This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Habakkuk” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, March 12, 1995.

This morning we are beginning our scripture reading in Genesis. In the book of Genesis we are at chapter 32. I will begin reading at verse 13. And Jacob lodged there that same night, and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother, two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milch camels and their colts, forty kine and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals.

And he delivered them into the hand of his servants. every drove by themselves, and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove. And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee? Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s. It is a present sent unto my Lord Esau, and behold also, he is behind us.’ And so commanded he the second and the third, and all that followed, that drove, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau when ye find him. And saying, Moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present. that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face.

Peradventure he will accept of me.’ So it went to the present over before him, and himself watched that night in the company, and he arose up that night and took his two wives and his two women servants and his eleven sons and passed over the fort Jabbok. and he took them and sent them over the brook and sent over that he had. And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when the man saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. The man said, Let me go, for the day breaketh.

And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel, for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place to Nile.

For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. As he passed over Penuel, the sun rose upon him and he halted upon his thigh. Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh unto this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank.” Then turning over to Habakkuk, Chapter 2, the first four verses.

I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower and will watch to see what the Lord will say unto me and what I shall answer when I am approved. And the Lord answered me. and said, Write the vision and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie, though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry. His soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith.

Pray together now. Grant, Almighty God, that as thou seest us laboring under so much weakness, yea, with our minds so blinded that our faith falters at the smallest perplexities and almost fails altogether, O Grant that by the power of Thy Spirit we may be raised up above this world and learn more and more to renounce our own counsels, and so to come to Thee that we may stand fixed in our watchtower, ever hoping through Thy power for whatever Thou hast promised to us, though Thou shouldst not immediately make it manifest to us. And may we thus give full proof of our faith and patience and proceed in the course of our warfare until at length we ascend above all watchtowers into that blessed rest where we shall no more watch with an attentive mind but see face to face in thine image whatever can be wished and whatever is needful for our perfect happiness. through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jacob faced death in his return to Canaan and to his brother Esau, who had promised to kill him. But on the night before that meeting, before the meeting of these estranged brothers, after Jacob had sent ahead all that he had, and even separated himself from his family, thus placing all that he had in Esau’s power He remained alone in the camp.

He was visited that night by a nameless stranger, and before the night closed, he was engaged, he was entangled in the most incredible wrestling match. Jacob wrestled with this stranger until the break of day. He wrestled, as it were, through the hours of the night watch. There is something of a watchtower for Jacob.

Jacob, who undoubtedly intended to devote his full attention to God that night, sensed, we are not told how, that this stranger who came upon him, who now commended his full attention, signaled for him the presence of the divine, even of God himself. This being the case, Jacob had then within his grasp the one who so many years before had made promise to him. That promise, as Jacob reviewed it in his mind and soul, regarded the land, the land of Canaan. to which now Jacob was returning, and that with the encouragements of the Lord himself, even because of the directives that the Lord had given him. But now Jacob stands at the border of that land. He stands on the Jordan’s east side.

His heart still fixed upon the fulfillment of that promise, but at the same time overwhelmed with a desperate anxiety and saw-stopping fear that he saw would kill him. But if Esau kills me, then what about that upon which I have set my heart? If I die, what about the promised land?” He had separated himself from his family that night. He had sent all his wealth ahead of him, and that for the sake of bribing Esau, hopefully guaranteeing, securing his life, and thus still being in a position, in his own estimation, to take possession of land.

So, as Jacob recognized in this nameless stranger the presence of God himself, he fought with the stranger as if wrestling with God himself. In part, he fought with the stranger. because of his deep and fearful anxiety. Death itself terrified the man. And as he struggles with this stranger, you can almost hear him crying out from the struggle, You can’t let me die, God! Fighting as it were for his life, In part, also, Jacob fights out of severe frustration, and not a little bit of outrage and anger.

You promised me the land. What about the land? You must give it to me. And in part, Jacob wrestled for reasons that he didn’t understand, that were beyond him as yet. So he battles tenaciously and he holds on for dear life, and I mean that literally. He will not, in this struggle, let God go. But note the stranger. The stranger does not get free of Jacob. The stranger, although standing, as it were, for God and in the place of God does not prevail over Jacob.

It is as if God is caught by His own design in keeping with His own plan. God is caught, and caught because He wishes to be caught, giving Himself over into the power of the man. It will be in the manifestation of weakness which God takes to himself that he communicates his most profound message.

Still even here, the Lord in the stranger demonstrates his sovereignty and in the struggle dislocates Jacob’s hip. Later on, Jews would strike the hip as a sign of repentance. Here, God strikes Jacob’s hip as if inflicting a repentance upon the man, an assigned repentance. Indeed, a very painful reminder of the man’s frailty and his moral weakness, his sinfulness.

But a wound as well that would test Jacob’s perseverance. Will he persevere through this reminder of repentance? Will he persevere through this reminder of his own frailty and sin? Will he persevere past the handicap and its testimony to him about the condition of his flesh?

So, the struggle, the fight goes on. Jacob does prevail, it seems, and as the end comes, that is, the rising of the sun. The stranger asks to be released from Jacob’s grip, as if the goal of the struggle had now been reached. Jacob, however, refuses even here. He holds on. He refuses to let go, holding out for the certainty of the blessing. I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The stranger then asks, as if he didn’t know, what is your name?

He is no more ignorant of Jacob’s name than he is powerless in Jacob’s drip. But here is one more obstacle in Jacob that must be circumvented, overcome. For Jacob must now acknowledge who he is. By asking for the name, the stranger has now compelled Jacob to confess it. The assigned repentance is going on to a material repentance. And as Jacob pronounces his name, he is reminded of its meaning. He is the usurper. He is the trickster. He is the shyster. He is the flimflammer. He is the crook. Or better, he is the one who is endeavored to prevail through deceit and by way of his own machinations.

The stranger now, upon hearing the confession of the man’s name, confers upon Jacob a new name, and as the darkness ends and the light breaks, Jacob receives a new name for life in a new world. Revelation tells us that in glory we will all receive a new name. So here, as the darkness ends, as the light breaks, Jacob receives a new name for life in a new world. But what stands at the center of this new world? the stranger doesn’t even mention the land. Jacob has asked for a blessing, and the stranger says nothing about the land.

Jacob’s new name is Israel, which means, he who strives with God. For Jacob, as the stranger says, has striven with God and prevailed. The notion is not that Jacob is more powerful than God, that he is able to best God in a fair fight. Rather, the stranger means that Jacob has persevered with God even beyond the anxiety, even beyond the fear and the frustration, even beyond the outrage and anger. even beyond the wound, reminding Jacob of his weakness and his sin, even through the climactic confession of his own name and its shameful, sinful significance.

Through all of this, Jacob has clung to God. That’s the point. He has clung to God, and as the day dawns, even as the end comes, It is becoming clear that it is God and only God to whom Jacob can cling. Not the land, not the wealth, not the manna of the creation, not even his own family. Jacob has clung to God and to Him alone, and he has done so for God’s own sake.

He is forced to do so. That’s the nature of the struggle. He is forced to do so. It is not a mistake that the stranger comes. The whole affair is by design. Jacob has clung to God. In the end, to him alone. And it is being made clear to Japheth that he has done this for God’s sake alone. And now in this struggle through the night, the man knows and understands this.

But one more test remains. The whole affair has been shaded in mystery. It has taken place in the wee hours. In fact, it can only take place while it is dark. It is only in the night that faith is perfected. It is only in the night that faith here in our circumstance functions. It is only in the awesome mystery of the shadows and darkness that faith reveals its magnificent tenacity. It is only in the shadows of uncertainty that the brilliant beam of faith shines with its own form of certainty and absolute trust. So, when Jacob asks the stranger’s name, having come so far in the progress of his he at this point is wandering very close to the overthrow of his faith. Not that God has not delighted in revealing his name to his people, or even giving his name to them, that he might be known by his name and called upon by his name.

But Jacob’s request at this point challenges the faith that is taking shape in his own soul, and attempts to replace the certainty of that faith with a certainty that is coming from a different order. You see, Jacob presently believes that the stranger is divine. He presently believes that the stranger is God. If the stranger tells him he is God, where is the faith? Jesus will come and clothe his identity for a purpose. He will even make a secret of his identity. If he comes right out and states the case, I ask you, where is the faith? So rather than telling Jacob his name, the stranger makes Jacob consider the reason why he is asking for the name. Why do you ask my name? Do you not by faith already know it?

It is at this point that Jacob is now satisfied in his faith. There is not going to be any hesitation in him once the day dawns, that he must cross that river and meet his brother. Why? He has God. Jacob is now satisfied in his faith. In fact, he is now in this satisfaction of faith that Jacob touches the heart of what true faith does.

You see, true faith justifies by laying hold of God himself, resting in him and in him alone. True faith believes that by grace it has beheld the face of God and survived. lived to tell about it. Faith, therefore, moves one beyond condemnation. There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. True faith moves one beyond condemnation and pass God’s wrath into the glorious certainty of His blessing. And nothing, not even the land, compares in magnitude with such a blessing. And it is here that true faith even clarifies its goal. that upon which it is set, not the land, not the earth, but God himself. He is our exceeding great reward.”

Some 1,200 years after Jacob wrestled with the stranger at Peniel, Habakkuk would be engaged in his own wrestling match. And compelled, maybe even more strikingly and frighteningly, to stare into the horrible prospect of the Babylonian invasion. Destruction in the land of promise, exiled from it, led away into captivity under God’s wrath and judgment.

Habakkuk would embody as Jacob before him Israel’s struggle. You see, Jacob is Israel. The life of the nation is in the man. So Habakkuk appears now in his own particular context, he embodying as Jacob before him true Israel’s struggle. He would be shaken to the very root of his existence as he saw not only the promise of But the assurances, the very assurances of the law brought into question. The law guarantees me that the righteous prosper and the wicked don’t. So to him, Habakkuk, in more explicit form and in sharper definition, than possibly Jacob himself perceived.

Faith, true faith, is coming to expression. As Habakkuk is compelled to watch his world, his very Jewish world, crumble, he is driven to question God’s wisdom and righteousness. Habakkuk, in the night of his soul, as if A watchman waiting for the dawn, struggling through the night, will learn, because of God’s grace to him, that the just shall live by faith. Not by the land, not by the law, but by faith. Such faith that, first of all, justifies God, vindicates Him, His wisdom and His righteousness, becoming the believer’s chief delight and true and only heaven. The Lord is not only my portion, my inheritance, he is my dwelling place.

But even though Jacob, and yes, later Habakkuk, are those in whom true faith asserts itself so remarkably and powerfully, their faith yet stands short, in some fashion, stands short of the goal. For a true and perfect faith will be revealed, will appear, in the Lord Jesus Christ and in Him alone. We should remember that not only is the Lord Jesus Christ the only perfect object of faith, we believe in Him, so that He being God, is the one to whom we look, that he might be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” says the Apostle Paul. But while the Lord Jesus is the only perfect object of faith, he is also the only perfect believer who, being justified by his faith, now sees God and lives eternally to communicate life by faith to everyone who believes in his justification through his death and resurrection. And even now, the Lord Jesus Christ wrestles with his elect by the Spirit that they might have the perfect work of faith in them.

Has he wrestled with you? Is he wrestling with you right now? It is a severe struggle for God. We know. That one of your design. The struggle that we see perfected in Jesus Christ himself. We would be found in him. And as you bring us to a mature faith, oh God, we would be partakers of a perfect faith in Christ. and rejoice in the sufficiency of our Savior. O God, it is by his faithfulness that we are justified, even as now we by faith lay hold of him. We rejoice, O God, that you have blessed us with this one who is the righteous man. prevailing in and by his faith. But Lord, we ask that we would not falter, knowing that our Savior is truly God, as well as man, and that he is the object of our faith, and that he bestows upon us marvelous And as we have grabbed hold of him now, not willing to let go, we are brought, O God, into the eternal inheritance. And, Lord, the day dawns when we shall see you, even face to face. Bless us, O God, with a faith that perseveres to the glory of your name.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.