CRITICAL NOTES.]
Hosea 12:3.] Jacob was their forefather; they should imitate his good, not his bad qualities. They are descendants, but their ways contrast with his (Micah 2:7). He secured the birth-right and the blessing with it; wrestled with God and prevailed in prayer. He wrestled in the womb, and as an adult he wrestled with man and with God. Took] To hold the heel (Genesis 25:26). Strength] In his manly vigour he behaved himself princely with God (Genesis 32:24-29), and acquired the name of prince. This strength given in conscious weakness.
Hosea 12:4. Angel] In human form God wrestled, put Jacob’s thigh out of joint, but did not prevail. Jacob could no longer stand. Wept] and poured out intense desires in supplication, and though wounded, was not overcome in conflict, but found God and talked with him at Bethel. There] he speaks to us by Jacob, girt with his spirit and might we may prevail.
HOMILETICS
IMITATING THE EXAMPLES OF PROGENITORS.—Hosea 12:3-4
The Jews boasted of their relation to Jacob, but did not walk in his steps. Their trusting in man was a contrast to his believing in God. The prophet reproves them for their apostasy, shows how justly they were accused, and urges them to imitate the virtues, not the faults of their ancestor. We must not live under the shadow, but walk after the example of good men.
I. In Jacob we have an example of anxiety for God’s blessing. He was eager to secure the birthright and the blessing connected with it.
1. In the womb, “he took his brother by the heel” (Genesis 25:26). He was to have precedence over the first-born by nature, and there was unconscious striving for Divine favour in store for him. Early indications of piety are encouraging. Some are chosen from the womb, and preserved from sins of youth and riper age. Potential development of children demands reverence and care in parents and teachers. Luther’s schoolmaster took off his hat and bowed to his scholars when he entered the school-room and thought of their destiny. The solemn possibilities of the future should stimulate parents to train up children in the fear of God and the love of truth. “Even a child is known by his doings.”
2. In after years “he had power with God.” In the womb he seized the heel; in manhood he cherished the same spirit, and became a prince with God. One struggle was the beginning of the other. The possession of God’s promise was the object of both. Having striven for it in secret, he secured it in public. What he sought in childhood he gained in manhood. Early impressions are the elementary tissue out of which mature life and conduct are developed and organized. In this instance “the child is father of the man.” Strength with God and power among men are the result of prayer and providential discipline. Those who are filled with true ambition, who seek to be great by following the example and serving the God of their forefathers, shall have the precedency. But profane persons like Esau, worldly-minded in their desires, and leagued with sin in their pursuits, will forfeit their birthrights and blessings. “The elder shall serve the younger.”
II. In Jacob we have an example of power with God. “By his strength he had power with God.”
1. Power through prayer. In great fear and distress, he was no match for the armed force of his angry brother. He could neither resist nor flee. He found succour and strength in God. He acted princely, was strong in faith, and prevailed over man. In prayer our own strength is increased, and more is given to us by God. We are strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man (Ephesians 3:16). The nature of this prayer is briefly described.
(1) Supplicating prayer. He “made supplication unto him.” Supplication is earnest, constant prayer, and often accompanied with crying (Psalms 28:2; Jeremiah 3:21).
(2) Wrestling prayer. “There wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.” The word indicates a twisting of bodily limbs; intense energy and exertion to prevail. Jacob’s prayer was a struggle with the angel, physically and spiritually, in faith and determination.
(3) Prevailing prayer. “He had power over the angel and prevailed.” He conquered, received a new name, “for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men” (Genesis 32:28). Luther on one occasion had wrestled hard with God, and came leaping out of his closet, shouting, “Vicimus, vicimus. We have conquered, we have conquered!”
2. Power through human tears. “He wept and made supplication.” Vehement desires and earnest prayers often find vent in tears. Hence “to implore means to ask with tears,” says one. His tears were not mere signs of weakness, but of strength; not the relief of nature, but the expression of spirit. Esau wept in anger and disappointment; Jacob in prayer and penitence. The tears of one were music to God; the cry of the other, complaint to men. He was a type of Christ, “who in the days of his flesh offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.”
3. Power through Divine aid. Jacob’s purpose was strong, and his natural power great; but power to prevail was the gift of God. His physical strength was impaired; but though thrown in the contest, he would not give up. “I will not let thee go except thou bless me.” The blessing was all, the injured thigh was nothing to him. From night till break of day he wrestled with human tears and Divine energy. His spirit and perseverance put to shame his degenerate sons. It is folly boasting of ancestral glory without possessing ancestral virtues. Let us imitate the life and remember the prayers of our fathers. They were girt with the might of faith, and victorious over the Lord of hosts. “Out of weakness” they were “made strong,” and “waxed valiant in fight” with evil. Their glory is not the glory of the warrior, but the splendour of princes with God. Their new name supersedes the old, as the sun exceeds the stars. “For by it the elders obtained a good report.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Hosea 12:3-4. The wonderful combat. I The combatants. Jacob a man, and the angel, “the angel of the covenant.” II. The object of the combat. “Bless me.” In the night of sorrow and in the weakness of nature “turn to him that smiteth.” The blessing of the Lord maketh rich. III. The issue of the combat. “Power over the angel and prevailed.” Persevering, wrestling prayer will always prevail. “The father in wrestling with his child is willing enough for his child’s comfortand encouragement to take a fall now and then; so it was between the angel and Jacob. In this blessed story, as in a crystal glass, we see the great power and prevalency of private prayer; it conquers the conqueror; it is so omnipotent, that it overcomes an omnipotent God” [Brooks]. Jacob was knighted on the field. He had two names, and both of them were gained by wrestling; the one by wrestling with his brother in the womb, the other by wrestling with the angel at Peniel. Jacob signifies a supplanter; Israel means a prince with God—and the reason of the new name was, that he had “power with God and with men, and had prevailed” [Jay].
Hosea 12:4. Bethel. Revelations of God to men.
1. God reveals himself by his word. “He spake.”
2. The revelations of one age are designed for the instruction of another. “Spake with us.” Most important lessons from this place.
Bethel in Jacob’s time and Bethel in Israel’s time; or Bethel in its ruin and Bethel in its royalty.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 12
Hosea 12:3-4. Power. We might be like Bartholomew, who is said to have had a hundred prayers for the morning, and as many for the evening, and all be of no avail. “Fervency of spirit” is that which avails much [Bp Hall]. He that has never prayed, can never conceive; and he that has prayed as he ought, can never forget how much is to be gained by prayer [Dr Young].
Prayer ardent opens heaven, lets down a stream
Of glory on the consecrated hour
Of man, in audience with Deity.