The Faith of Our Fathers: Session 3 – Jacob – Flesh vs Spirit

Notes:

Jacob – Spirit vs Flesh    See Session Slides Here

Jacob means cunning; heel-catcher: to go behind the back; act in deceit. This was prophetic of what would be his dominant trait. He would deceive and manipulate to get his way. He would trust in the flesh.

Jacob is a testimony of the power of God’s grace to transform. The purpose of God is that we who have been justified (Abraham) and made sons (Isaac) be transformed into an Israel (a prince with God), as Jacob was, by God’s grace. How did God transform him? How does He transform us?

1) By a process of gradual transformation (not crisis encounters)

  • Jacob had to run from Esau. He had an encounter with God. The dream reassured him that there was no need to manipulate; he could trust God. But he responded to grace with flesh not faith.
  • After the divine encounter Jacob was greatly encouraged but not changed. Many Christian meetings are aimed at bringing people to a crisis encounter at an altar call, but it is seldom lives are changed this way.
  • We have already received everything for life and godliness. Sanctification is a gradual process by which we learn to walk in the Spirit (by faith) and work out what God has worked into us,  2 Cor.3:18.

2) By the law of sowing and reaping

God showed him the fruits of both sowing to the flesh and sowing to the Spirit.

  • Sowing to the flesh. How do you think he felt waking up the morning after his wedding night and discovered Leah, not Rachel, in his bed? Probably the same way Isaac felt when he discovered that it wasn’t Esau but Jacob that he was blessing! The deceiver is deceived.
  • Sowing to the Spirit. With God’s help and by clever selective breeding Jacob ensured reproduction of the animals with abnormalities, given to him by Laban, Gen.31:11-12, 42. Jacob eventually developed his own flock; much bigger than Laban’s. He saw the blessing of working with God.

3) By making all things work together for good

  • Gen. 29:31&32. With Leah, Jacob’s ‘accidental’ wife, God began to build the house of Israel. From her came Levi (the priesthood), and Judah (the royal line of Israel). She gave him 6 sons and 2 more through her handmaiden. And it was Leah who lived on with Jacob in his latter days as his help and support.
  • Jacob stayed with Laban another 6 years after he married Rachel; 20 years in total with Laban. He was learning that he was not in control; he could not work things out through the flesh.
  • Things were not so pleasant now between the two men (Gen.31:2). God used the friction between them to get Jacob to return to the Promised Land.
  • It’s easy to look at those 20 years from a human viewpoint and regard them as wasted years. But in the midst of the deception, rivalry, jealousy and bargaining God was working out His purposes (Rom.8:28).

4) By bringing us to the end of ourselves

  • The problem was that he had nowhere to flee but back into the face of Esau. The last time he saw Esau he vowed he would kill Jacob. As he made his journey home he was still scheming. He planned how he would attempt to appease Esau with a gift (Gen. 32:13-20). He still leaned upon his own understanding.
  • A ‘Man’ (Gen.32:24), or ‘Angel’ (Hos.12:3&4), or God (Gen.32:30) appeared to him and began to wrestle with him. Why? Jacob had been working independently of God and now God has one purpose – to exhaust him, to bring him to an end of himself. Note, Jacob did not wrestle with the Angel but the Angel with Jacob. All Jacob could do was to cling to him. The Angel told him to let Him go. Jacob protested, ‘I will not let you go until you bless me’. He finally came to an end of himself.
  • God touched the socket of his hip and it became dislocated. From this moment he walked it was with a limp. His lameness would remind him not to scheme, nor manipulate but to trust God. John Newton. Through faith in God he would prevail. His name was changed to Israel – a prince with God, Gen. 33:20.
  • Jacob’s muscle shrank (Gen.32:32), (not removed). The flesh is never removed. The flesh will always be there wanting to scheme and take control. For Jacob, however, the flesh had shrunk. The Spirit was now supreme, and was reigning in Jacob’s life. His confidence was in God, not in his ability to manipulate.
  • He was a prince with God. At this point ‘the sun rose on him’ (Gen.32:31).