Genesis 28:10-19
The Divine Zone

Most everyone with a Bible background knows a little about Jacob. He
was a trickster who wanted a little bit of everything and didn’t
care what tricks he had to pull to get it.
   1. He wanted his brother’s birthright and got it.
   2. He wanted his brother’s blessing got it.
   3. He wanted Laban’s herds got them.

But as that kind of life tends to do, Jacob also got something he
didn’t bargain on. He got an enemy who wanted to kill him. That is
bad enough but this enemy was his own brother, Esau. That is a
horrible situation to be in but for Jacob it will turn out for good.
God will take this sad situation and use it to reshape the life of
Jacob.

Perhaps you have heard of the old television series, the Twilight
Zone. Jacob did not know it; but he had entered into the Divine Zone,
a place between earth’s plain and heaven’s, a place where human logic
does not work, a place that operates on God’s will, God’s time, and
God’s grace. By the time Jacob walks through the Divine Zone, he will
be a changed man.

I. \\#Gen 28:10-22\\ Jacob Entered the Divine Zone at Bethel.
    A. Bethel means the "House of God."
    B. Jacob was on the run from Esau by this time and as he fled, he
        stopped at a place then called Luz.
    C. While Jacob slept, God spoke to Jacob in a dream.
        1. This was no ordinary dream.
            a. It was too real for that.
            b. It was too divine for that.
            c. No.  This is where Jacob found out that God knew him
                but he did not know God.
            d. Here, Jacob entered the Divine Zone.
        2. \\#16-17\\ Notice Jacob’s reaction to the dream when he
            awoke.
            a. \\#17\\ He was afraid.
                (1) Jacob wasn’t a man who feared easily.
                (2) He was a con-man and a scammer.
                (3) That kind cannot fear to easily or they would
                     live a different way.
            b. Jacob was afraid for he knew that he had met God!
    D. What were God’s purposes in appearing to Jacob?
         1. God wanted Jacob to know that He was real!
             a. Jacob was a third generation Christian.
             b. God wanted Jacob to know that He was not just a
                 figment of his parents’ and grandparent’s
                 imagination!
         2. But even more than that, God wanted Jacob to know that He
             had a will for his life.
             a. This was God’s polite way of saying, "Jacob, you
                 can’t live like you are living forever. I will not
                 let you!"
             b. It was Jacob’s time to enter into the Divine Zone, to
                 personally experience the grace of God.

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men,

             c. Is God real to you?
                 (1) We have been told for so long that God doesn’t
                      exists that whether we believe it or not many
                      are starting to act like it!
                 (2) There is a Creator, Sustainer, and Judge who is
                      very real.
                      (a) He cares how you live your life.
                      (b) He cares about your soul.
                      (c) He desires to have a personal relationship
                           with you that would make the one He had
                           with your parents fail in comparison.
        3. \\#12\\ God wanted Jacob to know his life was in God’s
            hands.
            a. The ladder had a special meaning.
            b. God could have just spoken to Jacob but the ladder
                in the vision was also to convey a message to Jacob.
            c. For whatever the reason, in the Old Testament, God did
                not present the whole picture of the Holy Ghost.
                (1) The Holy Ghost is mentioned throughout the Old
                     Testament but typically He is referred to as
                     "the Spirit of the Lord."
                (2) While that phrase is true, it sounds like God’s
                     Spirit is JUST an extension of God and not the
                     third Person of the Trinity, a unique and
                     separate Person but still the one and only God.
            d. Instead of the Holy Ghost in the Old Testament,
                angels did much of the work that the Holy Spirit now
                does for New Testament believers.
                (1) They spoke to the believers.
                (2) They protected the believers.
                (3) They guided the believers.
            e. The ladder with the angels going up and down was a
                picture of God sending blessings down and carrying
                prayers up to God.
            f. It was as if God was showing Jacob that He was
                special, that these angels were coming down to bless
                and protect him, that they were going back up to
                carry his prayers and needs to God.
                (1) This goes along with God’s direct message to
                     Jacob in the dream.

Ge 18:13  And, behold, the LORD stood above it,
and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy
father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon
thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy
seed;
14  And thy seed shall be as the dust of the
earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west,
and to the east, and to the north, and to the
south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the
families of the earth be blessed.
15  And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep
thee in all places whither thou goest, and will
bring thee again into this land; for I will not
leave thee, until I have done that which I have
spoken to thee of.

                (2) In this verses, God gave Jacob specific and
                     personal promises of blessing and guidance.
                     (a) \\#13\\ I will bless you with this land.
                     (b) \\#14\\ I will bless you in your line.
                     (c) \\#15\\ I will bless you all of your life.
            g. Sinner or saint, you also have specific and personal
                promises of blessings and guidance.
                (1) God has promised to give you eternal life.
                (2) God has promised to multiply your blessings.
                (3) God has promised to always be with you.

II. \\#Ge 32:1-2\\ Jacob’s Divine Zone journey continued in
     Ma ha’ naa im.
    A. After the ladder dream, Jacob went to and stayed in Haran for
        twenty years.
        1. He stayed in part to work for his wives and Laban’s
            flocks.
        2. But he also stayed because he is afraid to go home!
        3. Eventually with God’s help, Jacob decided to go home.
    B. In the return journey, God revealed Himself to Jacob at least
        three times.
        1. \\#Ge 31:13\\ God told Jacob to go home.
        2. \\#Ge 31:24\\ God told Laban, "Don’t bother Jacob!"
        3. \\#Ge 32:1-2\\ But in this place, the angels of God
            apparently just came to visit and to camp with Jacob.
            a. Outside of the angels being there, we are not told one
                single detail that occurred.
            b. Most of us have probably just read over these two
                verses and never noticed the significance of what
                actually happened.
            c. Angels came and camped with Jacob!  That’s pretty
                special!
            d. Jacob called the name of the place Ma ha’ naa im.
            e. It means "the place of two camps," obviously Jacob
                meant that he and God shared a camp that night.
    C. What is God’s purpose in appearing to Jacob on the way home?
        1. This is God’s way of saying, "Jacob, I can help you."
            a. Jacob was going back home to face the anger, the hurt,
                and the betrayals that he had caused.
            b. That is not easy, but I have found that in my life,
                God insists upon it.
            c. How many have been the times I wanted to run away from
                the people I had hurt and the wrong decisions I have
                made, but God would not let me!
            d. Yet, like Jacob, I found I had a Friend.

Psalms 91:11  For he shall give his angels charge
over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

        2. If you are a human being, you have made mistakes and hurt
            people too.
            a. The reason why there are so many divorces, so many
                divided homes, and so many broken relationships is
                because we think it is easier to run away that fix
                the problem.
            b. Well, it is; but we usually take our problems with us
                because we are the problem.
            c. Once Jesus comes into your heart, He teaches us to:
                (1) Face our problems and to change ourselves.
                (2) Not into what we want to be but into what He
                     wants us to be.
        3. God came down a Ma ha’ naa im to say, "Jacob, I’ll help
            you with this."

III. \\#Ge 32:30\\ I don’t think Jacob ever left the Divine Zone but
      perhaps the most significant stop along the way was the third
      location, Pe-ni’-el.

Ge 32:30  And Jacob called the name of the place
Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my
life is preserved.

    A. Pe ni’ el means "face to face with God."
        1. Jacob had arrived at the borders of home.
        2. He was close enough that Esau, once hearing that Jacob was
            there, came out to meet Jacob.
        3. Jacob himself had sent the messages to Esau to let him
            know that he was coming.
            a. Jacob was curious how Esau might respond. After all,
                when Jacob left, Esau wanted to kill him for his
                deceptions and theft.
            b. \\#Ge 32:6\\ Esau sent word that he was coming with
                him.
            c. From that, Jacob assumed the worst.
    B. Jacob had been a slow learner most of his life but by this
        time, God had taught Jacob some things about Himself.
        1. Jacob knew God existed.
        2. Jacob knew God had a plan for his life.
        3. Jacob even knew God could help him.
        4. But Jacob had never trusted God.
            a. He had always lived by his own wit and devices.
            b. That could actually serve as a definition of a lost
                person!
            c. On this day, Jacob knew his wit had run out, and he
                wanted God.
    C. The Bible describes a strange event that took place.
        1. Jacob wrestled all night with God.

Ge 32:24  And Jacob was left alone; and there
wrestled a man with him until the breaking of
the day.

        2. This is called a Christophany - a preincarnate appearance
            of Jesus Christ.
        3. Jacob knew he couldn’t face his brother alone.
            a. He had to have God!
            b. More specifically, he had to have Jesus as his Savior
                and Lord.
    D. Literally they wrestled all night, but that was really nothing
        new.
        1. God had been wrestling with Jacob for his soul for more
            than 20 years.
        2. What was new this night was that it was Jacob wrestling to
            have God instead of God wrestling to have Jacob.
        3. Jacob’s name for the place describes the outcome.
            a. Peniel
            b. I have seen God face to face.
        4. If you will notice, in the names of these locations,
            you will see Jacob’s closeness to God gradually increase.
            a. Jacob first met God at Bethel, the "house of God."
            b. Then they shared a camp together at Ma-ha’naa-im.
            c. But Jacob finally saw God face to face and held on to
                Him at Peniel.

Today, you are at the House of God and God is here.  Perhaps this is
a new experience for you or perhaps you have been many times before.
I hope you and God share time together, have a common camp so to
speak.  But God’s desire is that you and see one another face to
face, at the foot of Jesus’ cross, and that you latch hold of Him and
never let Him God.

You can do that this morning by believing that Jesus is the Savior
that died for you and rose on the third day; and by surrendering
yourself to Him.  Would you do that today?

It was at this point that something supernatural changed in Jacob’s life.  He
would not be perfect after this but neither would he work anymore tricks.  He
would rely on God to provide, protect, and guide him.  After meeting God face
to face, Jacob was changed.  He had made a trip to the Master Potter’s Wheel.

Have you?  Do you have trouble?  Are you tired of trying to work it out on your
own?
    1. Repent of your sinful, proud, arrogant ways.
    2. Trust what Jesus did and will do in your life!

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