divine person with whom he had to do, we answer, He was assured of it in the same mysterious manner, .as the weeping Magdalen at the sepulchre was assured by the .single word, ‘Mary!’ that it was not the gardener, but Jesus himself, who was’ conversing with her; and as the disciples on the sea of Tiberias were, so perfectly convinced it was ,the Lord, that none of them needed to ask him, •’ Who art thou?’ * The Spirit beareth witness -that the Spirit’ is truth’ (1 John v. 6.) The Christian’s conviction is something peculiar. It is a consciousness that it is really so, a certain confidence which does not and cannot doubt; whilst, on the contrary, a mere human belief thinks, it may be so, or may be otherwise.

Jacob now said, ‘I have seen God face to face.’ Paul calls God, ‘The Invisible’ (1 Tim. i. 17;) and in ch. vi. 16, he says, e God dwelleth in a light, which no man can approach unto; whom ho man hath seen, or can see.’ Still, we read in Exod. xxiv. 9, 10, that Aaron and his sons, and the seventy elders of Israel, were ordered to ascend Mount Sinai, and worship afar off. But Moses alone drew near” to the Lord. And when they, went up (ver. 10) c They saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet, as it were, a paved work of a sapphire stone (which is azure, with golden spots,) and as it were the body of heaven in its clearness.” Isaiah also saw the Lord ’ sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple’ (chap, vi.); and he whom he saw was Jesus Christ, as we see from John xii. 41.

The people of Israel sinned by idolatry, soon after the giving of the law. When Moses came down from the Mount, and saw and heard with what tumultuous joy the people worshiped the golden calf, he dashed in pieces, in his anger, the two tables of the law, which he had brought with him from Mount Sinai, and on which God himself had written the commandments; he was particularly irritated against his brother Aaron, who made the calf; but to the people he said, ‘Ye have sinned a great sin; and now I will go up unto the Lord, peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin, he asrendrd the Mount, and said, ‘OJx)rd, this people have sinned a great sin; yet now, forgixe their sin; but if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book, which thou has written.’ * What V answered the Lord, whoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Lead the people unto the place, of which I have spoken unto thee; behold mine angel shall go before thr will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiff-necked people, lest I consume thee in the way.’ This did not please Moses, and he humbly interceded once more; and as God for some time had only called the children of Israel ’ the people,’ Moses said, * consider that this nation is thy people;’ and the Lord then declared, saying, * My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.’ Moses eagerly caught at this, and said, ( If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known that I and thy people have found favor in thy sight, except thou goest with us? And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing al§o that thou hast spoken, for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.’ This emboldened Moses so much, that he said,” I beseech thee, shew me thy glory V The Lord answered, * I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. But thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live. But thou shalt see my back-parts.’ And thus Moses beheld the glory of the Lord from behind, and the face of Moses shone in consequence, so that the children of Israel could not look at him without a veil.

Jacob also said ,,5 1 have seen God face to face.’ But in reality he only saw the human form which the Lord had assumed for a season. In the fulness of time, he took upon him our nature, in personal union with his Divine. The infinite surrounded himself with bounds, and the invisible became visible — God became man. Without controversy, great is the mystery. With what rapture shall all his elect eventually behold him, be like him, and see him as he is! i Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’

But even here below there is a seeing God in grace, in a spiritual manner, and superior to sense.

The earth, the sky with its splendid and majestic the beauty of the spring, the blossoming trees, tht- waving corn-fields, the rolling of the thunder in the clouds, the genial dew — all remind us of an overruling providence. But Job at length says, after the Lord had taught him from a whirlwind, i I formerly heard thee with the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee;’ and the consequence was, * Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.’ Hence the knowledge that Job obtained after his affliction was more profound and perfect than before; even as we receive a much clearer idea of a thing, which we see with our eyes, than by merely hearing of it.

Such was also, the case with Jacob. Distinguished light had risen upon him by means of this conflict, such as he had never possessed before. He became much more intimately acquainted with his God than previously; even as when we see the face of some one whom we had only known before from report. Now if it be eternal life to know the .true God, and Jesus Christ whom ho hath sent; if life consist in righteousness, peace, and joy, he had evidently increased in all these in a remarkable manner; Christ in the struggle, had become more perfectly formed within him, although painful distress had preceded it. ‘In thy light we see light,’ says David, and prays: t Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.’ He also confesses that the law of the Lord is perfect, rejoicing the heart, and making wise the simple. But Peter says, ‘Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’ Now this is not accomplished by reflection, studying and reading; by these the head may indeed be filled with orthodox thoughts and ideas; but this, as Paul says, is only ’ the form of sound words.’ It is like undigested food, which may indeed puff up, but cannot strengthen or nourish. Hence the same apostle says, * Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth.’ The instruction which Jesus imparts, is given us by the Holy Spirit on the path of experience, by means of a variety of providential dispensations, afflictions, consolations, impartations and privations, disturbance and peace, strength and weakness. Thus he teaches sinners in the way, he guides the meek aright, and teacheth the humble his way. It is thus that he instructs them respecting sin and grace, until with Job they are able to renounce themselves entirely, and give God all the glory; the path which was rugged before, then becomes straight and even.

Jacob then also mentions the effect of this seeing God, and adds, ‘My life is preserved.’

He was delivered. His former state was an oppressive one — fightings without, and fears within. Esau with his four hundred men terrified him. His faith was weak; his courage small; joy had departed from his soul, and clouds of sorrow darkened his mind, which vented themselves in tears. That night had been the most painful and distressing one he had ever spent; he saw nothing but death before him, which Esau had sworn concerning him, and he knew that he was not to be trifled with. It seemed as if God himself had given him over unto death, when he commanded him to return out of Mesopotamia. He had recourse by prayor to that God, who had hitherto blessed and protected him, in order to pour out his fears and his distress before him, and to entreat his deliverance. He knew not by what means he would help him. But what befel him during prayer? We know already. A man struggled with him in such a manner as to dislocate his thigh.

Thus the Lord exercises his people by a variety of afflictions; not unfrequently in such a manner as to cause them to think they must despair and perish, and really would do so, did not the Lord sustain them, in a faithful and confident manner, although imperceptible to themselves; nay, to say the truth, they really do perish and despair — that is, with reference to themselves; so that, on their part, they are compelled to exclaim, ‘We perish!’ and are deprived of the power to believe, and hope; even as Jacob was not only stripped of the ability to defend himself, but also even to flee. Such situations are, indeed, no pastime; as Jacob also found it. But the end of the ways of God is better than their beginning; exaltation follows humiliation, and life follows death.

Thus it proved also in Jacob’s case. ‘My life is preserved,’ said he. He now felt very different He was like the eagle, who renews his youth, whose feathers grow again, so that he can again elevate himself upon his pinions and soar aloft to hover in the rays of the sun. His confidence in God was quickened, and his whole soul was tranquilized so that he could boldly look around him. Fear had departed, and he was enabled confidently to appear before Esau. He had all, and abounded.

Such a pleasing reverse is promised in numberless passages; ‘I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you;” I will comfort thee as a mother comforteth her child;” I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness;’ and many more such promises. They are also faithfully fulfilled in all those whom the Lord humbles; and hence, it is said, c Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.’ My heart rejoices at thy willingness to help. I will praise the Lord for his mercies towards me. He hath preserved my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. Bless the Lotd, O my soul! and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, and forget not all his benefits!’ Thus the same David rejoiced, who had uttered so many complaints. Thus, many a child of God is able to rejoice; and what exultation, and blessing, and praise will there be, when they shall arrive in heaven out of all their tribulation, after having washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb!

But what praise to the glory of Divine grace is excited, even here below, in those favored souls who can exult with David, and say, ‘The Lord hath delivered me from all my fears;’ who possess peace in the Lord in an uniform and permanent manner, although in the world they may have tribulation; and who have attained the great grace of being able to rejoice in the Lord always, and to exclaim in the spirit of adoption,, ‘Abba, Father!’ 0 happy souls, who are redeemed from the servile spirit of bondage, delivered from the fear of death, made free by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, from the law of sin; and who serve God, not according to the letter, but in the Spirit. These are the glorious, results of beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit.

If we wish to enter into the full meaning of Jacob’s expression, we must remember that he really expressed himself in his language as follows: — “I am preserved, and shall be preserved;” so that he was animated by a vigorous confidence with respect to the future. The Lord had said to him, * Thou hast had power;’ or more correctly speaking, ‘Thou wilt be enabled to prevail.’ Now, here is the echo of faith:” I am preserved, and shall be preserved! although new tribulations may befall me, according to the will of God; yet, I shall be preserved, and at length he will deliver me from all evil, and bring me to his glorious kingdom; of this I am assured, for I know in whom I have believed.’

God performs what he promises. He faithfully helped Jacob through everything, although he had to experience many grievous trials; one of the most painful of which was, the supposed death of his favorite son, Joseph, whom he was told a wild beast had devoured, on his being sent out by him; respecting which he doubtless reproached himself bitterly, as having committed a great piece of thoughtlessness, and on whose account he mourned long, until this also cleared itself up in an unexpected and glorious manner. Whether Jacob, under all these circumstances, was able with the same serenity to say, ‘I shall be preserved,’ I know not.

From his long mourning over Joseph, and his declaration, ’ that if mischief befell Benjamin by the way, then shall ye bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave,’ the contrary may be inferred; as also from his exaggerated statements to his sons, who wished to take Benjamin with them into Egypt. £ Me ye have bereaved of my children, said he; ( Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away; all these things are against me.’ And when his sons, on a previous occasion, had committed the shameful murder of the Shechemites, he was again afraid, and said, 6 1 being few in number, they will -gather themselves together against me, and slay me, and I shall be destroyed, and mine house.’ Where is now thy faith? it might be asked. But this also tends much to the glory of God, and to prove that he is alone good, and that we without him can do nothing. In the joy of his heart, and in the enjoyment, of Divine gifts, the man probably imagines that his mountain stands so strong, that he will never be moved. And why does he suppose so? Because he secretly thinks that he himself has become something, and imagines he is in possession of the faith &c., for which he has so long supplicated. But it may still be the case with him, that like Jacob he looks at himself, and is afraid lest his powerful foes should at length destroy him and his whole house. O how much has God to do with us, in order to bring us into true poverty of spirit, and to keep us in it! We are invariably desirous of becoming something in ourselves — of growing, being strong, and able in ourselves. Hence the Lord is continually obliged to convince us of our poverty and misery; yet all this would avail nothing, if he did not himself enable some souls to ascribe to him the kingdom, the power, and the glory; and to regard themselves in truth and reality as nothing, even in the possession of abundance of gifts; and at the same time to believe in reality and with serenity, and to be satisfied that in Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. It is true indeed, that no one can receive anything, or retain it, except it be given him from above.

The sun now rose. This splendid spectacle in nature was also an image of that which had passed in the soul of the Patriarch. The night had disappeared. A lovely morning dawned. It rose upon him. The Sun of Righteousness and the Day-spring from on high, was at length to arise upon them that sat in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide their feet into the way of peace. 0 may this Sun rise; may it rise upon us with its healing beams; may it rise upon all who call themselves Christians — upon the posterity of Israel — upon the whole world!

And Jacob halted upon his thigh. Every step reminded him of the great mercy of the Lord, and at the same time of his own nothingness. Every step exalted and humbled him. And when others heard his name and saw his lameness, they would also be reminded that the Lord condescends more graciously to his people, than it might be supposed. To him be glory for ever. Amen.