Jacob: Remaining Behind at Penuel (2)

It is now twenty years ago that a young man stopped by the well of Haran. For twenty years Jacob worked for the man who became his father-in-law. The Lord has been good for Jacob; he now has a family and a large business. More importantly the Lord did not forget him. In Bethel the Lord promised him, “I will be with thee.” (Oh, what a wonder that is when the Lord is with me. There are times that the enemies must be silent, times when I may walk in the fear of the Lord, trusting in Him who may be all and all for body and soul.) For Jacob the Lord was with him, but we do not read that in all that time there was another revelation of the God who was with him.

Now after twenty years the time has come that the Lord will bring him back. That is why Jacob is by the brook Jabbok. His family and all his possessions have passed over the brook. Why is Jacob remaining behind? He is afraid. Why is Jacob afraid? Does he not have a promise of the Lord? Yes, but he misses faith, that faith which may lean upon a promising God even when the journey ahead is dark and dangerous. His thoughts go back twenty years. He sees a black page in his life where he deceived a blind father and his brother Esau, and how he fled for his life. Now he heard that his brother was coming with four hundred men. True, he has taken certain steps dividing all into two bands, thinking that when Esau would capture one band perhaps the other would escape.

Why is Jacob remaining behind? Has the Lord not promised, “Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee”? Yes, but there is so much guilt. Guilt that has never been taken away; things are not right between him and the Lord. Perhaps some of you may understand how good the Lord has been good for you. When you look back upon your life, how many undeserved blessings you see. Yes, you may not deny a time when the Lord awakened a hope in your heart, a time that you thought that there also was a Bethel in your life. Still, today, you carry a burden which causes fear in your heart; you stand alone and are afraid to go forward. Often you wonder, “How can I ever cross that river?” Then you long for the application of that precious blood. There seems to be only one cry, “Lord, give me a place behind the blood of my Saviour. Lord, I long to hear, ‘When I see the blood, I will pass over.’”

Jacob was left alone. Guilt stands open between him and a just God. Oh, Lord, my sins, my sins! Now, the Lord will not leave such a traveler by himself. We read, “and there wrestled a Man with him until the breaking of the day.” That Man is the God of Bethel; that is the ever faithful, good-doing Lord. In that night Jacob may cling to this God. Is there ever a better time for God’s dear children than when in such a night they may cling to the Lord who has come to hold them in His arms? That is the holy One who looks at the sacrifice of his dear Son and whispers, “No more Jacob, that has all been put away, washed in the blood for which thy heart longs.” “And He said, Let Me go, for the day breaketh.” Those people cannot let the Lord go anymore. If they have to let go of the Lord, how can it ever be light in their soul? That is why Jacob said I cannot let Thee go unless Thou bless me. And He said, “What is thy name?” There in that dark night, a man may hold onto his God. There in that dark night he may open his heart unto the Lord. He looks back and all is sin. He deceived his father, his brother and his uncle. Lord, my name is Jacob; Lord all is sin. There in that night is a man who had to wrestle; in that wrestling heart comes a bowing. Oh, Lord, if Thou wouldst have to cast me away to be forever lost, that would be just and right, but Lord, what would Thou then do with Thy holy name?

In that night these people cry, “Lord, is there yet a way that this awful breach may be healed?” How can such sinners plead for a blessing? Only when the Lord gives that they may have an eye upon Christ. When that God given eye may be upon Christ, then those Jacobs long for God’s answer. They long to hear the Lord say, “No more Jacob; it has all been washed away in the blood of the Saviour. No more Jacob because I have found a ransom for you.” Where did a holy God find a ransom? Upon the cross of Golgotha; no more Jacob because forgiveness flows through that blood; it is because of that price. Oh, how dear that blood now becomes. The sinner now longs for that white stone; he may now long to read his new name in the white stone. Jacob hears his new name out of the mouth of the Lord, “No more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God.” Jacob is preserved because the Lord loved Jacob; all his sin was washed away in the blood of his Saviour. “And he called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

Jacob passed back over the brook and he halted upon his thigh. Now a man who has experienced the wonder of forgiveness will be crippled the rest of his life. However, one day those crippled ones may come home; there they will never be crippled anymore. There they may always be with the Lord who came, sought, and saved “a wretch like me.” Perhaps it is not wrong to now ask you, dear friend, “Where will you spend eternity?”

(To be continued)

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