Wrestling for Blessing – Genesis 32

A text – Genesis 32:22-31

²² The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. ²⁴ Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” ²⁷ So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans 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. ³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, yet my life is preserved.” ³¹ The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

A reflection:

Jacob and Esau were the twin sons of Isaac, grandsons of Abraham. Esau was born first, with Jacob grasping his heel trying to beat him in the race to be born and get the inheritance. Jacob literally means “heel” and in this case “heel grabber” or “supplanter.” From an early age he was his mother’s favorite, and she later abetted his scheme to trick his blind father into giving Jacob the first-born’s inheritance. He left his homeland for 20 years, became rich and prosperous, and decided to return home. En route he gets the news that his brother Esau is coming to meet him with 400 men. This does not sound like a happy welcoming committee. At this point we come to our passage, verse 22.

He splits his family and possessions into two camps so one can escape if the other is attacked, sends gifts of appeasement ahead to Esau, and stays alone that night by the river. A man comes and wrestles with him. Jacob’s hip is dislocated, but he wrestles on. At daybreak the man asks to be let go, but Jacob persists, injured but determined, striving on. This persistence is our theme for the week – staying in the relationship, in the fight, no matter what. And we know Jacob was persistent when he wanted something. “I won’t let go until you bless me,” he says to the man. The man, who turns out to be God, asks his name, and Jacob says, “Jacob,” with all the connotation it carries about being a heel and a supplanter. God gives him a new name, Israel. Jacob asks for his wrestling partner’s name, but he only asks why Jacob wants to know. Jacob then receives the blessing. Jacob names the place “I have seen God face to face and didn’t die.” Then Israel/Jacob caries on, journeying toward whatever awaits him with his brother.

Most people have wrestled all through the night at one time or another. They have been trying to decide something, or been feeling guilty about something, or been worried about something. At those times are we, too, wrestling with God? Have we ever asked for a blessing after striving all night? Jacob did. He is bold and certainly beloved of God. Why did God wrestle with him? Why did God put Jacob’s hip out of joint? And mostly, why did God give him a new name that meant Jacob was a striver who would prevail? Many mysteries remain for us, but we might conclude that God loves to strive and wrestle with us, and if we ask for it, God will give us a blessing, too. We are in a relationship.

A prayer:

Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for preserving this story of Jacob wrestling with you and receiving a new name and a blessing. Help us to recognize our own wrestling with you and with the work you have asked us to do. Help us to know when to ask for a blessing from you. Amen.