A word from Genesis.
“So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp. And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. 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. And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Just as he crossed over Peniel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.” (Gen.32)
A few thoughts from this. First Jacob sent presents – our gifts go before us. Sometimes we feel, when God is leading us, that we haven’t come yet, but the gifts are already going before you. I remember I was visiting one place and a lady insistently wanted to meet me. As I found out later she had been praying for me with some other ladies, without our meeting in person. They recognized the gift. It wasn’t about me, but they recognized the gift, their Christ, appreciated Him, and co-worked with Him. So gifts went before. But he himself stayed that night in the camp. This was before he met with the Angel. This happens when there’s loneliness, but without empowerment. One can enter positive loneliness, not isolation, not the curse the Lord took on Calvary and gave us fellowship instead. But I mean loneliness for the sake of God, yearning for Him. He was still Jacob, not Israel yet, but this can be a good prerequisite, when we seek and separate ourselves for God, in order to be on the Way.
“And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok.” – That is, he made a transition. And we must make a transition. It written, he himself crossed it. We can’t give to people what we ourselves don’t have. Information from your notebook is one thing, but when you’ve been there, you don’t even have to look up your notes, because you simply translate those things because you have them, because you have crossed. Therefore, pray for a transition for yourselves. And anticipate and believe, be alert and attentive, because this may contribute to your transition.
“He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had.” – This is already taking others across. There was a transition of yourself. You can’t take others across unless you’ve been there yourself. So he crossed himself first, and then took others across. These are different things, but they must go along.
What do we do in church? We don’t preach good sermons, we take people across. But we must know where we are taking them. And when I meet with people I want to give a real action, not just a meeting or emotions, but make a transition – where I am, I want them to be with me. This is what Jesus said. He took them across: “where I am, I want them to be as well”. So when apostles went, Jesus had already prepared it all, because He first crossed Himself. Sometimes we push people on the back to where we haven’t been ourselves. So we should provide we’ve been there first ourselves.
“Then Jacob was left alone”. This is already a different thing. He took across what he had, gifts went before, and he remained with nothing – this is a different kind of loneliness. Loneliness for seeking. That is, he undressed, uncovered himself – that is a different loneliness. He removed everything from his hands, he was empty-handed, with emptied mind and heart. This is closer to contemplation, but it’s not, this is more of a labor. This is loneliness for search.
“And a Man wrestled with him”. When this One came, Jacob was supposed to be naked. The Angel didn’t come when wives and children were there, in sight of servants and cattle, this would’ve caused fear and confusion. So the Lord waited. And Jacob did everything. There was a prerequisite for visitation. We need to learn to create a prerequisite, to learn to create a place where God will come. For instance you get separate for a fast and you seek and call Him – this makes a big difference than you wait for a visitation on a usual basis. Create loneliness for search. If you want to enter the prophetic, you must create this platform – loneliness for search.
“…and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day” – interestingly, it was night; in this night of the soul, in this space without usual noises and interferences – “Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip”. A trauma happened. A wound caused by intimacy. Sometimes love does leave bleeding traces. Love leaves pain, which can be either sweet or bitter. Love has teeth, it’s not toothless. This is an amazing quality of love – to leave a wound. And the wound speaks of a sign, how else can be your blood let out? To let your bad blood out, and that there’s a testimony of blood. And I like this, it’s a whole portal – spiritual wound from love, from the intimacy. Look at Christ – He is all wounded and bruised. Christ crucified is love – this is how it looks like on earth. And it may be in your own experience, when the Lord was plucking out the root of evil.
I remember I went up the mountain, not for the sake of hiking, but to seek God. And it happened to be a typhoon, and it was heavy pouring rain. But I thought this would not stop me, and I would go inside the typhoon. So I went, had to walk a lot, started ascending, the rain was decreasing. I met an Angel there. And I was a lot like Jacob at first – I was shouting, “Lord, here I am! I am coming to You”. I was totally wet, it was a rough ascension, I was very much exhausted. But I was really charged then. I made it up to the top that night, and now I know what it is to feel like you are dying from a desire of tea. But all I had was wet. I tied my tent to the trees as it was fluttering like a leaf in the wind – the storm began. It was a light as a day in the tent as lightening wouldn’t cease. Thunder was so loud I wouldn’t be heard if I screamed. Later on I learned the area was the typhoon epicenter. All my arrogance was gone. The Lord really frightened me that time. He demonstrated He is terrible. I was thinking, I can’t anymore, better kill me. All the Scripture places about terrible God came on my mind. I didn’t know this side of Him. I didn’t know He is terrible. I couldn’t imagine He would treat me like this, I had a different understanding of our relationship. I never thought He was so cruel toward me. I actually fell asleep facing a puddle, and mice came to hide in my hair.
In the morning I crawled out feeling like a puppy from a back yard, beaten, thin, shabby, hardly made my way home, totally broken. I couldn’t speak for three days, and my dear ones left me alone as they saw it. After about three days I preached about terrible God, what I didn’t know before. And I knew it was God.
This is about love causing wounds. It was love. I think I didn’t get 99% of what it was, but this little 1% – I am grateful for this dimension, for this revelation. It changed the nature of my faith, and I think I may have received a new name there or perhaps later. I had more wounds later on, very deep, which left lameness after them, when you aren’t able to run like a stag, you can’t rely on your own strength anymore. If you run so, you know the Lord will trip you. That is, you are always lame, wounded, you drag your leg all the time and realize, this is safer.
So I did get scared, He frightened me like Job. Job became different, he got scared and said, “I won’t say another word, I lay my hand on my lips”. But this is scare. Later, when the Lord blessed him he spoke, and he was different. This scare is also a way. I thought then, “No, I won’t stop here, Lord, I don’t want to be scared by You. I will go again, and then you kill me to the end”. After a short while I went again, I said, “No, Lord, I won’t let You go”. This time I went watchful, wasn’t shouting “Here I am coming” anymore, but quiet and humble, to say “Here I am again, Lord”. This is beauty. So I made it to the very same place, quietly, saying, “I am stupid, I didn’t get it, would you speak to the end? And there was nothing, just it was peaceful, and quietly I crawled away alive, because first time it was death.
So I am speaking about a spiritual trauma of love – this is a damaged socket of the hip. Whoever understands this, you know the Lord has wounded you somewhere. If it’s not there, then probably, if you are one of those virgins (Rev.14), you will still have your wound. I am not sure if all those virgins have their right hip damaged, if they are all wounded, but it seems to me they are.
You keep holding Him and not let Him go despite all the pain, when your hip is in the process of being wounded, the pain is increasing and you feel more scared with every second, but you keep holding, despite anything.
“I won’t let you go” – in these words a greatest victory is concealed. You hold the tension of getting closer, despite the pressure.
I am not speaking of these things as an overcomer, I probably lost in my cases. But I noticed that when you deposit at least something into this you then receive retribution with a pressed measure.
“I won’t let you go unless you bless me” – this was a struggle with God for the higher thing, a battle for blessing. We all want blessing, the point is what blessing means to you.
So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” – Why did the Angel ask him his name? Not because he didn’t know it. Didn’t the Angel know his name? It wasn’t an accidental encounter, He came purposely to him. – The Lord had to turn His servant to himself, and Jacob had to speak “Deceiver”, a worm; Jacob was to see himself and confess himself a deceiver, because all the reason he now was in that place was that he had deceived his father. And the Angel listens to all this, He turns the servant to himself, and gives him a new name, the name of the one who wrestles with God, Israel, and says, you have wrestled with God and with people you shall prevail”.
Israel is a God-wrestler. This is an incredible revelation! There are other understandings of the translation. One speaks that Yaakov wrestled with one of the substances of God, not God Himself. And the interpretation is that he will manifest power and will be able to prevail against the power of spiritual substances, such as Malach, which was a spiritual root of Isau, Jacob’s antipode brother. And the Most High shall be the ruler of the world. So say the wise men, and it all will happen through prevailing against the spiritual power of Isau.
“Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” That is, the Angel doesn’t give his name. The Angel knows his own name. He has harmony, wholeness, he has fullness, he has no need to confess it. But Jacob didn’t understand yet, he is in the transition. And in this trauma he hasn’t yet become Israel completely. He is now only receiving the beginnings of Israel. He has to become him yet.
“And He blessed him there”. “There” is not about the place. It is about a place in spiritual journey. This is where the empowerment happened – “He blessed him there”. How did he do it, whether He blew on him, or it was a touch – this is not that important. But He blessed him in this point, this is called empowerment. These are not new ideas, if you understand, it doesn’t mean you’ve been empowered. We may see an amazing article, but it’s not yours. Empowerment is when you obtain and possess.
“So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” – That is, a man give names to places. We don’t have such a tradition yet. But you have to be entitled in order to give names. Look at traditions prophets had. He gave name to Bethel – why? This is the mentality of a prophet. He changes the name, and it becomes a city. And he does it here, gives a name of Peniel, which means “turned to God” or “the face of God”.
“Just as he crossed over Peniel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.” The lameness was the consequence of the spiritual encounter. What happened? – A visitation, an encounter left an trace – a dragging leg and the new name. Here’s the price for a new name.
How was it that he wrestled with God? And the Scripture interprets the Scripture, this is said in Hosea:
“The Lord also brings a charge against Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his deeds He will recompense him.
And here is where his spirit of a wrestler comes from, though he was a gentle shepherd, but:
He took his brother by the heel in the womb, – this spirit of thirst for life, to be closer to the essence – and in his strength he struggled with God. Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; he wept, and sought favor from Him. – This is how he wrestled with God, wouldn’t step aside, grabbing hold of Him. –
He found Him in Bethel, and there He spoke to us. That is, the Lord God of hosts. The Lord is His memorable name. So you, by the help of your God, return;
Observe mercy and justice, and wait on your God continually.” – This is all connected here.
So, the important things we find here is that we must make a transition. Create a place for God, where you can be alone with Him. And wrestling with God for the highest thing, fighting for blessing that would change the nature of our faith.