 And some of you have been with me, especially as we've been here in chapter 11, and I've taken a different task, tacked as I'm approaching our study in Hebrews. I've actually taken you through the passages and read quite a bit of information to you concerning some of these individuals that we see here in Scripture. And we're gonna be doing that again this evening as we look at verse 21. I'm gonna need to do that because in order for you to have an understanding of basically what is being said in verse 21, we need to summarize and read portions of Scripture in order for us to understand that. So let's look at verse 21. I'll read that passage to you and then we're gonna be turning our Bibles to the book of Genesis and we're gonna be looking from chapter 28, summarizing several chapters up to chapter 32. And so let's begin here at verse 21. I'll read the verse by faith Jacob when he was dying, he blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped leaning on the top of his staff. And so if you wanted that verse just to be summarized for a moment, all I'd have to do is say to you, he learned his lesson, let's move on. But in order to understand what's going on, we actually have to look at the life of this man who is referred to as Jacob. We have to look at him in order to understand why verse 21 is important enough to be placed here in the book of Hebrews. And so in order to do that, we need to go into the book of Genesis and I'm gonna summarize several chapters for you. Turn with me please to chapter 28 of Genesis and I'm gonna read some portions and I'm just gonna summarize some portions and hopefully we'll get to the conclusion of our study and it'll make some sense there because what we're gonna be looking at and what I'm wanting to spend my time looking at really as we go through this passage in the life of Jacob is the breaking of Jacob because I think there's application there to see how God, God hold of a man whose name Jacob literally can be translated sneaky. How the Lord has broken a man whom is referred to in Scripture by the name of deceitful or sneaky and made him a man that was tremendously blessed by God. And so we'll be looking at chapters 28 and some portions in 29 we'll be looking at chapters 31 and chapter 32 to summarize and to read in order that we might be able to understand what is taking place. And so when we were last together we were introduced to this man who is named Jacob. We remember that Jacob was somebody that had actually been born in answer to prayer. His father Isaac had wanted to have a child with his beloved wife but she was unable to conceive. And so we already looked in Genesis 25 how that in verses 20 and 21 how it said that Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebecca and Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer and his wife Rebecca became pregnant. And so we know that in answer to prayer that Rebecca had become pregnant and the Scripture tells us in chapter 25 verses 24 through 26 when the time came for her to give birth there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red and his whole body was like a hairy garment so they named him Esau. After this his brother came out with his hand grasping Esau's heel so he was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when Rebecca gave birth to them. We saw that in their upbringing how that there was actually favoritism. We saw how that Isaac preferred Esau while Rebecca preferred Jacob. And Isaac preferred him because Esau because Esau was a man's man. But Rebecca loved her young son her son Jacob with all of her heart and she actually worked together with him so that he might receive the blessing that God had already stated he would receive but because his father had a partiality to his brother Esau we saw how that Rebecca began to devise plans to help Isaac rather Jacob steal the birthright and receive the blessing that God had given to him and so what had happened is by deceit Jacob obtained his father's blessing because his father was planning on blessing Esau. Rebecca had devised a plan and deceived her husband so Jacob could receive this blessing. Now this blessing that he was receiving was the original blessing that was given to Abraham as well as Isaac as is recorded in chapter 26 verse 24. And according to Genesis 27 verse 29 the blessing is may those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed. God intended all along to bless Jacob and had made this clear when Rebecca was pregnant. He had said two nations are in your womb two people shall be separated from your body one people shall be stronger than the other and the older shall serve the younger. But in spite of this Isaac had tried to circumvent Jacob's receiving of the blessing and so Jacob deceived Isaac dressed in Esau's clothing and passing himself as Esau. When Jacob received the blessing Esau began to comfort himself and we saw this last time by making plans in order that he might kill him. But Rebecca knew about this and so she sent Jacob to live with her brother. His name is Laban. She said in Genesis 27, 43 and 44 now then my son do what I say flee at once to my brother Laban in Heron stay with him for a few days until your brother's fury subsides. She goes on to deceive her husband by saying she wanted Jacob to go home to get a bride and claimed that she didn't want him to marry one of the daughters of Heth. When it says she doesn't want them to marry him to marry one of the daughters of Heth the word Heth there speaks of the Hittite nation. And so she's saying I want him to go home and receive a bride from his own people. So we arrive at chapter 28. In chapter 28, beginning at verse one Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him and said to him you shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise go to Padan Aram to the house of Bethwell your mother's father and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother. May God almighty bless you and to make you fruitful and multiply you that you may be an assembly of peoples and give you the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants with you that you may inherit the land in which you are a stranger which God gave to Abraham. So Isaac sent Jacob away and he went to Padan Aram to Laban the son of Bethwell the Syrian the brother of Rebecca the mother of Esau and Jacob. So he travels he travels to Northern Syria in order that he might receive a bride. He goes there into the region of Mesopotamia. And so this is where we pick up in verse 10. Now let's begin reading and we'll look at some things here from verse 10 to verse 22. It says, now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went towards Iran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it on his head and he laid down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed and behold a ladder was set up on the earth and its top reached to heaven. And there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. So he travels about 70 miles. He goes for two or three days. And as he's resting now in a certain place, notice the scripture says he begins to dream. And in his dream he sees a ladder that connects the earth with heaven. Verse 12 tells us that he sees angels and these angels are really carrying out assignments God's assignments. Heaven is now connecting with earth. And as he sees this take place in verse 13 it says behold the Lord stood above it and said, I am the God of Abraham, your father, the God of Isaac, the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth. You shall spread abroad to the west and the east to the north and the south. And in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 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 spoken to you. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, surely I ate too much salsa last night. No, he said, surely the Lord, I shouldn't have said that. Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it. And he was afraid and said, how awesome is this place? This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. No doubt in the life of this young man, there had been stories that had been given to him concerning God's ministry and how that God had ministered to his grandfather and how that God had ministered to his father. But these were just stories. These are stories that he had heard concerning how God had ministered to Abraham and how that God had ministered to Isaac. Those stories now are going to become personal because this is a time that he is first personally met by God. So God actually is invading his life. Now he does so through a dream and in the dream he sees the ladder. Now what is this ladder? Well, the ladder represents the gulf that separates earth from heaven being joined together. He sees the ladder connects heaven and earth. Now we know what this ladder is because in the New Testament, the ladder that connects earth to heaven is revealed for us in the Gospel of John. In the Gospel of John in chapter one, verse 51, the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking and he says to Nathaniel, I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man. Jesus was making it very clear that the ladder that connects earth to heaven is himself and the point he was making at that time is that earth has a connecting. There's a way that earth can be connected to heaven and that's by a ladder. Jesus Christ comes to fulfill that. He's the ladder that connects heaven with earth because in order to go from earth to heaven you need to ascend that ladder and so this is a picture that we see prophetically in the Old Testament that will be fulfilled by Jesus Christ in his ministry because Jesus is the one who said that he is the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by him and so what we have here is a picture. We have a prophecy, we have something that's fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ and it occurs first in a dream. So as this is taking place, the Lord repeats to him the promises that had been made to Abraham as well as the promises that had been made to Isaac. He said in verse 13, I am the Lord God of Abraham, your Father and the God of Isaac, the land on which you lie, I will give to you and your descendants, also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth. You shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So these are promises that have been made to his grandfather as well as to his father. Now this is a man who's been growing up in his tents all of his life, in tents all of his life and now he's beginning to see that as he's being brought into a wilderness experience and as he's going from place to place that God is gonna be there protecting him. He says in verse 15, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go. We'll bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you. So you're about to go on a journey, a journey of faith but I want you to know that I will take care of you all of the time in every step that you take. And so as this takes place he begins to marvel. Verse 16, Jacob awoke from his sleep and said surely the Lord is in this place and I didn't know it. How often that can be true in our own lives by the way that God is doing a special work and we're not even aware of it. But it goes on to say he was afraid and said how awesome is this place. This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. And so God has met me in a very special and a very personal place and I have seen heaven connected and God has spoken to me. So it says in verse 18, Jacob rose early in the morning and took the stone that he had put at his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it and he called the name of that place Bethel. The word Bethel means house of God but the name of that the city had been Liz previously then Jacob made a vow saying if God will be with me and keep me in this way that I'm going and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on so that I come back to my father's house in peace and the Lord shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house and of all that you give me I will surely give a tenth to you. And so what he does is he consecrates the stone as a memorial to the Lord. Notice he anoints the stone with oil and he renames that location house of God. He then repeats what the Lord had promised and promises to serve the Lord. Now you need to notice something here and I need to point this out, this isn't a bargain. This is his perspective of the covenant between himself and his God. Knowing that God had made a promise to supply the blessings to him, knowing this, well that was met with a promise to give back to God what God was giving to him. Now tithing at this time is not an obligation according to Mosaic law. Mosaic law does not exist. What he's doing is he's simply saying I'm gonna give back to God because I am thankful for what he has done in my life and I love him. And so he's not making a bargain at all. He's simply saying God has met me and I'm gonna give back to him. God has a work that he's doing and I am responding in this way. And so he does that. Now I'll just summarize a few verses in chapter 29. He finally arrives in a place called Haran. And at first he begins to speak to some shepherd boys. He's by a well. And as he's there he strikes up a conversation with these young boys who are there watering their sheep. He asks them in this conversation, do you know a man by the name of Laban? And they answer that they do know him. And so as he's speaking he asks concerning him is he well, how are things going with him? And they begin to respond by saying to him, well his daughter's coming, notice verse nine. While he was still speaking with them Rachel came with her father's sheep. She was a shepherdess and it came to pass when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flock of Laban, his mother's brother. Verse 11, then Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted up his voice and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's relative and that he was Rebecca's son and she ran to tell her father. This is one of those interesting portions of scripture. It was like, oh gosh, how do you say this? Love at first sight? I don't believe in that by the way, so it's difficult to say it, but maybe I should because it was love at first sight. It was a sense of like, this is it. This is the one who God has sent for me. Because remember, he had gone there to receive a bride. And the minute he saw her he said, this is the one that God has given to me. And she was a beautiful girl. Verse 17 says, Lee, his eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance. She was an absolutely gorgeous young woman and he kisses her and as he kisses her, and I don't think that it was a passionate kiss, by the way, I think it was a kiss of greeting, but as he did so, he just looking at her and he's saying, God, you are too much. Look at what you've given to me. What an absolutely beautiful, beautiful girl. He's so excited. So he says, I am Rebecca's son and as he does so, she runs on home and she tells her father. Well, at first, verses 13 and 14, his uncle, Laban, is thrilled to see him and even invites him to come home and he begins to stay with him. As a matter of fact, he stays with his uncle in his home for a month. Now, after that month is up, verse 15, Laban said to Jacob, because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be? Now, Laban had two daughters. The name of the elder was Leah. The name of the younger was Rachel. Leah's eyes were delicate. It could be translated that she had poor sight, weak eyes. Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance. Now Jacob loved Rachel and he said, I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter. Laban said, it is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me. So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed but a few days to him because of the love he had for her. What a romantic story. Seven years he works there. But it's just like time just flew by because he was looking for that time when he was going to be able to join together with her and become husband. And so the labor was worth it. He was willing to wait that long for her. One of the things that is interesting about love and I should probably inject this thought here is love is patient. Love is patient. There are times when I'm speaking to couples who are wanting to get married and all and sometimes they wanna get married right now and there can be pressures to be married. But one of the things that I have discovered is love is patient. And this man here waited. He was willing to wait and do the right thing and it took him seven years. But he finally accomplished the task and now he's expecting his uncle to keep his part of the bargain. You see, he kept his and now he's expecting his uncle to keep his part. But notice what happens. Verse 21, Jacob said to Laban, give me my wife for my days are fulfilled that I may go into her that we might have sexual love. Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. Now it came to pass in the evening that he took Leah, his daughter and brought her to Jacob and he went into her. And Laban gave his maid Zilpa to his daughter Leah as a maid. So it came to pass in the morning and my professor once said, these are the saddest words in scripture that behold it was Leah. Can't you imagine? And I don't want to. Behold it was Leah. There must have been a similarity in appearance. It would seem that Leah when she went in knew, of course she knew that she was deceiving this man. She didn't say anything. And he was so enraptured in love with whom he thought was his girl that he didn't even notice that it wasn't her. They had been eating all night. Perhaps he had been drinking some wine. I don't know. Whatever happened, the next morning he wakes up and he looks to his new bride and it isn't the one he thought that he had worked for seven years for. Behold it was Leah. And so what happens? He says to Laban, what is this that you've done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me? Laban said, it must not be done so in our country to give the younger before the firstborn, fulfill her week and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years. And Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel, his wife also. And Laban gave his maid, Billah, to his daughter Rachel as a maid. Then Jacob also went into Rachel and he also loved Rachel more than Leah and he served with Laban still another seven years. And when the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb. But Rachel was barren. So Leah conceived and bore a son. She called his name Reuben. For she said, the Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore my husband will love me. Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, because the Lord has heard that I am unloved he has therefore given me this son also. And she called his name Simeon. She conceived again and bore a son and said, now this time my husband will become attached to me because he's born him three. I have born him three sons. Therefore his name was called Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son and said, now I will praise the Lord. Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she stopped bearing. And so she begins to bear children to this man and she's an unloved woman. She's thinking that perhaps he'll begin to love her because she's bearing him children. She's hoping that somehow the Lord will attach this man's heart to her. She's not loved. And that's a sad phrase, by the way. She knows that she's not loved. She begins to have all of these children. She names them Reuben. The word Reuben means behold, a son. She names Simeon, which means God has heard. She names one Levi, which means blue jeans. Now it means attached or cleaving. And then she names the other one Judah, which speaks of praise. And so this begins a war because as she's beginning to have children, well, Rachel gets upset. Look at chapter 30, when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister and said to Jacob, give me children or else I die. Jacob's anger was aroused against Rachel and he said, I am the place of God who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb. So she said, here's my maid, Billa. Go into her and she will bear a child on my knees that I may also have children by her. She gave him Billa her maid as wife and Jacob went into her. Billa conceived and bore Jacob a son. Rachel said, God has judged my case and he has heard my voice and given me a son. Therefore she called his name Dan. And Rachel's maid Billa conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Rachel said, with great wrestlings, I have wrestled with my sister and indeed I have prevailed. So she called his name Napthali. This begins a war. Now they're having children through handmaidens. Rachel cannot have a child. She hands her handmaid to him and says, you have children through here. And that's what's taking place here. And they're having a war now that's taking place between them. You see what goes on is now Leah stops burying children. Now Leah can't have any children. So what she does is she introduces her handmaiden, Zilpa. You see that in verses nine through 13. And Zilpa begins to have children. She conceives and gives birth to one named Gad which means a troop. And then she gives birth to another named Asher which means blessed. Now Leah, as she continues having children and all has, they're beginning to have child after child after child. Now notice verse 22. In verse 22 it says, God remembered Rachel and God listened to her and opened her womb. And she conceived and bore a son and said, God has taken away my reproach. So she called his name Joseph and said, the Lord shall add to me another son. Now Joseph is an interesting name. That's my son Joseph's name. That means the added. And she has this son Joseph. Now he is the 11th son that is born. They have 10 sons that have been born to handmaidens as well as to Leah. But now she finally has a son of her own. She has a son by the name of Joseph. Now not only does she have a son by the name of Joseph she also has another son. And that son's name is Benjamin. That brings up the number of children born to Jacob to 12. Two of them came from the beloved wife the one whom he loves with all of his heart. But when she gave birth to her last son it's recorded in Genesis 3518. She died. She died giving birth to him. It says in Genesis 3518 it came to pass as her soul was departing. She died that she called his name Benani. The name Benani means son of my sorrow. And so she was sorrowing as she gave birth and she was about to die so she names him Benani. But his father called him Benjamin. The name Benjamin means son of my right hand. And so he now has 12 sons. Two of them born to his beloved Rachel and the other 10 born to Leah and handmaidens. And so it's now time for him to leave. This is one who has become prosperous and his prosperity is now causing problems. He's been there for 20 years. Now remember his mother had said you need to go to my brother's house for a few days. He's been gone now for 20 years and he begins to travel home. As he's traveling home we find it in chapter 32. He receives word, word that causes him to fear greatly. It says in verse six of chapter 32 the messengers returned to Jacob saying we came to your brother Esau and he also is coming to meet you and 400 men are with him. So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. Esau is coming to meet you as all of these men and he's afraid. Now this is where I wanna bring some application to our study tonight. Because at this point he begins to show how God has been working in his life. Remember with me it's been 20 years. And so let's see what happens to a man who is being broken by God. Chapter 32 verse nine Jacob said, oh God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac the Lord who said to me return to your country and to your kindred and I will deal well with you. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which you have shown your servant. For I crossed over this Jordan with my staff and now I have become two companies. Deliver me I pray from the hand of my brother from the hand of Esau for I fear him lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. For you said I will surely treat you well and make your descendants as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered for multitude. What does he do? The first thing he does is he prays and I want you to see this and in his prayer he reminds the Lord of God's promises. God you have said to me that you would bring me back safely. You said to me 20 years ago when I left my father's house to come and receive my wife you said that you would bring me back safely. And that's a heart of prayer. One it's dependence I'm afraid and so I'm speaking to you. And two it's a heart of remembrance. God in your word you have promised. And so that's what he's doing here. He's being broken. The Psalmist in Psalm 64 verse one says hear my voice oh God in my prayer. Preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Proverbs 29, 25 says the fear of man brings a snare but whoever puts his trust in the Lord shall be saved. And so he begins to pray and as he's beginning to pray he's asking the Lord for help. God you've got to be with me. Now notice verse 22 it says he arose that night and took his two wives his two maid servants his 11 sons crossed over the Ford of Jabba and he took them and sent them over the brook and sent them over and set over what he had. Then Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until the break of day. Now when he saw that he did not prevail against him he touched the socket of his hip and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said let me go for the day breaks but he said I will not let you go unless you bless me. So he said to him what is your name? He said Jacob. He said your name shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed. Jacob asked him saying tell me your name I pray and he said why is it that you ask about my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved. Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him and he limped on his hip. Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank which is in the hip socket because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip and the muscle that shrank. Let's look at the breaking of Jacob. This is what I wanted to share with you today. We needed to get that background so we could get up to this point, the breaking of Jacob. Jacob according to verse 24 is left alone. Why is he left alone? Because that's a place that God can meet him without distraction. There's gonna be a time now a meeting between him and the Lord God. And notice with me the Bible says and I want you to see this in verse 24 that a man wrestled with him. Often I have heard people teaching in their studies concerning prayer and using of Jacob as an illustration they will say Jacob wrestled with this man. But when you read the Bible I want you to notice the Bible doesn't say and Jacob wrestled with him. I want you to see that. I want you to see that the Bible actually says that a man wrestled with him. It was the Lord who was initiating this contact. Now Jacob had prayed God I need your help but God is gonna go and do a work right now to break him, to make him dependent on him for the rest of his life. I believe that God does break us. I believe that and we'll see that in just a moment. But I believe that the best vessel in the hand of the Lord is gonna be the broken vessel and God has a way of doing that in our lives to make us dependent on him. And he also leaves us wounded sometimes so that the rest of our life we walk with a lift even as he did. Because there are things that the Lord will do in our life when God cripples us that makes us 100% dependent on him and the Lord will do that. And sometimes we think that he won't but he indeed does. Now when it says that there was a man wrestling with him until the break of day the question has to be asked who is this man? Well the man we know as a Christophany it is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. He is the one who is wrestling with him. And this is something that you find in scripture you have what is called a Christophany or theophany which is a God appearance. It's a God manifestation. And in the Old Testament there are times when Jesus Christ before he takes human flesh will actually come and communicate and have relation with men and that's what you have right here. That's what you see. Notice verse 30 how he had said I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved. So we know that this is simply an angel but this is Christ. In Isaiah chapter 12 verses three through five it says 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, talked with him there. The Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his name of renown. And so we know that what he is doing is he's having a match with the Lord God and God is ministering to him. All his life he was used to getting his own way. All of his life and we saw that as we looked at him he stole his brother's birthright. He deceived his father to obtain a blessing. He fled to his family in Iran only to be deceived himself and he ultimately fled from the land to be pursued by a father-in-law. And now he doesn't know what is awaiting him. His brother has had 20 years to become more bitter towards him. There he is alone in the wilderness crying out to God and God has done a work in his life and he begins to cry out and say, God you have taught me many things but as he's there alone an angel begins to rest with him and God is now breaking him. And in verse 26 he begins to cry. He cries with tears and he cries out with humility and he begs for God's favor and clings to him unwilling to let him go because he has discovered that the only way that his needs can be met will be coming through God. And to forever keep that lesson intact God will give to him a constant reminder of it. And that is gonna be the fact that he is crippled. I believe that God allows that. Now this may sound foreign to some in this room as a matter of fact I'm certain that it does. I'm sure that it doesn't. Me even go against everything you've come to believe at this point. But I can tell you that's what's happening here. You can see it. The man, the angel of the Lord, pre-incarnate Christ wrestles with Jacob and Jacob hangs on to him for dear life. He's clinging to him. I will not let you go. What are you saying? I have learned to be dependent on you. I will not release you to go back to my own devices. I know where blessing comes from and I know whom I need in order to succeed and be protected. I've gotten to the point where I don't want to devise my own plans and do things my own way. I've gotten to the point where I understand that unless you go with me, then I should not go at all. I need your help. I am dependent on you. The Lord cripples. The Lord will bring us to a place where we do not any longer depend on our own strength, our own wisdom, our own might, but that we have the wisdom to know through the lessons that he has taught us over a lifetime that without him we can do nothing. In my own life, there have been places where I have not in a physical sense, but in a sense wrestled with the Lord. And the Lord has always won. He always will win. And he has allowed me to have places in my life that have been broken only to be healed by him, but I have a reminder that I carry that causes me many times to cry out and say, God without you, I can't do anything. I can't go into details because of course they're not necessary, not interesting to you and very deeply personal to me, but the bottom line is, is I know some of this breaking and I know what it does. And I know that some of us carry within us encounters that the Lord has allowed to remain so that we might remember that without him we wouldn't have survived. It's amazing how we don't remember everything but there are things in our lives that we just will not forget. They are things that we cannot forget. They were so monumental. They made such a difference for good or at that time maybe bringing pain. And sometimes we will look back to those places and remember that if the Lord hadn't rescued and delivered us, we would not have survived. And they're places of breaking and they're a crippling in our life, but they have caused us to be dependent on him. The apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 says something very interesting in verses seven through nine. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verses seven through nine, Paul said this. He said, lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. I've asked the Lord to deliver me, but the Lord has said my strength is made perfect in weakness. Paul, you could have such pride over the revelations and things that God has given to you. And because that is true, I'm gonna keep you dependent on the Lord through this thorn that you have in your flesh, this constant reminder of your personal weakness. Nobody actually knows what that thorn was, by the way. Nobody knows exactly what it was. It's referred to as a messenger of Satan. There are some who say, perhaps Paul was speaking concerning his physical illness, how that he had eyes that were swollen and diseased to the point that when he writes to the Galatians, he says, you would have given me your own eyes if it was possible. He had an infirmity in the flesh and he said, and you didn't despise me because of it. And there are those who would say that perhaps he was speaking concerning his inability to see and the great pain that he went through sometimes with this eye infection. There are others who would say that this messenger of Satan could very well have been some key individuals who were in opposition to him who were being used by Satan to keep him under intense persecution and affliction. We really don't know what it is. All we know is that Paul prayed and said, God, three times, God, remove it from me. God, remove it from me. God, I can't take it anymore. Remove it from me. And I've been there. I've been in that place where I prayed and so have you, I'm certain, where you've said, Lord, I don't think I can survive this anymore. You've got to do something to remove this pressure from my life because if you don't, I don't think I can make it. And then the Lord whispers to your ear, somehow, through the word of God, through prayer, through a friend, somehow he speaks to you and says, my grace is sufficient. My strength is going to be made perfect in your weakness. Hold fast, I will not forsake you. I will not leave you. I will be with you. I will deliver you. And you do make it through. You survive. You make it through and you walk on with the Lord but you have a limp. You have a constant reminder of that encounter that you had with the Lord. It's something that is there. And that's what took place in this man's life. He was grabbing a hold of the angel of the Lord and he was saying, I will not let you go unless you bless me. Well, what is your name? My name is Jacob. Well, Jacob, supplanter. Jacob, deceiver. Jacob, heal-catcher. You have prevailed with God and I'm giving you a new name. No longer shall you be called supplanter. You are now going to be called prince with God. Your name is Israel. That's what Israel means. And so the Lord took him and changed his name after 20 years of him learning lessons from God. He finally encounters God in a personal powerful way and the Lord cripples him, renames him and continues to bless him. And the rest of his life, he walked with a limp, remembering that encounter with God. I would rather walk with a limp the rest of my life because of an encounter with God than to not have any encounters with God at all. And I've discovered that when the Lord does break you and the Lord does cripple you and he does cripple you, it's not to destroy you. It's to cause you to cling more desperately to him. And that's what takes place. This encounter with him forever changed his life. This encounter with the Lord changed him for the rest of his life. So much so that ultimately, when it came to blessing his children, he made sure to follow God's plan concerning the heirs that God had given to him. Now, back in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 21, by faith Jacob when he was dying blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped leaning on the top of his staff. Remember with me, Joseph was the 11th born and he gave to him a special blessing. Joseph was the chosen son to bless. Joseph's Jacob was to be blessed over Esau. Joseph was not the first born, he's the 11th but he still received blessing. He actually receives what is called a double blessing because he had two sons and both of his sons received blessings. Now, one son's name was Ephraim. He was a younger and he received a greater blessing according to Genesis 48, 19. And instead of a single tribe descending from him, two half tribes descended. In the blessing, the point that he's making simply is what was never physically possessed because he didn't receive the land and all of those physical promises that were first given to Abraham and Isaac and then to him. Even though he didn't receive them in his lifetime, he still passed on those blessings to future generations. And that's what we do, by the way. One of the greatest gifts that a father can give, and I speak to those who are fathers here, one of the greatest gifts that you can give to your kids is your blessing, your blessing. And as a father, my children, and you might find this interesting, I don't mention this often, but as a father, my children actually know that when they get married, when they get married, and I don't know if I should even, well, it's nothing that private, it is private, but it's not that private, that my children want to receive what they call their father's blessing, that's what they want. And the way that's gonna take place is when I put my hands on them and I pray a father's blessing over them. And I have told them that, and this may be personal and maybe even something you can't understand, but I've said, you children need to select your mate carefully because I wanna bless your marriage. As your father and the priest of this home, I want to, as a father, act as the priest in your life. And I wanna take you and I wanna put my hands on you and I wanna say in the name of Jesus, may you prosper, may you be blessed, may you have beautiful children, may God be with you and go with you, may he bless you when you go out, and may he bless you when you come in, may he cause his face to shine upon you, and may he give you peace. I wanna give you my blessing, a father's blessing and my children have remembered that. And that's something that they want to have. The day comes when I give them away to whomever it is that the Lord has prepared for them, I want to bless them. And I have also said this, but should you bring somebody home that is not whom you should marry? Don't expect it. Don't expect it. Don't expect it. I've gone so far as to say, if it's somebody that I know be on a shadow of a doubt and your mom and I agreed that this is not of the Lord and it's of the flesh, I will not bless your relationship. You need to know that. Now I'm not saying don't get married. I am saying I'll attend your wedding, but I will not perform it because if I am not in agreement with you, I will not hand you to somebody that I do not believe Jesus Christ has prepared for you. Now that sounds harsh, doesn't it? But that's a father and that's what I as a father have chosen to do. I'm not one of these fathers who says, go on, sort it out. No, I'm not that way. I take these things very seriously because I believe that I have a capacity as a believer to say, may God shine upon you as he has shown upon me. And I will definitely put my hands on my children the day that they get married. It's not a light thing at all. When I send them off, it's gonna be with a blessing. And my kids with tears have said I want that blessing and I'm gonna give it to them as long as we agree that this is the right one for you in your life. Why? Because I take that seriously. I take it very seriously because I want the hand of God to bless their life and they know that. And you know what? You see that in the Old Testament. You see the blessing of Isaac on Jacob and Jacob on Joseph. You see their hands on them and they give them a pronounce a blessing. May my God be your God. May God prosper you, be with you, strengthen you, go with you. May he cause you to be filled with his love and his joy. Those are blessings you can give to your children. Don't ever take it lightly. Don't take it as something that doesn't matter. Indeed it does. And I've gone so far as to say, and may the fruit of your womb be blessed by God that they may serve him also. May you have a generation of faith so that not only are my children blessed by God but may my grandchildren be blessed by God too. And may God's blessing just move through this family so that all the generations that follow that they are people who serve their God. And I do that with faith for the future. The way that you see that Joseph was being blessed by a father who was given to him a blessing that he himself didn't receive. He didn't receive the land. He didn't receive those kinds of promises but he had a hope that was still a far off and he knew his descendants would indeed do so. So he blesses him. That's a blessing of faith. And that's what took place in the life of a man who at first was called sneaky, supplanter, deceitful who became prince with God. When he encountered the Lord, God crippled him, kept him dependent on him and he learned his lessons and he said, and I bless you in the way that my father has blessed me.