The environment in which he saw God face to face reveals the way of the Holy Spirit, that is, He reveals and makes himself present in an environment which is devoid of that which is created, or simply QE, that is, a quiet environment, because of which we say, "You need "QT" (quiet time) with the Lord."
God created man to represent Him as his steward for his creation. To equip man to do this mission he built into man the channels to God and his creation, so it has been said, "within man are found ways opened up - the channel to the mineral, the biological, the animal, man, demons, angels, and God."
In reaching God (or God reaching us) and having communion with Him in the sphere of time and space in our inner person, sincerity separation dedication (or consecration) and stillness on our part are must.
In case of Jacob using the news that Esau approaches him with 400 men, the Lord secured sincerity of the heart on Jacob's part, so he not only moved over the Jabbok river the 550 mercedes benzs, but also his wives, and 11 sons. He was left alone. To help him empty himself the Lord wrestled with him all night. The blessing came when finally he after desperate prayer "save me (from the sword of Esau)" received the new name Israel [meaning a man who struggled with God and man, and won [or overcame]](rather than Jacob meaning the deceiver). Then joy and peace ruled in his heart.
Jesus followed the sane path, that is, before he began his public ministry he went down into the river of Jordan for baptism (separation from creation, dedication to the divine). As we rose from the river, the Spirit descended upon him. Voice (this is my son; I am pleased with him) was heard.
Similarly Peter said to the crowds, "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and you will receive the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:38
The way of the Spirit is most clearly seen in the way the Lord commanded Moses to build the tabernacle. This way is not man's invention. It is from God, for he says, "Built the tabernacle according to the pattern shown you [by me the Lord] on the mountain." The temple/tabernacle consists of three sections, two on earth three from above, that is, "holy" place, "holy of holies', and finally the one who is holy holy and holy descends. Inside of the holy of the holies there is the ark of the covenant. Inside the covenant is the Lord's Ten Commandments. Above it is the atonement cover on which there are two cherubs (whose mission is to protect his holiness). Between the cherubs the Lord promised to speak to the Israelites. This set up is a lot of hiding on God's part, as Isaiah said, "You are a God who hides yourself". Isaiah 45:15
Because the way of the Holy Spirit is set this way, the first batch of Jesus' disciples also had to wait 10 days in (intense) prayer until the day of Pentecost.
The same was true with the Apostle John. According to the tradition after Jesus' departure, and through the days when the wind of persecution was raging throughout the Roman Empire, John had hard time to overcome hatred against the Roman 'beasts'. One day while he was incarcerated at the island of Patmos, to overcome hatred he sort of complained to the Lord, "Why I cannot love the Romans? Why is there still hatred in me?" (from watching the innocent being butchered by the Roman beasts.) Then Jesus said, "It is because you do not deny himself." The word of the Lord struck him like a thunder. Then true conversion (emptying himself and turning to the Lord) took place, whereupon along with the revelations the Holy Spirit poured in. In a matter of week or so, the book of Revelation was born.
In talking with Dr. Paul Hong of Toledo last weekend, he asserted that the Apostle Paul had a quiet time (QT) while he was incarcerated for two years in the prison cell in Jerusalem. During the two year period, no one (from the second-gen controlled church of Jerusalem) visited him, Dr. Paul alleges. It was while he was having the QT that he did receive most of (if not all) revelations as reflected in his epistles.
"That night... Jacob was left alone..." (Gen 32:22, 24) During the night all grew calm. Noise and the hustle bustle of the day are quieted down. As the angry face of Esau looms large on him, he must knelt down praying more earnestly than ever. And this went on..., until the next morning, and he met God face to face, calling the place "Peniel". 32:30
In the same way Elijah heard the Lord (speaking in a gentle whisper) while in a dark cave, having QT. :-)
Speaking of the same, Isaiah says, "in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength". Isaiah 30:15 Or Zechariah says, "Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his dwelling place." 2:13
Was it a mere coincidence then that it was while he was in a "far" side of the desert that the Lord appeared to him in a burning bush? In a song of ascents (ascending to the throne of the Lord) didn't David exhort the pilgrims, "I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother...O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, both now and forevermore"?
Jacob was a pilgrim. And on the way to Paddan Aram (which is symbolic of this mundane world where pilgrimage is staged) the Lord secured for him a QT revealing himself at night (Gen 28).
Jacob's pilgrimage is nearly over. Thus towards the closing point off his pilgrimage the Lord helped Jacob secure a QT at the Jabbok River.
So before during and after the pilgrimage, (or simply now and forever) we the pilgrims do need QT.
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