Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 03-04-2015, 10:14 PM   #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Kelli's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 225

Default Wrestling with God

Wrestling with God

Day ____________________________ Date ________________________________


READ: Malachi 1:2, 3
“I have loved you,” says the LORD.
“Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’
Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?”
Says the LORD.
“Yet Jacob I have loved;
3 But Esau I have hated,
And laid waste his mountains and his heritage
For the jackals of the wilderness.”


“Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” This Scripture always gave me a little trouble. It seemed to me that poor Esau was an innocent victim of his scheming brother, Jacob. In the end, he even forgave Jacob for the times that he had swindled him. It seemed to me that God just randomly chose favorites, and it didn’t matter what kind of heart the person had. Then I took a closer look at Jacob and Esau.

The name Jacob means supplanter. He wrestled with his twin brother in his mother’s womb; so much so that his mother, Rebekah, thought that something must be wrong.


Genesis 25:22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.


In those days, the first-born inherited the family wealth. Also, God made a promise to Abraham, and the first-born was entitled to that, too. However, when Rebekah asked God why she was having such a hard time, He told her:


Genesis 25:23
And the LORD said to her:

“Two nations are in your womb,
Two peoples shall be separated from your body;
One people shall be stronger than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.”

Therefore, Jacob was born a wrestler. He manipulated his brother to get the blessing of God. By waiting until Esau was really hungry, he made a delicious tasting stew and refused to give it to him until he agreed to sell his birthright to Jacob.


Genesis 25:29-34 Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom.

31 But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”

32 And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?”

33 Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.”

So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.


Jacob did not learn to be a manipulator on his own. He was in good company. God told his mother, Rebekah, and his father, Isaac, that Jacob would inherit the birthright; but Esau was Isaac’s favorite, and he wanted to give the blessing and wealth to him.

Furthermore, instead of trusting God, Rebekah tried to “help” Him by deceiving her husband. She knew that Isaac was planning to give Esau the birthright, so she and Jacob devised a plan to trick him into giving the blessing to Jacob by dressing him up as Esau.

Later, Jacob also wrestled with his uncle Laban for his daughter, Rachel; and he found an even bigger con-artist than himself in his uncle. Jacob was deeply in love with Laban’s youngest daughter, Rachel, and he asked him for her hand. But his uncle made Jacob agree to work for him for seven years before he would consent to their marriage. On their wedding night, Jacob was tricked by Laban when, instead of sending Rachel in to him, he sent his oldest daughter, Leah. Jacob confronted him:


Genesis 29:26, 27 And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.”


Because Jacob loved Rachel, he agreed to work for Laban another seven years. However, he wasn’t through manipulating. Jacob continued to struggle with his father-in-law for years, and he finally decided that it was time to go back home. He was still determined to “help” God, though. God had blessed him by giving him the majority of his father-in-law’s wealth, but Jacob didn’t really trust God, so he placed rods from green poplar, almond, and chestnut trees in the water of the spotted sheep. His uncle Laban agreed to give Jacob the spotted and brown sheep for wages, and Jacob thought that, if he added the rods to their water, it would make them fertile breeders; just in case God needed his help (Genesis 30:35-43).

On the way home, Jacob heard that his brother Esau, who he had swindled out of his birthright, was coming to meet him with a troop of his men. The big, burly he-man brother was coming to meet him, and Jacob was scared. Finally, he was scared enough to get alone with God.


Genesis 32:22-29 And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. 23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. 24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now 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. 26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”

But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

27 So He said to him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Jacob.”

28 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.”

29 Then 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.


God appears to a person in a way that the person can understand. To Abraham, the nomad, He appeared as a traveler. To Joshua, the soldier, Jesus appeared as a warrior. To Jacob, because he was such a wrestler, He appeared as a wrestler. I think that is so cool!

The “Man” that Jacob wrestled with was Christ. This instance was one of the times that Jesus showed up in the Old Testament.

Jacob wasn’t beating Jesus up. Jesus was humoring him. It was akin to the wrestling matches that my husband had with my daughters when they were little. He would never wrestle them with all of his strength. He controlled his more powerful muscles to match theirs, so that he wouldn’t overwhelm and hurt them. Sometimes, he let them win; and it was just so cute when they thought that they were so tough. Jesus was doing the same thing with Jacob. He continued matching Jacob’s strength, because He was waiting for Jacob to get tired and run out of steam.

Jacob started wrestling, or resisting, Jesus in the end; he was just clinging to Him, even to the point of pain. He would not let go until God blessed him. He wanted the blessings of God so much that he was willing to leave his home and family, and even to suffer pain to keep it. When Jesus asked Jacob his name, it wasn’t because He didn’t know it; it was because Jacob didn’t want to admit who he was. However, Jesus wanted this admission because He will never do anything against our will. Jesus wanted him to admit that he was the supplanter and the swindler. When he finally admitted his sin, Jesus could change who he was. Jesus changed the swindler’s name to Israel.

Are you going to give your weight to God, no matter what the results? Are you still wrestling by trying other methods of losing weight? Will you continue to make lists, and count carbs and calories? Jesus won’t give-up. He will wrestle and wrestle until you run out of your own strength, and you finally just cling to Him.

When I decided to make the title of this day’s study, “Wrestling with God,” I thought that it would be about staying up all night wrestling with God in prayer. I thought that, if I could just do that and pray until I was healed, I would be skinny. I planned this prayer-session, but for some reason it never got off the ground. However, while I was doing research for this study, I realized that God had another plan. This study wasn’t going to be about staying up wrestling in prayer. I realized that I had been wrestling with God for the nine years that I’d been writing this Study. I finally got the revelation that I needed to let go and stop worrying about what I looked like. At first, I would start to lose weight, and then I would begin to worry and wrestle about what I was eating; I would lose faith and gain the weight back. It has taken me this long to understand one important fact; God will accomplish His perfect will, in His perfect time.

Through the years, I have tried manipulating Him, begging Him, holding my breath, and stomping my feet … and through all that wrestling, I have finally come to the point where I know that I can’t do anything to make it happen any faster, and I can’t do anything to make it happen any slower. God’s Will for my life will be done, and all that I can do is cling to Him. Do you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

This is the real “meat” of the Word, and I know you don’t want to hear this. It is so hard to wait on God. This life isn’t about whether or not you are skinny for the next Christmas party; it is about your relationship with the Almighty God. I know that God does not want you to stay overweight, because it’s not healthy for you. However, He may make you wait for a time so that He can develop your character. I doubt that He will make you wait for the nine years it has taken me to write this Bible Study, but this is my life’s work and it is so worth it.

The everlasting covenant that God made with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3) meant nothing to Esau. He had no interest in the things of God; he didn’t have faith or a vision of God’s promise, and he sold his blessed birthright for a bowl of stew!
READ: Genesis 25:27-33; Genesis 29:1-28; and Genesis 32:22-32


In light of today’s study, what was the Scripture or statement in today’s lesson that most spoke to your heart? __________________________________________________ _

__________________________________________________ __________________

__________________________________________________ __________________

What steps of faith does God want you to take towards Him today? _____________

__________________________________________________ __________________

__________________________________________________ __________________

Rephrase the Scripture or statement into an expression of faith __________________

__________________________________________________ __________________

__________________________________________________ ___________________



Memory Scripture:


Proverbs 16:9
A man’s __________ plans his __________,
But the LORD __________ his __________.

Kelli is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:34 PM.


We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.