Jacob Wrestles With God (MP 28)

The touch that crippled Jacob was divine,
Though the whole night’s struggle was flesh to flesh;
Did pre-incarnate Christ seek to define
God’s ne’er-quit quest for men’s lives born afresh?
Jacob thought it was God who tasked him so,
His valiant fight impressed the One he fought;
When dawn came, he was forced to let Him go;
Jacob became Israel*, a name dear-bought!
For the rest of his life, his thigh was lame,
But he did not mind; for he always thought
God had honored him by changing his name,
And that God was the One with Whom he fought!
Since that place was where the holy One trod,
He named it Peniel**—face to face with God!

*Israel = “God struggles with”
**Peniel = “face of God”

Scripture Quoted: Genesis 32:22-28 (NIV)
“That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 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. Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jacob,’ he answered. Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and men and overcome.’ “

Commentary: Jacob At Peniel
The Bible does not say who “the man” that wrestled with Jacob that night was or why he did it. This night was of great importance to Jacob, for he was about to meet his brother Esau on the morrow, his older twin brother. He had not seen him for 20 years, having run away to escape being killed by him for stealing his valuable birthright. Jacob had just learned that Esau had 400 men with him and is certain to have worried about the upcoming confrontation. Obviously he thought his assailant was God from the Bible text in the complete passage. It seems to have been the pre-incarnate Christ. If so, what could have been His intent? His all night unyielding indicates that it might have been to reveal to all men how persevering God is in His arduous dealings with men and for mankind’s redemption and the success of His Master Plan—that He will never give up.

It is obvious that God used only the strength available to a human being, for if He had used his divine power, there would have been no contest. He was forced to use supernatural power to make Jacob turn Him loose when time came for Him to go, and it crippled him for life. I believe it was God, and He wrestled with Jacob as He did to build up his self-esteem and confidence for his meeting with Esau. After all, if Jacob had been a weakling, “turned tail and run”, how could he then become the revered father of Israel, the apple of God’s eye, whose task was to lead the whole world in accepting the coming Messiah and have his condemnation to hell nullified? An energetic, confident Jacob survived the struggle, becoming Israel whose descendants were proud to have him for sire. He limped all his life, and Israelites would never eat meat from the muscle tendon hooked to the thigh of any animal, honoring Jacob’s eternal handicap imposed at the touch of God.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him will not die, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)