WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.980 all right turn with me to genesis 32 starting at verse 22 00:00:10.980 --> 00:00:23.379 the same night he arose and took his two wives his two female servants and his eleven children 00:00:23.379 --> 00:00:31.439 and crossed the ford of the jabbok he took them and sent them across the stream and everything else 00:00:31.439 --> 00:00:40.659 that he had and jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day 00:00:40.659 --> 00:00:48.340 when the man saw that he did not prevail against jacob he touched his hip socket and jacob's hip 00:00:48.340 --> 00:00:55.760 was put out of joint as he wrestled with him then he said let me go for the day has broken 00:00:55.760 --> 00:01:02.680 but jacob said i will not let you go unless you bless me 00:01:02.680 --> 00:01:13.780 and he said to him what is your name and he said jacob then he said your name shall no longer be 00:01:13.780 --> 00:01:20.780 called jacob but israel for you have striven with god and with men and have prevailed 00:01:20.780 --> 00:01:26.019 then jacob asked him please tell me your name 00:01:26.019 --> 00:01:36.480 but he said why is it that you ask my name and there he blessed him so jacob called the name of 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:43.740 the place penuel saying for i have seen god face to face and yet my life has been delivered 00:01:43.740 --> 00:01:53.859 the sun rose upon him as he passed penuel limping because of his hip therefore to this day the people 00:01:53.859 --> 00:01:59.500 of israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket because he touched the socket 00:01:59.500 --> 00:02:08.919 of jacob's hip on the sinew of the thigh and jacob lifted up his eyes and looked and behold esau was 00:02:08.919 --> 00:02:16.680 coming and four hundred men with him so he divided the children among leah and rachel and the two female 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:22.199 servants and he put the servants with their children in front then leah with her children 00:02:22.199 --> 00:02:30.359 and rachel and joseph last of all he himself went on before them bowing himself to the ground seven 00:02:30.359 --> 00:02:32.819 times until he came nearer to his brother 00:02:32.819 --> 00:02:41.060 but esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him and they wept 00:02:41.060 --> 00:02:48.039 and when esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children he said who are these with you 00:02:48.039 --> 00:02:57.379 jacob said the children whom god has graciously given your servant then the servants drew drew near 00:02:57.379 --> 00:03:04.459 they and their children and bowed down leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down 00:03:04.459 --> 00:03:15.159 and last joseph and rachel drew near and they bowed down esau said what do you mean by all this company 00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:24.560 that i met jacob answered to find favor in the side of my lord but esau said i have enough my brother 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:33.560 keep what you have for yourself jacob said no please if i have found favor in your sight then accept my 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:39.400 present from my hand for i have seen your face which is like seeing the face of god and you have 00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:45.520 accepted me please accept my blessing that is brought to you because god has dealt graciously 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:51.400 with me and because i have enough thus he urged him and he took it 00:03:51.400 --> 00:04:08.920 so this will be the last of the jacob series the title is blessing of a face this title is taken from 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:19.480 a novel written by c.s lewis till we have faces this novel uses the life of a woman who was born ugly very 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:26.439 ugly as an illustration as an illustration she was a princess who would eventually become a good king 00:04:27.080 --> 00:04:33.800 because of her ugly look when she was young and before she got she never got married because she's 00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:41.240 too ugly when she needed to come to before her own father the king she needed to cover her face 00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:53.160 and that's how ugly she was um there's a lot in that novel even though it's a short novel i like it it's hard 00:04:53.160 --> 00:05:00.920 to read but i like reading it every time i write it i learn something and this novel describes the struggles 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:09.400 in our hearts our longing for acceptance most of us know that we are not attractive to others even though we 00:05:09.399 --> 00:05:17.639 hope we will be but deep in our heart we know that we are not and we sometimes fear get getting too 00:05:17.639 --> 00:05:24.199 close to people because we do not want to reveal our weakness or weakness so in order to be accepted we 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:33.079 need to cover up ourselves we cover up with makeups or clothing expressions our achievements jokes or sacrifices 00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:43.399 so in the word face the word face in hebrews appears about 20 times in genesis 32 and 33 if you if you read it in hebrews 00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:50.759 today in sharing jacob's struggle with having a face i hope we can see our own struggle for faces 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:53.639 we shall pray before we start 00:05:53.639 --> 00:06:03.159 father we can come before you 00:06:05.639 --> 00:06:15.800 as you are the judge of our secrets we can come before you and talk about your word and descend to you 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:18.120 and sing to you so because of your grace 00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:28.280 and we ask that you might help us through this portion of your word that we would see the lord jesus 00:06:28.280 --> 00:06:38.680 christ in a clearer way and come before you with an open heart with open hearts knowing that you do see 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:45.800 our secrets and we have nowhere to hide and we thank you for the hope that we have in christ 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:49.400 may you bless us as we 00:06:51.879 --> 00:06:56.680 go through this sermon we ask in jesus name amen 00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:04.600 so the word face has two major meanings one is our physical appearance 00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:13.640 and one the other is our identity our significance our self-worth we are related because we consider 00:07:13.640 --> 00:07:18.120 the more attractive a person's physical appearance is the more worthy 00:07:19.960 --> 00:07:27.400 of that person getting admiration and that's why the face has got these two meanings in in chinese language 00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:33.479 there are actually two words for these two meanings of face for appearance is 00:07:34.120 --> 00:07:42.199 nian means the physical appearance man means the self-worth the self the significance or honor of a person 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:49.879 to a chinese person man is very important in life maybe most important it represents not only the honor of 00:07:49.879 --> 00:07:58.920 the person but also his family his clan clan his people that was why china was so offended when australian 00:07:58.920 --> 00:08:06.040 government pushed for the investigation of covid19 it was a vote of no confidence in the way chinese 00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:13.639 government handled the pandemic in china itself many chinese people were not happy with their own government 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:18.680 as well in terms of how they handled the pandemic but they now stood behind the government because 00:08:19.399 --> 00:08:27.719 the face of the whole country is being threatened by a foreign country and to the chinese they would 00:08:27.719 --> 00:08:36.919 rather not to have australian beef or milk or coal but they can't lose their face and that's so how important 00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:44.679 the face is and this this uh thing is not going to go away until either australian government backs down and apologize 00:08:45.399 --> 00:08:53.240 or until this generation of leaders die out and the new generation come come come out so this would be a long 00:08:53.240 --> 00:09:02.599 ongoing uh saga in terms of this uh diplomacy diplomatic uh problem and that is how face is so 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:10.759 important and and you can see the chinese government just responded disproportionately with the all the extreme 00:09:11.560 --> 00:09:19.000 measures they are using at the moment today we come to a turning point in jacob's life since he was young 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:25.720 jacob wanted to have a face for himself he wanted respect from his father his brother and now as he's working 00:09:26.440 --> 00:09:31.960 with his uncle he wanted respect from the uncle and the brothers that's why he worked very hard 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:39.080 he he he wanted to prove that he's he's worthy of the respect he went to accumulate as much wealth as 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:46.120 possible however the wealthier he he became the more hostile his uncle and cousins were towards him 00:09:47.240 --> 00:09:55.159 in the bible actually it says that their face turned against him because they they thought that or they 00:09:55.159 --> 00:10:06.199 considered uh jacob taking all the wealth from the family but jacob did not dare to to leave the place 00:10:06.839 --> 00:10:13.639 because he knew that the uncle would not let him go or the family go because laban knew that it was only 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:20.839 through jaco that he became so wealthy as too he knew that god was with jacob 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:32.680 so as time dragged on after when 20 years came god told jacob to go home jacob didn't know how to go home 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:41.399 he just did what he knew best so he fled just like when he first did when he left home and he didn't tell 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:49.159 his his father-in-law his uncle and so he took his family all his possessions and left 00:10:50.199 --> 00:10:56.039 nabam was somewhere else at that time when he it took three days before neighbor knew about it and 00:10:56.039 --> 00:11:03.639 nabam was very very angry and he took all his men to chase after them and caught up with them jacob in seven 00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:13.960 days in genesis 31 43 to 44 which we didn't read uh laban said to jacob the daughter are my daughters the 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:20.919 children are my children the flocks are my flocks and all that you see is mine but what can i do this 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:28.600 day for this my daughters or for their children whom they have born come now let us make a covenant you 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:35.639 and i and let it be a witness between you and me laban said this to jacob after he failed to find his 00:11:35.639 --> 00:11:41.879 idol which he accused jacob of stealing so when he was chasing jacob and when he caught up with jacob 00:11:42.759 --> 00:11:49.480 jacob asked why you chase after us his first uh laban's first excuse was that you stole my idol 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:57.160 my idol got missing so jacob said well you you can search anybody who's found to have that idol will be 00:11:57.159 --> 00:12:05.799 put to death actually rachel uh jacob's beloved why did steal that idol we we are not told why she did 00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:15.399 that maybe the she thought the idol was the fact the the the uh the god that blessed them or maybe he 00:12:15.399 --> 00:12:22.839 she she knew that his father liked that idol very much and she just wanted to uh took it away from the 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:29.320 father because he she hated the father i'm not we are not sure why but she stole it but when when she 00:12:29.320 --> 00:12:37.000 heard that jacob said the one who was found to have it will be put to death she she hit it under her seat 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:44.040 and that's why neighbor couldn't find it and after he couldn't find it laban said what i just read to you 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:54.279 to jacob uh instead of apologizing to jacob say sorry i i i i yeah i uh accused you wrongly he didn't he 00:12:54.279 --> 00:13:01.959 he basically said that in fact jacob why what you have now are all mine you have stolen them all from me 00:13:03.079 --> 00:13:11.319 in a way it could be true because when jacob went to naven he he had nothing just by himself now he had 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:19.720 lots and lots of animals servants and family but on the other hand laban also himself became very rich 00:13:19.720 --> 00:13:26.440 because of jacob and he forgot that and just consider all that jacob had was his 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:36.840 laban could not apologize because he needed to protect his face he couldn't do that in front of his people 00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:45.879 he needed to maintain the respect from others when jacob was fleeing from his brother esau 20 years ago 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:51.480 god appeared to him and jacob make a pile of stones to mark the place where god gave him a promise 00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:58.680 god promised jacob that he would be with jacob and would bring him back to to that land and the great 00:13:58.679 --> 00:14:05.719 nation nation will come from him and in him and his offspring all the families of the earth will bless 00:14:06.599 --> 00:14:14.039 god's promise to jacob was one-sided jacob did not need to contribute anything to that promise 00:14:15.559 --> 00:14:21.079 and now on his way back to his homeland jacob made another power of stones this time at the request of 00:14:21.079 --> 00:14:26.359 laban never wanted to have covenant with jacob because nabam feared jacob 00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:33.320 because nabam knew that god was with jacob and then god did warn nabam the night before 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:43.960 to not to harm jacob and nabam being a cunning person he didn't want jacob to come back to take revenge on 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:51.960 him later and that's why he said let us make this covenant together well jacob didn't actually need to 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:59.639 agree with that he he didn't need to do anything i mean for for nabam here done enough but to give 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:13.160 nabam face he did that covenant with nabam and that power stone mark the separation of jacob and nabam 00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:20.039 nabam or the separation of jacob from the world so for 20 years they lived and worked together 00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:29.399 nabam who was being bullied by nabam had become more godly and nabam was the bully who the bully had 00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:31.319 become more and more self-centered 00:15:31.320 --> 00:15:41.000 nabam so jacob finally completed his training under the operation of nabam but in today's story jacob is 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:50.600 about to face a much greater challenge so as jacob and his family went toward jacob's homeland the angels 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:58.600 of god met him and this gave jacob some encouragement to keep going knowing that god was with him he sent 00:15:58.600 --> 00:16:05.800 messengers ahead of him to inform esau that he was coming back the messenger returned to tell jacob 00:16:05.800 --> 00:16:17.080 that esau was coming to meet him with 400 men and at that point jacob lost his courage the bible said 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:25.960 he was greatly afraid and distressed why would esau took take five 400 men with him 00:16:25.960 --> 00:16:38.200 i mean the conclusion is uh iso wants to revenge and so uh in response to his fear he divided his people 00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:44.519 and flocks into two camps hoping that at least one of the camps who survived esau's attack and he prepared 00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:53.160 three groups of gifts for esau they are lavish gifts of possibly more than 1 000 animals most of his 00:16:53.159 --> 00:17:00.759 possessions maybe at the same time he also prayed and we read that in the bible and when we read his 00:17:01.480 --> 00:17:08.440 read his prayer then we could see that jacob has matured because when he went because when he pray 00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:14.920 he pray according to god's promise no longer pray according to his own thinking and that is a sign of 00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:28.360 uh maturity but then why was jacob so afraid did god not promise him that god would be with him did he 00:17:28.360 --> 00:17:35.800 did he forget that the two camps of angel were with him did he not trust god i think the answer is not 00:17:35.800 --> 00:17:41.720 because jacob had not grown in his knowledge of god it was exactly because he knew god better now 00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:50.360 one of the consequences of knowing god for jacob was knowing his own sinfulness 20 years ago he would 00:17:50.360 --> 00:17:59.240 not have thought twice about cheating esau or his father isaac now his deception has become a fault in his 00:17:59.240 --> 00:18:08.039 heart he feared that he feared that he feared uh esau may kill him he feared the loss of his families his 00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:17.319 people his properties but what he feared the most is to face esau he did not have a face to see esau 00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:24.119 when he stole esau's blessing all he wondered was to become significant and secure through the blessing 00:18:24.759 --> 00:18:31.559 now that he knew the god who is behind the blessing he realized that no blessing could make him significant 00:18:31.559 --> 00:18:38.440 and secure if he was under the judgment of god he was afraid of esau not so much because he did not 00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:45.240 trust god but because he understood that god was the judge of all the earth how could he expect the 00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:55.000 righteous god to help him to face esau when he was the party who was at fault as the distance between esau and 00:18:55.000 --> 00:19:02.759 him was decreasing jacob's guilt and fear was increasing jacob did not know how to face esau 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:08.920 he sent the first camp ahead of them at the same night he was planning to cross the river with his 00:19:08.920 --> 00:19:14.920 family in dark in the darkness but he could not make himself cross the river he told his family to walk 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:23.160 ahead while he stayed on this side of the river to gather his courage this day become a whole night of 00:19:23.160 --> 00:19:30.120 wrestling for him god came to wrestle with jacob until the breaking of the day jacob might not know 00:19:30.120 --> 00:19:36.279 who he was wrestling with at the beginning as he wrestled on he found that his opponent was not there to 00:19:36.279 --> 00:19:46.039 defeat him but just to wrestle with him and what is going on here the bible did not does not explain it 00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:55.480 clear for us i will try to explain what was going on in jacob's heart with the physical wrestling jacob was 00:19:55.480 --> 00:20:03.000 also having spiritual wrestling with his guilt his fear and his identity at the beginning jacob would 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:10.359 try to justify himself he would think esau was the one who's who sold me his birthright am i not the 00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:17.720 rightful honor of the blessing or him i think my father was partial in his love it was his fault that 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:24.839 i deceived him then jacob would think of all the criticisms he had towards his father and brother 00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:29.400 he also thought of the many times he took his mother's love for granted 00:20:29.400 --> 00:20:36.360 he thought of the many times he considered himself a better person than others he tried to justify his 00:20:36.360 --> 00:20:43.400 views about others and himself but his opponent kept bringing up memories of his double standards 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:50.519 towards others and himself after a night of wrestling jacob began to despair seeing how wicked 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:57.160 and weak he was he could not even face esau how could he face god the judge of all the earth 00:20:57.160 --> 00:21:04.279 how could he be the one who would bring god's blessing to other people he was sinking into the 00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:11.560 darkness of his hopelessness when god interrupted his thoughts by dislocating dislocating one of his hip 00:21:11.560 --> 00:21:19.400 joints the sudden jolt of pain woke jacob up and directed his attention to the one who was wrestling with him 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:29.240 his opponent his opponent crippled him so effortlessly he could have easily subdued jacob from the start 00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:36.759 jacob realized that he was facing someone who was far greater and nobler than he could ever was 00:21:37.960 --> 00:21:45.560 jacob was like a drowning man who suddenly realized that the person who was wrestling with him was trying to 00:21:45.559 --> 00:21:51.480 rescue him he held on to this person with all his strength and he begged for blessing 00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:58.679 this time jacob was not thinking about being successful he was asking for acceptance 00:21:59.879 --> 00:22:07.000 he was asking for purity he was asking for forgiveness god asked him what is your name 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:17.880 jacob answer with his head bow low i'm jacob i'm a deceiver i do not have a face to see you 00:22:19.880 --> 00:22:27.480 god said your name shall no longer be called jacob but israel because you have gone through struggles 00:22:27.480 --> 00:22:38.120 with man and with god and you have learned from these struggles what have jacob learned he will have 00:22:38.120 --> 00:22:43.400 learned at least four things i think he will have learned that winning at the expense of kindness and 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:52.920 goodness would turn him into someone like his uncle or father-in-law laban he would have learned that even 00:22:52.920 --> 00:23:00.279 he could win the whole world he would still not find rest in his heart and he would learn that he was 00:23:00.279 --> 00:23:07.880 not that clever or good after all and he would have learned that god who promised to be with him was 00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:16.360 trustworthy and good so in a sense in a sense god was telling jacob so long as you think you are right 00:23:16.359 --> 00:23:23.319 and want to justify yourself so long as you always want to save your own face you will remain jacob the 00:23:23.319 --> 00:23:28.599 moment you confess that you do not have any good in you and you do not have any face to save and that 00:23:28.599 --> 00:23:38.759 god is the one who can justify you your israel jacob asked god please tell me your name god said did i not 00:23:38.759 --> 00:23:48.119 just tell you that you have striven with god why do you ask my name i am who i am i define all things 00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:52.920 i define you you do not define me nothing can define me 00:23:55.960 --> 00:24:03.559 and there god blessed him so jacob called the name of the place peniel peniel face of god 00:24:03.559 --> 00:24:13.000 peniel saying for i have seen god face to face and yet my life has been delivered the sun rose upon him 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:20.359 as he passed peniel limping because of his of his hip 20 years ago when the when he was fleeing from his 00:24:20.359 --> 00:24:29.399 brother isa the sun set on him and god appeared for to him for the first time now the sun rose upon him 00:24:29.400 --> 00:24:37.480 isaacob was no longer jacob he was israel he had seen god face to face and was accepted by god god 00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:46.040 had crippled him he could not run away from esau now but jacob was free he was free from self-reliance 00:24:46.040 --> 00:24:53.720 he was free from self-justification god had justified him god had given him a face jacob was so free that 00:24:53.720 --> 00:25:01.720 he could laugh all his way to face esau and his 400 men so that was my poor attempt to give you an 00:25:01.720 --> 00:25:08.360 idea what was going on in jacob's heart during the wrestling you may ask why did jacob not tell us what 00:25:08.360 --> 00:25:15.480 happened i think there are two important reasons why jacob did not tell others what happened reason number 00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:25.559 one deep experiences cannot be expressed in words like the psalmist we can only use songs and music to 00:25:25.559 --> 00:25:35.640 try to express such experiences so the moment we try to express something deep in words it will make it less 00:25:35.640 --> 00:25:47.720 less significant or less so just like god forbid israelites to make image of him because the moment we make 00:25:47.720 --> 00:25:58.280 an image of god it will make we represent god so if we try to try to share what we have experienced we could 00:25:58.279 --> 00:26:07.960 never share it fully or so there's one reason some experiences just cannot be expressed in words secondly 00:26:08.519 --> 00:26:15.240 deep experiences do not need to be expressed we might need we might like to tell people about our 00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:22.440 encounters with god usually with the intention to gain faith for ourselves in this experience jacob was 00:26:22.440 --> 00:26:28.759 given a faith by god so he therefore did not need to boast about this to other people and you will find 00:26:28.759 --> 00:26:37.160 that in the old testament but because when uh the story is written about people they usually write about 00:26:37.160 --> 00:26:43.720 all the foolish things or the wrong thing that they did very seldom that is mentioned about godly things 00:26:43.720 --> 00:26:53.240 uh because they would not want to if they tell the story they would only tell people how foolish or bad 00:26:53.240 --> 00:27:00.360 they were they would not want to uh tell people how good they were this because they have met god these people 00:27:02.600 --> 00:27:09.240 how how do we know jacob had a life-changing experience with god there are also two reasons first one is 00:27:09.240 --> 00:27:16.680 his response to the encounter second one is the subsequent change in his behavior jacob did not quite 00:27:16.680 --> 00:27:23.240 understand why he was still alive after he saw god face to face jacob must have seen the holy god for 00:27:23.240 --> 00:27:32.440 him to wonder why he was still alive when the prophet isaiah saw god he said woe is me for i am gone for i am 00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:40.600 a man of unclean lips this is the appropriate response when the sinner face faces the holy god that is knowing 00:27:40.600 --> 00:27:49.799 his own unworthiness so this is the response of someone who has seen god knowing that he's not worthy to 00:27:49.799 --> 00:27:57.640 to keep living in front of the holy god and we will see jacob's behavior changing behavior and he's meeting 00:27:57.640 --> 00:28:06.360 up with his brother esau as jacob saw his brother he saw approaching with 400 men he walked to the front 00:28:06.360 --> 00:28:12.920 of his family he did not hide behind his family family anymore he faced esau and his men himself 00:28:13.720 --> 00:28:20.920 he bowed himself to the ground seven times what was jacob doing he was returning the blessing he stole from 00:28:20.920 --> 00:28:29.160 esau he gave he saw his wealth and honor which were promised in the blessing that jacob stole 00:28:31.080 --> 00:28:38.440 going back to genesis 32 20 we will see that you see what jacob was thinking with all his gifts 00:28:39.240 --> 00:28:47.960 in in genesis 22 32 32 32 verse 20 he says for he thought i might appease him with the present that 00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:57.400 goes ahead of me and afterwards i shall see his face perhaps he will accept me the natural translation 00:28:57.400 --> 00:29:05.799 of this word is for he thought i will wipe the anger from his face with the gift that goes ahead of my face 00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:13.880 afterwards when i see his face perhaps he will lift up my face so there are four faces in that same 00:29:13.880 --> 00:29:23.240 words but to make it easier to understand the translator just just translated one of the face faces in the english 00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:34.760 so before wrestling with god jacob was hoping that his gift would turn esau's angry face into an acceptance 00:29:35.800 --> 00:29:39.800 accepting face so that he might have a face to stand before esau 00:29:39.799 --> 00:29:48.200 so now he was not only giving esau his wealth he was giving esau his face as well as he bowed 00:29:49.799 --> 00:29:58.759 before esau seven times in front of his own people and esau's people so that is a very big deal 00:30:00.200 --> 00:30:09.000 is giving wealth is something really difficult giving your honor to someone that you don't actually like 00:30:10.359 --> 00:30:19.399 is another thing uh is it's a sign that uh jacob repented said that he he shouldn't have stolen the 00:30:19.399 --> 00:30:28.279 the blessing and he give this honor back to esau esau might have expected jacob to boast about his wealth 00:30:28.279 --> 00:30:36.839 and power but he did not expect jacob would bow before him esau ran and embraced jacob and they wept together 00:30:36.839 --> 00:30:41.720 by god's grace the hatred between these two brothers melted away in their tears 00:30:42.519 --> 00:30:49.319 those are those are tears of regrets tears of relief tears of sorrow tears of joy this 00:30:49.319 --> 00:30:54.279 there's so much in that itself that covers all their lives until that point 00:30:56.519 --> 00:31:02.279 so after that esau wanted to decline jacob's gift saying that he himself had enough to live on 00:31:03.399 --> 00:31:12.200 jacob said this was the blessing that should have been esau's he said god has dwelt uh had to dwell 00:31:12.200 --> 00:31:18.920 graciously with him and he had enough no actually jacob did not say he had enough even though the 00:31:18.920 --> 00:31:24.120 translation was that he had enough in chapter 33 verse 11. 00:31:24.119 --> 00:31:35.799 in hebrews esau said he had enough that's rob r-a-b but jacob said he had everything called k-o-l 00:31:37.719 --> 00:31:44.439 this is the freedom of someone who had been given a face by god jacob did not care if esau took his 00:31:44.439 --> 00:31:51.479 properties his reputation even his life because he had been accepted by god and so jacob said i have 00:31:51.480 --> 00:31:59.720 everything even though he was actually giving he saw almost all of his properties in in returning 00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:04.120 sort of the for the the blessing that he stole 00:32:06.839 --> 00:32:15.400 galatians 6 verses 14 to 16 the apostle paul said but far be it from me to both except in the cross of 00:32:15.400 --> 00:32:22.360 our lord jesus christ by which the world has been crucified to me and i to the world for neither 00:32:22.360 --> 00:32:30.519 circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision but a new creation and as for all who walk by this 00:32:30.519 --> 00:32:39.880 rule peace and mercy be upon them upon the israel of god paul took pride in his pedicree as a pure jew 00:32:39.880 --> 00:32:45.880 he took pride in his achievement as a pharisee he persecuted the church at the beginning because he 00:32:45.880 --> 00:32:52.920 wanted to show his religious zeal and also because his boast in his pedigree and achievement was threatened 00:32:52.920 --> 00:32:59.480 by the cross the message of the cross says that while our pedigree and achievements may impress the world 00:33:00.840 --> 00:33:07.320 they do not impress god the more you try to set your face before god the more you display your pride 00:33:07.319 --> 00:33:13.159 the message of the cross says that jesus christ has done all that is required for god to give you a 00:33:13.159 --> 00:33:20.679 faith when god understood when paul understood the message of the cross he said he counted all his 00:33:20.679 --> 00:33:28.200 pedigree and achievements as rubbish because he had been given a faith in christ he parted with the world 00:33:28.200 --> 00:33:35.000 in the cross the cross became a pile of stones in which reminds paul he's being accepted by god 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:44.839 and and also to mark the part of his holy life and him being a new creation paul said that those who 00:33:44.839 --> 00:33:51.079 boast in the achievement will not find peace and mercy only those who boast in the cross of the lord 00:33:51.079 --> 00:33:57.720 jesus christ will find peace and mercy and those who boast in the cross are the true israel of god 00:33:57.720 --> 00:34:08.199 not those who were born as jews would you look at the lord jesus christ as paul had done the bible does not 00:34:08.199 --> 00:34:15.720 tell us much about jesus physical appearance but it tells us a lot about jesus identity and significance 00:34:15.719 --> 00:34:26.679 in john 1 14 it says and the word became flesh and dwell among us and we have seen his glory glory as 00:34:26.679 --> 00:34:30.599 of the only son from the father full of grace and truth 00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:38.839 we have seen his face as as jesus wrestled with god before he went to the cross to face the wrath of god 00:34:38.840 --> 00:34:45.480 he was wrestling like jacob who was facing the judgment of god but he was not wrestling because 00:34:45.480 --> 00:34:53.079 of his own sin he was wrestling because of my sin and your sin he suffered the judgment of god and went 00:34:53.079 --> 00:35:01.079 through death so that we might be given a face to stand before god so that what is waiting for us on the 00:35:01.079 --> 00:35:09.480 other side of the river is no longer judgment but acceptance would you look at the lord jesus christ 00:35:11.319 --> 00:35:18.360 may god who said let light shine out of darkness shine in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge 00:35:18.360 --> 00:35:23.000 of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ let us pray 00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:34.280 father we thank you for the hope that we have through your word 00:35:36.679 --> 00:35:41.639 when we struggle in the darkness the darkness of our hearts 00:35:45.400 --> 00:35:52.280 we thank you for struggling with us and coming to show us the light in the lord jesus christ 00:35:53.320 --> 00:36:00.679 oh help us to trust in him and look upon him and to know the grace is awaiting us 00:36:01.559 --> 00:36:14.679 thank you father in jesus we pray amen 00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:29.400 also from this 00:36:30.119 --> 00:36:33.719 as 00:36:39.400 --> 00:36:40.599 why 00:36:40.599 --> 00:36:41.320 is 00:36:41.320 --> 00:36:41.940 you 00:36:41.940 --> 00:36:42.059 you 00:36:42.059 --> 00:37:12.039 Thank you.