Genesis 32:22-31 - Jacob Wrestles with God
Genesis 32:22The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.
24Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25When 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. 26Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” 27So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” 29Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” 31The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.
Background: Jacob, fleeing his brother Esau who has threatened to kill him, went to hide out with his uncle Laban in Haran. There he worked for his uncle and married Leah and Rachel. All during this time Laban is growing more and more wealthy. For reasons not given in Scripture, Jacob perceives that Laban does not look on him with the favor that he once did. It probably had to do with the fact that Jacob was skimming Laban’s wealth for himself and Laban’s sons were becoming restless. In any case, God tells Jacob that he should go home. So after an elaborate rationalization, Jacob gets his wives and a fair amount of his father-in-law’s livestock and takes off for the land of promise. While Laban is out shearing his sheep, Rachel steals her father’s household gods (small bronze statues considered to have great power) and she, Leah, Jacob and the children leave in secret. On the way Laban catches up with them and after some unpleasantness and some guile on the part of Rachel, the two men make an uneasy covenant and part.
We pick up the story today as Jacob prepares to face his brother Esau. He has sent his family and flocks ahead of him across the river and he is alone with his thoughts, his memories and his fears.
Word Study
Vs. 22 – night – has special symbolic meaning here. Jacob is alone, vulnerable and unaware.
Jabbok – an eastern tributary of the Jordan, about 20 miles from the Dead Sea. This would have been an outpost of the Promised Land.
Vs. 24 – a man – any number of interpretations are possible here. Is this a Caananite demon? Is this Esau himself? Is it an angel? One scholar says that this is a text with “great spaciousness”. What is clear as the story unfolds, is that this wrestler/assailant is God in human form. Martin Luther goes so far as to say that the wrestler is the “Pre-incarnate Christ”. However we make sense of this strange usage, the point is that God is dealing directly and personally with Jacob!
Vs. 25 – hip – this body part is very unclear. It could be that what is injured is Jacob’s vital organs. Whatever those ancient words meant, what is clear is that this attack has profound, lasting consequences that affected not only his spiritual, but also his physical life. It was a humbling reminder that God is God. Period.
Vs. 26 – day is breaking – why did God choose to end the struggle with the crippling of Jacob? Many reasons can be imagined. The one given is that daybreak was coming. In the ancient world the belief was that if a human being saw God face to face, that person would die immediately. God was too grand and too holy to view. God would not allow the struggle to continue to the point in which Jacob’s life was threatened.
I will not let you go until you bless me – By now Jacob has grasped that the “foe” is God. He is no longer wrestling. Now he is clinging. He will not let go of God until he receives the blessing, thus legitimizing the blessing he received by deceit from his father.
Vs. 27 – What is your name? – a name contained a person’s entire identity. God was asking Jacob to tell him the whole truth about himself, to reveal his whole nature.
Vs. 28 – Israel – God gives Jacob a new name, Israel. It is in the struggle with God, that Israel is formed. It is in the dynamic interchange with God that Israel’s character is sealed.
Vs. 29 – please tell me your name – this question is placed respectfully, but is still inappropriate and so goes unanswered. Humankind will never know all that there is of God, God’s whole nature. God will always be part mystery. And God will not lay that mystery aside. Nor will God allow Jacob/Israel to have that kind of power over God.
Vs. 31 – limping – Jacob’s limp is a sign of both humility and glory. He can never best God. Trying to do so has its price. But he and God have struggled together. He has been changed by that struggle. The limp is a reminder of that intimacy.
Questions for Personal Reflection
1. Have you ever had a night of wrestling with God? What was going on? Were you trying to make sense of something? Were you trying to make peace with something or someone? Did you realize it was God who had you in that uncomfortable embrace?
2. There are many times in the Bible when God appears as a stranger. How do you usually respond to strangers? Have you ever received a blessing from a stranger?
3. Blessing comes in many ways. How have you experienced blessing after times of turmoil or unexpected opposition?