GEN. 32
IT was truly a wonderful moment in Jacob’s history when, at the break of day, he found himself “alone with God.” Only a short time before, as he went on his way, the angels of God had met him; and, when he saw them, he exclaimed, “This is God’s host,” and forthwith he called the name of that place “Mahanaim.”
Those heavenly messengers, however, did not apparently inspire Jacob’s heart with courage; for, shortly afterwards, in going to meet Esau, he displayed the greatest cowardice by sending on before him all his belongings—even to his wives and family—and sought to appease his offended brother by a present. God, however, had a solemn lesson to teach His wayward child; and it could only be fully learnt when he and God were “alone.” Hence we read that when “Jacob was left alone,” by the ford Jabbok, “there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.” Solemn thought for you and me, dear reader, that during the darkest hours of that eventful night, Jacob was struggling with God; only, however, to discover the absolute impotency of the finite in the presence of the Infinite!
Yet, truth to tell, this is alas, the secret history of many souls. In their folly, they contend with God; and will not be controlled. Thus it was with Jacob; for the struggle continued all night till the dawning of the day, when the patriarch suddenly discovered that the One with whom he was contending was no mere man. In the glimmering morning light, the fingers of the Lord God Almighty suddenly touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh; and so put it out of joint that, to the end of his days, he could never forget the divinely solemn lesson of the utter helplessness of man in attempting to struggle with God.
Again, let me ask you, my reader, whether you have ever yet learnt your own personal guilt, and total ruin, as a poor lost sinner, in the presence of a holy God; and also your own utter inability to save yourself by anything that you can do? Tears, prayers, good resolutions, penances, law-keeping, baptisms, sacraments and religion in its ten thousand different forms, are all of no avail; for, if there be one lesson more distinct than another, which Calvary’s Cross teaches us, it is the total ruin, helplessness and moral end of man in God’s sight; and God’s complete and unsparing judgment there of sin in the flesh. Sin, root and branch, there met its holy and righteous judgment when Christ on the cross as the divine Sin-Bearer, was wounded for our transgressions, and bore the chastisement of our peace. This is the utterance of faith. Without shedding of blood, too, there could be no remission, and Scripture further declares that it was “when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Jacob never really learnt the utter nothingness of the flesh till the hollow of his thigh was touched “in the sinew that shrank” by the finger of God at the ford Jabbok. That dislocated limb brought the patriarch’s struggles to an end in the early morning light; and when the voice of his Conqueror exclaimed, “Let me go, for the day breaketh,” faith took the place of self-will in Jacob’s soul; and the earnest cry came from his lips, “I will not let thee go except thou bless me.” Struggling with God had come to its natural end; and “clinging to the Mighty One” was then, and still is, the only way of blessing, whether for Jacob, or ourselves. Faith ever finds all her resources in the living God, and man’s very impotency is but God’s opportunity to fully bestow the longed-for blessing.
Such was Jacob’s condition, and when asked his name, he at once tells it. But the Divine Wrestler, though refusing to disclose His own Name, nevertheless revealed Who and what manner of person He was, as He exclaimed, “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for, as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed...And he blessed him there.” Needless to say, that Blesser was the very One Who had previously changed Abram’s name to Abraham; and who, in a later day, said to Simon Peter, “Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A Stone.” Little wonder is it, therefore, that Jacob should call the name of the place where he received the blessing, “Peniel,” for (said he), “I have seen God face to face; and my life is preserved.” Yes, Jacob had now learnt his lesson alone with God, and had proved that faith it is that wins the day, and human efforts are in vain. Of this the sinew that shrank, in the hollow of his thigh, was the abiding token. “Without faith it is impossible to please God”; and as the ivy clings to the oak, and the limpet to the rock, so may you, dear reader, cling only and absolutely, to Him who is mighty to save, and will save you now.
S. T.