Join Rabbi Schneider as he unveils the mysterious and enlightening aspects of Jacob’s story as recorded in the book of Genesis. He intricately ties the significance of not eating the sinew of the hip to our own trials and triumphs in life. This episode challenges New Testament believers to look beyond their difficulties, recognizing them as opportunities for deeper spiritual growth and connection with the divine. Prepare to unearth transformative insights about humility, reliance on God, and the journey to spiritual blessing.
Did you know that there are 613 laws in the Torah? And this revelation answers questions that we sometimes don’t have answers for if we just read the New Testament. Let me ask you a question. Is God willing to hurt us because he has an objective in mind that he can’t accomplish without bringing us through some pain? Well, we’re gonna answer that question today by looking at one of the laws in the Torah. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but Baruch Hashem, the word of God, abides forever. Now, you’re gonna have to stay with me. I’m gonna give it to you piece by piece. First, I’m just gonna state the law. The law is this. It’s called the prohibition against eating the thigh muscle of any animal. Now, I know that for some of you, you’re wondering what the heck is going on here. But again, there are 613 laws from the Torah that the rabbis have brought forth. And one of these laws is that we can’t eat the thigh muscle of any animal. Where does that come from? It comes from the scripture in the book of Bereshit, the book of Genesis, chapter 32, verse 32. I’m going to read the scripture that it comes from. Then I’m going to give the context so you can understand the concept of all this. Here we go. Therefore, to this day, the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew, that’s a connective tissue, of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he, this is actually the mysterious angel or God incarnate that touched Jacob in a God encounter that Jacob had, because he or the angel or God touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip. So let’s put it in context here. Many of us have heard the Hebrew title Bethel. It means house of God, Bethel, Beth, house, El, God. Where does the word Bethel come from, the title Bethel? It comes from the time in the book of Genesis when Jacob was running for his life from Esau. Many of you know the story of Jacob and Esau. They were twin brothers. Esau was the eldest. Esau, biblically, was entitled to the birthright, to the father’s blessing of the firstborn son. But Jacob wanted the birthright, and Jacob’s mother favored Jacob, and Jacob’s mother wanted Jacob to have the birthright. So one day when Esau was out hunting, Jacob took a hairy animal skin and put it on his forearm, and he went to his dad, Isaac, who was blind at the time, and he disguised himself as Esau. And Isaac, the father said, well, you don’t sound like Esau. And Jacob said, no, I’m Esau. Isaac still being skeptical, called Jacob over and said, let me touch your arm because Isaac knew that Esau’s arm was hairy while Jacob’s was smooth. So Jacob with the hair connected to his forearm, put his arm so that Isaac could feel it. Isaac felt the hair and then Isaac being deceived by Jacob went forth and blessed Jacob with the blessing of the firstborn. Well, when Esau got back from hunting and discovered that Jacob had stolen his birthright, he was furious and he was intent on killing Jacob. So Jacob’s mother told Jacob to flee. Jacob left in terror, fearing for his life. And here he was now all alone in the wilderness. He had left everybody he knew. He had left his family, everyone he knew from where he had grown up because he’s fleeing and he’s alone. And he goes to sleep alone in the wilderness. and he finds a rock that he uses as a pillow, and he falls asleep with that rock under his head, and he has a vision of a ladder going up to the heavens from the rock where his head is laid. And he sees these angels ascending and descending upon the ladder. Yeshua, Jesus referred to it in the gospels. And then the Lord told Jacob that he was going to bless him. And he promised Jacob that he was going to inherit the land and Jacob encountered the Lord there. And when Jacob woke up, he said, surely God is in this place. And he titled that place Bethel, the house of God. Finally, after 20 years, The Lord speaks to him again. So I’m reading now from the book of Genesis chapter 31, verse number 13. God’s coming back to Jacob 20 years later and says this, I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to me. Now arise, leave this land and return to the land of your birth. So God’s saying, I want you to go back home now. I want you to meet Esau. We’re picking up now and I’m going to the 32nd chapter and I’ll pick up in the ninth verse here. O God of my father, Jacob is speaking, Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, return to your country and to your relatives, I will prosper you. And he says, I am unworthy of all the loving kindness and of all the faithfulness which you have shown to your servant. For with my staff only, I crossed this Jordan and now I become two companies. Jacob kept on multiplying, two wives, many flocks, many herds, very, very wealthy. And then Jacob prays, deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau. So Jacob decides that he’s going to try to calm Esau’s anger by sending him a gift before Jacob himself meets him face to face. Let’s continue on now in the 24th verse. Then Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. So Jacob has this encounter where he wrestles with God. The language is very mysterious. When we read through this, the word he, you’re going to hear me read in the next verse, the he here is some type of God incarnate in this experience that Jacob had where Jacob is wrestling with God or some type of angel from the throne of God. And it’s very mysterious because the scripture is going to tell us that Jacob was wrestling with this man, with this angel, and that Jacob was prevailing. How could Jacob wrestle with God and prevail? Well, God was letting him win, but God was doing something in the process. It didn’t feel to Jacob like God was letting him win. Jacob was striving with all his strength. Let’s continue on. Then he saw that he had not prevailed against him. This is the Lord speaking. God saw that he had not prevailed against Jacob. He, then the Lord, touched the socket of his thigh. So the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, this is the Lord speaking, now let me go for the dawn is breaking. God’s kind of letting Jacob, you know, exert his strength. But he, meaning Jacob, said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. So he said to him, what is your name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, your name shall no longer be Jacob. But Israel, for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed. This is what the name Israel means, one that has striven with God or one that prevails or God prevails. So after Jacob wrestles with God and keeps on wrestling and keeps on wrestling and keeps on wrestling, and God kind of lets him win a little bit, then God dislocates Jacob’s hip and changes his name to Israel. Notice the next verse. Then Jacob asked him and said, please tell me your name. But he said, why is it that you ask my name? And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved. Now, the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Peniel and he was limping on his thigh. Therefore, to this day, here we go. Here’s the law, where the law comes from. Because of this incident, therefore, to this day, the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.
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You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider, and he’ll be right back. But first, a quick announcement.
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In his new book, Decoding the Torah, Ancient Wisdom for a Modern World, Rabbi Schneider goes from Genesis to Deuteronomy, unpacking the historical context of the Hebrew laws. He’ll show how they were understood by the ancient Israelites and will reveal their spiritual significance for believers today. This book isn’t about legalistic observance, but about uncovering deeper spiritual truths that transform daily life. If you’re seeking a practical and insightful guide to understanding the Torah’s commandments, this book is for you. We believe it’ll help you walk confidently as a follower of Christ and deepen your ability to glorify God. In a world filled with mixed messages and half-truths, Decoding the Torah offers the spiritual clarity needed to stay on the narrow path.
SPEAKER 04 :
Get your copy of Decoding the Torah at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Now back to Rabbi with the second half of today’s lesson.
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So today Jewish people still do not eat the sinew of the hip and we’re asking ourselves as New Testament believers, what is the application of all this for me today? Beloved, There is tremendous application here. Now, I want you to consider this. Jacob’s name was not changed to Israel. Hear me carefully. God did not change Jacob’s name to Israel until after God dislocated Jacob’s hip. And after the Lord dislocated Jacob’s hip, Jacob walked with a limp for the rest of his life. God could not bless Jacob until God first broke Jacob of all self-reliance and pride. And this is the key. God cannot bless us with the fullness of what he wants to give us until we are first humbled and broken of self-reliance and of pride. God’s power, beloved, is manifest in us through our weakness. There’s a famous Jewish exegesis or commentary called Bershit Rabbah. Once again, an ancient Jewish exegesis of the book of Genesis. And Bershit Rabbah offers this insight. The thigh is the seat of pride. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Jacob, you rely on your thigh, I will strike it. And so God breaks us of self-reliance and pride in order to bless us. And so I began today by asking the question, will God ever hurt us? because he’s got a higher purpose in mind. Let me tell you, when God dislocated Jacob’s hip, it cost Jacob something. He had to struggle with a limp, a physical weakness for the rest of his life. God will hurt us at times, not because he wants to hurt us for the sake of delighting in our pain, but because he can’t do in us what he wants to do unless he breaks us once again of pride and self-reliance. In fact, the great apostle Paul that we all admire so much experienced the same thing in his life. Like Jacob, Paul was blessed with tremendous revelation. Jacob encountered God going up and down on the ladder from heaven to earth. Jacob encountered God a second time that we read about here. Likewise, Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Jesus spoke to him. Paul saw the blinding light. Paul received tremendous revelation. But after Paul received the revelation, A messenger of Satan, the scripture tells us, was sent to Paul. to keep Paul from exalting himself because of the tremendous revelation which Paul received. So Paul receives this tremendous revelation, but what happens next? God dislocates, so to speak, Paul’s hip. It wasn’t exactly a dislocation of his hip. We don’t know what it was. All we know it was a messenger of Satan and the messenger of Satan was sent by God. There’s another conundrum for New Testament believers that don’t know the Hebrew Bible, but this is exactly what Paul said. Paul said, because of the abundance of revelation that was given to me. So Paul tells us why the messenger of Satan came. Because of the abundance of the revelation that was given to him to keep him, Paul said, from exalting himself, a messenger of Satan was sent to him, which brought torment to Paul. Paul prayed three times, Lord, take this pain away. Take this pain away. Take this torment away. And after the third time, most of us know the story, the Lord responded to Paul, Paul, my grace is sufficient for you. In other words, Paul, as you rely on me, you’re going to get through. And the Lord continued and said to Paul, for my power, Paul, will be perfected in your weakness. This is the same phenomenon, beloved, that we see going on here in the life of Jacob, whose name was later changed to Israel. God dislocated his hip. so that Jacob would become reliant on the Lord. And you know what? The Lord will do the same thing in your life and my life. So next time that you encounter a trial, next time that you encounter hardship, recognize that God may be in that trial. God might be in your hardship. Even what some of you might be dealing with right now, you’re going through a difficult time. It could be anything. And God might be right in the center of what you’re going through because like he did with Jacob and like he did with Paul, he’s breaking you of self-reliance so you’ll become completely dependent upon him. He can’t fully bless you, beloved, until he first humbles you. You see, our challenges become a metaphoric gateway for spiritual transformation. Our challenge has become a channel for us to receive divine favor. Our tendency towards pride as human beings must be dealt with, and so the Lord protects us from our pride by bringing us through challenges. Listen to what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9 and 10 about this very subject. After Paul realized that God was bringing him into challenges, that this messenger of Satan was actually sent from God to keep Paul from exalting himself so that God’s power could be perfected in Paul, Because remember when Paul said, remove this torment, God said, Paul, my power is going to be perfected in your weakness. Here’s what Paul realized after that about going through challenges and trials, about going through times when his hip was dislocated. And by the way, this law, not to eat the sinew of the hip, reminds us of this. This is why in Israel we don’t eat the sinew of a hip and why we remind ourselves that God perfects his purposes in our life through our trials oftentimes. So this is what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12, 9 and 10. Most gladly, therefore, I’ll rather boast about my weakness so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. So this law that we derive from rabbinic Judaism out of the Torah, not the sinew of a hip socket, reminds us how God uses the trials in life and actually orchestrates the trials and challenges we face in life, oftentimes to transform them into a challenge of blessing, to break us of pride, so we become open to receive his power. The rabbis also see in this story of Jacob the fact that we shouldn’t let physical weaknesses or physical disabilities or physical impairments stop us because Jacob continued to wrestle with God even after his hip was dislocated. So this is a word of encouragement according to the rabbis that when we’re struggling physically, when we run into some type of physical challenge, or something that takes some of our capability away in the natural. We shouldn’t let that stop us, even as Jacob kept on wrestling with God, even after his hip was dislocated. And I say that to you, beloved ones, with tenderness, because I know that some are struggling with very difficult situations, and I don’t want to seem insensitive or callous to that. But it is a word of encouragement to keep giving God our best, keep doing our best, even when we’re facing physical challenges, because Jacob continued. to wrestle with God after his hip was dislocated, and beloved, he was fully blessed. I hope this is helpful for you today. I love you. I just want to pray over you. May God continue to strengthen you amidst whatever trials and whatever challenges that you’re facing. May the power of the resurrection of King Jesus be perfected in your life as you rely on God through the challenges that you’ll inevitably encounter as you journey through this earth on your own personal walk. Beloved, God causes all things to work together for good to those that love him and to those that are called according to his purpose. My friend, may God richly bless you. Father, we worship you today and we love you today. We thank you for using everything in our life for the purpose of filling us with your glory, filling us with your strength and blessing us. Beloved, it took a lot of time, resources, and being educated to be able to dig deep into the Word of God in order to bring you these teachings. And I want to thank those of you that are supporting this ministry that have created a situation where I’m able to invest myself in the Word of God the way that I do. Because of you that are partnering with this ministry, we’re able to bring teachings like these to God’s people all over the world. And as a result, the church is being built and people are coming to faith. If you’re not already a monthly partner or sowing financially into discovering the Jewish Jesus, and the Lord is bearing witness with your heart right now that there’s something unusual about this ministry, I want to ask you if you would prayerfully consider sowing into discovering the Jewish Jesus today. Beloved, because of you, people are being saved and changed, and you’re going to be blessed for every sacrifice that you make with a pure heart unto the kingdom of God.
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Amen. That was our Bible teacher, Rabbi Schneider. And I want to encourage you, keep listening. He’s going to be right back with a special blessing. But right now, if God is leading you to financially support discovering the Jewish Jesus with a gift of any amount, would you please reach out to us? We’re online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com, or you can also support us by giving us a call at 800-777-7835. And as a token of our appreciation, we want to make sure that you receive our latest newsletter. It’s packed with additional content, exciting ministry updates, and even personal correspondence from Rabbi’s wife, Ms. Cynthia. And we’ll also send you an exclusive monthly teaching booklet from Rabbi that provides new insights into the Hebrew scriptures that I think you won’t want to miss. And for those seeking to deepen their connection with the ministry in other ways, would you consider today becoming a monthly partner? When you go beyond giving just once and you give on a monthly basis, you’re solidifying an ongoing connection with discovering the Jewish Jesus. So we want to send you a special gift. It’s a handcrafted shofar. that’s made in Israel. And it is beautiful. And it’s the same kind of instrument that’s going to be used to announce Jesus’ second coming when the last trump blows. I hope that it serves as a great reminder of your commitment and connection with Rabbi’s teaching that touches lives not only in your local listening area, but all around the world. Your faithfulness allows us to spread the good news of Yeshua far and wide. So thank you so much. Partner today, discoveringthejewishjesus.com or give us a call 800-777-7835. Let’s turn things back over to Rabbi.
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In the book of Numbers, chapter 6, we find a personal blessing from God our Father. This blessing should touch our hearts because it’s so personal. Father God wants to intimately bless you, so receive his blessing into your life today with gladness and an open heart.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, his peace. God bless you and shalom.
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I’m your host, Dustin Roberts, and this program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Join us again next time. Rabbi Schneider will show us how to capture God’s heart. Learn more Friday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
