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[a] said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,[b] for you have striven with God and with humans[c] 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,[d] 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 has been away from home over 20 years, after stealing Esau’s birthright through trickery. He is on the road homeward here, a very rich man, blessed by God at every turn. But he is dreading meeting Esau, who has vowed revenge upon him. So he strategically splits his family and property in half and sends them ahead of him in two different directions, in case Esau should come in the night to murder everyone in Jacob’s party. Jacob is alone, and a man wrestles with him until daybreak. By the end, Jacob has become convinced this stranger is God.
South Dakota pastor John E Anderson has written about this wrestling match the following paragraph:
“Jacob has proven to be a more than formidable opponent, even for God! Jacob holds his own all night! And notice, it is God who must ask to be let go before daybreak, even after injuring Jacob with a cheap shot (32:25–26). Jacob/Israel’s refusal to let go of God is what raw, honest faith looks like. Faith is not just passively submitting to God; it is grappling, contending, tenacious, and persistent. It is wrestling: grabbing hold of God and refusing to let go, despite the struggle, the time, the risks, the injury. Because the blessing is worth it. ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me’ (32:26b).”
I like this description. Jacob has been blessed by God his whole life long, and he has probably wrestled with God all along the way. This particular night is a culmination of a particular struggle, as Jacob is anticipating a sort of wrestling match with Esau, but also knowing Jacob is taking his family to the land of Abraham and Isaac. Lots of us have wrestled in a similar way in our lifetimes – awake all night fighting with ourselves about whether to do things this way or that way. Many of us would not think, perhaps, that this wrestling was with God. But isn’t it? Don’t we have our deepest conflicts knowing we are called to do one thing but instead want to pursue a different way? I also love that it is God who asks Jacob to let him go before daybreak. Is it true? Do we sometimes wear God out? Yes, I think maybe we do. Do we know it’s God we are wrestling with? No, maybe we don’t. But let’s consider it. God comes to us is situations and shapes unknown to offer us a contest, an invitation, an opportunity. More often than we know.
A prayer:
Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for coming to Jacob as a wrestler and coming to us to wrestle, too. Help us to pay attention to your offers and invitations and to accept that you want us to wrestle with you and even win. Amen.
Short Dwellings in the Word by Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison 