Genesis 32: 22-27
22 “That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’”
One might think that only Abraham saw Jesus as we have journeyed through the OLD Testament and encounters with Jesus. But a new generation of God’s people has arisen now. We are going to take a look at Jacob.
Abraham is dead, Sarah is dead, Isaac married Rebekah, and they had twin boys, Esau and Jacob. Jacob grew up and tricked his brother out of his birthright and then had to run away. He was known as a trickster, and for 20 years or so, he lived with his father-in-law, Laban. Soon, Laban and Jacob’s households were too big to exist in the same location, and Laban tricks Jacob. (Genesis 31:41, “Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times”). Or at least he tries to, but God blesses Jacob, and when the tensions got to be too much, he heads home.
Isaac, we will learn, is still alive. We see that in Genesis 35:27-29. “Jacob came home to his father, Isaac, in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.”
Back to the story at hand. Jacob (now in his late 60s or early 70s), his wives and concubines begin the journey back home, and along the way, Jacob encounters a man. He separates himself from his family. They head across the river Jabbok, and that very night, Jacob wrestles with the man. Later, we find out that he knows it was God, and he names the place Peniel, meaning, “So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.’”
We know from our previous lessons that any time one sees God ‘face to face’ in the Old Testament, it is Jesus. Jacob sees Jesus and wrestles with Him. This encounter changes a few things about Jacob, and he is never the same again.
God, Jesus, physically changes Jacob in that He dislocates a joint in his hip, and Jacob walks with a staff after that. We do not know if he ever recovers from that. Then, Jesus changes his name from Jacob, meaning ‘a trickster’ to Israel, and we see that in verse 28. “And He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.’”
All of us need to have our own struggle with God to have God make changes in us. Jacob was never the same again; his life would take some hard turns fraught with hurt and pain. His own children would trick him and hurt him, but he would remain faithful to God. You see, Jacob could not serve God in Abraham’s encounters; he needed his own. Your children cannot serve God through your encounters and your experiences; they need to see God, wrestle with God, and have God change them.
The change was marked by changed names as well; this seemed to be a common thing for God to do, even in the New Testament era. Abram became Abraham, Sara became Sarah, Jacob became Israel, later Saul becomes Paul, Simon becomes Peter, and we too are promised a new name one day given to us by God (see Revelation 2:17, 3:12).
Now, Jesus could have defeated Jacob at any time during the night that they wrestled, and I find it amazing that Jacob did not give up. He wanted to be blessed by God, and he held on with all his might. We see verse 26: “Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’” Jacob wanted God to bless him, and he refused to let go. He refused to give in and give up.
How do you and I respond when we are tested by God? Jacob refused to give up, and he was blessed. And even though his life got very hard, he lived in that blessing, and it empowered him to push through all the pain. Do we give up too soon when seeking a blessing from the Lord? Do we ‘tap out,’ as they say, and shortchange ourselves? Jacob was not a perfect man; in fact, he was very far from that. He had failed God times after time, yet God blessed him.
We see also that when we struggle, when we go through the tough fights with God, it is not to break us, and it is not for God to destroy and beat us, but to challenge us to hold on with all we have. God wants men and women who thirst after Him, who need Him and His blessings and live for Him. Men and women who refuse to let go in spite of their sinfulness and shortcoming, they understand that God, Jesus, is all they have, and their only hope.
I pray that you have had, and or that you are looking for your encounter with the Lord. Your night of wrestling, so to speak; a night that will change your forever and empower you to endure that tough time that may be ahead.
Often, we think that being blessed by God means more money, power, prestige or the like, but more often than not, it is Jesus equipping us to endure what is coming our way. When we see Jesus and experience His hand in our lives, it secures us to move forward come what may. It helps us to hold on and trust that He has the way planned, nothing surprises Him, and we can trust Him that He has it all worked out.
We who have children that we are teaching in the way of the Lord should begin to pray that they have their own experiences with the Lord, their own wrestling with the Lord, and their own blessings from the Lord to empower them to endure the dark times that are ahead. Long after we are gone, it is these encounters that will sustain them and endear them to Jesus. He will be their hope and salvation, like He is ours, like He was Jacob’s, like He was Abraham’s and Sarah’s, and all who serve Him.
Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario
