Gen 32:24-30 NLT - [24] This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until dawn. [25] When the man saw that he couldn't win the match, he struck Jacob's hip and knocked it out of joint at the socket. [26] Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is dawn." But Jacob panted, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." [27] "What is your name?" the man asked. He replied, "Jacob." [28] "Your name will no longer be Jacob," the man told him. "It is now Israel, because you have struggled with both God and men and have won." [29] "What is your name?" Jacob asked him. "Why do you ask?" the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. [30] Jacob named the place Peniel--"face of God"--for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared."
The story of Jacob wrestling the mysterious “man” or “angel” depending on the translation has baffled scholars and readers of the Bible for centuries. One interesting indication we receive from the text lies in the clue of Jacob’s appeal that he will “not let [the being] go unless [the being blesses] him.” The concept of the blessing parallels back to Genesis 25, where Jacob deceives his father and brother into selling Esau’s birthright. Furthermore, this is evidenced by Genesis 32’s mention that Jacob’s tribe was preparing to meet Esau’s. Is there more to this struggle than is immediately obvious? Was this man even perhaps Esau, considering Genesis 25’s description of “the two children struggl[ing] with each other in [their mother’s] womb.” We don’t know the answer to these questions, but the question itself brings up a matter perhaps more relevant to the story than the identity of the mysterious wrestler: Jacob was struggling with God.
Whether this fight was a sort of trial from God for Jacob’s deception regarding his birthright, or the initiation of God’s covenant promise seen in its first physical form and reflected by the physical struggle between man and God, we see a valuable lesson: man often struggles with God. Indeed, we “wrestle” with God. Our human nature drives us towards the natural desires, but God wrestles us away from them. All of us as Christians have felt such a fight with God. The curious thing is that we can win: by submitting to His will. Jacob’s blessing comes not simply in the proclamation of His father Isaac, but here in Genesis 32, where Jacob earns his birthright. He learns something that night that earns him the name that shall go on for thousands of ages: Israel.
The question that we have to ask ourselves is, are we willing to submit to God when He wrestles with our hearts? When our desires collide with His, will we keep pressing against Him, or submit to Him? The Holy Spirit’s call upon our hearts is stronger than we can imagine, yet Christ will let us neglect it. Let us not neglect it, beloved. For the will of God is always right. We can never beat God in a wrestling match—His outcome will always be fulfilled. Just as He had His will with Jacob, so He has His will for you and me. May we obey Him today! Amen.
With love in Christ,
Austin Aldrich
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