Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis. Tonight is study #16 of Genesis 32, and we continue to read Genesis 32:30-32:
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 Penuel 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.
I will stop reading there. It might be a good time to summarize what we have found in this passage, and that is that God suddenly revealed Himself to Jacob in a way that Jacob referred to as “face to face.” He entered into a wrestling match with him, During the wrestling match, God tried to discourage Jacob from holding onto Him, and He said, “Let me go, for the day breaketh.” However, Jacob persisted until God blessed him, and then the Lord changed His name from Jacob to “Israel,” and we know that Israel means, “power with God,” and the power with God is to hold on or endure. That is really what it comes down to, spiritually.
We saw that this passage points to the time of the end, spiritually, as the Lord opened up the Scriptures to reveal His “face,” as He speaks “face to face” with His elect people. We took some time to go over several verses that indicate that when God speaks “face to face,” it means He is speaking plainly; that is, He is revealing the mysteries of the Bible. He is taking the veil off. He is unsealing the Word, and the hidden things (truths) of God become known. It becomes understandable because the Lord has opened up the eyes of understanding of His people. And this is all in view with this phrase “face to face.”
Also, in the wrestling match with God, they were “face to face,” and that means that the Lord is revealing truth – the end time information and doctrines we have learned over the last few decades – and this revealing of the mysteries of the kingdom of God brought about the wrestling match itself, we could say, because the things revealed caused many to “wrestle” with holding onto the truth of the Word. And the Word is Christ, and Christ is God, so holding onto God is holding onto the Word of God as the pressure builds to let it go. And that is why the Lord said, “Let me go, for the day breaketh.” But Jacob would not let Him go, just as the elect hold onto the truths of the Word of God, thereby showing that the blessing of salvation was indeed received by them. That is, we are enduring to the end until the “day breaketh,” or until Judgment Day, and right up to the completion of Judgment Day, as we have learned that Judgment Day is a prolonged period of time.
Some held on, seemingly, to the truth of the Word until the beginning of Judgment Day (May 21, 2011). Since they have gone backward, we would have to say they clung unto right doctrine “by flatteries” throughout the Great Tribulation. They left the churches obediently, and they followed newly unearthed information about “the faith of Christ,” and this doctrine and that doctrine, but there was a problem in their hearts that God knew about all along. So then there was the beginning of an even more severe testing program. Yes, we could say that the Great Tribulation period was a severe testing, but it was even more so after May 21, 2011 came and the spiritual judgment on the world began. The “first tribulation,” the Great Tribulation, was judgment on the churches, and when it concluded, God started another tribulation, the recompense of tribulation, in the judgment upon the whole world. And numerous people “fainted.” They failed the test. They went backwards. They could not endure, and it was as though they “let go of God” before the blessing was bestowed upon them in salvation. This is why the Lord says in Matthew 24:13:
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
It is not that “enduring” is what saved us. It was not “white-knuckling” it, or “holding on for dear life” to a doctrine. But those that are saved will show forth their salvation and give evidence of salvation as they endure to the end. They latch onto the Word, and they cleave to the truth. They hold on. Ultimately, it is only because God is holding them fast and not letting them go. But from their perspective, there is effort put forth, and there is a desire to keep the Word and to be a faithful steward of the mysteries of God. This continues in the lives of elect children of God until their lives end in physical death or until the world ends. So God is recognizing that here, as He says, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” What God is saying is that the characteristic and attribute of endurance (to the end) is due to the fact that they had been saved already. They possess new resurrected hearts, and in their hearts they desire to do the will of God. Therefore, as God moves in them to will and to do of His good pleasure, they do not go backwards. They do not return to the churches. or to the world, or even to former doctrines.
You know, going back to former doctrines is just as bad, is it not? People may have kept themselves from going back to the churches or from totally living the life of the world, but they turn back from the doctrines that the Lord kindly and graciously opened up at the time of the end. They are all-important teachings of God in the Bible, but they just dismiss, for instance, the biblical calendar of history: “Oh, I want nothing more to do with that because it was wrong.” But that conclusion is from their very limited, finite perspective. They think it was wrong from the vantage point of their own eyes, and not from the true teaching of the Bible which says that Judgment Day came to pass, just as the Bible guaranteed it would. But they go back from that and other doctrines, and it is very likely that if they have not returned to the churches, they will at some point, because once they give up the biblical timeline, then the Great Tribulation is not locked in, and it becomes “moveable.” And the Great Tribulation was the time of judgment beginning at the house of God, and so forth.
But there are other things to consider. The Lord has established a Law for Judgment Day, and that is that He will take away that which they, seemingly, had. That is, He will take the talent from the ungodly, professed believer, and He will give it to the elect child of God, the one in whom is no guile, and the elect will have even more talents. And that would identify with the “talents” increasing as God brings about the revelation of His righteous judgment program in the Day of Judgment. And the talents being removed from those that merely identified with God through them would point to the Lord taking away the truth they gave lip service toward. But once the Word of God became a “hot potato,” as it were, they tossed it to the side, and they went away from it.
But God’s people cling to the Word, no matter what the affliction. And that is why we read that God touched the sinew of Jacob’s thigh. If we go to Job 1 and Job 2, it speaks of a very grievous experience. We read of Satan coming before God to accuse Job, and it says in Job 1:11-12:
But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And JEHOVAH said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of JEHOVAH.
Satan said, “Touch all that he hath,” and God allowed him to do so, and then we see the catastrophes that took place in the life of Job with the loss of his livestock, which was his wealth. More important was the loss of his children that were all slain in one day. Then it says in Job 2:5-6:
But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And JEHOVAH said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
So for God to “touch” the hollow of Joseph’s thigh was not a little thing. It was a grievous affliction that the Lord struck Jacob with, but he kept wrestling; he kept holding onto God, and he would not let go, despite the affliction that would result in him being “halt” upon his thigh. And the last verse says, in Genesis 32:32:
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.
So it is highlighted here, so we do not miss it. I mentioned before that “thigh” is the same word as “loins,” and the Bible speaks of children coming out of the loins, so there could be a deeper spiritual picture in God afflicting the “loins,” and that would identify with Christ who came forth from the family of Israel. He was the Messiah born into the world. It would also relate to circumcision, the cutting off of the foreskin, or the shedding of blood of the reproductive organ, which would in turn point to Christ’s shedding of the blood. The Lord Jesus was certainly grievously afflicted by the hand of God. He experienced the wrath of God. The account of Job is actually a historical parable that pictures what Christ experienced, so that would be an additional layer of spiritual information pointing to Christ, but also pointing to the body of Christ.
Let us look a little more at this idea of “enduring,” as we saw in Matthew 24. It is also found in Matthew 10:19-22:
But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
We saw similar language to Matthew 24. That tells us it is very important, as it has been stated two different times.
And note what it says in Matthew 10:19-20:
But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
And that is the same information we read in Mark 13:9-13:
But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. And the gospel must first be published among all nations. But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
So we see this twice, once in Matthew 10 and now in Mark 13, where God says not to premeditate on what you will speak, but it will be given to you in that “same hour,” and this refers to the “hour” of judgment. And judgment began at the house of God during the Great Tribulation. It would be given to you in that same hour what you should speak, but it is not you that speaks, but the Spirit of the Father which speaks in you. And we talked about that as we were studying the verses about speaking “face to face,” as God opened up biblical information. God had told Daniel to seal up the words until the time of the end, and at the time of the end, He opened it up, and that is the “hour” of judgment. The people of God were given that information, and we speak it. We are given understanding and knowledge of the truth, and we declare it. Again, it is an abundant amount of information like the faith of Christ; the Sunday Sabbath; the end of the church age; the Lamb being slain from the foundation of the world; the doctrine of hell being the grave, which is the ultimate penalty for sin as the unsaved are destroyed for evermore and cease to exist; the spiritual judgment that began on the world; the doctrine that the elect are not raptured at the beginning of judgment, but on the last day of the judgment period, as the elect are left alive and remaining on the earth to go through it.
And there are many more things that have come forth from the Bible, and we speak them, but God tells us in Mark 13:11 and in Matthew 10:20 that it is actually the Holy Ghost that is speaking. And, no, it is nothing “supernatural,” breaking the barrier between natural and supernatural. God will not cross that line, but it is simply the result of what happens when we follow the biblical methodology of comparing spiritual with spiritual, and the Holy Ghost teaches. That is found in 1Corinthians 2:11-13. And in order to “teach,” He must “speak,” but it is actually not God that is speaking, but His people are speaking the Words that He would have us to speak. In doing so, He is speaking. So the doctrinal information opened up at the time of the end carries the “weight” of God, as it is the Word of God. It is coming from God, and God takes full responsibility for the things that are taught, as long as those things are derived by faithfully comparing Scripture, and making sure the conclusion harmonizes with the whole of the Bible. Any teaching that passes those strict standards can then be said to be the Word of God. It is the truth of the Word of God, and God takes full credit and responsibility for it. It is His Word.
It is His speech and His teaching, and that is why it is so horrible that so many people in the churches revealed their true colors when they spoke evil of these teachings that came out of the Bible. You know, the word “blasphemy,” if it were translated, would mean “to speak evil of,” so they were blaspheming or speaking evil of the doctrine of the end of the church age, and many other things that were coming right from the mouth of God, as they were proven and confirmed by the Bible itself. They ridiculed it. They despised it. They rejected it, and spoke evil of it. So we could say that corporately…and, yes, it was individuals within the churches that committed those sins, but it was primarily the leaders of the corporate churches that spoke evil of the information that had been unsealed at the time of the end. They blasphemed, just as the Apostle Paul said he was a blasphemer as he spoke evil of Christ in that way as he went about to persecute the early church. But blasphemers could be forgiven their sins, as Paul said that he did it ignorantly in unbelief.
You see, the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit is not a sin that can be charged to individuals, but it is a sin charged to the corporate body or entity, like national Israel as their leaders and chief priests spoke evil of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, who was God in their very midst, and they turned him over to be crucified. So national Israel was guilty of the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and God charged them with that sin corporately when He ended His relationship with Israel by renting the veil of the temple in twain. The “fig tree” (of national Israel) was cursed, as the Lord Jesus said, “Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.” It was an eternal curse. There was no more salvation possible for those in national Israel, that religious system of worship. There has been no salvation in the synagogues over the last two thousand years. If God wanted to save a Jew (and He has), He would draw them out of the synagogues, and save them out in the world.
Likewise, at the time of the end, God ended His relationship with the corporate church. He cut them off. They no longer have identification with the kingdom of God. He commanded them to cease from feeding the flock. They, too, had been guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and speaking evil of Him, and the Lord held them accountable corporately, and He removed His Spirit from the entire Christian church world. And from that point forward, there was no forgiveness there. And, again, just to remind ourselves, this would identify with what we read in Mark 3:28-30:
Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.
The term “in danger of” should really be translated as “guilty of,” so the casting off of Israel (by God) coincided closely with the sending of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost the first time with the establishment of the church age. The casting off of the corporate churches coincided closely with the second sending forth of the Holy Spirit in the Jubilee year of 1994. With the sending forth of the Spirit, God ended His relationship with the corporate organization that had been His outward representation on the earth, and there would be no more salvation there forever.