“Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ And he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ Then he said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.’” (Ge 32:26-28)
Yesterday we read about the Jacob’s great humility before God, the mark of someone who has truly walked with God and matured spiritually.
Today we read about Jacob’s great hunger after God. He said to the man who wrestled with him: “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
It is written about Jacob: “In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. He strove with the angel and prevailed.” (Hos 12:3-4)
Jacob was hungry for God’s blessings all of his life. He became the pattern for all who seek after God. It is written in Psalm 24:6: “This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face.” (NKJV)
May we learn from Jacob to prevail in prayer! May we seek God and never give up until we find Him. We read also this morning from Psalm 42: “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Ps 42:1-2)
Jacob sought God and he prevailed. He overcame and became Israel, which means “Prince with God”.
God is looking for overcomers in these end times. That is the appeal Yeshua gives at the end of all His letters to the assemblies in Asia Minor. Here are the last two:
“The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.” (Rev 3:12)
“The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” (Rev 3:21)
We need to learn from Jacob who said to God: “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Mt 7:7-8)
