当雅各在考虑如何应付他的难题时，令他大吃一惊的是，有一个人开始和他摔跤。圣经只说“有一个人和他摔跤。”（直译。）今天我们读这段话时，立刻知道这人就是神。但在开始摔跤时，雅各并不知道这人就是神。他也许以为攻击他的是以扫四百人中的一个。当这人开始和雅各摔跤时，雅各不肯让他得胜。
我们需要问四个问题：第一，为甚么主作了一个人和雅各摔跤？这有甚么需要？主向亚伯拉罕显现的时候，乃是荣耀的神显现；但在这里我们没有看到主向雅各显现，乃是一个人和雅各摔跤。第二，为甚么全能的主会胜不过雅各这小小的人？第三，为甚么主等候那么久才摸雅各的大腿窝？为甚么祂不在起头就这样作？主和雅各摔跤至少六小时，可能在半夜开始，一直继续到黎明。为甚么主容忍这场摔跤这么久？第四，为甚么主不肯把祂的名字告诉雅各？
在这段话里，没有荣耀之神的显现，也没有主的眷临。对亚伯拉罕，主首先显现为荣耀的神。（徒七2。）后来在创世记十八章，主访问他，并和他一同进餐。但雅各这次经历既不是神的显现，也不是主的眷临；乃是一次对付。当你得救的时候，主向你显现，此后你多次有主甜美愉快的眷临。但除了得救时主的显现和交通时主的眷临以外，还有些时候是主对付我们。在这些对付的起头，我们并不领悟主的同在。我们以为是我们的丈夫、妻子、或某位长老在叫我们难堪。至终，我们领悟这不是我们丈夫、妻子、或某位长老，乃是神在这里对付我们。
这给我们第一个问题的答案，就是为甚么主在人的形状里和雅各摔跤。神没有用明显的方式，显现为荣耀的神，来对付我们。在每次对付的起头，我们总以为是甚么人在和我们摔跤。这种摔跤常常持续很久。在雅各身上，也许是六小时，但在我们身上，也许是六周，六个月，甚或六年。姊妹们，你们和丈夫摔跤多久了？可能你每天都和他摔跤。当然，对我们作丈夫的来说也是一样。对于我们许多人，婚姻的生活就是摔跤的生活。虽然我们以为自己是在和我们的丈夫或妻子摔跤，实际上对方不是我们的丈夫、妻子、某位长老、或任何环境；和我们摔跤的乃是主自己。
信息重点：许多时候，我们以为是人与我们摔跤，其实是主亲自来对付我们。
应用祷告：主耶稣，求你开启我的眼睛，使我认识每一次对付都不是偶然，乃是你亲自在制作我。愿我不再埋怨，而是学习顺服你的带领。阿们。
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Jacob’s Experience – Being Broken (2) — Gen. 32:24-25
As Jacob was considering how to handle his difficulty, to his great shock a man began to wrestle with him. The Bible simply says, “a man wrestled with him” (Gen. 32:24). Today, as we read this passage, we immediately know that this man was God. But at the start of the wrestling, Jacob did not know that this was God. He may have thought his attacker was one of the four hundred men with Esau. When this man began to wrestle with him, Jacob would not let him prevail.
We need to ask four questions. First, why did the Lord become a man and wrestle with Jacob? What was the need for this? When the Lord appeared to Abraham, He appeared as the God of glory (Acts 7:2). But here we do not see the Lord appearing to Jacob; rather, a man wrestled with Jacob. Second, why would the almighty Lord not be able to prevail over such a small man as Jacob? Third, why did the Lord wait so long before touching Jacob’s thigh? Why did He not do this at the start? The Lord wrestled with Jacob for at least six hours, perhaps beginning at midnight and continuing until daybreak. Why did the Lord tolerate this wrestling for so long? Fourth, why would the Lord not tell Jacob His name?
In this passage, there is neither the appearing of the God of glory nor a visitation of the Lord’s presence. To Abraham, the Lord first appeared as the God of glory (Acts 7:2). Later, in Genesis 18, the Lord visited him and ate a meal with him. But Jacob’s experience was neither an appearing of God nor a visitation of the Lord; it was a dealing. When you are saved, the Lord appears to you, and afterward you have many sweet and joyful visitations of the Lord. But besides the Lord’s appearing at salvation and His visitation in fellowship, there are also times when the Lord deals with us. At the outset of such dealings, we do not realize the Lord’s presence. We think it is our husband, our wife, or a certain elder who is making things difficult for us. Eventually we realize that it is not our husband, our wife or an elder, but God who is dealing with us.
This gives us the answer to the first question — why the Lord, in the form of a man, wrestled with Jacob. God did not deal with us by appearing in an obvious way as the God of glory. At the outset of every dealing, we always think it is some person wrestling with us. This kind of wrestling often continues for a long time. With Jacob it may have been six hours, but with us it may be six weeks, six months, or even six years. Sisters, how long have you been wrestling with your husband? Perhaps you wrestle with him every day. Of course, the same is true for us as husbands. For many of us, married life is a wrestling life. Although we think we are wrestling with our husband or wife, in reality the one we are wrestling with is not our husband, our wife, an elder or any environment — it is the Lord Himself.
Message Main Points: Many times we think it is a person wrestling with us, but in fact it is the Lord Himself coming to deal with us.
Daily Prayer: Lord Jesus, open my eyes to see that every dealing is not by accident, but that You are making me. May I no longer complain, but learn to surrender to Your leading. Amen.