WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
Genesis 32: 27, 28
Sermon by
Rev. A. Stehouwer
Published by the
PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
OF THE
FREE REFORMED CHURCHES OF NORTH AMERICA
(October 14, 2001)
LITURGY:
Votum
Psalter:
Law of God
Psalter:
Scripture: Genesis 32: 9-31
Text: Genesis 32: 27 & 28
Prayer
Offerings
Psalter:
Sermon
Psalter: 423: 7
Prayer
Psalter: 268: 1,2,4
Benediction
Doxology: 197
WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
You will find the text in Genesis 32 the verses 27 and 28. “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 thou hast power with God and with men, and has prevailed.”
Beloved congregation, it was on the December 31st 1966 that I, as a student for the ministry, preached on this text here in this church. And a few days later I had to do the oral, final examination for the ministry at Calvin Seminary. And so you understand, so close to your examination and then preaching..……..!!! It did not suit me at all. But your pastor at that time, Rev. Tamminga, was sick and so I had no choice but to preach. And so at the end of 1966, I preached here, in this church, my first New Years Eve sermon. And I still recall, by the grace of God, how He in His mercy granted me to speak, and you as a congregation to listen. That is close to 35 years ago! So, the question comes. Who has the Lord been to you as a congregation, and personally in these 35 years? And to me as His servant? Then I may say from the heart, “The Lord has been good and gracious. Providing richly in every way!”
A few days later, at the oral examination, young people, there were seven professors!! And there you sit alone. And the first question they asked me was, “where in the Bible appears the name Israel for the first time?” Well, it is in the text that I preached from that New Years Eve!! The new Jacob received from the Lord. I hope you understand that I was deeply humbled for, as I said, it didn’t suit me at all and I grumbled and complained, “why couldn’t it have been different?” And now, see how the Lord so let all things, that I could only walk ????? and give praise and thanks to him. I’ve never spoken of it and so I thought it fitting to share it with you this morning.
And what can we now do? You as a congregation and I as His servant? We have nothing in ourselves but we can only glory in the Lord. So you see, that the text is the same, right? But the sermon, I trust you know is different, after 35 years! Who has the Lord been? What has the Lord done? What has the Lord granted, to me and also to you? So, very simply, the theme for the sermon is, “What is your Name?” (1) Jacob’s Old Name and (2) Jacob’s New Name. You can see, as you look at your text, it begins with the question, “What is your name?” Now, that is a simple question but who is asking this question? That is not a mere man, congregation, but it is the Holy and the Living God, himself! And He calls himself, in His word, again and again, “the God of the fathers. Of Abraham and of Isaac.” Now what can Jacob say in the presence of the Holy and Living God? He can only mention his old name;……the name of an unworthy sinner. You see, the more we get to know the Lord, the more we also get to know ourselves and our sins! So when the Lord asked Jacob, there at the Jabbok, his name, he had to state his old name…..Jacob. It is 20 years ago that he left home and all that time Jacob had stayed with his uncle Laban far away in Mesopotamia. What had he done, boys and girls? He had deceived his old and nearly blind father and he stole away the blessing from his brother Esau. When Esau learned what Jacob had done, he sought to kill him. So when Jacob went to Mesopotamia, he fled for his life. It was at the end of 20 years, that we read, that the Lord appeared to him again. And what did the Lord say? “Arise, get thee from this land and return unto the land of thy kindred.” The LORD came and the LORD spoke!! And Jacob obeyed!!! And in obedience to the voice of the Lord, he took all that he had and went back to the land of Canaan.
In the verses that we have read together, he has come to the brook Jabbok; at the border crossing of “the promised land.” As he prayed, according to the verses 9 and 10, he looks back! Do you ever do that? Look back? And he said, “Lord, who was I? A poor fugitive. All I had was my clothes and the staff in my hand! And now, I had become two bands, two groups. He had wives and children and a lot of livestock. You see how the Lord had blessed Jacob, richly. And in the meantime, he had learned that Esau is coming with 400 men. You read in verse 7, that “Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed.” You see, the Bible tells us, but Jacob did not know the outcome of the meeting with his brother would be. Will Esau take revenge and kill him? There you have just one reason why he was so greatly distressed, that night, at the brook Jabbok. His own life was in danger and the life of all who were dear to him. He realizes 20 years ago he could flee from Esau but now he can no longer escape him. What must he do? Boys and girls, look at me. He folded his hands. He folded his hands and he prayed to the God of the fathers; Abraham and Isaac. And he confessed, very humbly, that he is not worthy of the least of all the mercies he had received. He beseeches the Lord, that He will deliver him from the hand of Esau. He says, “Oh Lord, let him not slay the mother with the children.” It is a moving prayer. “I am not worthy the least of all they mercies.”
Then I look around in church. Perhaps there are people in our midst who, on a certain occasion, have prayed in a similar spirit: “I am not worthy, the least of all thy mercies.” Have you ever considered, congregation, what is missing in this prayer!?? It is a humble prayer but what is missing? It is the confession of sin!!! For Jacob had sinned against his aged, nearly blind father, against his brother and above all, againstthe Lord, his God. And you see, in these years, now he comes before the Lord and so he prays. The Lord is teaching him! And what does he do? Jacob is the tradesman. He goes to his flock and out of his livestock he takes a very great present unto his brother. If you would put it in money today you would perhaps be over a million dollars! A present you can’t wrap in a package! After he led all across the Jabbok, Jacob stayed behind.
Then you read in verse 24, “A man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.” Now the prophet Hosea, in chapter 12, refers to the same instance. There he says, “the angel of the Lord wrestled with Jacob!” And it means very simply that the Lord, through the angel, came and wrestled with Jacob. The ALMIGHTY GOD wrestles with a weak, sinful, unworthy man! And the Lord comes and wrestles still with us today.
Now, why did the Lord wrestle with Jacob? Well, I mentioned it. He was greatly afraid and distressed. He dreaded the meeting with his brother Esau! And Jacob, that night, feared for his own life and for the life of all that were with him. We can only then marvel. Here is a sinful, unworthy man and then you see how richly, how abundantly the Lord had blessed him. You see, that we have a God, congregation, who does not deal with us after our sins! At the border crossing of the promised land the Lord said, “Jacob, let all go and YOU stay behind.” There were certain things between this man and his God. And so Jacob may soon enter the promised land but don’t think, congregation, that he can enter in his own strength or on his own merits!! So the Lord says, “you stay behind. I want to talk to you.” That is still the reason why the Lord takes us apart at times. Then he “wrestles” with us. That is what you have to consider! Not what there is between the other and God….but what there is between YOU and God! And so the Lord, this morning, asks….and He comes to old and young, and He says, “What is your OLD name?” Is it clear to you, congregation? What is Jacob’s old name and what is your and my old name?
And as the Lord wrestles with Jacob, we read in verse 25, “He could not overcome.” Here is the almighty God and he cannot win it from the mortal man, Jacob. So with the one hand He pushed him down and with the other hand, He upheld him in his back. There you have the reason why God could not win it from Jacob. And that is the grace and the mercy of God. And so from that brook Jabbok we draw the line to Gethsemane and Golgotha. God own Son……..the Lord Jesus Christ. Like unto us in all things, with only one exception………without sin. And how the dear Savior wrestled in Gethsemane, with God, and on the cross He was forsaken!! Boys and girls, have you ever seen a rescue boat? If there is someone in the water… he slams his hand on the edge of the boat!! That is what the Savior did…..and the Father pushed those hands loose and He sank down into the depth of judgment and condemnation!!! And that is what you and I and Jacob and ALL of us have deserved. He did for Jacob. He did it for Abraham and Isaac. He did it for David, Peter and Paul. We should have gone down. And now you sit here in church, and don’t you say then with a broken heart,” O Lord, how good and gracious thou art, that thou hast spared me until this very moment!” You see the text now stands exposed: in the light of the “cross.” We see again, how Hosea says that Jacob wrestled. And what else did he do? He wept and made supplication unto the Lord…weeping and crying!! The poet of Psalm 39 says, “keep notsilent unto my tears.”
This week I heard of someone who said, “I don’t how to pray.” Well, I don’t know either. You can shed tears and these are, to God, like words; WRESTLING, CRYING, BEGGING the Lord for His grace. And you know…, we need much grace! Ask for grace with your whole heart and to live from grace and grace alone, from day to day. And then you see that we become a very humble people. As Jacob was left that night behind, God met him. How dark it was in the night around him and within him. You know, maybe there are people who have experienced something similar. You can be sick at home or in the hospital and you are awake at night and you turn around and around. You fear because the doctors told you more examinations and tests are needed. You hoped that it would be better. The Lord still takes you apart. And then He comes, and He says, “now….don’t come with a conversion story, but “tell Me your name.” When we hear of a baby born, perhaps in the family, you say, “What is the name?” Now, so you see, a NAME has meaning in our circles. But you know in Israel, when people ask for the name, it meant much more than anything else. It is the story of your life; the story of your deepest being. John the Baptist….people thought his name would be Zacharias, but no, his name was given from heaven, John. And what does John mean? God the Holy God is gracious. And his life and his work displayed the graciousness of God. Just to mention one more, Naomi. She had been far away in Moab and she returns with Ruth and there she comes in Bethlehem and the people said, “Oh, is that Naomi? How old she has become.” “Don’t call me Naomi but call me what? You may say it if you want. “Call me Mara.” Mara means, “bitter bitterness,” literally, in Hebrew. Great bitterness! And Jacob, a sinner, a deceiver, one who holds the heal. He had shown that in his whole life. There at the brook he said it. “After all They gracious dealings, Lord, I am Jacob.”
What does it now mean, congregation, for everyone of us? Remember it is not just Rev. Stehouwer that asks you, “what is your name?” But the living God asks you. 35 years ago and now again. Then I must say, “Lord, I am still a sinner.” And you? Must you not say, “I am a man, a woman, a boy, a girl, who is a sinner.” For one it might mean, that for a longer time or a shorter time, and perhaps you didn’t go to church and you didn’t read your Bible and didn’t bother about God. For the other, you came regularly to church and sat in the pew and listened and you were busy with other things that cannot stand in God’s holy sight. And now, this morning, “What is your name?” Then you must say, “I am a person, who has gone against God, in my heart, and have gone away from God.” “My old name is Jacob, the sinner but I want a blessing.” Yes, you see, Jacob wanted the blessing of the Lord already in his early life!The blessing promised to Abraham and Isaac. But he used wrong means in obtaining it. Now he desires, and he says, “Lord, I am Jacob, but I cannot be, any longer without thee and thy blessing!” And the Lord, we read: He blessed him and that he was blessed, is of grace and grace alone.
And that you should look at!! First, “what is your name?” You know, first these things that were in between God and Jacob, had to be put away. Then we read that he received the blessing. And you know as I reflect ed upon it, in the English speaking world, there are people who say, “once converted, always converted.” It sounds so pious, right? But it is not Biblical. For Jacob, oh what gracious dealings there had been, of the Lord, in his life. But now, here at this point, “my name is Jacob, a sinner.” That last that Jacob can say……and the last I can say. And how is it in your life, my brother, sister, young people, boys and girls, I don’t know. But I am after so many years, Jacob, the sinner. And then God comes. He says, “That is your last word.” You hear it? Your last word, but I have another word. I give you a NEW name………..Israel! A new name from the Lord!!! “And thy name shall be called no more, Jacob, but thy name shall be called Israel for as a prince thou hast prevailed”…..and with God! Israel! The last syllable is “el” and that is, in Hebrew, one of the names meaning “in God.” And do you see now, how God joins His name to the name of Jacob? You find that with Elijah….meaning “my God is the Lord.” What does the new name mean then? Forgiveness, congregation. All there was between God and Jacob, has been put away. All of the sins…..a new future…..a new life. The Lord blessed him there! Now you say, that is beautiful. Yes or no, no no……for after Jacob received the name Israel, from the Lord, it does not mean that the name Jacob does not follow. At the end of this chapter and the beginning of chapter 33, and just think of Psalm 146, “What is happy, who is blessed? It is he, she that the Lord of Jacob has unto his God.” He is not the God of Israel from after Genesis 32, but He is still the God of Jacob. Then we come to Hebrews 11. There we read in verse 16, you can check it. The holy and the righteous God is not ashamed to be called the God of Jacob. No ashamed, congregation, to be called your God and to be called my God.
And there you have the riches of the gospel. We have a God, in and through Christ, who is not ashamed to be called “our God.” Jacob overcame and was blessed. And how is that possible? You see, we are unreliable and your feelings, you know, they come and they go, but you can rely on the Lord! On His word and on His promises!
Now, God gave Jacob promises and He gives you promises! Older ones and younger ones! And what do we do with God’s promises? And I am sad to say that in Holland there are young people who say, “yes, I actually do nothing with the promises of God.” Isn’t that sad? I see you little boys there, yes look at me, and when you are having your birthday, your mom and dad say, “you get.” And what do you do? You say to your mom and your dad, “You promised me.” See, a child is busy with the promises of God and now God gives us the most precious promises you can think of. And how can we not be like the children? Say, “Lord thou hast promised it unto me!” Make it true in my life, in the life of my children and of my grandchildren!! The Lord promises!