GENESIS 25-32 - CONTEXT: This is the story of Jacob's encounter with God while on a journey to see Esau after many years of estrangement (32:3-5). The story, then, has its roots in the relationship between Jacob and Esau, beginning with their birth as twins. At that time, the Lord told Rebekah: "Two nations are in your womb. Two peoples will be separated from your body. The one people will be stronger than the other people. The elder will serve the younger" (25:23). Esau, the first to be born, "came out red all over, like a hairy garment" (25:25). Jacob, the second to be born, "came out, and his hand had hold on Esau's heel. He was named Jacob" (25:26)-that name meaning "he takes the heel" or "he supplants"-a hint of the rivalry that Jacob would later engender. Esau grew up to be a hunter, but Jacob was a quiet man (25:27). "Now Isaac loved Esau, because he ate his venison. Rebekah loved Jacob" (25:28). As the elder son, Esau enjoyed the privileges of the firstborn-the birthright and the blessing. However, taking his birthright casually, Esau sold it to Jacob for a bowl of stew (25:29-34)-in the process losing one of his two significant advantages as the firstborn. On that occasion, Esau had only himself to blame. However, on a later occasion, Jacob (with Rebekah's assistance) deceived elderly Isaac into believing that Jacob was Esau. They tricked Isaac into giving Jacob Esau's blessing (27:1-29). When Esau discovered this treachery, he was crushed (27:30-40) and he determined to kill Jacob (27:41)-no jury would have convicted him. Rebekah warned Jacob of Esau's plan, however, and he fled in time to save his life (27:42 - 28:5). Then Jacob experienced his first nighttime encounter with God-the famous "Jacob's ladder" encounter at Bethel where Jacob saw angels ascending and descending on a ladder reaching into heaven (28:10-22). In that encounter, God made Jacob the one through whom God's promise to Abraham would be fulfilled. God said: "I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed. Your seed will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you" (28:13-15).
In that first nighttime encounter with God (28:10-22), Jacob was fleeing from Esau's anger. In his second nighttime encounter with God (our text-32:22-31), Jacob is seeking reconciliation with Esau, but is afraid that Esau might still want to kill him because of Jacob's earlier treachery. "In both cases, Jacob appears deeply vulnerable and alone, in need of divine care" (Fretheim, 565). Jacob met Rachel and began working for Rachel's father, Laban, so that he might have Rachel as his wife. Laban, however, tricked Jacob, the trickster, and Jacob ended up married to Leah instead of Rachel. He then worked additional years to marry Rachel. During those years, he was estranged from his brother, Esau (29:1-30:24). Then Jacob tricked Laban, becoming rich at Laban's expense (30:25-43). He fled from Laban and Laban's sons (31:1-21) just as he had earlier fled from Esau. Laban pursued Jacob (31:22-42), and the two men eventually were able to make a covenant and to depart on good terms (31:43-55). At that point, Jacob sent messengers to Esau in an attempt to reconcile (32:1-5). The messengers returned with the news that Esau was coming with four hundred men to meet Jacob (32:6). Jacob feared that Esau was coming to kill him, and sent messengers ahead with a grand gift of livestock in an attempt to appease Esau (32:7-21). He also prayed, "Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and strike me, and the mothers with the children" (32:11). At that point, Jacob has the encounter with God that constitutes our text (32:22-31).
GENESIS 32:22-23. HE SENT THEM OVER THE STREAM
22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had.
"passed over the ford of the Jabbok" (v. 22). The Jabbok River is a major tributary of the Jordan River located east of the Jordan (on the far side of the Jordan). It flows into the Jordan at a point 43 miles (69 km) south of the Sea of Galilee and 23 miles (37 km) north of the Dead Sea. The river is 50 miles (81 km) long and descends 2000 feet (609 meters) in its course, so its waters flow swiftly during the wet season. In many of its parts, it runs through a deep gorge with steep banks. "To lead a large flock over the Jabbok...was a difficult task" (Von Rad, 320).
"He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had" (v. 23). Jacob separates himself from his family, his servants, and his livestock (his wealth). While the text isn't explicit regarding his reason for this separation, it has told us that Jacob is afraid that Esau "come and strike me, and the mothers with the children" (32:11). He has sent more than five hundred head of livestock (a veritable fortune-the equivalent of a half million dollars today) to Esau in the hope of appeasing him (32:13-21).
Whether Jacob sends his family ahead (places them between Esau and himself) or leaves them behind (places himself between Esau and his family) is not entirely clear-although it seems likely that he sends them ahead.
The one thing which we know for certain is that when Jacob finally encounters Esau, he goes ahead of his family (33:3).
GENESIS 32:24-25. JACOB WRESTLED WITH A MAN
24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.
"Jacob was left alone' (v. 24a). There is nothing lonelier than being away from home-alone-in the dark of the night-awaiting a hostile encounter. An image that comes to mind is American soldiers on landing craft off the shores of Normandy in the pre-dawn hours of D-Day. However, those soldiers weren't alone but were surrounded by buddies. Jacob is cosmically alone-in the dark-facing danger-afraid.
"wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day"(v. 24b). "The word 'wrestled' (wayye'abek) is a play on 'Jabbok' (yabbok, vv. 24, 26...). As a play also on Jacob's name (ya'aqob), it is a prelude to the name change he receives by virtue of outdueling the 'man'" (Mathews, 556).
This is not the only passage in which the Lord appears as a man. In chapter 18, three men appeared to Abraham, one of whom was identified as the Lord (18:17, 20, 27) and the other two as angels (19:1).
The "man" refuses to give Jacob his name (vv. 27-29), but Jacob will identify him as God at the end of their encounter (v. 30). However, during the wrestling match, it is dark and Jacob seems not to know his opponent's identity. Even though he has been exceedingly afraid to meet Esau, he doesn't allow himself to be intimidated by this opponent who accosts him in the middle of the night. He might think that his opponent is Esau (see 33:10). He wrestles with all his might-and his might is pretty mighty.
"When he saw that he didn't prevail against him" (v. 25a). How could God not prevail against Jacob?
Jacob is accustomed to conflict. This is not his first fight. "In every confrontation (Jacob) has emerged as the victor: over Esau, over Isaac, over Laban, and even more startlingly over this 'man' " (Hamilton, 334).
"he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained, as he wrestled"(v. 25b). God ratchets up the force one notch and dislocates Jacob's hip to end the match.
A dislocated hip is an injury both painful and disabling-although in this case it will not prove to be permanent-there is no evidence that Jacob is crippled throughout his life.
GENESIS 32:26-29. UNLESS YOU BLESS ME
26 Then he said, "Let me go, for the day has broken." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." 27 And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." 28 Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed." 29 Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him.
"The man said, 'Let me go, for the day breaks'" (v. 26a). It is the man, not Jacob, who calls for an end to the match. The rationale for ending the match is that the day is breaking. Later, God will tell Moses, "You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live" (Exodus 33:20), so it would appear that God wants to stop this encounter before the sun rises to reveal God's face-thereby endangering Jacob.
"Jacob said, 'I won't let you go, unless you bless me'" (v. 26b). Jacob prizes blessings. As noted above, he conspired earlier with his mother to trick his father into giving him the father's blessing (27:1-29). It is not clear that he understands himself to be in mortal danger should the sun rise and reveal God's face, but it is clear that he has suffered a painful injury and yet refuses to yield until he receives a blessing. The fact that he wants a blessing suggests that he understands that his opponent is God.
God earlier made Jacob a series of promises much like those that he made earlier with Abraham-including the promise, "in you and in your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed" (28:14). However, Jacob wants the blessing, not just for "all the families of the world," but for himself as well.
"He said to him, 'What is your name?' He said, 'Jacob'" (v. 27). To impart a blessing requires that the one giving the blessing know the name of the one being blessed.
Jacob's "name is linked to Hebrew, 'qb, from which are derived the noun 'aqeb 'heel' and the verb aqab 'to seize at the heel,' hence 'to beguile' or 'to overreach, supplant.' The name thus can mean 'he takes the heel' or 'supplants'" (Myers, 545). When Esau discovered that Jacob had cheated him out of his birthright, he said, "Isn't he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing" (27:36). Thus, when Jacob reveals his name to God, he also reveals his identity and character. He is a supplanter-one who "supersedes another by force, trickery, or treachery" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).
"He said, 'Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men'" (v. 28a). A name change of this sort indicates the beginning of a new chapter in the person's life-a new way of life-a new identity-new purpose. The name Israel (Hebrew: yisra el) could mean God (El) strives, but this verse says that it means that Jacob has "fought with God and with men." The nation that will be descended from Jacob/Israel will bear the name Israel, but no other individual will be named Israel in the Old or New Testaments.
The giving of the name Israel is, in itself, a kind of blessing, because "whenever (Israel's) descendants (hear) this name, or (use) it to describe themselves, they (will be) reminded of its origin and of its meaning, that as their father had triumphed in his struggle with men (i.e., Esau and Laban) and with God, so they too could eventually hope to triumph" (Wenham, 297).
However, it is worth noting that the name Jacob does not disappear, but instead is used again both immediately and often as the story continues (32:29, 30, 32; 33:1, etc.)-perhaps suggesting that, in Jacob's case, the change of identity is far from decisive.
"and have prevailed" (v. 28b). In verse 25, we heard that God could not prevail, and now we hear that Jacob did prevail-but the contest has been less decisive than that would make it seem. God did not soundly defeat Jacob (as we suspect that he could have done had he been willing to exert the necessary force), but he did put Jacob's hip out of joint (v. 25). Jacob did not soundly defeat God, but managed only to keep the battle going throughout the night. God's words sound like a father who wants to encourage his son.
Von Rad sees the surprise not so much in Jacob prevailing, but in God allowing "himself to be coerced in such a way by Jacob's violence" (Von Rad, 322).
"Jacob asked him, 'Please tell me your name.' He said, 'Why is it that you ask what my name is?' He blessed him there" (v. 29). When Jacob asks his opponent's name, he says "please"-almost surely understanding that his opponent is God. God deflects his question by responding with a question-"Why is it that you ask what my name is?"
Then God gives Jacob/Israel the blessing that Jacob requested in verse 26. Jacob obtained his father's blessing by deceit, but God gives this blessing fully aware of Jacob's identify and character. Jacob learns "that God knows who he is and accepts him anyway. The 'miracle' of the Jabbok is in reality the good news, the gospel, that God engages us as we are and, having named our name, preserves us (v. 30) in order to transform us" (Tucker 428).
God's refusal to reveal his name is rooted in the biblical understanding of names, where a name "expresses the essential nature of its bearer; to know the name is to know the person" (Myers, 747).
GENESIS 32:30-32. JACOB CALLED THE PLACE PENIEL
30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered." 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip on the sinew of the thigh.
"Jacob called the name of the place Peniel" (v. 30a). This is the only place where this place is called Peniel. Elsewhere it is called Penuel, as in the next verse. These variant spellings mean the same in Hebrew-"the face of God."
"for, he said, 'I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved'"(wattinnasel-was spared) (v. 30b). Jacob will not go away from this encounter unmarked. He has a new name, Israel, implying a new identity-a new beginning. He also walks with a limp. However, he understands that seeing God's face has put him in mortal danger (Exodus 33:20; Isaiah 6:5), and so he is grateful to be alive. Moses will later report seeing God face to face (Numbers 12:8), and Manoah will do so as well (Judges 13:22)-but that is hardly a common experience.
"The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh" (v. 31). This reference to the dawn tells us that Jacob/Israel saw God in the dim light of early dawn rather than the full light of day. Perhaps that contributed to his survival.
"to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket ." This verse is not included in the lectionary reading, but probably should be. There is no mention of this dietary restriction elsewhere in scripture. However, to the extent that it is observed, it will remind Israel (the nation) of this encounter of Israel (the man) with God.
POSTSCRIPT: After his encounter with God, Jacob will meet Esau, a surprisingly friendly encounter (33:4 ff.). In that encounter, Jacob will say, "Please take the gift that I brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough"-and Esau accepted Jacob's gift (33:11). In that sentence, the Hebrew that is translated "gift" is a derivative of the word berakah, which means "blessing." "This word berakah (blessing, gift) is the same word used for what Jacob originally stole from Esau in the incident with their old blind father Isaac (27:41)" (Olson, 63). Jacob will have another encounter with God where God will change his name from Jacob to Israel, saying: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your body. The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and to your seed after you will I give the land" (35:11-12).
Gen. 32:22-34 - Bible.org Utley
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 32:22-32 22Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had. 24Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. 26Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." 27So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." 28He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed." 29Then 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. 30So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved." 31Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. 32Therefore, 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.
32:22 "crossed the ford" The Hebrew root for "crossed" (BDB 716, KB 778, Qal imperfect) is the same root as "ford" (BDB 721, cf. Josh. 2:7; Jdgs. 3:28; Isa. 16:2). It denotes wading across at a shallow point.
▣ "the Jabbok" This root means "flowing" (BDB 132). It had cut a very deep gorge.
32:24 "a man wrestled" Here "wrestled" (BDB 7, KB 9, Niphal imperfect), "Jabbok" (BDB 132), as well as "Jacob" (BDB 784), all sound similar when pronounced. Here the person is called a "man" (BDB 35, ish, cf. v. 6), but the context implies it was a physical manifestation of Deity (cf. vv. 28,30; 18:1-2). However, v. 26 implies some kind of angelic creature.
This is the kind of text that western literalism cannot understand. This has both physical and symbolic aspects. This contest was for Jacob's benefit. It surely does not describe the "wrestling" characteristics of God!!
YHWH appears to Jacob several times (cf. 28:10-22; 32:22-31; 35:9-13; 46:2-4) and each time it is the character and promises of God that are emphasized. The key element is not Jacob (or his acts), but God and His covenant promises!
32:25 "when he saw that he had not prevailed against him" The Jewish Study Bible, p. 67, mentions an interesting Jewish tradition (Gen. Rab. 77.3) that asserts it was Esau's patron angel and that this encounter serves as a warning to all who would oppose the covenant people. This does attempt to explain why an angelic creature cannot defeat a mere human. However, can Esau's angel change Jacob's name to Israel?! This was somehow a "God thing."
▣ "the socket of his thigh" The rabbis say this refers to the vein of the thigh and this part of the animal carcass is not allowed to be eaten in Judaism (cf. v. 32).
32:26 "the dawn is breaking" This time of day was known as a special period of God's activity (cf. NIDOTTE, vol. 4, p. 85). It was often mentioned in ancient folklore.
In light of the Hebraic fear of seeing God (cf. 16:13; 32:30; Exod. 33:20), possibly the dawn would have revealed the divine identity of Jacob's opponent.
▣ "bless me" It was not Jacob's wrestling ability that was rewarded, but his tenacious dependent attitude upon God.
32:27 "What is your name" This is not lack of information on the angelic/divine wrestler's part, but a reminder to Jacob of his character of trickery and manipulation.
32:28 "Israel" This name change seems to be the key to the interpretation of the entire account. Israel means "may El preserve" (BDB 975) or if jussive, "let El contend" (cf. Hosea 12:3-4). It was not Jacob's strength, but God's purpose. One's name was very important to the Hebrews and denoted a person's character.
Another option for the name "Israel" (ישׂראל, BDB 975) is from ישׂרונ ("Jeshurun," BDB 449, cf. Deut. 32:15; 33:5,26; Isa. 44:2), which means "upright one."
SPECIAL TOPIC: ISRAEL (THE NAME)
▣ "with me" The wrestler seems to differentiate himself from God, although in v. 30 Jacob realizes he has somehow been with Deity.
32:29 "Please tell me your name" In the Ancient Near East the name of a spiritual being was closely guarded because of the possible use of that name in curses, oaths, and rituals. This is surely not the issue in biblical texts (cf. Jdgs. 13:17-18). In biblical texts YHWH reveals His name to His people (cf. Exod. 3:13-15). However, its meaning is not always comprehended (compare Exod. 6:3 with Gen. 4:26). As Judges 13:18 states, the name is too "wonderful" for humans to comprehend.
32:30 "Peniel" Peniel means "the face of God" (BDB 819). The spelling "Penuel" may be the alternative spelling of an older name for the location.
This name surely implies Jacob thought his opponent was YHWH, who could have easily defeated a mere mortal, but allows a contracted context to denote His willingness to work with and on the side of Jacob. He was not an antagonist, but a present help and one who blesses.
This really is a strange ancient account with many unknown aspects, much like Exod. 4:24-26. It would be very unwise to use these ambiguous texts for doctrine or application. They remain a mystery and their interpretation mere modern conjecture!
32:31 "he was limping" Whether this was permanent (later Jewish tradition) or temporary is not certain.
32:32 "to this day" This phrase is textual evidence of a later editor. The ban on eating this part of an animal is rabbinical, not biblical.
BIBLE.ORG - Cole - Gen. 32:22-32
INTRODUCTION: In Genesis 32, Jacob faced that kind of crisis. He was returning to Canaan in obedience to God, but that meant he would have to face his brother, Esau, whom he had cheated 20 years before. Jacob didn't know how Esau would receive him. When Jacob's messengers came back and said that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men, Jacob froze with fear. Esau could easily wipe out everything that was of value to Jacob, including Jacob! And so he prayed, "Oh, God, deliver me from Esau!" (32:9‑12).
What Jacob didn't know, and what we often don't realize in situations like that, is how God goes about helping us. What we have in mind is that God would somehow remove our problem or make our enemy go away. But God doesn't do it that way. God answered Jacob's prayer for protection from Esau by wrestling with Jacob until He left him limping as he approached his brother. His plan had been that if Esau attacked one camp, Jacob (in the other camp) could escape. But now he couldn't run from Esau if he tried! He was totally dependent on the Lord.
The way God helps us is by breaking us of our inherent self-dependence so that we lean totally on Him. In that context, we can properly receive His blessings. Our problem, like Jacob's, is that all too often we want to use God and His blessings to further our own ends. All his life Jacob had been using God and people to get what he wanted for himself. But now God brings Jacob to see that you don't use God‑‑ you submit to Him. When we submit to God, He blesses us.
God must break us of our self-dependence so that He can bless us as we cling to Him in our brokenness.
Brokenness is the path to blessing. Before God can use a man greatly, He must break him, because we all have a built‑in propensity to trust in ourselves. Thus,
1. God must break us of our self‑dependence.
God's wrestling match with Jacob was not a dream or vision--dreams and visions don't leave a man with a wrenched hip. Jacob's opponent was the angel of the Lord, Jesus Christ in a preincarnate form. It was a physical fight with physical injury inflicted on Jacob, and yet there were obvious spiritual lessons impressed on him through this unforgettable experience.
It must have been terrifying for Jacob. He was already nervous about Esau's approach. He had sent ahead his elaborate gift of hundreds of animals. Then he tried to bed down for the night. But he couldn't sleep, so he woke up his family and moved them across the ford of the Jabbok. Then Jacob went back alone for a final check, to make sure nothing had been left behind. It's dark and spooky on the desert at night. Suddenly, out of the dark, a hand grabbed Jacob. Jacob must have just about had a heart attack! Who was this? A bandit, trying to rob him? An assassin, sent by Esau? Instinctively, Jacob began to wrestle with this mysterious assailant, struggling for his very life.
We need to be clear that God was the aggressor here. Jacob was defending himself. Some preachers develop this text as a fine example of wrestling all night in prayer with God. But that is not the lesson behind the struggle. Jacob wasn't laying hold of God to gain something from Him; God was laying hold of Jacob to gain something from him, namely, to bring Jacob to the end of his self‑dependence.
All his life, Jacob had thought that Esau and Laban were his adversaries. He had struggled and schemed to get the blessings he thought these men were taking from him, blessings that God had promised to give him anyway. But now, at some point in the struggle, he discovers to his horror that none other than God was his adversary. Actually, Jacob was his own adversary; but God had to wrestle him into submission to reveal this to him.
We're all like Jacob. We think that the enemy, the problem, is out there. "The problem is my wife ... my husband ... my parents ... my boss ... my poor circumstances. God, please take care of the problem for me." But the enemy or problem isn't primarily out there. The problem is in me, my flesh, my sinful, selfish nature that dominates my life. So God has to reveal to me the power of my flesh before I can be delivered from it.
A. God's breaking process reveals to us the power of our flesh.
Obviously, God could have crippled Jacob in the first minute of this contest. When He finally wanted to, He just touched Jacob's hip and Jacob felt excruciating pain as his hip was wrenched. So why didn't God do it sooner? Why did He allow the match to go on all night long?
God wanted to show Jacob the power of his self‑will. If you've ever wrestled, you know how exhausting it is to grapple with an opponent of equal or greater strength. A few minutes is enough. But Jacob kept at it all night! The Lord kept waiting to see if Jacob would surrender, but he kept fighting.
At what point do you suppose Jacob recognized that his opponent was not a mere man? Later (32:30) he acknowledged that it was God. The text doesn't tell us, but I'm sure that if he didn't know before, Jacob knew as soon as the Lord crippled him. But the Lord didn't use that power until He saw that Jacob would not yield (32:25). The flesh dies hard! Only God can tame it. Until God crippled him, Jacob wouldn't give in. God let him wrestle all night so that Jacob could see how strong his self‑will really was.
To make sure that Jacob has learned the lesson, the Lord asks him a question which, at first, doesn't seem to fit the context. Jacob is finally subdued, and he clings to the Lord and says, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." The Lord responds, "What is your name?" (32:27). Remember, the Lord never asks questions to gain information. He knew the answer. He wanted Jacob to confess not just his name, but his character. He had to say, "My name is Jacob‑‑the supplanter, the conniver, the schemer." Only after Jacob acknowledged that could the Lord bless him.
Part of the process of knowing God involves knowing ourselves. Until God reveals the power of our sinful nature to us, we tend to think that we're not so bad. I was raised in the church, so I've always known that I was sinner. But yet I didn't know it. I was inclined to think, "I'm not a terrible sinner; in fact, as far as sinners go, I'm a pretty good sinner." But the more I've grown in the Lord, the more I've seen, as Paul said, that "nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh" (Rom. 7:18). Until the Lord reveals that to us (and He often has to do it through an all-night wrestling match!) we depend more on ourselves than on Him. God's breaking process reveals to us the power of our flesh.
B. God's breaking process reveals to us the power of our God.
Before the Lord touched Jacob and crippled him, Jacob probably thought that the fight was pretty evenly matched. But then in one light touch, the Lord wiped Jacob out. Suddenly he saw that God was the lion and Jacob was the mouse. God had just been playing with him!
Until God breaks us, so that we walk with a limp, we have a tendency to view Him as a benign old grandfather, nice to have around, but not very strong. Until that time, we view obedience to God as an option available to us. But we're in control, directing things as we think best. We choose our careers, our lifestyles, and our schedules, all centered around what will make us happy. God is a nice, harmless grandfather to have around when you need Him. Then the lion roars and in one easy swipe, He cripples us. We learn His awesome power. We learn that obedience is not an option; it's our only reasonable course of action.
The frailty of our bodies should make us aware of our weakness and of our need to submit to God. Every time we're sick or get injured, or when we feel the aches and pains of older age, we should acknowledge, "I am not God. I am weak and frail. Only God is God and I must depend totally on Him and live in submission to Him."
A few years ago, the popular Australian actor, Paul Hogan, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while he was lifting weights. Although he was in a semicomatose state for five days, he dismissed the attack as "just a freak thing that was wasted on me if it was supposed to provide some sort of revelation" (Newsweek [12/8/86], p. 79). Wake up, mate! You can be a specimen of fitness and health, but you're only a heartbeat away from standing before Almighty God. If He touches your body, you'd better acknowledge your weakness and depend on His strength! You can either submit to Him and be blessed, or fight Him and suffer the consequences. But you'll never win if you wrestle with God.
Some people resist God's breaking process and grow bitter. Jacob could have gone that direction here. When the Lord crippled him, he could have angrily shouted, "Now look what you've done! I've got to go face my angry brother, and you've crippled me so that I can't fight or run!" Jacob could have grown bitter, not better. But he didn't. Instead, when the Lord said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking," Jacob clung to Him and gave that marvelous reply: "I will not let you go unless you bless me" (32:26). This shows that
2. God blesses us as we cling to Him in our brokenness.
Often our greatest victories come out of the ashes of our greatest defeats. As soon as Jacob was crippled, he was able to hang on to the Lord for dear life. He knew now that if God didn't bless him, he had no hope. He couldn't trust in himself any longer, because he was crippled. He had to cling to the Lord, and in clinging to the Lord in his brokenness, Jacob received the blessing he had been scheming to get all his life.
A. We won't cling to the Lord until we're broken.
There's a paradox here, in that Jacob seems to have incredible strength in clinging to the Lord after he is wounded. Of course, the Lord could have loosened Jacob's grip and gotten away. But the Lord loves it when His children cling to Him in their brokenness and say, "I won't let You go until You bless me."
But we're all like Jacob: We won't cling to the Lord with all our strength until we have to. As long as there's an ounce of self‑dependence left, we'll trust in ourselves. We can see this in the life of Peter. He was the natural leader of the twelve, always the spokesman. On a few occasions, he even had the audacity to correct the Lord. When Jesus predicted, "You will all fall away because of Me this night," Peter set the record straight: "Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away" (Matt. 26:33). Peter still didn't realize the power of his sinful nature; he wasn't weak enough to cling in dependence to the Lord. The Lord had to allow Peter to go through that dark night of the soul so that, crippled in himself, Peter would cling to the Lord in his brokenness. It was a broken, but dependent, Peter who boldly preached in the Lord's power on the Day of Pentecost.
The same is true in coming to Christ for salvation. Many people don't see their need to trust in Christ as Savior because they hang on to their belief in their own goodness. Their pride blinds them to their great need before God.
Andrew Bonar said that in the highlands of Scotland, sheep sometimes wander off among the rocky crags and get trapped on dangerous ledges. Attracted by the sweet grass, they leap down ten or twelve feet to get to it, but they can't get back up. A shepherd will allow the helpless animal to remain there for days until it becomes so weak it's unable to stand up. Finally, he ties a rope around his waist and goes over the edge to the rocky shelf and rescues the one that has strayed. Someone asked Bonar, "Why doesn't the shepherd go down right away?" He replied, "Sheep are so foolish that they would dash right over the precipice and be killed if the herdsman didn't wait until their strength was nearly gone." (In "Our Daily Bread," Winter, 1980.)
So if you're thinking, "I'm not a terrible sinner. In fact, I'm a basically good person," God may have to let you go through some serious problems, until you see your desperate need for Christ. He came to save sinners, not pretty good people. Sometimes God has to let you hit the bottom, where you see that you cannot do anything to save yourself. It's when God cripples us and we see how weak we really are that we cling to Him until He blesses us.
B. Even in clinging, we're prone to use God, not to submit to Him.
After the Lord asks Jacob his name and gives him a new name, Jacob asks the Lord to tell him His name (32:29). But the Lord replies, "Why is it that you ask my name?" Again, the Lord wasn't wondering about the answer to that question. He wanted Jacob to think about it, because the answer would teach Jacob something about himself.
I think that the Lord refused to tell Jacob His name because Jacob had the wrong motive in wanting to know. Jacob obviously knew that this was the Lord, as verse 30 shows. But the name reveals something about the Person. I think, in line with his lifelong tendency, Jacob wanted to know God's name to get a handle on Him that he could use in the future. Even though he was now clinging to God, Jacob was prone to keep on using God as he always had done. But to keep Jacob submissive and seeking, the Lord refuses.
So even though we've had an experience where God has humbled us, we always have to be on guard against our tendency to use God rather than to submit to Him. The Lord is far above us, and while He graciously consents to reveal Himself to those who obey Him (John 14:21), He will remain distant to those who simply want to know Him so that they can use Him for their own purposes.
C. Clinging to God in our brokenness is the key to power with God and with others.
When Jacob clings to the Lord and demands that He bless him, the Lord gives him a new name. To the Hebrews, the name reflects the character. So God, speaking prophetically, gives Jacob a new character: Instead of Jacob, he is to become Israel. Instead of supplanter, he is to become a prevailer. The name "Israel" either means, "he who strives [or, prevails] with God," or "God strives" [or, prevails]. Both meanings are true: Jacob wrestled with God and prevailed in the sense of hanging on until God blessed him. But, first, God prevailed over Jacob by crippling his stubborn self-dependence. Jacob's prevailing with men is a prediction of how God will now conquer Jacob's enemies (the most pressing being Esau) by His power rather than through Jacob's conniving ways.
If we come into the proper relationship with God, of clinging to Him in our brokenness, then we have power with Him. We prevail with Him who has prevailed over us. And since God is over all, if we can prevail with Him, then we prevail over all others. As Jacob went limping to face Esau, he was more powerful in God's strength and his own weakness than he ever could have been in his own scheming and strength.
So above all else, devote yourself to seeking God's blessing. When you've got that, you've got everything! When you prevail with God through His prevailing over you, He will take care of your problems and enemies. Then you're not using God to solve your problems; you're submitting to God and clinging by faith to Him.
That was the lesson for Moses' readers, the nation Israel, poised to enter the land of Canaan. They would not gain victory in Canaan in the usual way nations gained victory, but rather through prevailing with God. The Canaanites could not prevent Israel from God's blessings in the land any more than Esau had prevented Jacob from entering the land. It was God who would defeat the Canaanites for them if they trusted Him. It was also God who would oppose Israel if they failed to submit to Him. Weak in themselves, they could lay hold of God's strength, and no one could prevail against them.
Conclusion
Two concluding applications:
(1) Take time to get alone with God. It was when Jacob was left alone that the Lord came to wrestle with him (32:24). Calvin states, "Would we bring down the pride of the flesh, we must draw near to God" (Calvin's Commentaries [Baker], p. 202). When you get alone with the Lord, ask Him to break you of your sinful self‑dependence, and then cling to Him in your brokenness until He blesses you. When He breaks us and prevails over us, then He will allow us to prevail over our problems.
(2) Use your victories which come out of God's breaking you, to teach others. When Jacob's family asked him why he was limping, he could have concealed the lesson to save face: "Just a little arthritis, I guess." But he was willing to let us in on what he learned. In verse 32, Moses explains a Hebrew custom which even continues to this day among orthodox Jews. They do not eat the sinew of the hip of animals because that is where God touched Jacob. That custom should serve as an object lesson to God's people of the truth Jacob learned, that God breaks us of our self‑dependence so that He can bless us. As the Lord teaches that to you, pass it on to others. Your greatest problems can become your greatest victories if, when God breaks you, you cling to Him.
