Tall Timbers
Imperfect but forgiven
Probably that he didn't give up.
Is It Important That the Holy Spirit Is a Person?
- Thread starter Chris
- Start date
Probably that he didn't give up.
Rocky R.
Well-Known Member
Yes, that's the conclusion I came to since God could have ended the match before it even began! Jacob didn't give up, and despite him huffing, puffing and crying, he held onto the LORD and said he wouldn't let go unless He gets His blessing.
Salluz
Aspiring Man of God
It turns out wrestling has been staged for thousands of years. WWE just continued the trend.
Jokes aside, it might also be possible that God limited Himself to human strength while in human form wrestling with Jacob. Jacob could have actually been winning in that case, then God showed him a tiny taste of His actual strength so Jacob didn't get conceited over it.
I assume that when Jesus walked the earth there were some stones He couldn't lift (without getting miraculous) or people that would have beaten Him in wrestling. Maybe He appeared to Jacob with the same strength.
Just another possibility
Rocky R.
Well-Known Member
That's actually a nice idea. I'll have to consider that as a possibility -- God limiting His strength so every step He took wouldn't split the planet and His breath wouldn't blast the mountains. During the time Jesus walked the Earth during His incarnation, when the chief priests came to arrest Him in Gethsemane, He said to them, "I AM". The moment He said that they were knocked back and fell, for a second unleashing a tiny, infintesimal fraction of His divine power as if to convey the message, "I go as the Scriptures say, but know Who you are dealing with!" Of course, they didn't get the message. LOL. He could have finished that sentence with "You were..." and scattered their molecules to the wind.
However, my personal opinion is that God was just playing with Jacob. No doubt God has micro-fine control over His power so His gaze doesn't burn a hole through Jacob or whatever. During the match I think God may have had a smile on His face the entire time. I'm thinking God was just commending Jacob for not giving up despite the obvious overwhelming power of his Opponent. I believe God was complimenting Jacob for persevering in the face of insurmountable odds, and with that, God changed his name to reflect Jacob's new character.
PortWen
Well-Known Member
Back in 2008, the morning after Obama won the election, I woke up with a heavy, anxious feeling in my heart. Even though I am not in the USA, I felt deeply that his election had dark implications for the entire world. Don’t know why I felt that way as I am not a political person, at all, but I just did. I was scared.
As I lay in bed, pondering the future, (husband asleep and snoring next to me), I heard a clear, firm, distantly male voice say “Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.”
Startled, I looked at my husband thinking he must have spoken, even though it wasn’t his voice and he was still snoring. I didn’t really recognise the words either, but thought they sounded like something from the Bible. (I was very very VERY backslidden at that stage. In fact I wasn’t even married at that time, but living with my now-husband…we got married the following year.)
So I got up, opened the laptop and searched that phrase and of course it’s John 16:33.
Now, who could have spoken that to me? Certainly not my unsaved husband who has almost no knowledge of the Bible. And be absolutely sure, it was spoken, a voice, not a vague “wafting” thought that entered my mind. I’ve since realised it must have been the Holy Spirit. Resident within me, even though I was not living and walking close to the Lord.
So, I have no doubt the Holy Spirit is a person. Not just a force.
(And I cannot tell you how much comfort I have from those few words of Scripture spoken right into my head, at just the right time, especially now, 13 years later, given the state of the world. It also pulled me out of my wandering state and brought me right back into walking close to God.)
As I lay in bed, pondering the future, (husband asleep and snoring next to me), I heard a clear, firm, distantly male voice say “Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.”
Startled, I looked at my husband thinking he must have spoken, even though it wasn’t his voice and he was still snoring. I didn’t really recognise the words either, but thought they sounded like something from the Bible. (I was very very VERY backslidden at that stage. In fact I wasn’t even married at that time, but living with my now-husband…we got married the following year.)
So I got up, opened the laptop and searched that phrase and of course it’s John 16:33.
Now, who could have spoken that to me? Certainly not my unsaved husband who has almost no knowledge of the Bible. And be absolutely sure, it was spoken, a voice, not a vague “wafting” thought that entered my mind. I’ve since realised it must have been the Holy Spirit. Resident within me, even though I was not living and walking close to the Lord.
So, I have no doubt the Holy Spirit is a person. Not just a force.
(And I cannot tell you how much comfort I have from those few words of Scripture spoken right into my head, at just the right time, especially now, 13 years later, given the state of the world. It also pulled me out of my wandering state and brought me right back into walking close to God.)
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