Wrestle With The Angel!

8/7/2019 Wrestle With The Angel!

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[Wrestle With The ANGEL\

The Hebrew patriarch Jacob on his return to the promise land after working

twenty years for his deceptive uncle Laban, wrestled with a man who

turns out to be God.

Genesis 32:24-30 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with

him until the breaking of the day.

25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the

hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacobs thigh was out of joint, as he

wrestled with him.

26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let

thee go, except thou bless me.

27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, butIsrael: for asa prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he

said, Wherefore is it thatthou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him

there.

30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face

to face, and my life is preserved.

Jacob tenaciously wrestles with a man who is THE Angel of the LORD,

who is no other than the LORD Jesus in his pre-earthly existence. We knowthis is Jesus because Jesus tells us in the sixth chapter of John that no man

hath ever seen the Father yet Jacob states for I have seen God face to face.

When we see the phrase THE angel of the LORD it is always talking aboutJesus in his pre-earthly existence.

Jacob refuses to let the LORD go, until he receives a blessing, Jacob receivesa name change. Hebrew thought puts great importance to a persons name.

To know a mans name is to know the very substance of his being, his

character is involved in his name. The name Jacob means supplanter;supplant means to supersede or replace. Jacobs name is changed to Israel,

which means he shall be a prince of God". So, in essence Jacob received

a character change. He has changed from a trickster to a chosen man of the

LORD, and his actions from that time on reflect it.


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Jacob wrestling with God is a figurative metaphor of what every believer

goes thru. We learn what pleases God such as the Ten Commandments also

known as the Decalogue then we do our best to perform them. We wrestle

with the precepts that one learns when we dedicate ourselves to the LORD.

As we grow in God we learn that He doesnt like covetousness, greed,

gossip, false witness, lying, cheating, stealing, violence, inordinate sexual

relations, drunkenness and many other human behaviors. The bible reflects

that humankinds morality does not meet Gods expectations.

Disobedience is an innate part of human nature. So we wrestle or strive with

the higher expectations the LORD has set out for us. Jacob is a type of everybeliever who under goes the change from sinner to saint. When we come to

the LORD we begin to fight the good fight of faith.

1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life,

whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before

many witnesses.

We fight the good fight of faith to lay hold on eternal life. When we come

to the LORD, he begins to change our nature or gives us a name change like

Jacob. When we first come to the LORD we receive a hyper sensitiveconscience. When we lie or cuss or steal our hyper sensitive conscience

condemns us, thus begins the wrestling match as described by the apostlePaul in our next scripture.

1 Corinthians 9:25-27 And every man that striveth for the mastery is

temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we

an incorruptible.

26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly;so fight I, not as one that beateth

the air:

27 ButI keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any

means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

The apostle writes so fight I, he views spirituality as a fight, fight the good

fight of faith. The fight is within, a fight between the carnal man and the

spiritual man. The fight is to do good and not bad to our fellow man. The

fight is to be humble, not self- promoting.


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Strive: macomaimachomai makh'-om-ahee Gr. - to fight as those whoengage in a hand to hand struggle (the Greek word forstrive)

Jesus echos this thought offighting the good fight of faith in our next

scripture.

Luke 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will

seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

We who come to the LORD strive to do what is pleasing to Him. Such as

turn the other cheek, which is completely against our human nature.

2 Corinthians 13:5Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove

your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in

you, except ye be reprobates?

A reprobate is defined as an unprincipled person. Examine yourselves.

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great

a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth

so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

1 Corinthians 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate

in all things. Now they do itto obtain a corruptible crown; but we an

incorruptible.

A man who strives for masteries is running with patience the race that is

set before him. Mastery means: comprehensive knowledge or skill in a

subject or accomplishment.

2 Timothy 2:5 And ifa man also strive for masteries,yetis he not crowned,

except hestrive lawfully.

So, this precept use the phrases - wrestle- wrestling, fight - fight the goodfight, strive - striveth, run - running the race the race before us, prove

your own self, examine.

Mastery in Christianity means someone who has overcome sin. They can

live above sin. I call these people, perfect overcomers.


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They have accomplished total enlightenment. They receive an incorruptible

crown, an immortal spiritual body - like the angels.

So, to achieve masteries, we must always be examining ourselves. We

wrestle with the precepts of God that are contrary to our carnal nature. Lets

look at some scriptural descriptions of these special people.

Overcomers:

1 John 5:4-5 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this

is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith

5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is

the Son of God?

He that overcometh is someone who has mastered all of his carnal

inclinations. He desires nothing that the world has to offer. His hopes anddesires are totally committed to the LORD and the afterlife, not an easy featto accomplish.

Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the

churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which

is in the midst of the paradise of God.

The overcomer has access to the tree of life.

Revelation 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto

the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

The overcomer will not be hurt by the second death, which is death of the

soul.


the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden

manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name

written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

The overcomer eats of hidden manna, is given a white stone or an

immortal body like the angels, and they are given a new name.

Revelation 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the

end, to him will I give power over the nations:


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The overcomer will have power over the nations.

Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white

raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will

confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

The overcomer will be clothed in white raiment, which is another

description of an immortal body.

Revelation 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my

throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his

throne.

The overcomer will sit with Christ in his throne, or will rule with Christ.

Revelation 21:7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be

his God, and he shall be my son.

The overcomer will inherit all things, they are the true sons of God.

Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of

my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of

my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem,

which cometh down out of heaven from my God: andI will write upon him

my new name.

The overcomer will be a pillar in the temple of God, and receive a new

name.

A New Name:

As I wrote earlier in the lesson, Hebrew thought puts great importance to a

persons name. To know a mans name is to know the very substance of hisbeing, his character is involved in his name. Just as Jacob received a new

name, so also does the redeemed. A new name, or changed nature, changed

from the nature or character of a carnal man to the nature or character of a

son of God.


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the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna,

and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which

no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of

my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of

my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem,

which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him

my new name.

Isaiah 62:2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy

glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of theLORD shall name.

Revelation 19:12-13 His (Jesus) eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head

were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he

himself.

13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is

called The Word of God.

Again, Hebrew thought puts great importance to a persons name. To know

a mans name is to know the very substance of his being, his character is

involved in his name.

The sons of God

This is an elite group of people redeemed from among mankind. Known in

the scripture by many different monickers; the blessed, the called, the few,

the chosen, the overcomers, the sons of God.

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to becomethe sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons

of God.


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Philippians 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God,without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom

ye shine as lights in the world;

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us

not, because it knew him not.

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear

what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like

him; for we shall see him as he is.

So, let us wrestle with the angel and overcome every weight and sin that so

easily besets us, and we, like Jacob and receive a new name, we can become

the sons of God.

Copyright 2011 Wilder Family Trust Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by anymeans, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,

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Wrestle With The Angel!

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