November 15, 2009
Sermon #810
Have You Ever Been to Penuel?
Genesis 32:6 - 32 (NKJV) 6Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” 7So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. 8And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.” 9Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: 10I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies.
11Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. 12For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’” 13So he lodged there that same night, and took what came to his hand as a present for Esau his brother: 14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. 16Then he delivered them to the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put some distance between successive droves.”
17And he commanded the first one, saying, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going? Whose are these in front of you?’ 18then you shall say, ‘They are your servant Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord Esau; and behold, he also is behind us.’” 19So he commanded the second, the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, “In this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him; 20and also say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” 21So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp. 22And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok.
23He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. 24Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” 27So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” 28And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
29Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. 30So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” 31Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip. 32Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.
Introduction: The Story
Esau and Jacob were the two sons of Isaac. Although twins, they were two different kinds of men.
Esau was “Daddy’s boy,” and Jacob was “Momma’s boy.”
Rebecca, “Mamma,” wanted her boy to have the blessing of the eldest.
When Isaac was old and blind, Rebecca devised a scheme to have “her Jacob” receive the blessing.
Esau was filled with such rage that he had thoughts of killing his brother.
Rebecca sent her son away to uncle Laban.
With Laban, Jacob prospered.
Jacob played with religion
In fooling his father
Genesis 27:19 - 20 (NKJV) 19Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” 20But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.”
Making a deal with God
Genesis 28:10 - 22 (NKJV) 10Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
15Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” 16Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” 18Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. 22And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
ILL: “If you do this, God – then I will tithe.” This is not the way it works! You do first, then God!
God is not into the “Social Gospel”
ILL: Our society has moved into the concept of the group. We are constantly thinking of the mass and the crowd. What is going to meet my needs, not who? We are moving away from our own individual responsibility.
Jacob depended upon Laban, his father-in-law, for his work.
Genesis 30:25 - 28 (NKJV) 25And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country. 26Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.” 27And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.” 28Then he said, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.”
What happens when you lose everything you depend upon? God is not an “it!”
God & Man is based upon a personal relationship
Genesis 32:22 - 24 (NKJV) 22And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. 23He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. 24Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.
All of Jacob’s security is gone
Genesis 32:3 - 8 (NKJV) 3Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4And he commanded them, saying, “Speak thus to my lord Esau, ‘Thus your servant Jacob says: “I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now. 5I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.”’” 6Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” 7So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. 8And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.”
And “Jacob was greatly afraid.” That’s what happens if your security is in an “it”
ILL: What happens when you lose your job? Security?
ILL: What happens when you lose your family? Divorce? Death?
ILL: Have you experienced a “dark night of the soul”? Jacob did! The Pastor has – several times!
God always brings us to a personal relationship.
Genesis 32:24 - 30 (NKJV) 24Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” 27So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” 28And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. 30So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
An encounter with God always brings about a permanent change.
Genesis 32:31 - 32 (NKJV) 31Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip. 32Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.
ILL: A night in Penuel may mark you with some kind of a limp. – physical – spiritual – emotional. You will never be the same again!
The Apostle Paul
Acts 26:12 - 23 (NKJV) 12“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. 14And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ 19“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. 21For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come— 23that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”
Men of history – all who had a life-changing encounter
Abraham – ( Lutz) who left idolatry and found relationship-forming the Hebrew nation
Joseph – (In Egypt) who found his God and took famine from the heart of Egypt
Moses – (On Sinai) who formulated a system that expressed faith and led a nation from bondage
Job – (Covered with sores) who believed in God no matter what
Elijah – (Hid in the cave ) who called a nation back to God
Jonah – (In a whale) who preached until Nineveh shifted
Ezekiel – (In a tunnel) whose tears turned a nation
Daniel – (In a lions den) who stood untouched in a lion’s den
John the Baptist – (In the wilderness) who opened the door for the Christ
Luther – (At Wittenberg) who was God’s hinge on human liberty
Savonarola – (Preached in the city square) who saw that ruinous taxes were annulled
Cromwell – (Imprisoned in the Tower of London) who smashed the divine right of kings
Wycliff – (Exiled to a lonely room) who gave the Bible to the people
William Booth – (Jailed for preaching to the outcasts of London) who gave us the Salvation Army
Bunyon – (In prison) wrote the world’s greatest allegory, Pilgrim’s Progress
It is always instituted by God
Galatians 2:20 (NKJV) 20I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
