What is God’s blessing for you? Through the story of Jacob, Pastor Sean invites us to reflect on this question and challenges us to be curious about who God is shaping us to be.
References
“It is possible to know all about the rocks in a streambed without ever hearing the rushing of the water.”
— Fred Craddock
Genesis 32:22-32
22 Later that same night, Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his 11 children; and he crossed the Jabbok River. 23 He sent them all ahead across the stream along with everything he had; 24 but Jacob stayed behind, left alone in his distress and doubt. In the twilight of his anguish, an unknown man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When the man saw he was not winning the battle with Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was thrown out of joint as he continued to wrestle with him.
Man: 26 Let me go; the dawn is breaking.
Jacob: I will not let you go unless you bless me.
Man: 27 What’s your name?
Jacob: Jacob.
Man: 28 You will no longer go by the name Jacob. From now on, your name will be Israel because you have wrestled with God and humanity, and you have prevailed.
Jacob: 29 Please, tell me your name.
Man: Why do you ask what my name is?
Right then and right there the man blessed Jacob. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel because as he said, “I have come face to face with God, and yet my life was spared.” 31 The sun began to rise as Jacob passed by Penuel, limping because of his dislocated hip.
And to this day, the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached near the hip socket of any animal, since that is where God struck Jacob when He dislocated his hip.
Genesis 33:1-12
1 Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and 400 men were with him. Jacob quickly divided the children among Leah and Rachel and their two servants. 2 He put the female servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. 3 He himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. 4 But Esau ran to meet him. He embraced Jacob, kissed his neck, and they both cried. 5 Esau looked up and saw the women and children.
Esau: Who are these people with you?
Jacob: These are the children God has graciously given your servant.
6 Then the female servants came closer, along with their children, and they bowed down. 7 Leah did likewise; she and her children approached and bowed down. Finally Joseph and Rachel came forward, and they bowed down as well.
Esau: 8 What was your intent in sending all of your men and herds ahead of you?
Jacob: I hope to find favor with you, my master.
Esau: 9 I have enough, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.
Jacob: 10 No, please. If I have found favor with you after all these years, please accept the gifts I offer. Seeing your face again is like seeing the face of God, so graciously and warmly have you welcomed me.
11 Please accept the blessing I bring. God has graciously provided for me and my family. I have everything I could want. Jacob kept insisting that Esau accept the gift. Finally he did. Esau: 12 Now let’s be on our way, and I will walk on ahead of you.
Genesis 28:1-4
1 Isaac called Jacob to him, blessed him again, and instructed him.
Isaac: You are not to marry one of the Canaanite women.
2 Get up and pack your things, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel (your mother’s father), and find a wife there among Laban’s daughters. (Laban is your mother’s brother.)
3 May the All-Powerful God bless you, make you fruitful, and multiply your descendants so that you will give rise to nation after nation! 4 May God give to you and to your children in this inheritance all of the blessings of Abraham, so that you might someday possess the land where you now live as a foreigner—a land that was promised by God to Abraham.