Sermon(Gen 32: 27-28): Preaching for those who want to be successful in life
The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025220380
Scripture reading: And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” - Gen 32: 27-28 -
It is not always advantageous to be strong in the world. When a strong typhoon comes, big and stout trees that used to boast of their strength fall down or break their branches. But the weak reed that even a child can break is never pulled up or broken by any strong winds. Today, both hardware and software are important. However, isn't it the software that becomes the lord?
In the Bible, Jacob was not such a great person at first. He was born a younger twin. I'm not sure if I’m right, but from what I've heard, the person who was born later than his twin brother becomes the elder brother in some countries. However, the first son is the elder twin brother even if the twins are born on the same day in Israel, as in Korea. When I was in elementary school, there were twins in class. As far as I know, the younger twin, when he was a kid, never called his twin brother hyung(형). Hyung is an honorific title for one's elder brother in Korea. And I saw them after high school. The younger twin spoke to his brother more politely than before. There was a strict order between them. Something must have happened between them in the meantime.
As Jacob grew up, he also confronted the ceiling, that is his elder brother Esau. His father Isaac loved Esau who was a bit ambitious and sometimes disobedient to his parents, but disregarded Jacob who was rather a good-hearted man. Jacob's personality gradually changed. He stayed at home like a girl and spent a lot of time with his mother, Rebekah. This man Jacob is not likely to be later a great successful man who will have victory over many people.
Today's Bible teaches us the secret to be a successful man who was born with disadvantageous conditions but who will achieve a great succeed in life after overcoming a lot of rivals. If you live as the words teaches you, you'll overcome many people and be the final victor in life like Jacob even though you look like an inferior man now.
Jacob was a very avaricious man. He even contended with his brother for the status of the elder brother in his mother's womb. The twins fought so hard, so their mother asked God. “My God, why are they kicking my womb so hard?” The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and the elder shall serve the younger.” Jacob had such strong desire to be the elder that he came to world with his hand taking hold of Esau's heel. In the first game, Jacob was defeated by Esau and became his younger brother. Later Jacob bought Esau's birthright for a bowl of pottage, then he conspired with his mother to deceive his father Isaac in order to steal Esau's blessing of firstborn. Esau was outraged and showed great hostility to Jacob. Jacob had to flee to his uncle as his mother suggested.
Twenty years later Jacob left Laban, his uncle. At this time also, he ran away with his own sheep in secret without saying goodbye to his uncle normally. Jacob had lived his life by his own guile until then. He tried to take advantage of others' weaknesses with his brains in order to be successful in life and tried to deceive others with his brains in order to steal their blessings. He liked deceiving others, disliked trusting others, never failed to miss good opportunities. Such a man was Jacob.
Jacob sent gifts through his servants to Esau his brother before he met him. The servants came back and said to him, "Esau is coming with 400 men to meet you." Given that Jacob's grandfather Abraham defeated the soldiers of 'five kings' only with 318 men to save his nephew Lot, we can say that Esau already became a man of considerable power. Esau has become a prominent figure in the region while Jacob was not there.
Now Jacob is facing the greatest crisis in his life. It's the question of whether his family will be destroyed or live. Tomorrow, he will meet his brother, but his future is very uncertain because he made sport of his father and brother and intercepted the blessing of firstborn. Especially, hearing that his brother is coming with 400 men, he doubts if the blessing of God he has intercepted is a real blessing. He may regret like this now: ‘If I had known this situation! I should have given him the pottage for nothing when he was very hungry.’
Jacob's family and livestock were ahead of him, and he was alone by the Jabbok, a stream. It looks like he prayed to God. Then a man appeared to him. Immediately Jacob wrestled with him. When this stranger could not defeat Jacob until dawn, he struck the hollow of his thigh, so Jacob's thigh was put out of joint. He said to Jacob, "Let's quit the game. It's dawn. Let me go. I must leave now. I've had no fun with you!" But Jacob replied: "I will not let you go unless you bless me!" What with Jacob's sweaty smell or what with his obduracy, this man could no longer resist him and had to bless him. But after hearing the words of blessing, Jacob found that this man was God, not a man. Later Jacob gave a name Penuel to the place where he wrestled with God. Penu is ‘a face’ and El is ‘the God’, so that Penuel is 'the face of God'. Jacob saw the face of God who appeared to him in human form. Jacob not only saw his face, but also wrestled with him. It is a great honor to wrestle with God. After creation, who wrestled with God? only Jacob. So far, God's wrestling record is 0 wins and 1 lose. It's a little shabby. God has never wrestled again with human beings formally since then. Perhaps the reason is that God may not want to wrestle with human beings again when he thinks of Jacob's tenacity, or that no one can give him a suitable prize when he wins the game. Anyway Jacob won the wrestling, and what is more gracious, he received God's blessing as a prize.
Then what are the words of the blessing? God said to Jacob, "Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed." Jacob has got his name Jacob because he took hold of his elder brother's heel when he was born. To live as Jacob is to live always a second-class life. Jacob has got his name because of his cunning and deceitful behavior. In other words, a Jacob is a man who lives a hard second-rate life, deceiving others and taking advantage of others. Today, how many people live like that? But the word of God's blessing says that Jacob will get out of such a second-rate life and get into a new first-rate life. I hope you all will receive the promise of God to live a first-rate life.
God's promise, however, that Jacob should overcome other men can be a little disappointing when it is not seen in the eyes of faith. God struck Jacob and made him lame. He made Jacob lame and said, "You have overcome men." My beloved brethren! Jacob's strong legs were life to him. It was his two strong legs that saved Jacob when he fled away from his brother before. Now Jacob must run away if he finds Esau to be angry when he meet Esau next day. But God destroyed Jacob's last means of survival. This is why the God struck Jacob to make him lame: "From now on, you should abandon your strength or your tricks, instead, live only by the faith in your God, that is, in me." Yes, my brethren! It is up to the will of God for Jacob to live or to die tomorrow. If God softens the heart of Esau, Jacob will live, if not, Jacob will die on the spot. But did God put Jacob in that situation to let him really die? Now Jacob has to believe only in God's love, grace, and faithfulness. Jacob was promised God's blessing through his father, but he did not live by God's love and faithfulness, but by his own trick. He has lived not by faith but by deception, so he has lived a life of fleeing from others. My brethren, if you do not live by faith but by your strength, you'll live a second-rate life like the former Jacob, deceiving others, sinning, and fleeing from others. on the contrary, if you live by faith, you can become Israel and live a first-rate life.
There is another reason why God made him lame and made him humble. Esau was the strong while Jacob the weak. God made Jacob, the weak, lame, for the weak can't overcome the strong by his strength. Esau didn't bring 400 men for mere showing off. At first, he brought his army to punish Jacob. But when he saw Jacob coming with a limping leg and in a shabby appearance because he had wrestled with God long time in the night, he thought, ‘Oh, no! What a poor appearance he has! I thought he would return as a great man because he deceived me and my father and stole the blessing of God. Oh, who will respect me if I kill this poor guy right now!’ If you are Esau, can you kill your brother who is approaching you with limping leg and in shabby appearance and calling to you, "My brother!", while 400 men of your army are watching you? Esau couldn't do that for he was known as a nice tough guy to his subordinates. God hit Jacob's leg and said, "You have overcome men." It was Esau that Jacob was to defeat then. God made the haughty Jacob a humble man, so that he might change the resented strong Esau into a compassionate man. So there was a miracle. Esau hugged his brother Jacob and cried, "My brother Jacob, how much trouble have you had in a strange place? Leaving home is the beginning of suffering. Especially, mother says that uncle Laban is very stingy. How you have suffered in the house of uncle! Jacob, Jacob, my brother! (Esau weeps.)" “Brother, what you have just said is true. (Jacob sobs.)” This is, of course, a little bit of a modification of the Bible text. But the atmosphere might be so then.
It is not so difficult to defeat the weaker than you. The weak are not the ones to defeat, but rather the ones to care for. God's blessing is to overcome him who is stronger than yourself. This blessing, however, is not to beat the strong by force, but to win the heart of the strong by showing them your humbleness and weakness. Strong men of the world like showing off their power, so they brutally trample on those who challenge them. The blessing of God is to turn the heart of these mighty men into a loving heart. What if Jacob approached Esau like Goliath, that is, with strong legs, spear, sword, and shield? Maybe Jacob might have become a marathon runner since then.
God humbled Jacob and made him loved by Esau. Now Esau is not an enemy of Jacob, but a protector of Jacob. Jacob brought a lot of livestock from Laban's house, but he was not able to keep his family and livestock himself for he lived in a lawless world then. But now Jacob has a powerful brother who has 400 men. The people of that land dared not harass Jacob's house because they were struck with horror even when they just thought of the angry face of Esau, who was a bit violent. Actually, when the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, killed all the family of Shechem, who had raped Jacob's daughter Dinah, the people of the land didn't attack Jacob's family. The Bible tells us that the reason was that a terror from God fell upon the people of the land. What was the means by which God made the people tremble? Perhaps God made Esau's angry face appear before the eyes of those who wanted to kill Jacob's family. Who can hurt Jacob when Esau, a nice tough guy, loves and cares for Jacob? The blessing of God is to change an enemy into a man who helps me. Jacob secured this blessing by wrestling with God with all his strength. (This wrestling is the wrestling of prayer.) You also must receive this blessing from God in order that you might make the strong men of the world not your enemies but your helpers.
Jacob settled down successfully in that land and lived there. So his brother Esau yielded the land to Jacob and emigrated to another place. Brethren, who is the winner at last, Jacob, a limper, or Esau having 400 men? God's promises and blessings are sure to come true. Jacob defeated Esau at last as God had promised: "You will overcome men." (He defeated 401 men.) However, this victory is not a small victory but a great victory. Had Jacob tricked again and killed his brother and taken possession of the region, he would have won a small victory. But God gave Jacob a greater victory, for Jacob gained Esau's favor and settled there with his help, and Esau yielded the place to Jacob and left. We need to be more humble before people in order to win bigger victories.
Now, let us consider how Jacob won victory over God. Jacob became Israel, and he became Israel because he had struggled with God and prevailed over him. First, we need to understand why God did not abandon Jacob, a shallow man, but kept him to the end, giving him a victory in wrestling, and blessing him. We can find the reason in God's faithfulness. God had said to Jacob's mother Rebekah before he was born: "The younger shall be greater than the elder." According to this promise, it was better for Jacob to be born second, but he was just envious of his elder brother. In order to fulfill this promise, God waited long until Jacob became a man of faith. But even though God promised a man blessings; if he goes a wrong way and disobeys God, God cannot but remove his lampstand and give the blessings to another man. We can see in the Bible how Jacob, though he was a nobody, captivated God's heart and even overcame him and secured his blessings. The secret was worship. Jacob was a good worshipper of God. He pillowed his head on a stone and slept in the wilderness. on waking up, he even used the stone as an altar and poured oil upon it to worship God. In fact, was not oil essential food for travel then? My beloved brethren, God keeps to the end him who worships him. Family are members living in one house. Parents and children live in the same house. If you pay attention to worship and come to the chapel with joy, then you are a son or a daughter of God, because the church is the house of God. There is a beautiful conversation at the dining table of a happy family. The father sees the face of the child and the child sees the face of the father there. At the table, the father looks at the complexion of his children to see if they are doing well, and gives them some help if they need. Brethren, you should realize that worship is a time when you have a meal with God, your father.
We do not know our bodies very well, so sometimes we don't know if we have cancer even until it becomes a terminal cancer. Healthy people also have a few new cancer cells a day and then they're destroyed. If your body is weak, you can't destroy them, and they become deadly diseases. Let's suppose that a son of God who does not know his bad situation shows himself to God at the time of worship. The Almighty God who even knows the number of our hair can not but take action when he sees the cancer cells in our bodies that we do not know. ‘Oh, no! Jibsa (deacon) Kim, not knowing his stomach cancer, came to worship me today. He is singing praises to me louder than before! How can I just see your illness and take no action?’ God cures our diseases while we do not know them (at his house). It's similar to a table where the father looks at an injured face of one of his sons and helps him heal it. In worship time, God sees each of the saints' problems. And he solves them in the best way. You can't have this blessing unless you attend the service. The evidence that we are the children of God and live in God is that we worship God in truth and holiness. A Korean proverb has it that no parents can overcome (control) their children. Jacob was able to gain God's heart because he lived like a son of God and God became his father. He has overcome God, for he received God's blessing despite his frivolous behavior. Of course, I am not telling you to do nasty things like Jacob. According to God's justice, God must punish Jacob for his frivolous deeds, remove his candle stick and bless another man; but God couldn't punish him, instead, blessed him when Jacob pretended to be his son. Who is Israel? It is he who likes worshiping God. It is Israel who makes Jehovah his God.
Many believers hear the words of God's blessing through the pulpit as Jacob did. But many of them do not become Israel and actually receive the blessing. Because they haven't had an experience of wrestling with God at Penuel. Because there was no real rebirth, that is, a change from Jacob to Israel. Some Christians have misunderstanding that they will receive God's blessing automatically just because they are Christians, as Esau did. But the blessing of God is reaped as sown. Others, like (the former) Jacob, love to receive God's blessings and are promised God's blessings through preachings of God's servants, but live not by faith but by their own wisdom, and die without having actually received the blessings. Why does Jacob play petty tricks? He tricks because he thinks humans can help him. Who uses dirty trick, flattery, and bribe? He who thinks that human beings can bless (help) him does so. Jacob had a wrong thought that his father Isaac would give him blessings, so he deceived his father and made his father bless him. But God is the one who promises blessings to Jacob and actually blesses him. Isaac is not a blesser, but simply a tool and an instrument of God. A man with bad faith and evil deed can't expect any blessings from God even though he has got a benediction with laying of hands from the holiest pastor in the world. If Jacob had had better faith, he would not have used human methods but have waited for God's guidance. Had Isaac ignored God's will and tried to declare blessing to the first son, God would have shut his mouth to silence him for a while. Then Jacob would not have suffered much in his uncle's house or become an enemy to his brother. Esau conceded Jacob the region later; it could have been conceded to Jacob more easily. Isn't there a man in the Bible who was not the firstborn, and nevertheless enjoyed the blessing of the firstborn? It was Joseph. He was far from the first in terms of the order. The blessings that God gives you can't be intercepted by others. Rather, the blessings can be moved to others if you do not keep the faith and act rashly after you were promised the blessings. When God told Jacob to leave Laban's house and go home, did he order him to run away rudely without saying good-bye? Is God so narrow-minded? Jacob took only his cattle and ran away cunningly. Who would praise this Jacob? How disappointing it would be to Laban his uncle! Laban might have given Jacob much property and let him go if Jacob had told Laban all the reasons for his leaving and said good-bye to him politely. If Laban had been a bad man and wanted Jacob to leave empty-handed, God would have given him a grave warning. After all, did not God warn Laban not to hurt Jacob later?
But there are those who are like Israel in the house of God. They love God's blessing and receive the promise of blessing. They abandon all behavior of unbelief of the past and only look at God and live by his help. They do not use nasty means hastily because of greed. Therefore, they are not condemned by the world, but live an exemplary life, giving glory to God. Thanks to God's help, they always live in miracle and thanksgiving. He who lives by faith is Israel.
Jacob is not the only one who has a wrestling arena. Every church has its Penuel Wrestling Arena. The wrestling arenas of Korean church are really world-class Penuel arenas. There are wrestling competitions every day there at dawn. Anyone who is living a second-rate life like Jacob can become Israel who lives a first-rate life (if he prays to God at church every day). Please go to a nearby church from today and start the dawn prayer. No parents can frustrate their children. You are God's beloved children. God can not leave the wrestling arena while you keep praying to him. “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. for every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened (Mt 7:7-8)”
The success in church-ministry and your life can be achieved at the Penuel Arena in your church. Please do not be discouraged, but pray to the end. Your prayer is valid and achievable unless God does not say No about it. Mary's brother Lazarus began to be sick. The whole family prayed hard God to cure him. The prayer, however, was not answered then. Lazarus died. But was this all? No! The prayer was answered when Lazarus was dead and his rotten body was stinking. Jesus, a man of great love, raised him alive. Even death couldn't stop the answer of the prayer. Prayer is always answered at the appointed time. The time until the answer of the prayer looks like a time of despair, death and destruction of heart. But after this frustrating time, the answer of the prayer comes like resurrection with victory and joy. By this, God's faithfulness and omnipotence are once again known to the world. We are the God's children who tell the world that God is faithful and omnipotent. He who, believing Jesus' promise of Mt 7:7-8, asks anything he wants from God to the end can be one who will overcome God and men. I hope you will receive this true blessing.
Chong Tack Kim
- Dongtoma Sunshine Church -