“And He blessed him there. And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.” Gen. 32:29,31
Here is a story that, I must confess, had always been difficult for me to understand. It is the only record in history of God actually wrestling hands-on, and with a man at that! Why would He do this? It is not up to us to expect God to do or not do anything. He does as He wishes, and what He does is always right. God uses various ways in which to deal with you and I, and the method He chooses is in direct relation to how we are dealing with things. In this instance, Jacob is in the biggest wrestling match of his life. He was wrestling tree opponents at once, namely, his past, his future, and his present. And if that weren’t enough, the Lord stepped into the ring and took hold of him too! And yet, this match was going to turn out much differently that he or anyone could expect. Even there, he would be blessed. And this blessing would reach farther than Jacob’s own personal troubles unto our very moment tonight. We can assuredly know that, whatever our “there” may be, this blessing can be given to us as well. Let us pause, take our time tonight, and consider this story. Compare it with your present “there.”
Consider Jacob’s opponents who were facing him. First, he was wrestling with his past. What a rascal he had been! He was forever into some mischief or another. He eased out of the outside work to help his mom clean house. His older brother, Esau, had to do all the hunting and hard chores. Even before he and Esau were born, he was fighting with him in Rebekkah’s womb. At birth Esau came first, with Jacob gripping his heel. No wonder when babies are born, they are kicking and squalling! He had taken advantage of his brother more than once, swindling him out of his birthright, then stealing his first-born blessing by deceiving his blind father. Esau naturally wanted to kill him, and was gunning for him. So Jacob ran. And ran. And ran. His life become one of a fugitive, constantly looking over his shoulder in case Esau caught up with him. Then there was his “woman troubles”. After working seven long years Rachel’s hand, her father presented him with his bride. After the ceremony, he lifted her veil to kiss her and… it was Leah, Rachel’s homely older sister! SO here he went again, for another seven years. Now he finally earned her, he wanted to leave. But his father-in-law decides otherwise. Yes, Jacob’s is a long, twisted story. One has to pay the fiddler after the dance. Are you wrestling with something in your past that just won’t let go? Listen. It won’t let go until you have settled it with the Lord, honestly and wholeheartedly.
Second, he was wrestling with his future. There was still Esau. He was still alive and well and, at last report, still very mad. And he had finally caught up with Jacob. There was no way around it this time. Tomorrow would be the day of their meeting, and the reckoning. All those fears that had haunted Jacob for years were now just over the horizon. Look at verse 7: “Then was Jacob greatly afraid and distressed.” There looked to be no good future ahead at all. He was most likely going to lose his family, servants, possessions, and even his own life. In these times, we can certainly identify with Jacob. Even though our health, assets, and securities may all look sound as of now, these can all change in a moment’s time. Giving the current state of the world, it is very likely. If we all were honest, we would have to admit that, indeed, we are afraid. We wrestle with this, anticipating this opponent’s moves, and how we can defend ourselves and win. However, the future is an enormous opponent.
Our mistake, like Jacob’s, is that, as with our past, we are attempting to deal with it all on our own. We only seek the Lord’s help in a small, intermittent way. And then, we are reluctant to just turn it all over to him. Remember: you do not know just how the future is going to unfold. But God does, and God holds all futures.
Lastly, he was wrestling with his present. Verse 24 says, “And Jacob was left alone.” He had just sent the remainder of his family over the brook Jabbok. The evening darkness was gathering around him, and he was alone…so alone. Imagine his thoughts, his feelings. Yet, this was the best environment for him right then, for it pushed him to realize and face something. All these wrestling’s he had brought upon himself were his fault. That they all were the inevitable result of his life-long wrestling with his faith in God. Sure, there had been moments when he expressed great faith, but these were only spurts that were soon gone as he relapsed back into his same old character. He, like us, tended to place most of his faith in himself, and the leftover portion in his God. Here had been the source of his problems all along, and he knew it, but kept avoiding dealing with it. Now, in the dimness of the young night, there he was, alone with this mistake. Do you see yourself there with him? Is the faith in God that you profess real in your everyday life? How large a role does it play in our overall confidence? Is Jacob’s “there” our “there”? We should know well by now just how limited our own resources are, and just how unlimited God’s are.
It was then, at the worst possible moment, that someone approached him in the darkness. This person grabbed Jacob, and began to work him over. “…and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.” For goodness sake! Didn’t he have enough to wrestle with already? And now, a stranger shows up to get a piece of the action too! Jacob did not initiate this fight, the opponent did. Jacob had not choice but to wrestle back. As the wrestling continued through the long hours of the night, he began to perceive something different about his opponent. He had certainly never wrestled anyone like him before. However, he also perceived something familiar about him. He knew this person. The longer he was in physical contact with him, the more certain he was as to who this was. Instead of trying to break off and run, Jacob now holds on tightly and won’t let go. His opponent sees this, and touches Jacob’s hip. It comes out of joint. He orders Jacob to break it off, for the dawn is near. But Jacob, worn out and in great pain from his hip, grasps him even tighter. “ I will not let thee go, until thou bless me.” Now Jacob is getting the whole picture. He has realized the mistake of his wrestling of faith, that these were a dare to God for Him to come into Jacob’s ring and prove Himself. Now, God had taken Jacob up on this dare. Friend, be careful when you take God on to question Him; when you doubt and wrestle with God’s Word and Promise. He just might take you on! Perhaps this is what is needed in these days. Our prayer ought to be: “Lord, come and take hold of me; show me just how weak and dependent I really am, and give me a good thrashing!” And if He does, hold on and don’t let go!
Note that he wasn’t specific as to the particular blessing requested. Just what did he need? A great deal. Which was most critical? They all were. So he frames his request to reflect a deference to the judgment of God as to the decision of what he needed. Now Jacob is truly entrusting it all, including himself, into those Hands that were man-handling him. He now realized that whatever God would give him would be exactly what he was needing, if not what he was wanting.
The Lord’s answer totally caught Jacob of guard. “And he said unto him, What is thy name?” A moot question, or was it? When Jacob replied, he must have taken note of his name’s meaning-“Sup-planter”. Oh Boy. This had been indeed an appropriate name, for this described him to a Tee. Scamming had been the story of his life. Instead of believing and waiting on the Lord, he had taken all things into his own hands, thinking he could make life work by his won ingenuity. Now he knows that, for sure, he was “Jacob” through and through. There, at this point of realization, God notes this, and grants him the blessing. Though strange and seemingly impertinent, this was exactly what Jacob had needed all along. “Thy name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God, and with men, and hast prevailed.” The Lord just gave him something that made him a new person, and opened a door of hope for not only he and his family, but for all future generations as well, including us. “Jacob” had been his fleshly name and identity. Now he had been given a spiritual name and identity. And he would never be the same again. Consider your identity as you face your wrestling’s, your Esau’s. Do you meet them in your carnal form, or your spiritual form? The outcome will be decided by this.
Jacob then asked the Lord, “What is thy name?”. Huh?? Jacob, what’s wrong with you? He wanted to be sure before letting the Lord go. Moreover, instead of avoiding his Lord, now he was desiring to get even nearer to Him. There was a hint of a taunt in the Lord’s reply. “Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?” It was completely unnecessary for God to tell him, for it was all too obvious. How alike we are to Jacob, finding ourselves asking our God for “some identification, please”! So, with God’s reply, everything was settled. The wrestling match was finished. The prize was awarded. “And he blessed him there.” The Lord departed. Jacob was alone again. The fateful day had dawned. Everything remained ominously the same, except Jacob. And he began to change his world around him. This terrible place of fear he now named “Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” He forded the brook, walking toward his approaching brother, with a limp. Here is the only way we will ever face our opponents, with our carnal side crippled. He was no longer facing it all as Jacob the Sup-planter, but as Israel, the prince with God. He knew that, if one can prevail with God, he could prevail over anything!
Well, you know the rest of the story. Esau saw Jacob limping toward him. Big, hairy, and with fists clenched, he had been ready to tear his brother apart. But now, observing Jacob’s approach, perhaps he noticed how crippled his brother was. He breaks into tears and into a run, grabs Jacob with both those rugged arms, and hugs him almost in two! (The limp that our wrestling’s with God gives us comes in handy.) So there we leave them, weeping and hugging with an embrace that would last the rest of their lives. The wrestling’s were over, because of the Divine Match that had taken place the night before. Life would go a lot better, now that Jacob had settled the matter with God, hung in the ring, and let God beat him.
What about you? Tired of all these wrestling’s? How long have you been provoking your Lord with the wrestling’s of your faith? Maybe it is time for God to get into your ring.
You see, when you let God win, you will be the one to prevail.
“And he blessed him there.”
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 