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2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Messiah, he is a new creation. As he makes ready to face Esau his brother and to enter the Promised Land, Jacob has another encounter to make. This will probably be the most important encounter in his life, the one that will change him forever and confirm his Messianic destiny. While Jacob is alone, an angel, the Angel of the Lord, the Messiah who previously appeared to Abraham in the Plains of Mamreh, attacks him concealed in the dark of night. Jacob feels Its blows but does not see Him. He hears Him but cannot make out the face. Jacob is the victim of a wild man attacking him under the cover of night and probably presumes it to be Esau but when he hears the voice, it is the voice of God: (In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God (Hoseah 12:3)). It is almost like the words of his old father who said in the darkened sight of his old age, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau" (Genesis 27:22) is returning to haunt Jacob in the form of this concealed adversary. Jacob’s attitude towards this Angel would determine the next day’s encounter with Esau. The Angel finally reveals Himself by changing Jacob’s name (something the Messiah does) and Jacob names the place: ‘Peniel’ which means: the Face of God (Genesis 32:30). For 2,000 years our people have fought against a Messiah concealed in the dark of cultural misconceptions, a Messiah who like Joseph hid Himself under an ‘Egyptian’ cloak, who like Jacob hid himself under Esau’s disguise in front if his father. There comes a time though when the Messiah identifies Himself to ‘Jacob’. Can Jews be accused of refusing the Messiah also called, the ‘’Word’ made flesh (John 1:14)? What ‘Word’ are we talking about? Yes; it is the Word of Torah. To be allegeable, the Messiah must be Torah observant, which Yeshua was. He said that He did not come to cancel the Torah, and that whoever teaches against it is called least in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:17-19). But today Yeshua is described to Jews as one who cancels the very Torah who says that any prophet who talks about disobeying the Torah is to be put to death (Deuteronomy 13;5). Jacob fought for what he knew was right and finally surrendered, inheriting a wound in his thigh. When Jacob met his ‘match’, it changed his life forever and sent him into his Messianic destiny (Genesis 32). It is one thing to hear Messiah, but it is another to meet Him. You know you’ve met Him when your life changes, when ‘Jacob’ (the heel) is changed to ‘Israel’ (the Prince with God), a person who yields to God’s Word. When someone meets Messiah, he does not need to confess it with loud words in order to make the point to others; his altered very life is the loud testimony of the event. He is on his way to his Messianic destiny! Have you heard Messiah? Have you also met Him? If so, can people around you testify of the event by just watching your changed life en-route to your Messianic destiny?
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