Genesis 32:22-30 October 16, 2016 A+D
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
+ Amen +
Our text this morning is the Old Testament lesson from Genesis Chapter Thirty-two, verses twenty-two through thirty, and we will focus on verses twenty-six through thirty:
[The Man] asked him, What is your name? And [in shock of realization, whispering] he said, Jacob! And He said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob [supplanter] but Israel [contends or strives with God]; for you have contended and have power with God and with men and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked Him, Tell me, I pray You, what [in contrast] is Your name? But He said, Why is it that you ask My name? And [the Angel of God declared] a blessing on [Jacob] there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [the Face of God], saying, For I have seen God face to face, and my life is spared and not snatched away. (AMP).
This is our text.
What’s in a name? Look around our congregation this morning. Clifford is an English name which means a place where a stream may be crossed on foot, next to a mountainside. Sally is a Hebrew name meaning “princess”. Marion is another Hebrew name, meaning “wished for child”. Roger, your name turns out to be pretty interesting for a such a seemingly simple name! Roger is a Germanic name with roots going back to Old Norse, the language of the Vikings, from two words: hrōd & gār, meaning “spear of renown” or “famous lance”.
What are the first things that come to your mind when I say the name… Oliver North? Soldier? War hero? Patriot? Traitor? Liar? Talk-show host? Political commentator? You may recall Colonel North was involved in the Iran-Contra affair, where the US supported the anti-Sandinista rebels in Nicaragua, and paid for it through arms sales to Iran, filtered through Israel, in return for Iran’s aid in releasing hostages held by the Hezbollah in Lebanon. North lied about the cover-up to the US Senate and then received immunity from prosecution when he testified before a joint congressional committee in the 1980’s.
Two names for Colonel North you probably didn’t think about at first are “father” and “husband”. Our names and our actions become inextricably tied together.
When Isaac and Rebbecca had twins, the first born was Esau, which means rough, hairy, or “fully developed”. Jacob means “heel-catcher”, “leg-puller”, or “supplanter”. You will recall that when Jacob was born, he was holding tightly onto his brother's heel.
As we near the 499th celebration of the Reformation, we’ll be hearing a lot about Martin Luther. A name you probably won’t have heard is Valerius Herberger. Valerius Herberger lived from 1562 – 1624 A+D and was a Lutheran parish pastor at St. Mary’s Church in Fraustadt, modern-day Wschowa, Poland. Fraustadt is near the large imperial city of Freystadt, which means “free city”. Valerius Herberger’s ministry occurred during the most difficult years of the counter-reformation, a period of Roman Catholic resurgence in response to the work begun by Martin Luther. This counter-reformation began with the Council of Trent in 1545 and ended with the Thirty-Years’ War in 1648. It was a time of great unrest and persecution. Pastor Herberger, always focused on the Cross, wrote a massive four-volume sermon series on just the book of Genesis. The beauty of Herberger’s preaching on the first book of Moses is apparent in the title of each and every sermon - one name: “Jesus”. He doesn’t switch things up until Sermon 118: That one is entitled “Jesus Christ”.
In his dedicatory epistle to the third volume1, he noted that the name of Freystadt comes from the word Freistätte – asylum. As he preached, he said that we are in the asylum – safe and hidden in Christ’s perfect merit.
In our Old Testament lesson this morning, we heard about Jacob wrestling with a strange man. This occurred after a series of events God placed in Jacob’s life to form him into the patriarch he was to become. As with many of the great men of the Old Testament, we see the marvelous work of God in action through His instruments of sinful men, just like us, who don’t always remember to put their hope and trust where it belongs – in God, on the cross of Christ - our perfect asylum. Remember that Jacob cheated Esau out of his inheritance with a bowl of soup, and then took advantage of his father’s failed eyesight to steal his brother’s blessing as well. Jacob was now looking forward to being reconciled with his brother, of whose vengeance he was very afraid. God in his infinite wisdom shows us that those he chose to give a great fortune to, were not to receive it without enduring great hardship first. Look at the patriarchs in the line of Christ: Joseph, before he became a great lord in Egypt, first has to endure being made a prisoner. Before David became king, he first had to be hunted down like a game bird. Jacob was to eventually have great joy at being reunited with his brother Esau, but first, he had to fall into great distress and anguish. Jacob barely escaped his father-in-law’s wrath. Jacob received a vision in a dream of the great ladder leading to heaven and trusted in the Lord’s promise that a great nation would rise from his offspring. But Jacob still had trials to face. He lived in fear of his brother. He prayed to the Lord for protection as he led his men over the water and then had to endure another great storm. Previously very blessed with children and possessions, he now sent everything he had ahead of him to appease his brother, leaving himself with only his staff.
Now, alone, separated from family and wealth, Jacob prays. He sent his gifts ahead of him to Esau, and spirited his wives and children away in secret in the middle of the night, such that there is a delay between the gifts’ delivery to Esau and his family’s arrival. Jacob is being somewhat cowardly. He hopes his gifts’ will appease his brother, and then his family’s arrival and news of how they are received will give him a clue as to his brother’s demeanor. So Jacob remains behind, in solitude. Martin Luther in his lectures on Genesis reminds us that this is a very good way to pray:
[Jacob] “separated himself from his whole family in a lonely spot and prayed with great anxiety because he was still full of terrors and weakness. He chose a lonely spot because solitude is very well suited to those who are praying, also in the daytime. For when prayer is serious and ardent, we do not readily allow those words to be heard which we pour out before God in a rather inept manner”2
While praying, Jacob is to be confronted by yet another trial. Remember that when we pray, all prayers are answered – just not often in the manner in which we expect them to be. Have you ever prayed for patience? You’ve probably found, like Job, that patience is granted only through great trial and hardship. Jacob is confronted by a man, who wrestles with him until the break of day. Jacob wrestles with the man all night, and neither gains the upper hand. Finally, as the sun began to rise, the man touched Jacob’s hip and put it out of joint. Still, Jacob, the heel-catcher, the leg-puller, lives up to his name, and will not let the man go. The man tells him, “Release me, for day is breaking”. Jacob, realizing at this point who he is wrestling with replies, “I will not let you go unless you bless me”. The man says to him, “What is your name?” In the shock of dawning realization, Jacob replies, now whispering, “Jacob”.
You see, the man (in some less literal translations the word ish is translated “angel” or “angel of God”, but Moses used the word ish, which means “man”) is none other than the pre-incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ himself, who has taken a form like a man to wrestle in person with Jacob, almost playfully, not using his infinite power but letting Jacob hold his own, as in a friendly contest between equals, and only reveals a hint of his power with a simple touch, which puts out Jacob’s hip.
Jesus makes many appearances in the Old Testament, as the Voice of God at the Creation, as the fourth man in the fiery furnace, as the pillars of cloud and fire that went before the Israelites in the desert, and to Moses as the burning bush and the Storm and Voice on Mount Sinai, among others.
Now Jesus bestows a blessing on Jacob after their night-long struggle. Herberger was reminded of names when preaching about Jacob, and the words in German have a rhyming quality that ties together and illustrates the importance of the names chosen by God. The heel-grabber (Fersen-Fänger), is now blessed by the Fersen-Treter, the head-crusher. The One, who was promised to come all the way back in the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve. Him whose heel was to be pierced by the serpent, and whose foot would crush the serpent’s head by his all-atoning sacrifice on the cross. Jesus now gives Jacob the name Israel, which means “he strives with God”. Even Jesus’ name, Y’shua, means “Jehovah is Salvation”. Jacob never turned from Jehovah, remembering it was He who put Jacob on this path. Jacob receives this new name, and almost foolishly asks, “What is your name?” though he already knew as soon as he opened his mouth. The Lord knowingly asks him, “Why is it that you ask my Name?” and placed a blessing on him there. Jacob then names that place “Peniel” which means “the Face of God”, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is spared and not snatched away”. Because you see, Jesus revealed himself to Jacob in a form “like” a man – for no one sees God face to face and lives.
What’s in a name? Consider the many names of God: I AM. I AM WHO I AM. Adonai – Lord. Elohim – God. Father. Comforter. Wonderful. Counselor. Almighty. Everlasting to Everlasting. The First and the Last. Specific to Jesus: King of Kings, Lord of Lords, The Bright Morning Star, The Good Shepherd, The Prince of Peace, the Christ or the Messiah, which means The Anointed One of God. Appropriate for the coming celebration of the Reformation, a Name of God from the Psalms: Machseh, which means “Fortress”. The Light of the World. The Word. The Word, the very voice of God Almighty, who had everything, and gave up all to become like us, lowering Himself from the foremost to the hindmost, by taking on human flesh to live a sinless life and then die the death we deserve to take the full punishing wrath of God the Father in our place, so that we may be found blameless, pure and holy before God through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Jesus even taught us how to pray by word and example. Jesus went off to isolated places to pray alone to His Father, for strength, and for guidance. And He gave us the words to pray: “And lead us not into temptation”. Temptation will always be with us in the forms of the world, our own sinful flesh, and the power of that great jealous deceiver, Lucifer (the “light-bringer” who only brings eternal darkness and damnation).
When it seems like we are wrestling with God, or perhaps He is the one pulling us down, remember that it is sin and this fallen world that grabs us and crushes us. Remember also that you are His beloved child, and your struggles in this world are temporary. He calls on us to pray to Him, asking that we may remain strong in the face of these temptations, and not give into them. He will hear us, and He will answer, in His time, and in His way. Think again of the many names of God, all of which we can call on in time of trouble, and times of thanksgiving: Wonderful. Counselor. Almighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace.
Yes we will often fail – and pretty stupendously greatly at that, but we can also pray for forgiveness. Forgiveness which was bought and paid for by Christ on the Cross so that while we remain sinners, we are also simultaneously barons, free lords, with a mansion prepared in Heaven for us by our Baron, our Liberator, who grants us asylum in His Eternal free city, the New Jerusalem. Like the persistent widow in today’s Gospel lesson, like the heel-catcher, Jacob, we cling to Christ the death-crusher and His Cross. In so doing we receive His gifts through the means of Grace: the Word, and the Sacraments. As St. Paul wrote to Timothy in this morning’s Epistle, we “continue in what we have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it.”.
We may always, then, humbly and confidently pray to God with these words of Pastor Valerius Herberger:
“...since I am a pilgrim in the world and wander in a strange land, I see You hidden in Your Word and Sacraments, but when I come home to my heavenly fatherland, I will behold You – face to face – and my soul shall be preserved… strengthen the arms and hands of our faith, that we may hold fast and not waver. For without You and Your strength, no one in the world could conquer Your heart and obtain your blessing.”3
so that we too, strive with God now, and unto life everlasting.
+ Amen +
And now may the peace which surpasses all human understanding keep your hearts and your minds focused on one Name: Our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus.
+ Amen +
1Herberger, Valerius. The Great Works of God, 4 vols. in 2 fronts, Trans. Matthew Carver, St. Louis, 2011, p.xxiii-xxiv, 5-11.
2Luther, Martin; Luther’s Works, American Edition Volume 6, Lectures on Genesis Chapters 31-37, St. Louis, 1970, p.123.
3Herberger, Valerius. The Great Works of God, 4 vols. in 2 fronts, Trans. Matthew Carver, St. Louis, 2011, p.233-234.