“I Have Enough”

"I Have Enough"

(No. 2739)

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, AUGUST 11, 1901.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING,
DECEMBER 9, 1880.

"Esau said, I have enough. Jacob said, I have enough." Genesis 33:9,11.

IT is a very rare thing to meet with people who say that they have
enough, for those who have most generally desire more, and those who
have little feel that contentment is a thing which cannot reasonably be
expected from them. For any person honestly and truthfully to say, "I
have enough," is so unusual a circumstance that I do not remember
having heard it often. I have done so a few times, at long intervals.
This being the case as a rule, it is very remarkable that there should
be, in this chapter, a record of two persons who each said, "I have
enough." It is specially noteworthy that this was said by two brothers,
for, generally, if one of two brothers is contented, the other is of
quite a different disposition. One may be of a very happy and
easy-going spirit, but the other possesses enough worry and care to
have stocked the two. But here are two brothers, twins, yet each one
says, "I have enough."

It will appear to you as a still more singular fact if you remember
that these brothers differed so greatly from one another in other
respects. The one was described by the Apostle Paul as a "profane
person, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright." Yet he says,
"I have enough." The other was a man who had wrestled with God and who
had power with God and with men as a prince! He also says, "I have
enough." It seems to me as if, on that occasion, the blessing of their
father Isaac rested upon them both, for you remember that, although
Esau did not receive the great blessing–the Covenant blessing–that
having gone to Jacob who secured it by deception, yet Esau did receive
a great blessing of a temporal kind which Isaac pronounced upon him
with all the fervor of a father who loved his son most ardently. Esau
thus received what he most wanted, for he cared very little for the
spiritual blessing–not being a spiritual man–and when he obtained the
temporal'blessing, that satisfied his heart and he said, "It is
enough." The blessing of a gracious father is, indeed, a blessing and
though it may not always come as we could wish, in the
spiritualfashion, for all sons are not Jacobs, yet, nevertheless, it
does come in some fashion or other. And, thus, upon Esau there fell the
blessing which his father Isaac pronounced upon him when he said,
"Behold, your dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the
dew of Heaven from above."

I am going to try to show you that although these two different people
did each say, "I have enough," and although the meaning of their words
was in some sense, alike, yet there were great differences as to the
innermost meaning of the very same words when they came out of
different mouths.

I. My first observation is that HERE IS AN UNGODLY MAN WHO SAYS THAT HE
HAS ENOUGH.

There are some unconverted men who are content with their present
possessions–it is not always or often the case, but it is so
sometimes. Contentment is not altogether a spiritual gift. It is
possessed by some men who make no pretense to spiritual attainments.
You must admit that it is so and it is always unfair and unjust,
because it is false, to say that merely moral men have no moral
virtues, for they sometimes have excellences which, for what they are,
shine very brightly and put to shame the defects of professing
Christians! A Bristol stone is not a diamond and it is not worth
anything like the price of a diamond, but if you were to say that it
was not like a diamond, and that it did not shine, you would do it a
gross injustice. Paste gems are not real jewels, but they are made so
remarkably like the genuine article that if you were to say that they
have no brilliance, you would be denying that which is a matter of
fact. And, in like manner,

there are unconverted men whose natural excellences are bright and
shining and ought not to be denied. And, though they are not the people
of God and in the day when God shall make up His jewels they will not
be numbered with them, for they are mere counterfeits and imitations,
yet there is much to be seen in them which we should admire and of
which we ought to confess the excellence.

There are some men who have not the Grace of God in their hearts, who,
nevertheless, are not always fretting and worrying, as certain other
people are. It is a comfort for their families that they are contented
and it is well that even an Esau should say, "I have enough." It is
good for Jacob that Esau should say it and it is good for Esau,
himself. It is well for a man's wife and his family that he should be
of a happy temperament and of a contented spirit, instead of being, as
some are, perpetually grasping, grinding, scraping and doing everything
they can to get more to add to what they already possess. Well, then,
if even unconverted men sometimes say, "We have enough"–and we do
occasionally meet with such persons–what a shame it will be if those
who have the Grace of God within them should fall short of even that
contentment which worldly men have attained–and should need such
persons as these to set them an example in such a matter as this!

Notice, next, that it is sometimes the case that ungodly men are
contented, as Esau was when he said, "I have enough." This may be
because they are persons of easy disposition who are readily pleased.
There are some of whom we say that, "they are easy as an old shoe" and,
generally, such people are not worth much more than an old shoe. These
very easy-going people never do much in the world, but, still, for all
that, they are happy in their easy mode of life. They are naturally
satisfied with less than contents others. They look on the bright side
of things. They are cheerful from their bodily constitution, being
endowed with good health. And their mental conformation, which is not
quite so brisk as that of some others, but more calm and
quiet–possibly more stupid, too–enables them to say more readily than
others do, "We have enough."

I have no doubt that sometimes ignorance is a help to contentment.
Hence the common saying, "If ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be
wise"–which I will not stay to pull to pieces, though it is open to
criticism–for a great mistake lies at the bottom of it. But there are
some men who are contented with what they have because they do not know
of anything better. They are perfectly satisfied with their present
sphere in life, for they were never out of it. They have always lived
on the old farm where their father lived before them and where their
ancestors have lived for many generations–and they do not know of
anything better than that. I would not like to transplant the tree that
grows so well where it is and I would be the last to wish to inject
cares, anxieties and ambitions into the heart of a man who is naturally
contented with his lot.

I do not say that this was Esau's case, however. I think he was
contented and said, "I have enough," for quite another reason. Some are
contented because they are utterly reckless and only consider present
pleasure. They live from hand to mouth and never calculate what may
happen tomorrow. Laying by for a rainy day seems to them to be
preposterous. If they have sufficient for the passing hour, it is quite
enough for them. In some respects, how like this vice is to the virtue
which the Christian ought to seek after! Yet it is a vice as we see it
in the ungodly, for they are careless, heedless and reckless as was
this man, Esau, who, coming in hungry and faint from the chase, sells
his birthright for one mess of red pottage, not knowing and not caring
what the spiritual value of that birthright might be, but selling it
straightaway that he might satisfy his hunger! There are some who are
contented for this reason, that they do not exercise thought, they do
not give due consideration to their true condition and they say, "We
have enough," because they have sufficient for the time present. Such
contentment as that, I do not commend–if any of us have it, may God
deliver us from it!

Yet let me notice, next, that in the contentment of unconverted men,
there are some good points. For, first, it may prevent greed in them.
When a man says, "I have enough," you do not expect him to be one of
those who grind the faces of the poor and who must compass sea and land
to get more wealth to themselves. Now, in Esau's case, he declined his
brother's present until he was pressed to accept it–and I have no
doubt that he honestly declined it on the ground that he had enough.
His brother had planned this gift to propitiate his favor, but he tells
him that he does not need it, that he loves him without the
present–and he has enough–so does not require it. It is a good thing
for a man, even if he has not the Grace of God, to be so contented with
the things which he has as not to be covetous of the things of others,
for covetousness is a great sin and is condemned in that Commandment
which says, "You shall not covet anything that is

your neighbor's." So far, contentment is a good thing if a man is so
satisfied with what he has that he does not covet that which belongs to
another!

It is also right and proper that he should not have any envious
ill-feeling towards others. If others are better off than they are,
some people straightway find fault with Providence and are envious and
jealous of the person who appears to be more favored than they are.
Esau was not of that mind, for he said to Jacob, "I have enough, my
brother. Keep what you have unto yourself." There is another sense
implied in the Hebrew, "Be that to you that is yours. May it do you
good. May you use and enjoy it yourself!" I like to hear a man say, "My
motto is, 'Live, and let live.' I have enough and I wish others to have
enough, too. And if another man's 'enough' is larger than mine, I am
glad he has it. If he is capable of more enjoyment than I am, let him
have it–why should I not rejoice in his joy and thus suck out of the
sweets that belong to him some sweetness for myself by being glad that
another is not as poor as I am, or so sick as I am, or so feeble as I
am, or being glad that there are some who can excel myself, even in the
point of earthly happiness?" So far so good, Esau, that you should say,
"I have enough."

Still, there is an evil side to this contentment, as you must have seen
in many who have possessed it. In some people it has led to boasting.
They are so satisfied with everything they have that they are quite
sure that nobody else owns anything half as good as what they have. If
they have a horse, there is never another horse within a hundred miles
that can trot like theirs! If one should go faster, it is because their
animal was a little out of condition that day. They think there is no
such a farm as theirs, or no such a trade as theirs, or nothing in the
world that can be compared with what they have. And they are even
foolish enough to tell you so! This very contentment that they have
breeds glorying in the flesh and glorying in their own possessions–all
of which is evil and obnoxious in the sight of God.

We have also seen it lead to a contempt of Divine things–and this is
even worse. Esau says, "I have enough," yet he had lost his birthright,
he had lost all the blessings of the Covenant, he had lost all part and
lot in God and goodness. It is an awful contentment when man can be
satisfied without God! What a terrible peace is that when a man is in a
peaceful state of mind although he is unsaved! It is like that dreadful
calm, in the tropics, of which we have sometimes read, where there has
been no wind for many a day and the very deep is rotting–and
everything seems stagnant and full of death. There are some men who
have reached that kind of contentment in which their conscience is
seared as with a hot iron. They want no Heaven–earth is their Heaven.
They desire not to be carried by angels into Abraham's bosom–to fare
sumptuously every day, here, is enough bliss for them. They are content
not to have the children's portion and to be scourged because God loves
them–they wish to have the lot of the bastard who is without
chastisement and who is not acknowledged as a son! They have their
portion in this life–and that is the worst thing about this kind of
contentment–for it argues that God is giving them here all the joy
that they will ever have.

Looked at from that standpoint, there was something very dreadful in
Esau's saying, "I have enough." If you could have put Jacob in Esau's
place, with Jacob's convictions, with Jacob's knowledge of God, with
Jacob's desire to be on good terms with God, do you think that he would
have said, "I have enough, for I have these camels, and cattle, and
sheep, though I have not God"? Oh, no! Jacob would have said, "Enough,
my Lord? All this is nothing without You. I promised You if You would
give me bread to eat, raiment to put on and bring me again to my
father's house in peace, I would be Yours–but I cannot be content
without You." So he grasps the Angel of the Covenant and he says to
Him, "I will not let You go, except You bless me," for he felt that
until God blessed him, he could not say, "I have enough." There is no
real contentment to a truly-awakened man until he is at peace with God!
And it is a horrible thing for any man to be perfectly satisfied while
he is under God's wrath and in danger of eternal destruction–as he
certainly is unless he has believed in the Lord Jesus Christ! I would
like to put a few very sharp thorns into the pillow of any easy-going
people here who are content out of Christ. I would even wound you that
you may come to Christ for healing, and smite you that you may resort
to the great Physician for the cure which He alone can work, for it is
a dreadful thing that you should be at ease when you have such grave
cause for disquietude. "There is no peace, says my God, to the wicked."

II. Now I must pass on to the better part of my subject. HERE IS A
GODLY MAN WHO SAYS THAT HE HAS ENOUGH. This is Jacob.

I will begin by remarking that it is a pity that this is not true of
every Christian. It is a sad thing when a man is godly and yet does not
say, "I have enough." The Apostle does not say that contentment in
itself is great gain, but he says, "Godliness with contentment is great
gain," so that it is not the contentment without the godliness that is
the gain and,

on the other hand, any form of godliness that does not bring
contentment with it should be gravely questioned. A godly man who does
not yield ready assent to all God's will ought to pray to be made a
godlier man. That man who says, "I am a Christian," and then murmurs,
ought to pray to God to forgive his murmuring and to make him more of a
Christian. It should be a distinguishing mark of a child of God that
even when he is in the greatest agony, and his prayer has the most of
disturbance in it, it should never go beyond the line laid down by
Christ Himself, "If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me:
nevertheless not as I will, but as You will."

Your heart is breaking, you say, with your troubles. It needs more
breaking for, if it were broken, the trouble would not break it! Where
our selfishness and our self-will come in, there our sorrows begin.
What is needed is not the removal of trouble, but the conquest of self.
When the Grace of God has brought us to sing from our hearts the verse
we sang just now, all will be well with us–

"Father, I wait Your daily will. You shall divide my portion still!
Give me on earth what seems You best, Till death and Heaven reveal the
rest"

When God's will and our will are contrary to one another, we may be
sure that there is something amiss with us. We are never right till
God's will becomes our will and we can honestly say, "The will of the
Lord be done." Therefore it is a sad thing when a Christian cannot say,
"I have enough." But it is a very sweet thing when he can truthfully
say it. Then does he really enjoy life–when he thanks God for what he
is and for what he is not–when he thanks God for health, and also for
sickness–when he thanks God for gains, and also for losses–when he
sings a song in the night, as the nightingale does, as well as a song
in the day, as the lark does. He then proves that he does not follow
God for what he gets out of Him, as stray dogs will follow a man in the
street who feeds them, but that he follows God out of sincere love to
Him because God is his Master and he belongs to Him. It is true
blessedness, a little Heaven begun below, when the Christian, looking
all round, can say of all temporal things, "I have enough."

It is a still better thing when the Christian has more than enough.
Jacob was in that condition, for he felt that he could give Esau all
those goats, sheep, camels, cows, bulls and asses and yet be able to
say, "I have enough." It is a blessing when a godly man feels, "I have
more than enough for my own needs, so I am glad that I can help my
fellow Christians. I have great joy and delight in aiding the poor and
succoring the needy." When you can sing, with the Psalmist, "My cup
runs over," mind that you call somebody to come and catch what spills,
for if you let it run to waste, it may be said of you, "That man cannot
be trusted with a full cup." So let it run over where those with empty
cups may come and catch it, to moisten their parched lips! It is a good
thing when the Christian, even though he has but little, can say, "I
have not only enough, but I have a little to spare for others who have
less than I have."

The charm of Jacob's, "enough," was that God had given it to him. Esau
says nothing about God, but Jacob says, "God has dealt graciously with
me, and I have enough." That is indeed a blessing which we can see
comes to us from God when, on every mercy there is the mark of our
Father's hand! What are bursting barns if the wheat comes not from God?
What are the overflowing wine vats if the juice of the clusters is not
from God? What is the good of your gold and silver if God has cursed
it? But what a blessing it is when God has smiled upon it all and says
to you, "My child, I give you this because you are My child. I make you
My steward and I entrust these earthly things to your keeping because I
believe that you will use them for My Glory and for the good of your
fellow creatures." This puts a sweetness into the cup which, otherwise,
would not have been there, so that it is a very different thing to be a
child of God and to have enough–and to be a child of the devil and to
have enough! May God grant that we may, each one, know what it is to
say with Jacob, "The Lord has dealt graciously with me, and I have
enough"!

The correct rendering of our second text–as you may see by the
marginal reading of your Bibles–is that Jacob said, "I have all
things." Esau said, "I have enough," but Jacob said, "I have all
things." And, as Matthew Henry says, "Esau's enough was much, but
Jacob's enough was all. He that has much would have more, but he that
thinks he has all, is sure he has enough." Well, he who believes in
Christ has all things, for what says the Apostle? "All things are
yours; and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." They are all yours
in this sense–that all that will be good for you, God must give to
you–He has pledged Himself to this. "No good thing will He withhold
from them that walk uprightly." He will therefore not withhold any good
thing from you, so that all that is good for you, you are sure to get.
All things are yours

in the promises and in the Covenant–for that God who took you to be
His portion, has given Himself to be your portion–and He is "God
all-sufficient." All things are in Him and, in possessing Him, you have
all things!

Oh, what privileges are yours, for, listen! God Himself is yours. "I
will be their God," He says, and that is more than anything else that
we can say. Even though all things are yours, you get beyond that when
you can say that God is yours! The Eternal Father gives Himself, with
all His glorious attributes and with everything that belongs to Him–to
you! He gives His very heart to you, "for the Father Himself loves
you." The Son of God has loved you and given Himself for you, and He
gives Himself to you. All the merit of His atoning Sacrifice, all the
love of His heart, all the wisdom of His head, all the power of His
arm, all are yours! His very life is yours, for He says to you,
"Because I live, you shall live also." What an inheritance you have,
then, in the Christ of God and in the God of Christ! But then you have
also the Holy Spirit to be yours. "He dwells with you, and shall be in
you," as in a temple. All light He will bring to you. All life He will
maintain in you. All comfort He will bestow upon you. All guidance and
all quickening He will give to you! There is nothing which the Spirit
of God can work which He will not work in you, according as you may
have need of His Divine operations. Thus Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
all being ours, what a blessed portion we have! I do not wonder that
Jacob said, "I have enough," or that he said, "I have all things."
Blessed be the name of the Lord who has made it possible for any son of
man to say as much as this!

While I was studying this subject, I met with a sweet poem by that
choice daughter of song, Miss Havergal. Each verse is upon this
subject–"Enough." I will read the verses, one by one, and add only
brief remarks, hoping that you may drink in the fullness of their
meaning and say with Jacob, if you are indeed a child of God, "I have
enough." The poem begins thus–

"I am so weak, dear Lord, I cannot stand

One moment without You!

But oh, the tenderness of Your enfolding!

And oh, the faithfulness of Your upholding!

And oh, the strength of Your right hand!

That strength is enough for me!" There is to be none of your own
strength, you see, and none that you can borrow from your neighbors.
You may have many trials, long pilgrimages, great burdens, but God's
tenderness will enfold you, God's faithfulness will uphold you, and
God's strength will, indeed, be enough for you!

As I read that last line, I felt as if I could fall on my face and
laugh as Abraham did. Omnipotence enough for me? I should think it is!
It is enough to uphold this great globe which God has hung upon
nothing! It is enough to sustain yon unpillared arch of Heaven which
stands firm by the Divine might! It is enough for yon sun that has
burned on through all these ages, and whose light has never failed! It
is enough for the universe which is almost illimitable! It is enough
for every living thing that breathes! It is enough for cherubim and
seraphim, and all the angelic host! Then, of course, it is enough for
me–a little gnat dancing up and down in the evening sunlight! Suppose
a giant should lend me his strength and say to me, "It will be enough
for you." I should think it would–but that would be little, indeed,
compared with the Almighty God saying to me, "As your days, so shall
your strength be." Yes, my Lord, "Your strength is enough for me." The
next verse of the poem is–

"I am so needy, Lord, and yet I know

All fullness dwells in You.

And hour by hour that never-failing treasure

Supplies and fills, in overflowing measure,

My least and greatest need! And so

Your Grace is enough for me." You remember how Paul says the Lord spoke
to him– "My Grace is sufficient for you: for My strength is made
perfect in weakness"? Think what Grace there is in Christ Jesus our
Lord–electing Grace, calling Grace, forgiving Grace, renewing Grace,
preserving Grace, sanctifying Grace, perfecting Grace, Grace upon
Grace, Grace that leads to Heaven! O Beloved, all this Grace is yours
and surely there is Grace enough for you! Why do you fear that you will
fail? Will God's Grace fail you? Will God's Grace forsake you and
permit you to perish by the hand of the enemy? No, verily, then let
each Believer say to Him, "Your Grace is enough for me." Miss Havergal
next writes–

"It is so sweet to trust Your Word alone– I do not ask to see

The unveiling of Your purpose, or the shining Of future light on
mysteries untwining– Your promise-roll is all my own! Your Word is
enough for me!"

It is very sweet to be able to say of the Lord's promise, "That is
enough for me–even if I do not see the fulfillment of it for many a
day–the promise itself is enough for me. If the Lord seems to do
nothing at all for my help, yet, since He has said, 'I will never leave
you, nor forsake you,' His Word is enough for me." Why, Beloved, you
sometimes make a man's word enough for you–the word of a man whom you
can trust. And you say, "His word is his bond." But God's Word is
backed by His oath–is not that Word enough for you? If so, why do you
fret and worry? Rather, you should say to the Lord, "Your Word is
enough for me." Then the gracious poetess continues–

"The human heart asks love, but now I know

That my heart has from You,

All real, and full, and marvelous affection,

So near, so human yet Divine perfection

Thrills gloriously the mighty glow!

Your love is enough for me!

Can you say that–you who have loss some dear one, you who are widowed,
you who are childless, you who have been deceived and forsaken–"a
woman of a sorrowful spirit"–a man cast down and lonely? Is God's love
enough for you? It ought to be, for if all the loves of husbands,
wives, lovers, mothers, fathers and children were distilled and the
quintessence taken out, it would be but water as compared with the
generous wine of God's love! Does God love me? Then, if all the world
shall hate me, it matters no more to me than if a single drop of gall
should fall into an Atlantic full of sweetness and bliss! This light
affliction, which is but for a moment, is not worthy to be compared
with the exceeding glory of being loved of God! Yes, my Lord, "Your
love is enough for me." It is a great heart that God's love cannot
fill–no, I must correct myself and say that it is a base heart–a
wicked heart–an unrenewed heart that could not be filled with God's
love! It is not a broken heart, but a divided heart. And when the heart
is divided, it does not retain the love of God. Oh, for a heart united
to the heart of God! Then shall I say to Him–

"Your love is enough for me!"

The sweet poem closes thus–

"There were strange soul-depths, restless, vast and broad– Unfathomed
as the sea!

An infinite craving for some infinite stilling– But now Your perfect
love is perfect filling! Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord, my God, You, You
are enough for me!"

So may it be with each of us, for Christ's sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: GENESIS 32; 33:1-12.

Genesis 32:1, 2. And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met
him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he
called the name of that place Mahanaim. Jacob was about to enter upon a
great trial and therefore he received a great comfort in preparation
for it. God knows when to send angels to His servants–and when they
come, it is often as the forerunners of a trial which is to follow
them.

3-5. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the
land of Seir, the country of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, Thus
shall you speak unto my lord Esau; Your servant Jacob says thus, I have
sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now: and I have oxen, and
asses, flocks, and menservants and women servants: and I have sent to
tell my lord, that I may find grace in your sight It has been judged by
some that Jacob, in sending such a message

to Esau, acted unworthily and unbelievingly, but I think we are not
called upon to censure the servants of God in points wherein they are
not condemned in Scripture. The elder brother, according to all Eastern
customs, was the lord of the family, and Jacob had so grossly injured
Esau that it well became him to walk very humbly and to abound in
courtesy towards him. Besides, I hope we shall never imagine that the
highest faith is inconsistent with the greatest prudence, and that we
shall never forget that there is such a book in the Bible as the Book
of Proverbs which contains counsels of wisdom for daily life. That Book
of Proverbs is placed not far from the Song of Solomon which treats of
high spiritual communion, as if to teach us that the next door neighbor
to the wisdom that comes from above which walks with God, is that
prudence which God gives to His servants for their dealings with men.
He that walks with God will not be a fool, for God is the source of all
wisdom–and the man who walks with Him will learn wisdom from Him.

6-8. And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your
brother Esau, and also he comes to meet you, and four hundred men with
him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the
people that were with him, and the flocks and herds, and the camels,
into two bands; and said, If Esau comes to the one company, and smites
it, then the other company which is left shall escape. This fear and
distress were sad proofs of lack of faith on Jacob's part, for where
there is strong faith, there may be a measure of human fear, but it
will not go to the length of being "greatly afraid and distressed," as
he was. In this respect he falls short of his grandfather Abraham. But,
nevertheless, he acts wisely, first with common prudence, and next with
uncommon prayerfulness.

9-12. And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father
Isaac, the LORD which said unto me, Return unto your country, and to
your kindred, and I will deal well with you: I am not worthy of the
least of all Your mercies, and of all the truth which You have showed
unto Your servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now
I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray You, from the hand of my
brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and
smite me, and the mother with the children. And You said, I will surely
do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be
numbered for multitude. Note the humility of Jacob's prayer. We cannot
expect our supplications to speed with God unless we put them upon the
footing of Free Grace by acknowledging that we have no merit of our own
which we can plead before Him. Yet also notice how Jacob reminds God of
His promise, "You said, I will surely do you good." That is the very
pith and marrow of prayer when we can quote the Lord's promise and say
to Him, "Remember the word unto Your servant, upon which You have
caused me to hope." You have a strong plea to urge with God when you
can say to Him, "You said," for He is a God who cannot lie!

13-16. And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came
to his hand a present for Esau his brother; two hundred she goats,
twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams, thirty milch camels
with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten
foals. And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove
by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put
a space between drove and drove. That also was a very sensible
arrangement on Jacob's part, so that his brother might have time to
think how he should act, for angry men often do in a hurry what they
would not do if they had a little time given them for consideration.
Jacob knows this, so he lets Esau's anger have an opportunity to cool
down while he watches drove following drove.

17-21. And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother
meets you, and asks you, saying, Whose are you? And where are you
going? And whose are these before you? Then you shall say, They are
your servant Jacob's. It is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and,
behold, also he is behind us. And so commanded he the second, and the
third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall
you speak unto Esau, when you find him. And say you moreover, Behold,
your servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with
the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face:
perhaps he will accept me. So went the present over before him: and
himself lodged that night in the company. But in the middle of the
night, he was in such deep anxiety concerning his meeting with his
brother, and probably still more concerning his position towards his
God, that he felt that he must get away alone to pray.

22-24. And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two
women servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.
And he took them and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he
had. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a Man with him until
the breaking of the day. It does not say that he wrestled with the Man,
but, "there wrestled a Man with him." We call him, "wrestling Jacob,"
and so he was, but we must not forget the wrestling Man–or, rather,
the wrestling Christ–the wrestling Angel of the Covenant who had come
to wrestle out of

him much of his own strength and wisdom, which, though it was
commendable in a measure, and we have commended it, was an evil because
it kept him from relying on the strength and wisdom of God!

25. And when He saw that He prevailed not against him, He touched the
hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint,
as he wrestled with Him. So that he fell, or began to fall, but still
he gripped the Angel, and would not let Him go.

26. AndHe said, Let Me go, for the day breaks. Andhe said, I will not
let You go, except You bless me. That was grandly spoken!

27. AndHe said unto him, What is your name? And he said, Jacob. "The
supplanter."

28. AndHe said, Your name shall be calledno more Jacob, but Israel "A
prince of God."

28, 29. For as a prince have you power with God and with men, and have
prevailed. And Jacob asked Him, and said, Tellme, Ipray You, Your name.
AndHe said, Why is it thatyou ask after Myname? AndHe blessedhim there.
He received what he sought for his necessity, but not what he merely
asked out of curiosity.

30-32. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen
God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over
Peniel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. Therefore
the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon
the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because He touched the hollow
of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.

Genesis 33:1, 2. And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold,
Esau came, and with him four hundredmen. And he divided the children
unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. And he put the
handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after,
and Rachel and Joseph last. He placed them in the order of his
affection for them–the best-beloved in the rear.

3, 4. And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground
seven times, until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet
him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they
wept. God had been very gracious to him, and all his fears were gone,
so he met Esau as a brother, not as an enemy, and the four hundred men
were willing to become his protectors.

5. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and
said, Who are those with you? And he said, The children which God has
graciously given your servant. There was a considerable number of them
altogether, more than enough, I expect most of you would think, if you
had them, but Jacob did not speak of them disparagingly–he described
them as "the children which God has graciously given your servant."

6-10. Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they
bowed themselves. And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed
themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed
themselves. And he said, What do you mean by all this drove which I
met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord. And
Esau said, I have enough, my brother, keep what you have unto yourself
And Jacob said, No, Ipray you, if now I have found grace in your sight,
then receive my present at my hand. For, among Orientals, it is such a
common custom to offer and receive presents that if they are not
accepted, it is regarded as an affront.

10-12. For therefore I have seen your face, as though I had seen the
face of God, and you were pleased with me. Take, Ipray you, my blessing
that is brought to you; because God has dealt graciously with me, and
because I have enough. Andhe urgedhim, andhe took it. Andhe said, Let
us take our journey, andlet us go, andI will go before you.