Genesis 31:1-3; 32:6-7a, 22-31
May 12, 2019
preached by Doug Cooper
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“Alone you stood before God when he called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray… you cannot escape yourself, for God has singled you out.”

~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), German pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident

“The encounter with God as Genesis 32 describes it is a fearsome one. If we unworthy servants are to be transferred from the power of darkness, that means God is going to have to come after us in the dark. If we are honest with ourselves, we will see it couldn’t be any other way. And it also means that ministry has its genesis in a struggle. Those who encounter God in the dark will be not only changed but also marked, left with the wound created by God’s wrenching us out of one life and blessing us with a new one.”

~ Richard Hays (1948-present), American minister & New Testament scholar

“Man is not at peace with his fellow man because he is not at peace with himself; he is not at peace with himself, because he is not at peace with God.”

~ Thomas Merton (1915-1968), American Trappist monk, writer and social activist

“A powerful physical metaphor is intimated by the story of wrestling: Jacob, whose name can be construed as ‘he who acts crookedly,’ is bent, permanently lamed, by his nameless adversary in order to be made straight before his reunion with Esau.”

~ Robert Alter (1935-present), American professor of Hebrew and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley

“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”

~ C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), British novelist, theologian and Christian apologist

“There is tremendous relief in knowing His love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me…”

~ J.I. Packer (1926-present), British-born theologian

“You never go away from us, yet we have difficulty in returning to You. Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back. Kindle and seize us. Be our fire and our sweetness.”

~ Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Roman African bishop, theologian, philosopher and writer

Sermon Passage

Genesis 31:1-3; 32:6-7a, 22-31 (ESV)

Genesis 31

¹ Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.” ² And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. ³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”

Genesis 32

⁶ And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” ⁷ Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed…

²² The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 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. ³⁰ So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” ³¹ The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.