Have you ever felt like you are wrestling with God? In Genesis 32, Jacob did just that. What was it all about? Did Jacob “win” a wrestling match with God? And why did he go away with a permanent limp?
Also, why would Jacob’s wife Rachel, after seeing all that God had done for her family, steal pagan idols from her father? And how did she use the fact that it was “that time of the month” to cover her sin? Is it possible we ladies do much the same thing?
Welcome, to “God’s Word Day by Day” where I blog through the Bible in a Year. I hope you’ll join me every day. If you’re not already signed up, you can do it here. This year I’ve added a couple of new features. First, check out the “Free Resources” tab at the top. You’ll find a downloadable, printable PDF with “Going Deeper Study Questions” for each day’s post. And … this year you’ll find the daily “Bible in a Year” posts on YouTube. The daily emails now have a link to both the Soul Survival posts here and the YouTube videos. I hope you’ll sign up. (If you already receive them, no need to sign up again.)
Today’s Readings:
Genesis 31 & 32
Psalm 8.6-9
Proverbs 3.19-20
Matthew 11.1-30
PMS & Wrestling with God
Genesis 31 & 32:
Traditions & Unburned Bridges
As chapter 31 opens, Jacob has decided, at the Lord’s instruction, to take his two wives and his children and head home after 20 years.
Jacob’s two wives, Rachel and Leah had watched as God blessed their husband despite their deceitful, conniving father (Gen. 30.25-43). And when Jacob announced his plan to them, they expressed at least some level of belief when they said, “… whatever God has said to you, do it” (Gen. 31.16-20, 35).
But the next thing we know Rachel has stolen her father’s household gods and hidden them in her things (Gen. 31.19)! What did she believe they could do for her?
Maybe, she just “kind of believed.” Or maybe she found it hard to leave behind her family “traditions”? Remember many pagan people believed in many gods, not just one. Maybe she didn’t want to “burn any bridges” with those other “gods.”
What about us? Do we say we trust God on the one hand, but “not burn our bridges” on the other?
Could it be a bank account only you know about? A secret social media account? Contact information for an old boyfriend? An unhealthy relationship? Something you consider a “good luck charm”? An unbiblical religious practice? Failing to truly leave your father and mother and build a one-flesh relationship with your spouse? Or something else?
Yet, God calls us to be “all in”.
Are You “All In”?
To be “all in” is to trust Him and be radically obedient to His call and His commands as we read yesterday in Matthew 10:
37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
When we try to hold on to life on our own terms, we often end up losing what is really important beginning with peace between us and God. So, it’s important to examine our hearts regularly for things we might need to “let go”?
But let’s go back to our story.
The Manner of Women
Worsening the situation, Jacob had packed up his family and left without telling his father-in-law. When Laban realized they were gone along with his household gods he headed out after them.
25 So Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead.
26 And Laban said to Jacob: “What have you done, that you have stolen away unknown to me, and carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword? 27 Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp? 28 And you did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you have done foolishly in so doing. 29 It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’ 30 And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?”
31 Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I said, ‘Perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force.’ 32 With whomever you find your gods, do not let him live. In the presence of our brethren, identify what I have of yours and take it with you.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
33 And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the two maids’ tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household idols, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. And Laban searched all about the tent but did not find them. 35 And she said to her father, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is with me.” And he searched but did not find the household idols (Gen. 31.25-35).
When her father came looking for his property, Rachel used the fact that it was “that time of the month” to cover her sin!
It may look different, ladies, but is it possible we do much the same thing?
Our Physical Struggles
Have you ever found yourself expecting your husband or your kids to stay out of your way or just understand when you fly off the handle because it’s “that time of the month”?
Our Creator knows that we can have physical struggles in this area, but do we use it as an excuse to get sinfully angry, use unwholesome speech, or just be in one of those moods?
1 Corinthians 10.13 says:
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man [or woman]; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
God does not give us more than we can handle but we must rely on His grace. He said, “you may be able to bear it!” The word “may” there is not tentative; it doesn’t mean “might.” It’s definite!
PMS, menopause, none of it gives us a right or excuse to break God’s commandments. That means we can be patient and kind (1 Cor. 13.4), not use unwholesome speech (Eph. 4.29), and respond with grace instead of anger (Eph. 4.31-32), despite how we feel! We can love God and others (Matt. 22.39), even when our hormones are going crazy.
Now let’s leave the women in the story and talk about Jacob’s wrestling match (Gen. 32.24-32).
Wrestling with God
Now Jacob was on his way home. He had sent his wives and children ahead so that he could be alone. According to Matthew Henry, he was “full of care and fear” about seeing his brother. Remember he had fled from him in fear of his life twenty years before. And, although there had been information exchanged (Jacob was aware that his father was still alive, Gen. 31.18), he had not seen Esau since he fled.
While camped along the way, the text says Jacob wrestled with God (Gen. 32.24-32). Some translations say he wrestled with the “Angel of the Lord.” Most scholars believe this was, actually, the pre-incarnate Christ.
God allowed Jacob to struggle in prayer and with tears, but even when it was hard, Jacob didn’t quit. If God had wanted to prevail against Jacob He could have crushed him like a bug. Rather, this was “a mild opposing” to build spiritual muscle, like a sparring partner training a boxer. God was using the struggle to strengthen Jacob’s faith.
Battle Scars
Matthew Henry says that God touched his hip and put it out of joint (Gen. 32.25) to prove that He was indeed God. No one else could do that with just a touch. But it was “a divine touch which wounded and healed at the same time.”
This is a great picture of our wrestling with God in prayer. Like Jacob, we need to be willing to pray fervently, sometimes with tears, often over an extended time. And sometimes we have “battle scars” because of it.
Even though Jacob had to wrestle through these things, it was God in him who strengthened him to prevail. Romans 8.26-27 says:
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
It was also important for Jacob to understand that it was God and God alone who was sovereignly working in all of this. Remember he had spent twenty years in the middle of a pagan culture. He needed to see his weakness and God’s greatness. Paul said:
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12.10).
His out-of-joint hip would be a constant reminder to Jacob of his encounter with God and to remind him of the need to trust in and rely on God alone. In the same way, God gave Paul a thorn in the flesh:
Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself (2 Cor. 12.7)!
When we find success and receive blessings from God we can so easily get puffed up with pride, thinking it was because of something worthwhile in us.
So if you seem to be wrestling with God over something, stay faithful, persevere, and know that God is working in you, as well as, through you.
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5.16b).
As Luke told us, we are always to pray and not faint, cave in, or give up (Lk. 18.1) even when it feels like a long hard wrestling match.
Today’s Other Readings:
Psalm 8.6-9:
Worthy of Praise
O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth (v. 9)!
God and God alone is worthy to receive all our praise!
Proverbs 3.19-20:
All by His Wisdom
Why is it so difficult for us at times to accept God’s wisdom as superior to our own? Think about these verses:
19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
By understanding He established the heavens;
20 By His knowledge the depths were broken up,
And clouds drop down the dew.
The wisdom, which we sometimes reject, contains the thoughts, intents, purposes, and understanding of the God who created the world and everything we see!
What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him (Ps. 8.4)?
We should be amazed at His mercy, grace, and patience with us!
Matthew 11.1-30:
When We Need Reassurance
I couldn’t help but think about the beautiful picture in Matthew 11.2-6 and how it fits with what we’ve been talking about in Genesis. Here faithful John the Baptist is in prison, probably tired and cold, maybe wondering if it’s all worth it and just wanting to be sure he’s not going through this for nothing.
He sends two of his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” In other words are you really Him?
Notice that Jesus doesn’t scold him, but sends the messengers back to reassure him. He does so by using the truths of Scripture. He tells him what is happening outside the prison and how it is the fulfillment of prophecy.
Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things which you hear and see. The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me’ (vv. 4-6).
Jesus goes on to tell the crowds, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist …” As we wait on God, we too can ask him for reassurance and confirmation and He will speak to our hearts, most often through His Word … if we will read it with open hearts.
A New Testament
And one more verse from this chapter:
For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John (v. 13).
Matthew Henry says that “John was as the loop that coupled the two Testaments.” Things had changed. Before John, God spoke through the Law and the Prophets. Both pointed to the need for and the coming of a Savior. Now God would speak through Jesus His Living Word (Heb.1:1-2) and through the written Word in both the Old and New Testaments.
Coming Up:
In the coming days, we’ll talk about the danger of small compromises, the unpardonable sin, whether God can redeem the past, how to respond to private temptations, and whether God tests us and how that might look.
I hope you’ll join me and, if you haven’t already, take the challenge to read through the Bible with me this year. Even though we may do it imperfectly or miss a day here and there, I find when we set it as a goal, we read far more of God’s Word than we would otherwise. I know we all get far too much email these days but having the daily devotion pop up in your inbox each day can serve as a general reminder to get into God’s Word. It goes out at 6 a.m. MST.
You can also follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest, and now listen on YouTube. Just click on the social media icons or go to my YouTube channel.
Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥
Note about this post:
I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer.
A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”
I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)
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