与神摔跤（接上篇）
令雅各大吃一惊的是，在深夜当他拚上一切的时候，有一个人尽力要将他摔倒。因为雅各不肯让步，两个人就整夜摔跤直到黎明。在这之前，雅各怕被屠杀；现在他怕在这场摔跤比赛中被击败，他全力挣扎。主没有立刻征服雅各，为要向雅各暴露他是何等的天然，他天然的力量是何等的大。最后，主摸了雅各的大腿窝，使他瘸了。雅各仍然不容祂去，直到祂给他祝福。
雅各在伯特利的梦中从主领受了坚定的应许。主曾告诉他：“我也与你同在，你无论往那里去，我必保佑你，领你归回这地，总不离弃你，直到我成全了向你所应许的”（创二八15）。不仅如此，到了雅各要离开拉班的时候，耶和华对雅各说，“你要回你祖你父之地，到你亲族那里去，我必与你同在”（创三一3）。但雅各仍然信靠他自己，运用他天然的技巧和能力，要把自己从艰难的环境中拯救出来。他与主还有过一段挣扎的时间。在这一切之后，雅各似乎不会再作甚么了。但在创世记三十三章我们看见，雅告还没有停下自己的奋斗。即使在本章，也没有指明雅各信靠主。
雅各和那在人的形状里来的主摔跤以后，“举目观看，见以扫来了，后头跟着四百人”（创三三1）。在主一切的应许、他的祷告、并与主的摔跤以后，雅各仍有新事可作。他再把他的妻子并孩子分开。他第一次的分法是照着两队天使，把他的人口分作两队；第二次是把他的礼物分作九群。但现在，他把事情再考虑之后，就照着他的心意，再把人口分开。“他就把孩子们分开交给利亚、拉结、和两个使女；并且叫两个使女和她们的孩子在前头，利亚和她的孩子在后头，拉结和约瑟在尽后头”（创三三1-2）。因为雅各爱拉结和约瑟，就把他们放在最后。即使在这里，到了最后关头，雅各还是运用他的技巧来应付局面。两个使女和她们的孩子先行，必要时作牺牲。第二批，包括利亚和她的孩子，跟在后面。他深爱的妻子拉结，和她所生的孩子约瑟，在最后。这就是那全然天然之抓夺者的作为。他有过神的应许、对付和苦难、绝佳的祷告、摔跤，并且先前把人口分作两队，但他还作别的事。
信息重点: 神亲自与雅各摔跤，不是因为神不能胜过他，而是要显明雅各天然力量何等顽强。直到神摸了他的大腿窝，雅各才停止自己的挣扎。
应用祷告: 主啊，求你显明我仍然依靠自己的地方。愿我不再倚靠天然的能力，而是学习单单倚靠你，让你的能力在我的软弱上显得完全。
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Jacob’s Discipline — Fear of Esau (4) — Gen. 32:24-25
Wrestling with God (continued)
To Jacob’s great astonishment, in the depth of night, as he wagered everything, a man strove with all his might to overthrow him. Because Jacob would not yield, the two of them wrestled the whole night until daybreak. Before this, Jacob feared being slaughtered; now he feared being defeated in this wrestling match, and he struggled with all his strength. The Lord did not subdue Jacob immediately, in order to expose to Jacob how natural he was, and how great his natural strength was. Finally, the Lord touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh, and he became lame. Yet Jacob still would not let Him go until He blessed him.
In his dream at Bethel, Jacob had received a firm promise from the Lord. The Lord had told him, “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Gen. 28:15). Moreover, when Jacob was about to leave Laban, Jehovah said to him, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you” (Gen. 31:3). But Jacob still trusted in himself, using his natural skill and ability to try to save himself from the difficult situation. He had yet another period of struggling with the Lord. After all this, it would seem Jacob would do nothing more. But in Genesis chapter 33 we see that Jacob had still not ceased his own striving. Even in this chapter, there is no indication that Jacob trusted in the Lord.
After Jacob wrestled with the Lord who came in human form, “then Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him” (Gen. 33:1). After all the Lord’s promises, his prayer, and his wrestling with the Lord, Jacob still had something new to do. He again divided his wives and children. His first division was patterned after the two camps of angels, dividing his people into two camps; his second was dividing his gifts into nine droves. But now, after further consideration, he divided his people again according to his own preference. “He put the maidservants and their children in front, and Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last” (Gen. 33:1-2). Because Jacob loved Rachel and Joseph, he placed them last. Even here, at this final juncture, Jacob was still using his skill to handle the situation. The two maidservants and their children went first, to be sacrificed if necessary. The second group, including Leah and her children, followed. His beloved wife Rachel, and her son Joseph, were placed last. This is the work of the utterly natural supplanter. He had God’s promise, his own dealing and suffering, being an excellent prayer to God, wrestling with God, and had already divided his people into two camps — yet he still did something more.
Message’s Main Points: God Himself wrestled with Jacob, not because God could not overcome him, but to reveal how stubborn Jacob’s natural strength was. Only when God touched his thigh did Jacob stop his own struggling.
Prayer: Lord, show me where I am still relying on myself. May I no longer rely on my natural ability, but learn to rely on You alone, that Your power may be made perfect in my weakness.