Identity - Genesis 32-35

Genesis 32:29-32 (ESV)

Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.

In what may be one of the most difficult stories in the Old Testament to understand, there is an amazing truth we should not miss.  The story the above passage comes from is the wrestling match Jacob has with an unknown wrestler, in the middle of the night.  The story is a natural riddle and comes with much ambiguity.  We are not told who the person is, but are told, in the end that he blesses Jacob and changes his name to Israel.  Later, in this section, God actually repeats the name change Himself:

Genesis 35:9-11 (ESV)

God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.

This can certainly lead us to believe that the wrestler was God.  Although we could say this was a metaphorical story about Jacob wrestling in prayer with God, if it were not for the tangible evidence of Jacob’s him being knocked out of its socket during the wrestling match.  Because the author of the book, Moses, memorializes the hip and socket, it would be assumed this is a real wrestling encounter with God.  Hard to fathom, but we are lead to believe that.  

The great take a way, however, is not the wrestling match, but the name change.  In this incident with God Jacob walks away with three things:

1. A physical scar to note the encounter for the rest of his life.  That is how it is with God. Our encounters with Him seldom leave us the same.  Just ask Job, or Jonah, or Paul.  Job lost his children.  Jonah smelled like fish the rest of his life.   Paul lost his eyesight. 

2. A blessing was placed on him as the outcome of the battle.  The passage implies that Jacob was winning, up until he was injured on his hip.   The exchange from the injury brought blessing.   Job was double blessed from what he had.  Jonah lead an entire nation to God.  Paul became the main apostle to the church.   The struggle in prayer with God brings blessing from God. 

3. His name was changed.  This is where we get the twelve tribes of Israel vs the twelve tribes of Jacob.   God is about name changing.  He likes to call us something different than we were.  He is about identity.   Not what He tells the church in Philadelphia: 

Revelation 3:12 (ESV)

The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.

Or the church at Pergamum He tells us He will give us a new name, no one knows but Him and us:

Revelation 2:17 (ESV)

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

God is about changing our identity.   Jacob, in the Hebrew, means, supplanter.  It means someone who takes over from another.  Jacob took is brother’s birthright.   He was deceptive.   God changed all that and gave him the name of Israel, which means: God prevails.   So, God won the wrestling match.  He prevailed.  But He gave that name to Jacob.  God changed Jacob from someone who deceives to prevail to someone who prevails for God.  That is what God does.  He changes our names.  He gives us our identity.  

Remember! Romans 15-16

Romans 15:15-17 (ESV)

But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.

The ministry of reminding.  What a great ministry to have.   Paul believed one of his main ministry gifts was to remind others about their walk of faith and keeping true to God’s word.  He was not the only apostle with this gift.  Note what John told the church at Sardis, who had grown cold to the things of Christ:

Revelation 3:3 (ESV)

Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

John also told the church at Ephesus, who lost their first love of Christ, the same thing:

Revelation 2:5 (ESV)

Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

Jesus told those who came to hear Him teach on the Kingdom of God to remember something specific:

Luke 17:31-33 (ESV)

On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.

Paul did all this to make sure the readers of this letter were sanctified by the Holy Spirit.   Being sanctified is tied to remembering the truths of the Gospel. That is the formula God uses.  Satan wishes us to forget the truths and to think about the cares of this world more than the convictions of the next.  Remember!! 

Many Called - Few Chosen - Matthew 20-22

Matthew 22:1-14 (ESV)

And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

It is the last line of the above parable that strikes us so profoundly.   The story (parable) that Jesus tells is to illustrate the point He wants to make at the end, about the kingdom of God.  The picture is the story of Jesus inviting the masses to the Marriage Super of the Lamb.  That is the wedding He is referring to.  The Church (Jesus’ bride) will someday be called to glory and the final glorification and unification of the believer with their Savior will take place.  Only those who garments (lives) have been washed white (by the blood of the Lamb) will be allowed to participate in this heavenly wedding:

Revelation 3:5 (ESV)

The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

In this parable of Jesus we have many called to a wedding feast (this is the invitation to accept the Gospel message), but only a few come.  Some were too busy with family.   Some were too busy with business.  Some to busy farming.  Some were just angry at the invite and killed the messengers.   Some will show up with the pretense they are wanting to come but their garments (lives) betray them and say a different story.   It is the bad and the good who are called (not righteous good, but morally good by the world’s standards).  Jesus calls all, but only a few respond in faith.   This is the kingdom of God.   

Jesus Will Establish Justice On This Earth - Isaiah 40-44

Isaiah 42:1-4 (ESV)

Behold my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my Spirit upon him;

he will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street;

a bruised reed he will not break,

and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;

he will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be discouraged

till he has established justice in the earth;

and the coastlands wait for his law.

In the above passage we have a description of Yahweh’s Servant.   Isaiah uses this phrase in three other chapters:

Isaiah 41:8 (ESV)

But you, Israel, my servant,

Jacob, whom I have chosen,

the offspring of Abraham, my friend;

Isaiah 43:10 (ESV)

“You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,

“and my servant whom I have chosen,

that you may know and believe me

and understand that I am he.

Before me no god was formed,

nor shall there be any after me.

Isaiah 52:13 (ESV)

He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions

Behold, my servant shall act wisely;

he shall be high and lifted up,

and shall be exalted.

Isaiah 53:11 (ESV)

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

Who is Isiah referring to?   That is one of the hardest questions in the book to answer.   The best way to understand it is to read the context of the passage. In each context it seems to be pointing to a different, historical, person.  But it is probably pointing to the same ultimate person; and that is Christ.   Isaiah seems to be attributing characteristics of Jesus’ ministry to those who were acting on God’s behalf during Isaiah’s day.   It is somewhat the “now, but also, later” mindset.   In the above passage we can see that God is sending his servant to accomplish a task that God wants completed.  This can be both an historical figure for Isaiah’s day, but also speaking of Christ’s ministry in the future.   Matthew does attribute parts of this passage to Jesus:

Matthew 12:18-21 (ESV)

“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,

my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.

I will put my Spirit upon him,

and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel or cry aloud,

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;

a bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not quench,

until he brings justice to victory;

and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

The key is to realize that God often uses a type of Christ in the Old Testament to foreshadow the real Christ in the New Testament.   Someone (and we are not sure who in this passage) is going to come into the lives of those in Isaiah’s day who will establish justice on the earth.    Ultimately that will be the role, function and/or result of Jesus’ earthly and heavenly ministry.   Temporally in Isaiah’s day, but permanently in the work and ministry of the Son.  The passage may be unclear as to who Isaiah is talking about but the mission is not.  Jesus will establish justice on this earth!   

What To Do With False Accusations - Job 15-17

Job 17:8-9 (ESV)

The upright are appalled at this,

and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.

Yet the righteous holds to his way,

and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger.’

In the above two verses Job is trying to explain what is happening as his three friends attack him with their criticism.  They came to comfort him:

Job 2:11 (ESV)

Job’s Three Friends

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.

Instead, this is what Job says about them at the beginning of this section: 

Job 16:1-2 (ESV)

Then Job answered and said:

“I have heard many such things;

miserable comforters are you all.

Instead of comfort they offered him criticism and condemnation.   In the above two verses we see part of his response.   He makes the case that the upright, those who believe they are upright, when they look at Job and his plight, they are applaud by this.  They believe they are innocent and therefore that stirs themselves up against the godless.  The issue Job is addressing is that these three comforters came to him and instead of offering comfort, they stir themselves up to argue with Job, the godless.   Once you have condemned someone in your mind, it is hard then to be their comforter.   Instead you become their judge.   

However, those who are righteous, truly righteous, is not taken aback by all this.  They simply grow stronger and stronger.  Job could be talking about someone who comes to counsel him and, because they are righteous, they are not taken aback by Job’s plight and, rather, grow stronger and stronger in their own walk.   But it is more likely Job is talking about himself and is not taken aback by these false accusers and becomes even more and more bold because he knows he is righteous.  Those who are truly righteous are not taken aback by false accusations.   They become more and more embolden.  Job is not deterred by these empty comforters.   He is, instead, stronger in his thoughts and insights because he knows he is righteous.  For so says God: 

Job 1:1 (ESV)

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

God Is In Every Day, Not Just the Fat Ones - Psalms 21-23

Psalms 22:14-15 (ESV)

I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint;

my heart is like wax;

it is melted within my breast;

my strength is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to my jaws;

you lay me in the dust of death.

Psalm 22 is a song of David’s.  We are not sure when he wrote it, but it is a good guess that it was when he was in a cave, being pursued by King Saul.    Saul was hunting David simple because Saul was jealous over David’s fame, that was greater in the kingdom then his own.   

The above description of how he feels is shocking.   It is in stark contrast to the song that follows this.  Note what he writes in the famous next song:

Psalms 23:4-5 (ESV)

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

In one song his tongue is stuck to the roof of his mouth because of the dryness.  In the next, his tongue is full of fatness.  This is the contrast of the Christian walk.  There are days of famine and there are days of feast.   We are to rejoice in both, but it is hard to see David’s rejoicing in Psalm 22 vs Psalm 23.   Yet, he does get there.  It does not come at first, but latter in the song he writes this:

Psalms 22:25-26 (ESV)

From you comes my praise in the great congregation;

my vows I will perform before those who fear him.

The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;

those who seek him shall praise the LORD!

May your hearts live forever!

Our walk with God is like this.  There are days our jaw is frozen in pain.  There are days when we eat and are satisfied.   We acknowledge them both.  God does not expect us to deny the one and live only in the other.  He wants to confess both before God to see His glory in each.