Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #17 of Genesis 32, and we will be reading Genesis 32:31-32:

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.

We are coming to the close of the chapter, and Jacob has had his wrestling match with God, and he has seen God “face to face,” and his life was preserved or delivered.  And he has also been blessed.  When God said to him,  “Let me go, for the day breaketh,”  Jacob responded, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.” Then God did bless him and change his name to “Israel,” as we read at the end of verse 29: “…and he blessed him there.”  It was the same thing he had struggled with his brother Esau about since the womb when he grabbed hold of Esau’s heel.  That is how he received the name “Jacob,” the supplanter, and the one who had taken his brother by the heel.  Over time, he received the birthright and the blessing of his father, but now it was the blessing of God.  His father’s blessing had always pointed to the blessing of God, but at this time he receives it.  And we can understand that Jacob has to be a type of Christ (as he has appeared to be), but he is also a type of the body of Christ, all the seed in Christ.  Christ is the seed (singular), and all the elect Jews and Gentiles that are counted for the seed in Him.  And, finally, it is in Judgment Day that the blessing is bestowed.  The blessing is given, and this is what we see, for example, in Matthew 25:31-34:

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

The blessing is obtained, and it is all connected to seeing God “face to face.”  God first reveals His face to His people through the Scriptures, and we experience the presence of God as we learn more about God.  It is as though God is showing Himself to us directly as He opens His Word at the time of the end to clarify and speak plainly about the hidden things, the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

We also saw that when God reveals His “face” to the wicked, it is the time that they will perish.  Remember Psalm 68:1-2:

Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

And the word “presence” is the same Hebrew word translated as “face.”  At the face of God, the wicked perish, and as the Word of God is revealing the judgment written in this time of the final judgment of mankind, the wicked are perishing.  First, the shutting of the door has guaranteed their eternal destruction and the fact that they will perish and cease to be and, finally, on the last day they will be burned with the entire cursed creation.  They will go into nothingness and be no more. 

So all these things are happening as God reveals His face in Judgment Day.

Then we read in Genesis 32:31:

And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.

Jacob named the place “Penuel” because there he saw God face to face, and then he passed over.  Remember that he sent his family over the river Jabbok, and he remained behind and had this encounter with God.  But now he is passing over, and as he passed over, the sun rose upon him.

Let us look at a couple of these words.  For example, we are told that the sun rose upon him, and the word “rose” is Strong’s #2224, and we find it in Psalm 112:2:

His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.

I wanted to read this verse because it speaks of blessing God’s seed, Christ, and all those in Him.  Then it says in Psalm 112:4:

Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

The word “ariseth” is the same word translated as “rose.”  There ariseth light in the darkness, and the Day of Judgment is likened to a “dark day” in the Bible.  And yet, here in the context of the Day of Judgment, the sun rose upon Jacob as he passed over Penuel, so he is typifying the upright, and there ariseth light in the darkness.

Also, in a place that is becoming more and more familiar to us, we find this word used twice in Isaiah 60 in the first two verses, and we find a closely related word in verse 3.  Remember, this is the word #2224 in the first two verses, and the related word is #2225 in verse 3, and it is the only place this word is used in the Bible, and the translators translated it a similar way, so it is basically the same word.  It says in Isaiah 60:1:

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of JEHOVAH is risen upon thee.

The word “risen” is our word that was used when it said, “The sun rose upon him.”  Also notice the language that says, “upon thee.”  Then it says in Isaiah 60:2:

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people…

This is describing our present day of judgment.  The whole world is in a thick darkness – even gross darkness.  Keep in mind that when the Bible speaks of “darkness,” it often has in view the spiritual condition of men, as we read in Ephesians 4:17-18:

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

Their understanding has been darkened.  The wise will understand, but none of the wicked will understand because the thick darkness has overtaken the world, as well as the churches because they have been given up by God.  And it relates to the darkness in the soul, the spiritually dead heart of the sinner.  So, again, it says in Isaiah 60:2:

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but JEHOVAH shall arise upon thee…

And there is the same word.  And what do we know about JEHOVAH?  The Lord God or JEHOVAH God is a “sun” and a “shield,” as we are told in Psalm 84:11:

For JEOVAH God is a sun and shield: JEHOVAH will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

JEHOVAH is identified with the sun, so when we read, “…but JEHOVAH shall arise upon thee,” it is very similar to our verse where it says that the sun rose upon Jacob.  And then it says, in Psalm 84:11:

…and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

Recently we had a caller ask about these verses regarding who is in view by the reference to “thee,” and I said, “Well, Christ is in view because Christ is the Word.”  Again, Jacob is a type of Christ, so there is no problem with that understanding, nor is there a problem with understanding Jacob to be the elect and the sun arising upon the elect because it is really rising up the Word.  Christ is the Word, and the Word is shining forth, as we read in Revelation 1 that the earth was lightened with His glory.  On the one hand, the sun is dark as far as salvation is concerned, but as far as the light of the Gospel for those that are already saved, there is enlightenment, and the eyes of understanding of the people of God are opened to see the spiritual things that God is revealing, the revelation of His righteous judgment.

So JEHOVAH shall arise upon thee, as the elect have the Word.  The light of God is rising up in the Day of Judgment upon the Word, and the earth is lightened with His glory.  The elect are holding onto the Word, and we are carriers and messengers of that Word, so it is as if it is rising upon us, and His glory shall be seen upon us.

Then it goes on to use the related word in Isaiah 60:3:

And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

The related word is Strong’s #2225.

So when we read, “…the sun rose upon him,” it fits very well with God’s plan for this extended period of judgment on the world.  He has a plan to feed the sheep.  He has a plan to draw the great multitude to Himself, and they will come.  They will come because they see the “sun” rise upon the Word, but how are they going to see the light of the Word?  How will that light enter into their lives so they can see it?  It will be carried by other elect children of God as the Word is shared by a ministry like EBible Fellowship in whatever way we can, and the Lord will cause the light to shine upon the Word. 

Now I just want to go to one other place in Malachi 4 because it has the same two words, “sun” and “rose.”  We read in Malachi 4:1-4:

For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith JEHOVAH of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith JEHOVAH of hosts.

In Malachi 4:1, there is no mistaking the day of wrath and judgment being in view, but we may have thought that in verse 2 the subject is turned to something else: “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.”  We may have thought that, but verse 3 brings it right back to Judgment Day: “ And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith JEHOVAH of hosts.”  Since verses 1 and 3 are “bookends” to verse 2, it means that verse 2 is also referring to Judgment Day, and yet, it is referring to the people of God that have received the blessing of eternal life, and they fear the name of God.  Therefore, “the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.”  And as we check out the word “wings” in the Bible, God speaks of coming under the shadow of His wings.  The wings of the Cherubim extended over the mercy seat in the Holy of holies, so it certainly identifies with the protection and care of God, which we may be able to see clearly, if we turn to Psalm 91:1-5:

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of JEHOVAH, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

It is a beautiful Psalm of encouragement and cover, telling us that God will protect you and watch out for you.  He is your refuge.  It is similar to the idea of the “booth” in the Day of Judgment, or the “tabernacle” that is for a refuge, as we read in Isaiah 4:6:

And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

And we have learned that the “tabernacle” completely identifies with the Word of God, the Bible.  The feast of Tabernacles is the “feast of the Bible,” spiritually.  We come under the protection of the Bible as we hold fast onto it, and not let it go.  And that is very similar to being under the shadow of God’s wings.  Again, it says in Malachi 4:2:

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings…

This word “healing” does identify with salvation.  It identifies with the blessing of God.  Then it says in Malachi 4:2:

… and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

What does that mean?  It is interesting in one place that the word translated as “grow up” is translated as “grown fat.”  It is used in a negative sense of the Babylonians in Jeremiah 50:11: “…because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass.”  They were feeding upon the people of God, and it has the idea of feeding to the full and growing fat.

So in Malachi 4:2, it says you will  “grow up” or “grow fat” as the calves of the stall.  The word “stall” is found four times, and it is only translated as “stall” in one other place in Amos 6:4: “…out of the midst of the stall.”  Twice it is translated as “fat” or “fatted,” in 1Samuel 28:4 and Jeremiah 46:21, so it is a double emphasis on “fat.”  So it is to “grow up” or “grow fat” as calves of the stall, or “fatted calves.”  They have all the food they could want, and this would certainly fit in with our understanding of feeding sheep.  The Lord commanded three times in John 21, “Feed my sheep.”

So He tells us that for those that fear His name, the “Sun of righteousness “ shall arise, and this can only identify with the light emanating forth from the Bible as the earth is enlightened with God’s glory in Judgment Day, and the people of God will find that healing, and those that have already been saved will come to the Light.  They will respond and come to the Word, being drawn by God to it, and they will know the salvation of God in the sense that they will realize what God has done for them – He has already saved them, and their sins have been forgiven, and so forth.  Of course that goes hand in hand with Judgment Day and the wrath of God, as it goes on to say in Malachi 4:3:

And ye shall tread down the wicked…

Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world?  So we have the dual responsibility to go forth with the truth of the Gospel in proper time and season, teaching that it is now Judgment Day.  God has saved the great multitude, and as we teach them all the things we have learned, it will serve to feed the sheep, all those God has saved.  And, simultaneously, we are bringing the seven last vials of the plagues of the wrath of God to the wicked, and they will be trodden down by the feet of Christ and the people of God in that day.

Going back to Genesis 32 again, it says in Genesis 32:31:

And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.

The word “halted” is also found in Zephaniah 3:19-20:

Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith JEHOVAH.

And in Micah 4, we find the same word “halt” in Micah 4:6:

In that day, saith JEHOVAH, will I assemble her that halteth…

So it is saying the same thing because “in that day” is referring to Judgment Day.  The word “gather” in Zephaniah 3:19 and the word “assemble” in Micah 4:6 are similar.  Then it goes on to say in Micah 4:6:

… and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;

It was just like Jacob had been “afflicted” and then was going forth with a limp.  Then it says in Micah 4:7:

And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and JEHOVAH shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.

Mount Zion or Jerusalem is complete.  God enters in.  It is His eternal habitation to dwell in the midst of His people.

Let us go to one last verse in the New Testament, in Mark 9, which I think will be familiar to us.  It says in Mark 9:43-45:

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

So in our verse, after Jacob had wrestled with God and seen Him face to face, he received the blessing and his name was changed to Israel, and as a “prince he has power with God,” and then he went “halt” into life.  Everything points to receiving the blessing of salvation and eternal life.  “And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.”  And we could say that as we turn from sin in our lives after God has cut off the sin that was flowing from our hearts, it is no longer our guiding principle that is “leading us by the nose.”  We are repentant, by the grace of God, and yet, we are then walking “halt” into life.  We are following the way that leads to the kingdom of God and to eternal life.