A Lamp Unto My Feet Bible Study Website
GENESIS 32:24-32
Lesson #49
THE STRUGGLE WITH THE FLESH NATURE
- Memory verse: Eze 36:26 or 27
- Read Gen 32:24-32 Jacob’s night visitor
- Jacob is left alone. He comes to the end of himself.
- The struggle continues all night until morning. When the visitor saw that the struggle was not abating and that Jacob was not giving in, he touched Jacob’s thigh and put it out of joint so Jacob would struggle no longer.
- Read Hos 12:3-5
- Who was the night visitor?
- The man does not tell Jacob his name even though Jacob asked him for it.
- Hosea calls him an angel of the Lord, however, Jacob finally recognizes that this “angel of the covenant” is the Lord Jesus Christ appearing to him.
- How do we know that?
- The name Jacob gave to the place was “Penuel” which means = he has met God face to face. (30)
- How do we know that this wasn’t God, the Father?
- Even Jacob knew that no man sees God the Father face to face and lives. (Joh 1:18)
- Why does the visitor not tell Jacob his name? God wants us to come to the end of ourselves and realize for ourselves who He is, and what He means to our lives.
- Read Hos 12:3-5
- Jacob’s blessing:
- Jacob does not let the Lord go even though he can no longer struggle.
- In other words, he is clinging to the Lord. Jacob asks for a blessing and receives a unique gift:
- The Lord asks Jacob what is his name. Why?
- Surely God knew Jacob’s name!
- However, asking Jacob impresses on him the meaning of his name in light of his character. It’s a mild rebuke.
- Remember that Jacob’s name means = deceiver and supplanter.
- We have seen that this has been Jacob’s character over and over throughout his life even after he became a believer.
- God wants character change in those who follow Him. Sometimes that character change is slow and painful.
- The Lord tells Jacob that his name is changed because, as a prince he has struggled with God and men and has overcome.
- As a “prince” = someone who controlled, ordered and deposed men.
- Jacob had contended with Esau in the womb.
- Jacob had contended for the birthright.
- Jacob had contended for the blessing.
- Jacob had contended for his wives.
- Jacob had contended for his flocks.
- Through all of these struggles he had succeeded in controlling his own life. Now he contends with God and fails. The old nature dies hard:
- Every believer in Christ has the same two natures within him, the Holy Spirit, and the old flesh nature that are in constant conflict. One minute you’re praying and trusting God, and the next minute you’re trying to figure out how to work it out on your own.
- Have you ever spent a night in this kind of conflict?
- Jacob, the overcomer:
- Jacob was not willing to let go of God until he had the victory.
- The name change: Jacob, the supplanter’s new name is now Israel which means = God striveth or God commandeth.
- No longer will Jacob control his life, but God will be in control. He has given the lordship of his life to Jesus.
- Jacob, the supplanter, becomes Israel, the overcomer commanded by God.
- Jacob was not willing to let go of God until he had the victory.
- Why was Jacob made lame?
- Orthodox Jews remove the sciatic nerve of the thigh before eating the animal to signify the importance of the lesson learned by Jacob.
- Unfortunately the Jews do not learn the lesson Jacob learned. They do not let God command their lives.
- It is only when we are humbled and come to the end of ourselves can God work in our lives. The limp and his new name will be a constant reminder to him not to go back to his old ways.
- Remember I mentioned that Jacob is a picture of the Holy Spirit working within the believer’s life. It is this struggle between the Holy Spirit and the flesh nature, the humbling of the believer that brings Jesus to lordship in your life. Jacob’s experience parallel’s our own experience in the Christian life.
- Summary:
| Jacob’s Experience | The Flesh Nature
Revealed |
The Holy Spirit’s Conquering Action |
| Jacob chooses and arranges the gift for Esau.
(32:16-20) |
The desperation to plan, scheme, control my own destiny. | The Holy Spirit causes me to realize my sinfulness.
Rom 7:8,14,18 Joh 14:26; 16:8 |
| Jacob spends the night alone with God. (32:24) | Coming to the end of myself only occurs when I am alone with God. | When I listen to the Holy Spirit, He brings evidences of the flesh nature to the surface so I can deal with them.
Joh 16:13-14 |
| Jacob struggles all night. (32:24) | My attempt to control my life is a constant struggle. | The struggle did not exist before the Holy Spirit came to live inside of me.
Rom 7:15-20 |
| Jacob’s thigh is out of joint. (32:25) | God is the only one who can subdue the flesh nature in me. | When I realize that Christ purchased my freedom from this struggle on the cross, I can resign control of my life to the Holy Spirit.
Rom 7:24-25; 8:2-4 Joh 15:26 |
| Jacob retains a limp all his life.
(32:31) |
I need a constant realization of my need to rely upon God and not on my own flesh nature. | Daily I need to remember to submit my life to the control of the Holy Spirit. Heb 12:9 |
| The sinew in Jacob’s thigh shrank.(32:32) | The flesh nature does not disappear but will shrink so that I no longer stand (rely) on it. | The Holy Spirit withers the strength of my flesh nature the more I practice giving Him control.
Jam 4:7-10 |
| Jacob clings to the Lord for blessing.
(Gen 32:26) |
When I am at the end of myself, then can I begin to look up to God for answers. | In humility, I will cling to the Lord until the Holy Spirit reveals God’s will for me.
Mat 23:12 |
| Jacob’s name is changed to Israel,
(God commands). (32:28) |
The Holy Spirit will now rule over my flesh nature. | Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, Jesus lives his life in me.
Gal 2:20 Rom 8:2,4-6,13-15 |
Homework
Genesis 33
- Application of Gen 32
- Consider your awareness of the struggle with the flesh nature and mark the level that describes your life.
- Never noticed it
- Mildly aware of it
- Aware of it
- Strongly aware of it
- In which area of your life is the struggle the greatest?
- Christ bore that struggle on the cross for you and purchased your victory with his shed blood. How will knowing that fact help you with your struggle?
- Consider your awareness of the struggle with the flesh nature and mark the level that describes your life.
- Preparation for Gen 33
- Read Gen 33:1-16 Jacob encounters Esau
- What do you think is the level of Jacob’s faith now? Why do you think so?
- What do you think is the level of Jacob’s guilt over his past? Why do you think so?
- What do you think of Esau’s attitude toward his brother?
- Read Gen 33:17-20 Jacob worships God
- Read Gen 33:1-16 Jacob encounters Esau
- Memory verse: Romans 8:1
