The Lord spoke these words recently:
"For many of My people who have gone through a time of dishonor and shame, I am bringing them into a season of honor. But before honor is humility."
The Lord spoke further:
"This is a key time to choose to humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
Pride is very subtle, and sometimes we don't even know there is an element of pride in our lives. Furthermore, most people would never admit there is pride in their lives. But nothing takes away the fact that pride destroys, and pride is the major reason why God's people cannot see their destinies fulfilled.
Today, we can learn much from the life of Jacob in the Bible. There's no doubting that the Lord had great plans and a great destiny for him. But before he could see all these come to pass in his life, the Lord had to work in him and humble him first!
Speaking of sibling rivalry, Jacob had competed with his older twin brother Esau since they were in their mother's womb. He wanted his brother's birthright (Genesis 25:29-34), and later on, his brother's blessing (Genesis 27:1-29). When Esau found out that Jacob had taken away his blessing, he became very bitter against Jacob, and he said, "Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!" (Genesis 27:36)
So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father Isaac blessed him. At that time, Isaac was already old, and his eyes were so dim that he could not see. Esau then said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are very near; then I will kill my brother Jacob." (Genesis 27:41) Jacob had no choice but to flee from Esau.
Let's pause for a moment at this juncture of Jacob's life. Have you noticed that in all of Jacob's 'tricky-ness' till that point of time, it actually got him nowhere? Not only did he not receive any tangible inheritance, he even had to run for his life empty-handed! In fact, his next twenty years would be spent as a 'servant' to his uncle Laban! Fast forward, and after a time of humbling under his uncle Laban, Jacob said, "Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times." (Genesis 31:41)
Interestingly, it was only in these humbling years under his uncle Laban that the Lord actually began to bless Jacob in real ways, giving him both a family and great possession! As Jacob moved on, and went on his way to the land God had promised him, he also had to humble before his brother Esau. Having heard that his brother Esau was coming to meet him together with four hundred men, Jacob was greatly distressed, fearing that Esau would attack him and his family. Jacob then said, "I will appease him (Esau) with the present (gift) that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me." (Genesis 32:20).
The night before the meeting with Esau, something remarkable happened. Jacob was alone by himself when a Man (or the Angel of the Lord) appeared to him, and Jacob wrestled with Him until the breaking of day. When the Man saw that He did not prevail against Jacob, He touched the socket of his hip, and it became out of joint. And the Man said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." (Genesis 32:24-26)
But Jacob said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me." So the Man said to him, "What is your name?", and he said, "Jacob". The Man then said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel..." (Genesis 32:26-28)
Do you notice that Jacob was so strong in himself (or rather, so full of himself in getting what he wanted) that even the Man could not prevail against him? So much so the Man had to touch the socket of his hip, putting it out of joint, making him helpless! Limping from then on, Jacob couldn't wrestle further, and it was then that Jacob began clinging to Him, and pleaded for blessing!
Now, what does 'limping' means here? It means 'the end of his own strength, confidence, or pride', and 'an acknowledgement that he cannot progress further unless he clings to (and depends on) the Lord'! Do you see something here? Jacob discovered that pride (i.e. relying on self, instead of the Lord) would lead him nowhere! And not until he learned to cling to the Man that he was blessed!
By the way, the name 'Israel' means 'he will rule with God; he will have power (as a prince) with God'. What a change from the name 'Jacob', which literally means 'heel-catcher, supplanter, deceiver'! A name change is a result of a change in character, and Jacob had certainly come a long way!
Through all the circumstances that he had gone through, and by the work of the Lord in his life, he was finally a changed man, and he knew that he needed to cling to the Lord for blessing! He had finally learned to humble himself! And with it, came honor! Not only did he have a new name, he also saw his older brother Esau accepting and receiving him again! (Genesis 33:3-4) Indeed, humility before the Lord brought him into a new season in his life - a season of honor! And the rest is history.
