Leaning

My notes for teaching last week:



Who are you leaning on?



Our friend and Patriarch, Jacob spend a long time leaning on and relying on himself.



Jacob had been given promises before his birth. I'm sure he heard them at his mother's knee,

'The younger will serve the older..' His twin, brother Esau undoubtedly heard them too.

But he was older therefore the birthright and blessings of his father, Issac would be his....



But Jacob had no problem tricking Esau. Esau was a hunter, hairy and tough while Jacob was a man who stuck 'close to the tents.' Esau came home from hunting famished and Jacob had some lovely stew a cookin... The smell seized this hairy man of the wilderness, 'Give me some lest I die!'

Let's talk for a minute about Jacob's name.( I asked our Jacob to answer and he did great:) Jacob means heel catcher or trickster, supplanter and this guy knew how to make a deal. Jacob was very good at leaning on his own strengths to make things happen. Instead of waitng to see how God would bring about the promise given to him before birth, he chose to trick his brother.



'Give me your birthright, I'll give you some stew.' He must have really been hungry because Esau took the deal. and Jacob made an enemy.



and he wasn't done yet. Now Jacob wanted the blessing and he wasn't willing to wait and see how God would bring it to him. Jacob had been promised this blessing, he could have chosen to lean on God to bring it about instead, he tricked both his father and his brother. Instead of trusting God, he put on a hairy coat, told his blind father that he was Esau and received Esau's blessing.

This time the strong hunter, Esau wanted one thing; to kill Jacob.

Jacob fled his father's tents. He self-reliance and lack of trust in God cost him everything.

Gen. 32:10 says he 'carried' with only his staff. (Here I held up a staff and kept kind of holding it up till the end, I figure then maybe someone will remember what I taught for a bit :) Did you get that? he 'carried' his staff.



Now Jacob was alone and he spent the night on a mountaintop with a rock for a pillow. I've been to this area of Israel and I'm just sure it was a cloudless night and Jacob fell asleep looking at the uncountable stars. It amazes me that Jacob thoughts didn't turn to God. He knew the prophecy given to his grandfather, Abraham that his descendants would outnumber the stars. God even gave him a dream that echoed this prophecy;



Gen. 28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."



Wow! Despite his lack of leaning on and relying on God, God promises to bless Jacob. "I am with you, I will not leave you, I will do what I have promised" says God to Jacob.



How do I know that Jacob fell asleep feeling far from God? Because what his response to God was:

Gen. 28:16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it."

But surely now he would trust God and lean on this amazing promise...nope!

Gen. 28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father's house, then the Lord will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth."



Oh Jacob, still 'carries' the staff, still relying on self, still the 'heel-catcher' who must make deals and make things happen. God had made a promise to Jacob and all God wanted was for Jacob to believe it. That's it. ....'If' Jacob says...oh Jacob 'if?'



Well, Jacob's about to meet his match in deal making. Years before his mother, Rebbecca had been given to Abraham's servant by her brother Laban. Laban had seen the faith and trust of his servant and had given his sister as a bride for Issac.

Gen.24:50 Laban and Bethuel answered, "This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. 51 Here is Rebekah; take her and go,

Take her and go! That is some deal! Wow!

Jacob surely knew this story but he kept carrying that staff, kept leaning on not on God but on himself and his abilities.

Look at the crazy deal he makes with Laban for his daughter, Rachel...

Gen.29:18
Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, "I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel."

Oh Ya'acob! Why not lean on God? He ends up being tricked by Laban and continues making deals with Laban until he leaves decades later with yet another deal!

Jacob decides to return to to his father's home and oh! he is so worried about Esau! Esau had promised to kill Jacob after their father's death and both of their parents were gone.

God sees his fear and tries once again to get Jacob to trust and lean on the Creator, the One who had promised so much without demanding anything, this Father of the stars who gave Jacob visions of descendant like the stars. Look what God does for this son of His who is still going 'his way!'

Gen. 32:1 Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
Angels met him!
and what's Jacob's reaction: plans to pacify his brother, prayers to remind God of His promise.
No trust, no faith in God's action.
Hey, the prayer is a good idea. I think prayer is for us, to get in our heads that our hands are too small, we can't carry our own staff, we need to rely on the Father of Lights.
But Jacob's prayer doesn't have this result in Jacob's heart. (big surprise, not!)

Gen. 32:11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. 12 But you have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.'"

Jacob remembers God's promise but doesn't trust it...He immediately starts planning gifts to give to Esau... deals, deals, plans, and self-reliance...
Then like that night on the mountain top when all he carried was his staff, Jacob spends the night alone; and again he is not alone!

Gen. 32:24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.

This time,God actually wrestles with his non-trusting child. This not just a 'man' Jacob is fighting against but God, Himself.
Now what about us? How many times does our self-leaning cause us to 'wrestle ' with God instead of trusting Him?
This scene of Jacob's struggle always makes me think of another child of God...a little woman who was probably in her late twenties but maybe not. She had been bleeding for 12 years, which made her a bit of an outcast in Israel. Unlike Jacob, she reaches out to God in faith, she doesn't wrestle with Him, no, she had one thing on her mind 'if I can just touch the edge of Jesus' cloak, I will be healed. '
Which one are we doing today? Reaching out to wrestle with God, relying on our own strengths or reaching out just to touch 'the edge of His cloak?'
Luke 8:48
Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."

Oh what a contrast to Jacob's struggle...

Gen32:25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him,

(God couldn't overpower Jacob? What is this talking about?)

(Garret, what's the strongest part or muscle in our bodies?) (I was right, he said thigh and gave a description:)
Well, God had to help Jacob, He had not yet 'overpowered' Jacob's self-leaning so...

Gen.32:25b He touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.

Jacob would have to lean upon his staff for the rest of his life but, oh my!..Jacob is still making deals!

26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
Oh Ya'acob!

Gen. 32: 28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." 29 Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.
God blesses Jacob and Jacob realizes he has been wrestling with God!
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."
Then at last, Jacob is no longer carrying his staff, he is leaning on it:
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.

Well, Esau doesn't kill Jacob, in fact he doesn't even want Jacob's gifts, he only wanted to see his brother. Jacob has 12 sons who become the 12 tribes of (this new name of his) Israel...
and the prophecies concerning Jacob are fulfilled, not through Jacob struggling and self reliance but through the gift of God.

Paul has some amazing insight into what happens:
Paul is writing a letter to the Galatians. They are believers in the free gift of Life in Messiah, Jesus but they have fallen back to their own strength. They have started relying on keeping the Law for their salvation again.

Gal. 3:1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4 Have you suffered so much for nothing--if it really was for nothing? 5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
6 Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

Ya gotta love Paul! He tells it like it is!
He reminds them that the promise given to Abraham was given before the Law was given! 430 years before! The promises of God do not depend on the keeping of the Law! He reminds them of that same promise given to Jacob under the stars on the mountain top:

Gal.3:16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.

Did you get that? The promise is because of this Seed of Abraham, this One Person who is the Messiah, who is the One we can lean on ...the One who like that little woman only requires us to reach out and 'touch the edge of His cloak'... oh just that little bit of faith.

Gal. 3:22 But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. 23 Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. 26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Reach out like the woman or wrestle like Jacob but make Him the One you lean on!
and what happened to Jacob?
Oh the writer of Hebrews (probably Paul) reveals that to us...

Hebrews 11:21
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

Oh 'By Faith!' Oh 'worshiped as he leaned' oh i am so happy!