September 16

Read: Genesis 32:3-12, 22-30

Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good (Genesis 32:12).

God Confronts A Man Again

Shall we say that Jacob’s blessing at Jabbok was an experience of entire sanctification? Certainly the Holy Spirit was not then available to men in the New Testament sense. But are there not in this account striking parallels to the lives of men whom we have known as they have come into the experience of Christian holiness?

Was Jacob’s experience a “second blessing properly so called”? Let us not be dogmatic, but all can agree on this much: here was a crisis in Jacob’s spiritual life — and it was not the first one. When we agree on the reality behind our words, we become more generous with each other in our efforts to describe the workings of God. Here was God’s encounter with a man who had already met Him at Bethel (Genesis 28:10-22). Jacob considered himself to be: a servant of God. He already had a measure of trust in the Lord and knew something of the divine power available to a man who prays. He who already knew God in a measure, came to Him for further help — and he found God in a deeper experience.

Many a man has been pushed to prayer and to further confrontation by God when he has thus found his problems to be greater than his resources. In this Jacob is typical. He had previously found ways of his own to outwit his opponents and to outmaneuver his problems. Now he had a situation that was beyond him.

In verse 24 we read: “And Jacob was left alone.” These words are not in the record by accident. Here is a significant fact of the spiritual life. We do not do business with God until we give Him our full attention. When we are alone with God, things begin to happen in our lives.

Affirmation For Today

When I need help, I shall get alone and let God speak to me.