“Bless” is the verb barakh (Er^B*), which means, “to endue with power for success, prosperity, fecundity, longevity” and so therefore, the verb indicates Jacob’s desire that the Lord would endue him with power for success, prosperity, fecundity (offspring in great numbers) and longevity.” The divine discipline in the form of fourteen years of hard labor for his uncle Laban was successful in getting Jacob to stop depending upon his own power to acquire the blessing of God, which is depicted in dislocating Jacob’s hip. We noted in Genesis 32:24 that daybreak symbolized or was a picture of Jacob no longer under divine discipline but rather experiencing fellowship with God. Genesis 32:26, “Then he (the Lord) said, ‘Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.’ But he (Jacob) said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’” Genesis 32:25, “When he (the Lord) saw that he (the Lord) had not prevailed against him (Jacob), he (the Lord) touched the socket of his (Jacob’s) thigh so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.” Genesis 32:24, “Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.” This evening we will note Genesis 32:26 where the crippled Jacob clings to the Lord and will not let Him go until the Lord blesses him. The dislocation of Jacob’s hip symbolized that by means of the fourteen years of hard labor for Laban, which constituted divine discipline, the Lord had succeeded in getting Jacob to stop trusting in his own power to solve his problems and to depend upon the power of God. Last evening we studied Genesis 32:25b and the significance of the Lord dislocating Jacob’s hip. The Lord did not prevail over Jacob in the sense that the Lord could not refuse Jacob’s prayer requests because they were according to His will and because Jacob persevered in prayer. We have also studied Genesis 32:25a and noted the significance of the Lord not prevailing over Jacob in their wrestling match.

Then, in Genesis 32:24, we noted the significance of the wrestling match ending at daybreak, which is that it symbolized or was a picture of Jacob no longer under divine discipline but rather experiencing fellowship with God. The wrestling match with Jacob did “not” teach any spiritual lessons to Jacob but rather the divine discipline that he underwent in the form of the fourteen years of hard labor for his deceitful uncle Laban taught Jacob many spiritual lessons, which are symbolized in the wrestling match with the Lord.Īlso, in Genesis 32:24, we noted the significance of Jacob’s wrestling match with the Lord taking place at night, which is that it is a picture or symbolic of the divine discipline he underwent in the form of his fourteen years of hard labor for his deceitful uncle Laban.

This wrestling match between God and Jacob is a “microcosm” or “symbolic” of Jacob’s struggles in life with men, which in reality were with God. Then, in the second half of Genesis 32:24 we saw Jacob wrestling the God-Man, the preincarnate Christ. In the first part of Genesis 32:24 we saw Jacob alone in prayer prior to his encounter with Esau and entrance into the land of Canaan, which was in obedience to the Lord’s command. This evening we will continue with our studies of Jacob’s wrestling match with the Son of God, which is recorded in Genesis 32:24-32. Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 32:24. Genesis: Genesis 32:26-Jacob Demands A Blessing From the Lord

Audio sermon on genesis 32