As I indicated this morning, I'm going to commence a short series of messages on Bible books. And the first one is found in Genesis chapter 32. Genesis chapter 32, and I would like to break into the chapter. And we are reading here tonight about Jacob. And he rose up that night and took his two wives, and his two woman servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. And he took them and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel, for as a prince hast thou power with God and with name, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face, and my life was preserved. And as he passed over Penuel, the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. And may the Lord bless his word to all our hearts for Jesus' sake. Amen. If you're looking for a text tonight, I suppose the obvious words are found at the end of verse 29. And he blessed him there. And he blessed him there. Jacob was blessed at the brook Jabbok. Now two decades before the events recorded in this chapter, Jacob had fled from before the face of his brother Esau to his uncle Laban in Haran. And now after all those years, he was now fleeing from before the face of Laban, only to be confronted again by Esau. Coming back to the land of Canaan meant that Jacob would have to face up to his past. he would have to face his estranged brother again. And that was a great burden upon Jacob's heart. For the main reason why he left Canaan in the first place was to get away from Esau because Esau had threatened to kill him. This was due, of course, to his own foolishness and to the fact that Jacob had beguiled their father Isaac into giving him the blessing instead of giving it to Esau. And as a result of that, Esau was enraged and plotted to kill Jacob as soon as their father died. Now, twenty years later, Jacob was returning to face the brother that he had wronged. Naturally, he was afraid. Now what he had done in the past had been forgiven by God, but the passing of time could not change the consequences of his actions. And as a result of his past, he was now facing a very difficult challenge, he was facing a very difficult test, and he desperately needed to seek the counsel of God. And that was something that he had failed to do during his many years away. But he believed in his own heart that before he came face to face with Esau, he needed to come face to face with his God. Before he met with his brother, he needed to meet with his God. And thank God he did so at the Brook Jabbok. Now what took place there on that memorable night was the second great spiritual experience in Jacob's life. The first was at Bethel, Genesis chapter 28, verses 10 through 22. And at Bethel, Jacob became a believing man. But now at Jadbuk, he became a broken man. If Genesis chapter 28 records his conversion to God, Genesis chapter 32 records his consecration to God. At Bethel, God saved Jacob. And at Jabbok, God subdued Jacob. And for Jacob, this event at the Brook Jabbok proved to be a memorable experience. He never forgot it. It was with him until his dying day. And the Word of God puts it very, very simply, what happened on that occasion. And he blessed him there. He blessed him there. Three very simple things that I want to highlight from the verses that we've read tonight from the Word of God. First of all, we want to think of how God met Jacob. How God met Jacob. We're told here in verse 24 that there wrestled a man with him. Now Jacob was in his late nineties at this point of time. I read one commentator during the week and he suggests that Jacob was ninety-seven years of age. He therefore was an old man. He was on his way home after twenty years absence. And it says in verse 22, he arose up that night. In fact, three times in verses 13 through 22 we read about the night time. And so the scene before us is a night scene. Jacob couldn't sleep. He was emotionally exhausted. The dread of meeting Esau had drained him. He needed sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. Have you ever been there? Have you been emotionally exhausted? Maybe something has been coming up on your horizon and that has placed a dread upon you. You have needed sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. Well, you can identify with Jacob and the incident that has brought to attention before us. But in that sleepless night, God met with Jacob. And it is significant where God met with him. We're told here that he met with him at the brook Jabbok, verse 22. And this particular word is deeply significant because it means flowing, pouring out. It means emptying. And it was a copious stream, or a copious river, which descended from the mountains of Gilead and emptied itself into the river Jordan. And I think the name is most appropriate for the need of the man we're dealing with tonight. Let me just explain. The one who gave Jacob the most trouble was not Laban. It wasn't even Esau, but rather it was Jacob himself. And there would be no end to his trouble until he came to an end of himself. He could not be filled with the power of God until he had been emptied of self-dependence and self-trust. And that is why God brought him to this place. He brought him to the root jablock. because it was the place where the water was emptied out into the Jordan. And that's exactly what needed to happen in Jacob's life. He needed to be emptied of self and pride and sin. Therefore, God brought him to this very significant place. And like Jacob, our biggest problem is often ourselves. And it was Tozer who said, The Lord cannot fully bless a man until he has first conquered him. And on that night, Jacob was forced to face God alone. The Word of God says that Jacob was left alone. And when we are busy, it's very hard to hear God's voice. But when we are alone, it's always easier to hear when He speaks. And when God gets a man or a woman alone, God can do great things with that individual. Alone with God on the Isle of Patmos, John wrote the book of Revelation. Alone with God in the Bedford jail, John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress. Alone with God in total blindness, John Milton wrote Paradise Lost. Alone with God by Jabbok, Jacob wrote a new chapter in the history of his life and it proved to be a turning point. Is there anyone here tonight in the house of God longing for a turning point? Are you tired with the life that you're living? Your life is governed by your own desires and ambitions. Do you ever get tired of living your life that way? Well, tonight God has brought you here because He wants for you to experience a turning point in your life. He wants to empty you of self and pride, and He wants to fill you with His power. Twenty years before, he had gone to Bethel, and there he met alone with God. And God brings him back again to this place where he is alone. And Jacob identifies the man of verse 24, the man that attacked him, the man that wrestled with him. He identifies him in verse 30 as God. This was a theophany. In other words, it was a pre-Bethlehem appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the man who wrestled with Jacob was Christ, the angel of the covenant. through whom the blessings of the covenant come to the people of God. So if you want to have a turning point in your life, you need to meet with Christ. You need to let Him take control of your life. He needs to master you. So the Lord Jesus met Jacob in the dark when he was alone. And when I read that, I began to think of other people who met God in the dark. And I thought, for example, of Paul and Silas. And they were in the dark when they met with God. Acts chapter 16. And Luke is very specific when he says that it was at midnight when God intervened and met these two servants of God. And what did God do when he met them in the dark? Well, he gave them a song. Because the Word of God tells us that they began to sing praise at midnight and the prisoners heard them. And then I also thought of Paul. As he travelled on that stricken vessel on its way to the city of Rome, this is the testimony of Paul. For there stood by me this night the angel of the Lord saying, Fear not. What did the Lord do for Paul on that occasion in the dark? He gave him a word. Fear not. And then I thought again about Peter, and Peter was in a dark prison cell, and the word of God tells us in Acts chapter 12 verses 6 and 7, it was the same night and the angel of the Lord smote Peter on the side. So here we have another illustration, another example of how individuals met with God in the dark, or how God met with individuals in the dark. And on this occasion God gave him a touch. And the Word of God tells us in Acts 12, verse 7, "...and a light shined in the prison." He can give you light in the darkness. He can meet you when you feel all alone, when you are fearful and dreading what the morrow might bring. On the morrow, Peter was going to die. As far as Herod was concerned, as far as those in authority were concerned, he was going to die. But not so with God. For on that very night God came and delivered his servant. So God came and he met Jacob in the dark. He met him when he was alone and he revealed himself to him. That's how God met Jacob. And then we must move on to think in the second place of how God mastered Jacob. The Word of God says there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day, verse 24. Now God meets us at whatever level he finds us in, in order to lift us where he wants us to be. To Abraham, the pilgrim, God appeared as a traveler. Remember in Genesis chapter 18, when Abraham sat there in the door of his tent, the Word of God tells us that three men came by. And one of those men was identified as the Lord. Here were three travellers. Abram was a pilgrim. And that's how the Lord came and revealed himself unto the pilgrim. He came as a traveller. To General Joshua he came as a soldier. Joshua chapter 5. Remember the time when the angel of the Lord came as the captain of the Lord's host as a soldier. Now Jacob had spent most of his life wrestling with people. He wrestled with his father Isaac, he wrestled with his brother Esau, and he wrestled with his uncle Laban. So God came to him as a wrestler. Do you see that? So about sunset, as the sun was setting and as darkness descended, suddenly a man appeared from nowhere and laid hold upon him and wrestled him to the ground and wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. This was not a vision. This was not a dream. This was a real struggle. It was both a physical struggle and a spiritual struggle. And by the way, that word that is translated wrestle is only translated this way twice in the Bible. In these verses before us, verses 24 and 25, and it is derived from a word meaning dust. It pictures the dust picked up by men whose bodies were locked together. in a wrestling match. Do you see that? It's dark. Jacob was left alone. His heart was filled with fears. And suddenly, out of the blue, from nowhere, a man pounces upon him, wrestles him to the ground. And Jacob, of course, although he was 97 years of age, he was a strong man and he began to fight back. And so you have these two figures on the ground creating quite a stir. The dust is everywhere. That's the sense of the word. It was not a brief encounter. It lasted all night. And that shows to me the patience of our God. God wrestled with Jacob all night. And it says there wrestled a man with him. It's not Jacob who's doing the wrestling here. Jacob was not wrestling with a man to get a blessing. The man was wrestling with Jacob to give him a blessing. And Jacob was resisting. He was fighting this. It is the objective of the wrestler to bring his opponent down to the ground. To pin him to the ground. To render him helpless. That was the Lord's objective. He wrestled with Jacob to pin him down, to conquer his spirit, to subdue his flesh, to render him helpless, to reduce him to a sense of his own nothingness. And this is how God worked in the experience of Jacob. The word Jacob means heel catcher, supplanter. And I think that the name suited him well. It means to seize by the heel, to trip someone by grabbing the heel. It describes one who lies in wait to ambush an enemy. It's a sneak attack. It means deceitful. It means crooked. In fact, Jeremiah in chapter 17 of his book in verse 9 used the very same word when he said, the heartless deceitful. In other words, you could put it this way, the heartless Jacob. And Jacob loved up to his name. And the chapter shows how God makes an Israel out of a Jacob. It took him all night to do so. Isn't that truly amazing? It took him all night. The Lord wrestled with Jacob all night. The Lord wanted to give Jacob a blessing, but he resisted it. It took him all night to bestow the blessing. So he's all alone in the dark. Suddenly someone sneaks up behind him and wrestles him to the ground. Who did Jacob think his attacker was? He probably thought it was Esau or one of Esau's men sent by Esau to kill him or he thought it was Esau who had arrived to kill him himself. He never thought for a moment that it was a friend come to bless him. With the result that Jacob fought back, he got a grip upon his opponent and he would not let go. He was fighting for his life. He probably thought he was going to die if he didn't put up a fight. And he fought and he wrestled. And then the Word of God says, when he saw that he prevailed not, that is the man, when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was put out of joint. Now I do believe that the man could have easily subdued Jacob had it pleased him to do so. The outcome was in no doubt as far as I am concerned. And we read here in verse 26, And he, that is Jesus, And he, Jesus, said, Let me go. And then Jacob said, I will not let thee go. It was a contest between Jesus the Savior and Jacob the supplanter. It was a contest between the deliverer and the deceiver. Do you see that? The Spirit of God makes no mistakes. This is a contest between these two individuals. Between Jacob and Jesus. And I know who's going to win the contest. At last, Jacob was brought to an end of his own resources. One swift stroke from God's hand rendered him utterly powerless. The Word of God says he touched the hollow of his thigh, verse 25. Now, that word touched does not really tell us what Jacob felt from the touch of God. But I did a study on this particular word and I discovered that the word is translated plagued in Genesis chapter 12 and verse 17 where it tells us of God's dealings with Pharaoh. Remember the situation with Pharaoh and Abraham. Then I also went to Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 4 and we read there of the suffrage of Christ at the hand of God. He was stricken, that word stricken is the very word we're talking about here, translated touched in Genesis 32. And then in 2 Chronicles 26 and verse 20, it is used to speak of God's judgment on Isaiah, where he was smitten, there's the word again, smitten with leprosy. And when God gave Satan permission to touch all that Job had, he used the very same word, the word used in these other verses. And this gives to us a very interesting picture of what happened that night. Now Jacob had suffered many hard knocks in his lifetime, but he'd never been hit so hard in all of his life. And with one blow, God took all the fight out of his servant. And God had to do something to hinder Jacob physically before he could help him spiritually. Before he could touch his heart, he had to touch his hip. Before Jacob could ascend to the heights, he had to descend to the depths. Before he could rise and go up, he had to go down. And God reached forth his hand and touched the hollow of his thigh. And with his hip out of joint, he could no longer wrestle. All he could do was to cling to Christ. That's all he could do. He was powerless. And all we can see him now is just holding on to Christ. I will not let thee go except thou bless me. That's all he can do is just cling on to Christ. And sometimes in life, that's where we are brought to. We can do nothing but cling on to Him. In times of sadness, in times of sorrow, in times when our heart breaks, all we can do is to cling on to Christ. We feel so helpless and powerless and hopeless and useless. And we feel so sad and sometimes sorry for ourselves. And at such a time all we can do is to reach out and behold upon Christ and cling to Him and say, I will not let thee go. Until then Jacob had tried to order his own affairs. He had planned, he had schemed, he had deceived to get whatever he wanted. But now he's helpless. Now he's powerless. All the strength is gone, and he clings to Christ, and he says, I will not let thee go. And that reminds us of the two disciples on the Ness Road, remember, when they came to their house. And they had been so impressed with the teaching of the Lord along the pathway that they said, abide with us. We will not let thee go except thou bless us. And he went in, and he sat down at the table with them, and as he blessed the bread, probably the garment covering his hands just was removed for a short time, and they saw the nail-scarred hands. Were they not blessed that day? I think they were. I will not let they go except they bless me. The Lord had accomplished his goal. The Lord had succeeded. He always does. Praise the Lord. This was the cry of a disabled man. Not only did he say, I will not let thee go, but he said, except thou bless me. The battle was not over for Jacob until he is assured by the Lord himself of his blessing. You're not going to get away. I need this blessing. And then the man said unto him, What is thy name? Verse 27. And he said, Jacob. Now, why did the Lord ask that question? Did the Lord need to get some information about Jacob? I think not. The Lord knows all things. But He asked the question, What is thy name for Jacob's benefit and instruction? God forced Jacob to acknowledge who and what he was. And when Jacob said, My name is Jacob, He was saying, I am a supplanter. I am a deceiver. Now, the last time Jacob was asked this question, he told a lie. His father asked him the question, who art thou my son? And he said, I am Esau, thy firstborn. He told a lie. Now he is forced to confess, my name is Jacob. I am a deceiver. I am a cheater. And when he acknowledged that, when he confessed to what he was before God, this was the whole purpose of dealing with him in this way. God brought him to an end of himself. And when God brought him to an end of himself, he was prepared to confess his faults and his sins. And he said, My name is Jacob. And the Word of God says, And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel. God gave him a new name, Israel. A prince with God. And the changed name indicates the change of character. It was no more Jacob the old supplanter, the dark crafty character of his youth. He had been purged in the furnace of affliction and brought to an end of himself. Now he was Israel. And by the way, that name or that title Israel also means God commands or it means God rules. Israel is one whose life is ruled, not by self, but by God. God is in control here. God is in control of Jacob's life from this point of time. God has given him a new name, Israel. Jacob spent his life fighting God, but he discovered that night that the only way to get the victory was through total surrender to Christ. God broke him that night, praise God. That's how God mastered him. And then I come to a close. I just have one more point to bring to your attention. I want you to notice how God marked Jacob. Notice what it says there in verse 31. The sun rose upon him and he held it upon his thigh. I like this part. The sun was rising in the eastern sky as he limped away. Jacob came to Jabbok in the dark, but he left in the light, because the sun rose upon him. His submission brought sunlight. I think of the words of the hymn that we sometimes sing, and I just pick out one of the verses. Heaven above is softer blue Earth around is sweeter green Something lives in every hue Christless eyes have never seen Birds with gladder songs o'erflow Flowers with deeper beauty shine Since I know as now I know, I am his and he is mine. And I think that day when Jacob went away from Penhiel, limping upon his thigh, everything had changed because he had a fresh, he had a new appreciation of his God. For Jacob it was the dawn of a new day, praise God. The night of self-sufficiency was over and the day of dependence upon God had begun. The struggle was over. The sun was rising. The saint was limping. And the Savior was glorified. Christ won the contest. But at the same time, I do believe that Jacob triumphed as well. When Jacob walked away that day, he halted upon his thigh. You see, when the angel touched Jacob, the angel gave him a limp. He came away with what he wanted, a blessing. He got that okay, but he came away with something he didn't want. He didn't want the limp, but God gave him a limp to remind him of the blessing. And sometimes we come to God and we're asking for a blessing. God certainly does that, but sometimes he also gives us something that we don't want, necessarily. Jacob wanted the blessing. He got the blessing. But then, along with that blessing, God gave him something that reminded him of this night, something that he would never forget. Jacob, I dealt with you at Jabbok. I changed you at Jabbok. Don't go back to your old ways. And as he limped away that morning when the sun was rising upon him, his clothes were dirty. They probably were torn. He'd been wrestling all night. His hair was tossed. He looked as if he had been in a dog fight and the dog had won. Maybe his family saw him early that morning and said, well, what happened to you, Jacob? And I can see Jacob looking at them in that particular state he was in. And he said to them, I got blessed last night. He certainly doesn't look like any victorious Christian I've ever seen. Clothes dirty, torn, hair tossed, he's in a mess. And yet he was able to say, God net me last night and God blessed me. And everywhere Jacob went after that day, he carried the mark of God upon his body. The Lord has subdued him, and the Lord has changed him. And as Jacob walked about, every step he took reminded him and everybody else that the Lord had touched him in a personal way, in a powerful way, and in a positive way. The walk of the believer ought to be different after meeting with God. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. All things are passed away and all things become new. And true enough, after that encounter with God, Jacob's walk was never the same again. And when a man walks with God, As a man or woman ought to walk with God, that person will always be out of step with the world. Before this incident, a substandard living had marked his life. But after that experience, spiritual living marked his life. He was a new man. He was never quite the same again because God met him, because God mastered him, and because God marked him. God crippled Jacob to control Jacob. He brought him to bless him. He touched him to transform him. But let me hasten to that. He didn't become a perfect man after that. Please see this. But he did become a different man. Jacob was physically handicapped but he was spiritually whole. What took place in private became very evident in public. is changed by the grace of God. And the Word of God tells us that Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face and my life was preserved. Peniel, as you know, means the face of God. Jacob had met the living God in the person of Jesus Christ. The hand of God had touched his life. What a small thing it would now be for him to meet Esau. He had met with God. He's nothing to fear from anyone. He's nothing to fear from Esau because, first of all, he met with God. And then in Genesis 33 and verse 4 we're told that the meeting eventually took place that Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him and they wept. What a tender, touching scene before us. Their meeting may have been much different if Jacob had not gotten right with God. The change in Jacob made a change in his soul. And that brings to mind the word from Proverbs 16, verse 7. When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. So Jacob has gotten himself right with God. Now he's in a good position to go out to meet his estranged brother. And when the meeting takes place, God has gone before. God has subdued Esau's heart and changed him, because first of all, God changed Jacob. No more Jacob. Everything would be fine if the story ended there, but it doesn't. Sadly, Jacob lied again to his brother. He told Esau that he would follow him, but as soon as his brother's back was turned, Jacob turned and went in the opposite direction. And he built a home in a place called Sukkoth, one of the worst cities in the known world of the day. His decision brought Dinah, Jacob's only daughter, to moral ruin and a lifetime of shame. And I think that the sequel to the story appears in order to show us that no experience with the Lord will make a man perfect while he is still in this world. God changed him. God blessed him. God gave him a new name. God wrought powerfully upon him, but he was still a man. We don't expect to be free from sin until we get to heaven. When Jacob left Bethel, he left with a spring in the step he was saved. When he left Jabbok with a lasting limp, he went away a changed man. His heart was forever changed. He was subdued. We all need a Bethel experience when we meet with God personally. However, many never get beyond that experience. And why we must have a Bethel experience if we expect to get to heaven? We need a Jabbok experience if we ever hope to be used by the Lord. What happened to Jacob needs to happen in our lives. And I do believe, and with this I close, I do believe that that one night in the life of Jacob was the culmination of twenty years of patient activity by the Lord. Instant holiness is not available to anyone. It seems to me that God took his time in dealing with Jacob. year after year, bringing him to this place of his experience, when he would be brought to an end of himself. And that night, God triumphed. That night, God brought Jacob down. And that night, Jacob looked up into the face of God. And they saw the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, we've come to an end tonight. Jacob was a broken man who became a blessed man. A blessed man who became a branded man for the glory of God. See how God met Jacob. See how God mastered Jacob. And see how God marked Jacob. Learn the lesson. Learn it well. And if we need to take any necessary steps, let us pray that God will give us the grace to do what has to be done to obtain this blessing and to know his divine fullness. And the Word of God tells me And he blessed him there by the brook Jabbok, at the place called Peniel, where he met God face to face. And may this prove to be our Jabbok tonight, or our Peniel. May we have a meeting with God, a meeting that will change us, a meeting that will do us good. Amen.