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Time of Trouble
291
“Thus saith the Lord: We have heard a voice of trembling, of
fear, and not of peace.” “All faces are turned into paleness. Alas! for
that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s
trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” [
Jeremiah 30:5-7
.]
Jacob’s night of anguish, when he wrestled in prayer for deliv-
erance from the hand of Esau, [
Genesis 32:24-30
.] represents the
experience of God’s people in the time of trouble. Because of the
deception practiced to secure his father’s blessing, intended for Esau,
Jacob had fled for his life, alarmed by his brother’s deadly threats.
After remaining for many years an exile, he had set out, at God’s
command, to return with his wives and children, his flocks and herds,
to his native country. On reaching the borders of the land, he was
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filled with terror by the tidings of Esau’s approach at the head of a
band of warriors, doubtless bent upon revenge. Jacob’s company,
unarmed and defenseless, seemed about to fall helpless victims of
violence and slaughter. And to the burden of anxiety and fear was
added the crushing weight of self-reproach; for it was his own sin
that had brought this danger. His only hope was in the mercy of
God; his only defense must be prayer. Yet he leaves nothing undone
on his own part to atone for the wrong to his brother, and to avert
the threatened danger. So should the followers of Christ, as they ap-
proach the time of trouble, make every exertion to place themselves
in a proper light before the people, to disarm prejudice, and to avert
the danger which threatens liberty of conscience.
Having sent his family away, that they may not witness his
distress, Jacob remains alone to intercede with God. He confesses
his sin, and gratefully acknowledges the mercy of God toward him,
while with deep humiliation he pleads the covenant made with his
fathers, and the promises to himself in the night vision at Bethel and
in the land of his exile. The crisis in his life has come; everything
is at stake. In the darkness and solitude he continues praying and
humbling himself before God. Suddenly a hand is laid upon his
shoulder. He thinks that an enemy is seeking his life, and with all the
energy of despair he wrestles with his assailant. As the day begins
to break, the stranger puts forth his superhuman power; at his touch
the strong man seems paralyzed, and he falls, a helpless, weeping
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suppliant, upon the neck of his mysterious antagonist. Jacob knows
now that it is the Angel of the covenant with whom he has been