Moses
When the children of Israel rebelled against God and the leadership of Moses and Aaron in the desert, God became angry and decided to destroy them. But Moses ‘wrestled’ with God to change that decision. He even turned down an offer to make him a great nation instead of Israel. Yes, an intercessor must always be selfless. Moses argued and showed God the reasons why he should not destroy Israel at that time. Finally, he managed to convince him. Let’s read it: “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘How long will these people reject me? Will they ever believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. from you a nation far greater and mightier than them!” But what will the Egyptians think when they find out? Moses prayed to the Lord. They know very well the power you displayed in rescuing these people from Egypt. This they will say to the inhabitants of this land, who know well that you are with this people. They know, Lord, that you have appeared in the sight of your people in the pillar of cloud that hangs over them. They know that you go before them in the pillar of cloud during the day and in the pillar of fire at night. Now if you kill all these people, the nations that have heard of your fame will say: ‘The Lord could not bring them to the land he swore to give them to them, and he killed them in the desert.’
“Please, Lord, show that your power is as great as you have claimed it to be. Because you said, ‘The Lord is slow to anger and rich in unfailing love, forgiving all kinds of sin and rebellion. He leaves sin unpunished , but he punishes the children for the sins of their fathers to the third and fourth generation. I beg you to forgive the sins of this people by your magnificent and inexhaustible love, just as you have forgiven them since they came out of Egypt.’ “Then the Lord said, ‘I will forgive them as you have asked.'” Numbers 14:11-20
OMG! Excellent and successful intercession! Great Moses! Look at the sweet result. This is a typical ‘wrestling with God’. Some men are really cool. Read the above passage again. Moses did a wonderful job here. He went on, laying out every reason under the sun why God should change his mind about destroying the people of Israel through a plague because of his unfaithfulness and disobedience. He practically returned God’s words to her. He accomplished his goal by having God nullify that judgment. Big success! Great Moses! Listen, God said, “Come on, let’s discuss this.” Isaiah 1:18. Yes, he is looking for men and women who will support him with reasons why he should do what we want him to do. And this is what it means to fight him. How many of us are ready for this?
jacob
Another man who taught us that we can really hold on to God and wrestle with him in prayer until we get what we want from him is Jacob. Jacob is a perfect example of a man who wrestles with God. They had the party at midnight prayer. There is no situation that wrestling with God in the middle of the night cannot change. Real! I have repeatedly stated on this in my book/audiobook The Power of Midnight Prayer that any man or woman who masters this act of midnight prayer will remain invincible throughout his or her lifetime. This in no way means that the challenges of life will not come, they sure will, but you will always be aware of the situation. I say this through personal experiences and also testimonials from others. When Jacob returned from exile to meet an angry and well-armed brother, Esau, he was scared, confused and trying every trick to escape the wrath of a brother who was coming to avenge his (Jacob’s) betrayal. . In that precarious situation, Jacob wrestled with God and turned the whole situation in his favor. Praise the Lord! Please discuss this interesting account of Jacob’s wrestling with God:
“But during the night Jacob got up and sent his two wives, two concubines, and eleven sons to the other side of the Jabbok River. After they were on the other side, he sent all his possessions. This left Jacob alone in the camp and a a man came and wrestled with him until dawn. When the man saw that he couldn’t win the fight, he hit Jacob’s hip and disjoined it at the joint. Then the man said, ‘Let me go, because it’s dawn. .’ But Jacob gasped, ‘I won’t let you go unless you hurt me.’ ‘What’s your name?’ The man asked, he replied: ‘Jacob’. ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob,’ the man said. ‘Now it is Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.’ ‘What is your name? ‘, asked Jacob. The man answered, and blessed Jacob there. ‘Jacob called the place Peniel – ‘Face of God’ because he said: ‘I have seen God face to face, but my life is spared.’ The sun rose as he left Peniel.” Then, in the distance, Jacob saw that Esau was coming with his four hundred men. Jacob now placed his family in a column with his two concubines and his sons in front, Leah and her sons next, and Rachel and Joseph last. So Jacob went on as he approached his brother, he bowed down to him seven times. Then Esau ran to meet him and hugged him lovingly and kissed him. They were both crying.
What a reversal of fate! There are things I would like us to notice about Jacob’s attitude toward this particular encounter with God. Jacob was persistent; he made sure the man (God) didn’t win the match and also refused to let him go without blessing him. And he got the blessings from him at last. The sun rose over Jacob and his fears immediately turned favorable. When we follow this same principle, we are sure to receive the same result. This is exactly what wrestling with God is all about: persisting until you receive your blessing from him. Find the earlier story in Genesis 32:22-31, 33:1-4. Now also notice the way Hosea puts it: “Before Jacob was born, he wrestled with his brother; when he became a man, he even wrestled with God. Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won. He wept and begged for a blessing from him.” There at Bethel he met God face to face, and God spoke to him: The Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his name! Hosea 12:3-4. That is Jacob for you! He began to fight from the womb. He wrestled with his brother, he wrestled with God and he also wrestled with the angel and won. And I want to add that he also wrestled with his father-in-law to get his wealth and the wife of his choice. He understood the game perfectly. It’s called a wrestling match! Yes, that guy was determined from the womb to make the most of his opportunities. He was determined to see all of God’s promises come to pass in his life. So, he fought! To be continued. Share this post with others.
Gabriel is the author of the books/audiobooks: The Power of Midnight Prayer, Receive Your Healing, Breaking Generational Curses: Reclaiming Your Freedom, Never Again!, I Will Not Die, Moving Forward, The Power of Sacrifice, Prepare for That Battle, and many more. others https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Gabriel+Agbo&I=audible&ref=dp_byline_sr_audible_1
