Date: 25 Aug 2024, 9.30 am
Speaker: Ps Daniel Tan Sermon Text: Genesis 32:1–33:20
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TRANSCRIPT
Introduction
Blessed Sunday to everyone, both here in this hall and as well as those joining us online.
This year in April, I had the opportunity to be in Northern Thailand to equip believers about biblical marriage. There were about 25 of us at the retreat and we were fed scrumptiously by a team of 5.
The team of chefs cooked every meal and whenever there was heavy lifting for the pots and pans, the changing of the gas cylinders, the carrying of the groceries, the one man in the team did it.
He is an Elder in the Thai church and also a farmer on the weekdays.
During that visit, I heard an interesting story about this Elder.
When he first became a Christian, before he became the church Elder, he had a very interesting hobby – that was Chicken Fighting.
I was told, he had a few prized fighters and would take special care of them. They also won him money.
So even as he was growing in the faith, he did spend much of his spare time indulging in this hobby.
His wife told us, one day, there was a visiting preacher at church and I think the sermon was challenging them to consider the idols in their lives.
God’s word so convicted this Elder that after service, he went back and killed all his prized fighters.
After which he served them as a meal to the visiting preacher.
The picture before you is their home. A home built by the hands of the Elder. As you can see, the floor is pounded dirt.
The Elder’s wife told us, they have not put concrete on the floor yet as the Elder wants to set aside the money for the church.
The church is in the midst of constructing 2nd building for their Sunday School.
This Elder displays to me the impact of a life that has had a deep encounter with God.
An encounter that is not just a once off event, but one that is in an abiding relationship with God.
Martyn Lloyd Jones, a well-known British pastor was asked once “what does a person look like who has truly met God?”
Ps Martyn alluded to Genesis 32 in his reply, saying “he is one who walks with a limp”.
I submit this Elder in Northern Thailand is spiritually walking with a limp. He is a servant leader whose life is governed by being a living sacrifice.
When Jacob encountered God at Peniel, God gave Jacob a new name – Israel and a life-long limp to remember this significant episode in Jacob’s life.
I submit for our consideration that disciples should be those who spiritually walk with a limp.
We walk with a limp because after encountering God, we know how weak and frail we are. We know how limited our wisdom is.
We know that unless we cling on tightly to God, we will be lost. For we acknowledge that God is God and we are not.
Church, as we go through these 2 chapters, may I offer 3 areas Scripture elaborates for us as to what it means to walk with a limp.
As we experience God’s reminders (Gen 32:1-21)
Let’s begin with the first section. Disciples walk with a limp as we experience God’s reminders.
Last week, Ps Luwin mentioned that Jacob is now standing between a rock and a hard place.
Behind him, there is Laban.
Genesis 31 tells us Laban and Jacob erected a heap and a pillar to draw the line in the sand. God is their witness that they will not pass this landmark to do each other harm.
Before Jacob, as he enters back into the Promised Land, there is his brother Esau.
Esau was a hairy man who was a skilled hunter. Jacob on the other hand had a quiet temperament and was homely.
20 years ago, when Jacob fled to Laban in Haran, he did so because he had stolen the blessings that was for Esau.
Gen 27:41 Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
And Jacob fled under the threat of life.
Yet, Jacob is still going back. All because he has received God’s command to return to Bethel and does so by putting his trust in God as he steps forward.
Gen 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’
It is at this point where it is very significant in the first 2 verses of Genesis 32 that we are told, God ordered His angels to meet with Jacob.
Gen 32:1 Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
In Genesis 28, Jacob was fleeing Beersheba towards Haran and God appeared to him at Bethel. Now as he is on-route back to Canaan, he meets God’s angels again.
God is graciously reminding Jacob, I’m with you through this challenging time. As I was with you on the way out, now I am with you on the way back.
Be assured of my presence and my provision. Take comfort that there are angels to do the will of God all around you.
Jacob, as you have set out in obedience to my instructions, I am now reminding you of why you can continue to put your trust in me.
To this encouragement, Jacob names the place Mahanaim, 2 camps. The heavenly camp and the earthly camp.
Today, God continues to remind us through His Word and the Sacraments.
We meet the living God in the inspired words of the bible and He tells us I am with you always till the end of the age.
In Baptism, we are reminded we have received the gracious gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. We have been justified and can now look forward to a spiritual inheritance.
In Communion, we are reminded of His gracious power that continued to sanctify us. That we have His real spiritual presence with us daily and that Jesus will come again.
For disciples to walk with a limp, it is to echo Jacob and say indeed we can describe our context as Mahanaim. There are indeed 2 camps around us – a heavenly one and our earthly one.
Now, assured by God at Mahanaim, Jacob sends messengers to Esau. Hi Esau, your servant Jacob is leaving Laban and coming home.
The Lord has blessed me materially and may I present them to you as a gift, seeking that you show me favor.
According to the messengers, Esau’s response was “I’m come with 400 men to meet you.”
When Abraham went to rescue Lot from the 4 kings in Genesis 14, Abraham did so with 318 men.
So, it was logical for Jacob to be frightened by Esau’s approach.
Now as we look at Jacob’s response to Esau’s approach, we might have differing views about it.
On one hand, there might be those who say, it shows weak faith.
If indeed Jacob had acclaimed Mahanaim, why did he then split his group into 2 camps? Is that the right application?
On the other hand, there might be those who say, Jacob exhibited prudence while still exercising his faith in God.
There was planning and prayer.
Plans (v7-8) – Jacob splits his group into 2 camps
Prays (v9-12) – Jacob prays to God
Plans (v13-21) – Jacob prepares the gifts and gives instructions on what to say to Esau
Prays (v22-32) – Jacob clings to God and pleads for His blessings
Plans (33:1-3) – Jacob divides up his family into 3 groups.
I’m leaning towards a more positive viewpoint of Jacob here and it is because of 2 things.
Firstly, Jacob did not run away but instead still kept with the original intention of meeting Esau.
We see that in Gen 33, when the family eventually meets Esau, Jacob went before them all and presented himself first before Esau.
I sense that the old Jacob would have been more drastic in devising a scheme to escape Esau totally.
Secondly, I submit, Jacob’s prayer before the Lord is instructive for us. I submit it can give us pointers as to how a limping disciple should pray to God.
Gen 32:9 And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. 11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. 12 But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’
Faced with a possible threat, Jacob did not forget about God. Instead, he ran to God in prayer.
Jacob addressed Yahweh beginning with reminding himself of who God is.
He is the God of Abraham and Isaac. Yahweh is the God of fulfilled promises. Promises of the impossible as well.
And this God is Jacob’s God as well – the Lord who said to me.
The names of God, the names of Jesus indicate to us His character.
Last week we sang Jehovah Jireh. God is the Lord our provider.
Jesus is Emmanuel, Jesus is Son of God, He is the Bread of Life, the Shepherd of our souls.
When we walk with a limp, it means we take heed to the names of our Triune God for they remind us of His character.
Jacob next reminds himself of God’s command and His promise. And this follows logically from the character of God.
If God is who He is, then His commands are to be followed and His promises are deemed to be sure.
Jacob then acknowledges his unworthiness and reminds himself of all of God’s gracious acts in the past.
God has blessed Jacob so much that he is now even able to divide his possessions into 2 camps.
Limping believers will attribute everything we have to God. Reminding ourselves of how unworthy and inadequate we are.
Only now, does Jacob bring forth his petition. Lord, please deliver me from the possible threat of Esau.
Only until we acknowledge who God is, would we be confident in bringing out petitions before God right? Logical isn’t it?
We only bring our petitions before someone who has the power to do something about it.
And significantly, Jacob does not end here, but instead he reminds himself of God’s covenant promise.
That God will bring him back to the land and that his offsprings will be as the sands of the sea.
By claiming upon God’s promises, Jacob is saying I will continue to put my trust in you Lord even as I see the possible threat of Esau coming with 400 men.
May Jacob’s prayer be instructive for us as we seek to be disciples of Christ Jesus.
I submit that God’s reminders for Jacob shaped the way he prayed, and it will do the same for us as well.
As we are reminded of God’s character, His purposes and plans for us, it will shape the way we respond in prayer.
And when we are praying like Jacob, it will give us the confidence that we are praying like a disciple who walks with a limp.
As we eradicate self sufficiency (Gen 32:22-32)
Secondly, disciples walk with a limp as we eradicate self-sufficiency.
Jacob brought all his family and his possessions across the stream and then he stayed back across the ford of Jabbok.
Here we see God’s continued sanctifying hand upon Jacob. Not only had God and His angels appeared to Jacob at Mahanaim, now we see God wrestling with Jacob.
Not for a short while but for a long while, from the night till just before the break of dawn.
Jacob we see only gradually understood that he was wrestling with God. For he went from wrestling with the man to actually clinging tightly to him.
By naming the place Peniel, Jacob acknowledged that he had been face to face with God and yet have been spared.
Many bible commentators describe this incidence as God breaking, naming and blessing Jacob.
Gen 32:24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.
Jacob went from defeat to victory. From self-sufficiency to total dependence on God. And that is the victory of a disciple of Jesus.
Jacob is broken and wounded, loses his sense of competency, for he now cannot manipulate, cannot use his own strength.
Ps Tim Keller writes, “God sometimes has to wrestle us into a changed life rather than comfort us into a changed life”.
Jacob had to wrestle between, is it my will or is it to be God’s will.
And the thing is, it seems God is breaking Jacob not at his weak point but at his strong point, for we see that Jacob was able to put up quite a struggle.
Ps Sinclair Ferguson remarks about this episode, “to break Jacob, in order to have Jacob’s heart, God is prepared to dislocate his hip.”
Church, this is one way God sanctifies. He will be prepared to hit us at our strongest point so that our affections turn from ourselves to Him.
And Scripture then records that when Jacob realizes that his heart now belongs to God, God then gives Jacob a new name.
You shall be called Israel for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.
God took away the name Jacob which means deceiver and replaces it with Israel.
The name Israel has also come to be understood as ‘may God himself strive for Jacob’.
There is now a change of heart and attitude. Jacob is now fully dependent on God who will strive to fulfil God’s purposes in and through Jacob and his descendants.
After renaming Jacob, God thirdly blesses Jacob.
Jacob has realized that only in God and God alone can be found the source of all blessings.
Since God is the source of all blessings, mankind thus needs to know how to be connected with God.
The New Testament tells us how -
Jn 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. By the word of his power, Jesus upholds the universe.
We know that to connect back to God, we can only cling to Jesus, His Son.
We know that if we want to live for God, we can only cling on to Jesus, the Vine.
Disciples walk with a limp because when we have encountered God we are eradicated of all self-sufficiency.
Singapore is a wonderful man-made country. What our leaders have forecasted, our people have diligently worked to bring to fruition.
Has this mentality of self-sufficiency crept into us as believers too?
Disciples walk with a limp because they truly understand John 15 -
Jn 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
If you are exhausted trying to live your life as a Christian, maybe you want to reflect if you are doing so in your own strength?
It’s impossible to live Christ-like lives on our own effort. We need to learn to walk with a limp.
We need to abide in Jesus the Vine.
Let Him take over your will, your preferences, your agenda, your purposes. When He does, He will provide the strength for you to live and bear fruit abundantly.
As we live out expressions of reconciliation (Gen 33)
Finally, disciples walk with a limp as we live out expressions of reconciliation.
Jacob, after having been embraced by Esau says to him :
Gen 33:10 For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me.
In saying that, Jacob reminds us of his personal encounters with God at Mahanaim and Peniel.
Like God, Esau shows unmerited favour towards Jacob.
Biblical commentator Derek Kidner describes Gen 33 as a classic of reconciliation. And he says “guilt and forgiveness are so eloquent in every movement of the mutual approach that our Lord could find no better model for the prodigal’s father at this point than Esau.”
Gen 33:4 But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
Lk 15:20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
So when we put Genesis 33 and Luke 15 side by side, we see very similar language used.
This is underserved forgiveness, this is unmerited mercy, this is abounding grace.
Both Esau and the Prodigal’s father is a picture of God’s grace towards us in Christ Jesus.
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Now on the part of Jacob, I submit that reconciliation has 2 elements.
Firstly, there is humility in attitude and in action. The verbal communication and the body language are in sync.
Gen 32:18 then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’
Gen 33:3 He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
All throughout, Jacob addresses Esau as ‘lord’ and himself as ‘servant’.
And when Jacob finally meets Esau, his posture of humility is evident for he bows to Esau.
Secondly, in reconciliation, we see restitution.
Jacob gave Esau a sizable number of his flock of goats, sheep, camels, cows and donkeys.
Gen 32:14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.
Esau is the wronged party and so Jacob shows us that on his part of reconciliation, it leads to restitution.
As Jacob repented of his past mistakes, he set about repairing it in a very tangible way.
A similar example of the correlation between encountering God and the impact on restitution can be found in the life of Zacchaeus in Luke 19.
Lk 19:5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Zacchaeus was a Jewish tax collector who was very wealthy.
When he encountered Jesus, it led him to make restitution.
Half his goods he will give to the poor and those he defrauded, he will restore fourfold.
As we think about the reconciliation between Esau and Jacob, let us consider then what it means to say we love God.
1 Jn 4:19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
I’m sure we all agree that loving someone would include the act of forgiveness and restitution.
So Scripture says, our vertical relationship with God must be reflective in our horizontal relationship with our siblings.
Disciples walk with a limp when we model after the reconciliation actions of Jacob and Esau.
I wish the chapter had ended at v11, but instead there is still another 8 verses.
On this side of heaven, we are redeemed sinners and so we see Jacob reverting to being Jacob the deceiver.
May I highlight 2 things.
It is all related I submit to the Lord’s command to return to Bethel.
Gen 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’
Firstly, Jacob deceives Esau that he will follow him subsequently. Instead as Esau left for Seir (south, at the bottom of the map), Jacob travelled to Succoth (number 7 which is west).
If Esau was already so gracious in his dealings with Jacob, should not Jacob have told Esau the truth that God has commanded him to go back to Bethel?
Why speak half-truths?
Secondly, Jacob compromised with the instructions he received from God.
With tragic consequence (which we will see in Genesis 34), Jacob settled firstly Succoth and then Shechem.
Yes they were part of Canaan the promised land, but that was not where God had intended Jacob to settle.
As we reconcile with God and with one another, not compromising and being truthful are still challenges that plague us even today.
In our struggles, may we again be reminded that Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches. May we cling on to Jesus for His power is made perfect in our weakness.
Conclusion
Church, are we disciples that walk with a limp?
If we are, then from Genesis 32 and 33,
we need to display that we take heed to God’s reminders,
we need to display that we are eradicating self-sufficiency and
we need to display that there are expressions of reconciliation in our lives.
All this is possible if we are walking with a limp. It means we have had an encounter with God and like Jacob we are clinging onto Jesus for our dear life.
As we enter into a new week, it is going to be tough out there.
May I encourage us with selected lyrics from our worship songs that we have sung.
Firstly, let us remind ourselves of our worth in Christ Jesus:
My Worth Is Not My Own
Two wonders here that I confessMy worth and my unworthinessMy value fixed, my ransom paidAt the cross
I rejoice in my RedeemerGreatest treasure, wellspring of my soulI will trust in Him, no otherMy soul is satisfied in Him alone
Secondly, when we fail, let us cling to the character of God. He is ever gracious and He will hold us securely in His everlasting arms.
Our God Is For Us
Even when I stumble, even when I fall
Even when I turn back, still Your love is sure
You will not abandon, You will not forsake
You will cheer me onward with never-ending grace
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