JACOB: THE DISCIPLINES OF GOD

And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed” – Genesis 32:28

God’s pursuit of Jacob was marked by four crises: beginning from Bethel, through Peniel and Shechem, and back to Bethel! Today, we’ll ponder briefly on his first two crises – the First Bethel Crisis and the Peniel Crisis.

The First Bethel Crisis occurred after Jacob had robbed Esau of the blessing (Gen.27:27-29). Once Esau’s pangs of hunger had subsided, realization and anger took over. The enraged Esau set off in pursuit of his fleeing brother, inadvertently driving him to his first encounter with God. In this unexpected place, Jacob was left alone with God. Filled with amazement, he cried: “How dreadful is this place! This is none other than the house of God…and Jacob vowed a vow” (Gen.28:17-22). Alas, he quickly forgot his vow; but God did not forget! Fast forward to Padam Aram, flocks and herds became paramount in his thinking. The Bethel encounter became a dim memory. So often, we allow material prosperity arrest spiritual maturity!

The Peniel Crisis followed. Jacob was now a hundred years old. For a few decades, God had subjected him to disciplines under his deceitful uncle Laban, in order to make him a worthy instrument. He slaved under a man more grasping and more duplicitous than himself. He was made to see in another the reflection of himself. Jacob spent years swindling and being swindled. In the battle of wits the supplanter was supplanted. All through this experience God sustained Jacob; and the grueling discipline led to his transformation. Jacob however showed strength of character in not running away from discipline until God’s time of release came. God is more concerned with spiritual growth than temporal comfort. He will not spare present pain if it means eternal gain. We must learn to not interfere with the disciplines of God.

On his way home to see his father, Jacob learned that Esau was coming to meet him, with four hundred men (Gen.32:6-7). Fear, born out of guilt gripped him. Instead of calling on God for His promised protection, he offered a prayer of panic and resorted to carnal scheming; the same old schemer, trying to plot and bribe his way out of difficult situations (Gen.28:15). Thus came the decisive night, the turning point in the history of a soul. God, not Jacob began the wrestling bout, but Jacob still thought he was competent to manage his life alone and get away with it. But the persistent pressures of the heavenly Wrestler continued. It is a serious matter to resist a God who is intent to bless!

Jacob was a feisty fighter. Until now he had never suffered defeat; the verdict had always gone in his favour. Now he was grappling with a different kind of Antagonist who, when he found Jacob would not yield, lamed him for life (Gen.32:25-26). The sinew of the thigh is the strongest part of the human body. The pivot of Jacob’s body was lost and he was lamed. Before the fullness of blessing could come, there must be a collapse of his strong self-life. He had refused to surrender willingly; now with no strength to resist longer, he wrapped his arms around his Antagonist crying: “I will not let You go except You bless me” (Gen.32:26b).  At Peniel, Jacob at last succeeded in maneuvering himself into the very position which God had prepared all along. Through his solitary defeat, Jacob won more than through a lifetime of conquests.

At Peniel, Jacob confessed in penitence the name that hung like a millstone around his neck, which signified a lifetime of fraud and failure; and was set on the path of restoration. At Peniel, he prevailed by capitulating (Hos.12:4). God had succeeded in breaking the hardness and toughness of his nature, receiving the promise of yet greater blessing (Gen.32:28).