I WILL NOT LET GO

Background:

 Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebekah, and the grandson of Abraham.
 Jacob had a twin brother, Esau, who was the first-born, but Jacob grabbed him by the heel
during their birth.
 The name Jacob means “the Supplanter” or “to grab another’s heel.” Literally speaking, it
means to take what belongs to someone else.
 When Jacob and Esau were grown, Jacob tricked his brother out of his birth right with a
meal.
 This resulted in Esau wanting to kill his younger brother, so Jacob fled.
 Jacob served Laban and married Rachel, then he was commanded to return to his father’s
land.

Genesis 32:22-32

22 
That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and
crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his
possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man
saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was
wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27 
The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

28 
Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled
with God and with humans and have overcome.”

29 
Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

30 
So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was
spared.”

31 
The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to
this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of
Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

1. What you Wanted

Like Jacob, saan ka na dinala ng sarili mong mga hakbang?

You will never fully enjoy the blessing unless it is the Lord who blesses you.

In prayer, rushed answer is not the answer.

 Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm
you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Psalm 32:8
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

When you make your own answers to your prayers, it will only cause you fear and distress.

Genesis 32:6-7
When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he
is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” In great fear and distress Jacob
divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as
well.

2. What God Wants

a. To make you trust in Him and His promises
Jacob was pushed to the corner. Wala na syang magagawa kundi harapin si Esau.

Genesis 32: 11
Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me,
and also the mothers with their children.

Genesis 32:22-23
That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and
crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his
possessions.

b. To transform and restore you

Genesis 32:24
24 
So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.

Jacob didn’t start out wanting anything from God; God wanted something from him. God
wanted all of Jacob’s proud self-reliance and fleshly scheming and came to take it, by force if
necessary.

Genesis 32:25-26
When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so
that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is
daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

Sino ang nanalo? Physically, it might have been Jacob but spiritually, God prevailed.

Hosea 2:3-4
In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;
as a man he struggled with God.
He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
he wept and begged for his favor.
 He found him at Bethel
and talked with him there—

3. Want God
“Unless you bless me.”

Hindi na kayang lumaban ni Jacob pero kaya pa nyang kumapit.

Before ayusin ng Panginoon ang gulo na ginawa ni Jacob, inayos nya muna si Jacob.

Genesis 32:27
27 
The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

You cannot hide your true self from God. But in His presence, you will be restored.

Genesis 32:28
28 
Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled
with God and with humans and have overcome.”