Category: Patriarchs
Scriptures:
Gensis 32:22-32
Gensis 32:22-32
22 He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok.
23 He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had.
24 Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day.
25 When he saw that he didn’t prevail against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained, as he wrestled.
26 The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.” Jacob said, “I won’t let you go, unless you bless me.”
27 He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob”.
28 He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
29 Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” He said, “Why is it that you ask what my name is?” He blessed him there.
30 Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for, he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
31 The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh.
32 Therefore the children of Israel don’t eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.
Commentary
Jacob was strong-willed and self- sufficient, but that wasn’t what God wanted in him. So the Lord arranged a night for Jacob to wrestle with a mysterious opponent, who eventually touched Jacob’s hip, causing him to have a limp for the rest of his life. Jacob had been relying on his own physical strength and mind, instead of on God. His limp not only generated his surrender, but also was a physical reminder of his struggle against God. He never again schemed to attain the Lord’s blessings; instead, he ultimately trusted and depended on Him.
God will also “wrestle” with us to break our will. And in our brokenness, He intends blessing for us. Because God is fully good, there is purpose in our suffering. Just as we discipline our children for their safety and for their future benefit, the Lord disciplines His children, too (Hebrews 12:5-11; Psalm 94:12).
Paul’s “thorn in his flesh” made him humbly rely on God’s grace and power. And God’s power is seen more clearly through weak people (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). The Lord desires that our hearts and minds be submitted to Him, which happens when we are in need, not when we are self-reliant. He wants us to rely on Him so that we remain spiritually close to Him, continue to mature in our faith and learn to trust Him.
When we find ourselves crying out to God in the midst of life’s darkest nights, when we wrestle with God in prayer, we must remember that God is at work through this process. God uses these moments to shape us, to refine our character, and to draw us closer to Him. Most importantly, in these dark nights of the soul, we must follow Jacobs’ example and never, under any circumstances, let go of God.
Jacob's name symbolized his old nature, his old self, representing the deceitful and conniving ways that had defined his life up to this moment. He was no longer trying to steal his brother’s blessings by metaphorically clinging to his heel. Instead, he was now literally clinging to the heel of God, begging Him not to depart from Jacob in his moment of weakness and need.
It is in this moment that God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. The name Jacob was a constant reminder of him as a man who relied on his own cunning for success. The name Israel, however, carried a profound meaning. It meant “prevailer,” and this name change was a declaration of Jacob’s transformation. Through the nightlong struggle, both Jacob and God had strived with one another, and both had prevailed. Jacob emerged as a new creation, a new person, his very nature transformed by the hand of God.