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That's ConnectWithSkip.com. Now let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. So they stand in His presence. Second, they serve God's people. Hebrews 1 says they are ministering spirits sent by God to minister to those of us who inherit salvation. Angels play an active role in your life. I believe you have guardian angels. They minister, the Bible says, to those who inherit salvation.
Now some of us, by some of the things we do, the activities we do, be it skateboarding or maybe you do some radical skiing or snowboarding or mountain bike jumping, maybe you have doubled-up angels on you or some kind of massively strong, very attentive angels. The truth is all of us have interacted with them. We aren't aware of it, but God has dispatched them to minister to us who are heirs of salvation. Okay, so they met Him.
He called that name Mahanaim, double camp. Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother, in the land of Seir. Now if Seir is down, if you go east of the Jordan River and you go down in the deserts of Jordan, south of what is ancient Edom towards Saudi Arabia, you're going to discover Seir.
Now Seir is where Esau went, and he evidently had conquered the inhabitants of that land called the Horites and another group called the Hurrians, and he had become very successful. God had blessed him, and notice the entourage he has coming. Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother, in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, and he commanded them saying, speak thus to my lord, interesting choice of words, my lord Esau, thus your servant, again interesting choice of words, your servant Jacob says, I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female servants, hint, hint, hint, and I have sent to tell my lord that I might find favor in your sight. Now Jacob is the one who initiates contact with his brother.
Why? Well remember how they had that falling out when Jacob stole his brother's blessing. Jacob knows there's going to be no peace between he and his brother unless he resolves the issue that he has left unresolved 20 years before, when he had to flee because he stole his brother's blessing. Now I do find it interesting that he calls his brother my lord Esau, because that's not how he thought about him 20 years before this. Where did he learn this buttering up approach? Where did he learn this kind of flattery from uncle Laban?
20 years of being with Laban, Laban knew how to pour it on. The first time he saw Jacob he goes, oh my, you're my own flesh and blood sent to me by God. And all the time he's figuring out a way to connive and get him to work for him and he does successfully. And then when he's about to leave he says, oh you can't leave. Don't you know God, your God, our God has blessed me because of you.
I'll give you anything you want. He just knew how to butter up Jacob. Jacob learned quite well, was watching this quite attentively.
And I think he's employing the same kind of characteristics to flatter his brother because he doesn't want his brother to kill him. Then verse 6, the messengers returned to Jacob saying, we came to your brother Esau and he is also coming to meet you and 400 men are with him. That's not what Jacob wanted to hear. He's thinking, oh man am I toast.
It's curtains for me. So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed and he divided the people that were with him and the flocks and the herds and the camels into two companies. And he said if Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.
Now watch how Jacob operates. He's going to divide his people into two camps and then more camps, four camps later on. And he's anticipating that his brother is going to attack and kill the first camp. Guess which camp he's going to be in, personally? Think he'll be in the first one? Oh no, he's going to be way in the back using his children and wives as buffers for him.
You little wuss. That's his approach. He's figuring it all out.
He's anticipating it all in his mind. Verse 9, watch this. Then Jacob said, now he's going to pray. This is the first recorded or written, this is the first time we get to hear Jacob pray.
I'm not saying it's the first time he prayed, he did pray before, but now it's recorded for us. So let's read through it and then we'll make common in it. Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, return to your country and to your family and I will deal well with you. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which you have shown your servant for I have crossed over this Jordan with my staff.
And now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. For you have said I will surely treat you well and make your descendants as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered for the multitude. Jacob really isn't much different than we are, right? It seems that when our back is against the wall, when we're in a pinch, when there is adversity, then we go, O God, we start praying. I find his prayer, interestingly timed, I'm glad he prayed, I don't want to knock him too much, but I also know it's part of human nature. We merrily go our way, I got it all under control, I got this covered, I'm a smart one, you know, I got it all figured out, until we're out of options, we're at the end of our rope, we're between a rock and a hard place, and then we say, O God, we start praying. Because now we realize we need to depend on one greater than ourselves. The hymn writer put it well, O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
Everything. But he's afraid, and in his fear and in distress, he begins to pray to the Lord. Could it be just a possibility that one of the reasons God allows or prescribes steady amounts of adversity in our lives is so that we'll always depend on him? There were three ministers having a theological discussion about the proper position for prayer. One of them said, I have discovered that the proper position for prayer is while seated with the hands folded and the thumbs pointing heavenward, indicating to whom I trust. The second reverend in the group said, I disagree wholeheartedly, I found the best position in prayer is to show humility and be on one's knees with your hands raised in the air to God. The third reverend said, I have to disagree with both of you chaps, I think if you really want to show humility, you have to get prostrate on the ground all the way down before God.
Now in the background, a telephone repairman was listening to these three theologians talk and he finally interrupted and said, you know what I've discovered, fellas? The best position for prayer that I've ever been in is when I was dangling 40 feet above the ground on a telephone pole by my heels. That was the most effective prayer I ever prayed.
In other words, while in extremis, at the end of my rope or at the end of my pole in his situation. They are very effective. This was a very effective prayer. Now notice something about it, I'm glad it's given to us. In verse 9, he recounts the past. I'm giving you a few of the elements of his prayer.
He recounts the past. Notice he calls God by his covenant name, God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac. He's putting God in the context of who he has been historically.
I think that's healthy. When you pray, recognize to whom you're praying. Remember in Acts chapter 4 when the disciples were threatened by the leadership in Jerusalem? The church got together and the prayer went something like this. Oh God, oh Lord God, you made the heavens and the earth and everything that is in them. Who by the mouth of your servant David, and he quotes Psalm 2.
He put it into the context, I realize the one I'm talking to is the one who made everything. I realize the one I'm talking to is the same one who has fulfilled all of the promises to Abraham, all of the promises to my father Jacob. So he recounts the past. Number two, he recalls the promise. As if he's saying, look, Lord, the reason I'm here in this land, this new land, the reason I left Padaneram is because you told me I should come and you blessed me for it. So here I am.
I'm here because you told me to go. He's reminding God, not that you need to remind God, but really reminding himself in prayer before the Lord God's purpose. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to Skip's teaching in his powerful book, Beyond the Summer of Love, Pastor Skip Heitzig helps you understand God's plan and his rules for relationships that flourish and reflect his own love. And when you give a gift of twenty five dollars or more this month to support the worldwide ministry of Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send you Beyond the Summer of Love. This resource is for anyone interested in having a successful relationship, whether you're single, searching for love, planning to get married or already married. This book is a helpful guide to help your relationships flourish as God intends.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give twenty five dollars or more. Now, let's get back to Skip for more of today's teaching. The third element is he realizes his own unworthiness. Did you notice that verse 10?
Boy, Jacob's changing. I am not worthy, he says, of the least of all of the mercies and the truth which you have shown your servant. I'm not worthy. You're merciful, but I'm not worthy. In other words, he's acknowledging that he's a sinner, that he's falling short.
Proverbs 28 says, He who covers his sin will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes his sin, that God would bless that person. Well, find mercy, it says in Proverbs 28. Find mercy.
I'm not worthy, he said, of the least of your mercy. Finally, notice he requests deliverance. This is the heart of his prayer. Verse 11, Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.
Now watch this. For I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with his children. He confesses something negative before the Lord.
Please notice that. And notice that it's in his prayer, and the reason I bring it up is because some folks make such a big deal out of having a positive confession. Don't have a negative confession. Never utter a negative confession, but always a positive confession. So if you're sick, don't say, I'm sick. That's a negative confession, because you'll get sick if you say, I'm sick.
All of that nonsense. Listen, you know why he made a negative confession? Because he was honest.
It's better to make a negative confession and be honest than to make a positive confession and be dishonest. Tell the Lord what you feel. If you feel it, tell him. Do you think God can't handle it? Do you think God will go, oh, I can't believe you said that? Doesn't the Bible say the Lord knows our frame and remembers that we are dust? Do you think God has high expectations for dust?
I'm just so disappointed in my dust today. I'm afraid, God. I'm afraid I'm going to die. Several years ago, there was a man who came up to me after a service with crutches. He had a broken leg. I had heard that he broke his leg. And I said to him, I'm so sorry that you broke your leg.
I'd like to pray for you. And he goes, don't bother. It's not broken. I said, excuse me?
Not broken. I'm believing and standing on faith. Now he's saying this while he's on crutches hobbling, telling me he doesn't have a broken leg. And he says, because God has healed me. I said, are you sure about that? Yes, I'm sure. Don't give me a negative confession.
I said, well, then do me a favor, would you? Don't tell any unbelievers that God has healed you while you're on crutches. They're all going to think God does a lousy job of healing people. If you call that a healing. Lord, I'm afraid.
I know it's coming. And he was honest before God. For you said, verse 12, I will surely treat you well and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for a multitude.
I love this. God did tell him that. He's thinking things out loud.
He's processing things out loud. I'm afraid for my life. Yet at the same time, how can I die if you said I'm going to have a lot of kids? And how can these children die if you made these promises? We have to live for this thing to be fulfilled. And so he lodged there that same night and took what came to his hand as a present for Esau, his brother.
Now watch this present. 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 30 male camels with their colts, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, 10 foals. Then he delivered them to the hand of a servant. Every drove by itself and said to his servants, pass over before me and put some distance between successive droves. And he commanded the first one, saying, when Esau, my brother, meets you and asks you, saying, to whom do you belong and where are you going? Whose are these in front of you? Then you shall say, they are your servant Jacob's.
It is a present sent to my Lord Esau. Behold, he is behind us. Behind us.
They're the human shields. So he commanded the second, the third, and all who follow the droves, saying, in this manner, you shall speak to Esau when you find him. And also say, behold, your servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goes before me and afterward I will see his face.
Perhaps he will accept me. So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp. 580 animals was the gift.
It proves that Jacob had gotten very wealthy while he was in Padan Aram. God had been very good to him because this is a sizable gift. This is a huge flock in and of itself that he's giving. So what is he doing? He's softening the blow. He's trying to buy him off, give him present after present after present, successive waves of gift after gift after gift. So finally he would think if he's angry, how can I kill this guy?
He's so nice to me. That's what all this is about, softening him up. Okay, go back to his prayer.
You don't have to go back to it. Read if you can if you want, but think in your mind of his prayer. When he prayed and asked God for deliverance, did he really believe God was going to deliver him? Well, evidently it wasn't that strong of a prayer or it didn't have that much faith. He did say, look Lord, you said this and I'm going to put my trust in you, but you know with all of this wrangling afterwards, it would seem that though he prayed, it wasn't very much faith involved. And can I just say, I relate to that.
I relate to that. Do you remember the man who came to Jesus and Jesus said, do you believe anything's possible to those who believe? And he said, I believe Lord, but help my unbelief. Do you ever feel that way sometimes? Lord, I trust you, but you know there's just this part of me.
Help my unbelief. That's how he comes. It's so typical.
It's so typical of us. How often do we unload our burden in prayer before the Lord and then no sooner did we unload it, but we pick it back up, nicely place it on our little back and march out of God's presence. God, are you doing anything with that little burden I gave you?
Do you mind if I have it back just for a while? It seems we do that. It seems that Jacob did that.
Let's see what happens. Verse 22, and he arose that night, took his two wives, two female servants, his 11 sons. He had daughters too, but the 11 sons are mentioned. And cross over the Ford of Jabbok. Let me just help you place Jabbok. In between the Sea of Galilee up north and the Dead Sea down south, the Jordan River connects both of those bodies of water. Right in between, about midway, is the Jabbok River, about 22 miles. It flows from the east, northeast, and joins and flows into the Jordan River.
Very, very steep and precipitous. That's why the Jabbok was the ancient boundary between North Gilead and South Gilead or Og and Bashan before that. It was a natural barrier, natural border. He crossed that that night, the Jabbok River. He took them, verse 23, sent them over the brook, sent over what he had, and then Jacob was left alone. So often God wants to get us alone, quiet, no one around. And then he'll speak to us. Now, he's going to speak very dramatically. Jacob was left alone and a man, notice that, and notice that if your Bible is my version, it's capitalized, is it not?
Okay. Then Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now, when he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the socket of his hip, and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as he wrestled with him.
It's the first wrestling match in history. You remember the show some years ago, Touched by an Angel? This is the first episode, but it was called Punched by an Angel. Jacob was assaulted by this man. Now, it's funny, I've read a lot of different commentaries, a lot of different books, and seen this as an example, and typically how commentators and pastors love to deal with this passage is, here's Jacob wrestling with God in prayer.
That's how it's often taken. Jacob isn't wrestling with God. The man assaulted him, wrestled with him. It's not that Jacob saw him and goes, I'm going to pick me a fight.
That's gone. I'm going to wrestle and get something out of him. It's God, through this him, this man, wrestling Jacob to bring him to an end of himself and cause him to surrender. So this wrestling match goes on, and I've got to give it to Jacob, on and on through the night now, probably. I'm just figuring this, but I believe it happened.
I think he sent his wives and everybody over the river and said, I'll join you. I'm just going to spend the night here. Why? I'm thinking, he's thinking, I just need one night's good sleep. I'd been with Laban and had a confrontation with him, and I didn't have a good night's sleep with him.
Now that's gone. I'm about to see Esau, and if I could just get alone with my thoughts and just get one good night's sleep. Well, he didn't get one good night's sleep. In the middle of the night, he's attacked. As it says, he was left alone, and a man wrestled with him to the breaking of day. What is happening, as we'll see, I believe, is God is cracking the nut.
The hard shell of Jacob, until he finally just clings to the Lord toward the end of this. We're glad you joined us today. Before you go, remember that when you give $25 or more to help reach more people with the gospel through Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send you Beyond the Summer of Love, Relationships in the Real World by Pastor Skip Heitzig, to help you build biblically healthy relationships or repair ones that have been damaged by sin. To request your copy of Beyond the Summer of Love, call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. For more from Skip, be sure to check out the many resources available at connectwithskip.com slash store. In the meantime, for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's word, hear on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross. Cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times.
