"Then the man said, “Your name will no
longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have wrestled with God and with
humans and have overcome.” Gen: 32:28
The Patriarch Jacob
Jacob was now on a journey to his home,
to the land that God had given to Abraham, Issacs and to himself. This journey
home would lead him to an unexpected encounter with the great God. We can
read Jacob's story and about his encounter with the Lord in Genesis: 32:22-33
Jacob anticipated a negative encounter with
his elder brother Esau, who was somewhere ahead, and Jacob believed that Esau
was desiring vengeance for taking his birth right and blessings.
Jacob in his anticipation of a negative
reception by Esau divided his family and sends them ahead while he stays behind
alone at the Ford of Jabbok
"That night Jacob got up and took his two
wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the
Jabbok." Gen: 32:22
The Ford at Jabbok, was a lonely, dark and desolate , strange place, yet, it was here that Jacob's life would be transformed.
Validation
All Jacob's of life he had sought validation
from others from Isaac, Rebeka, Laban, his wives, concubines and wealth. But
Jacob never really sought it from the only one who could truly grant it to him,
that is, the Eternal God. Jacob had spent his life wrestling for this
validation yet it had always eluded him. He was always wanting but never
finding it, this need was never met he always seeking it through the wrong
means.
Alone
But now, it is here alone in this dark and
forlorn place that God came to Jacob in the form of a man. This assuming the
form of a man is what theologians call a Theophany, that is,
God accommodates humanity, (pre-incarnation) and
appears as a man, and engaged Jacob in an all-night wrestling match.
Wrestling the Angel
Whatever issues and short
comings Jacob may have had he showed a measure of tenacity in his all-night
struggle even with a painful hip displacement, and in wrestling the hips are the place where your greatest
strength comes from. Yet, Jacob did not let go of "the man".
"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.
In the midst of the struggle "the man" demanded to be turned lose but Jacob
refuses until he is blessed; “the man" asked
Jacob his name. Here Jacob's request for blessing is finally supported by
honesty, and he answers "Jacob”. The importance of this moment is great; recall that, Jacob had received great blessing from his blind father Isaac through
deception, telling Isaac that he was Esau -Genesis:27
Now, Jacob is honest about who he is, not
just his name, but who he is, that is
what his very nature is Jacob's. During this nighttime wrestling match Jacob
was brought to face the truth about himself. His very name Jacob means tripper,
deceiver, which was his very nature and how he attempted to negotiate his way
through life.
Then the man said, “Your name will no longer
be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have
overcome.” Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him
there. So, Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God
face to face, and yet my life was spared.” The sun rose above him as he
passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip."
Jacob carried the pain of that all nighttime
struggle with God in that dark and strange place with him for the
remainder of his days. Yet as painful as it was, it was a ever present
reminder of the transformation that God blessed Jacob with. Jacob would never
forget that moment of blessing and seeing God face to face as a result of his all-night
wrestling match with the angel.
We All Wrestle the Angel
Jacob's story is all of our stories. All of us have, like Jacob, sought our validation through means and ways that simply will never work. It is when we find ourselves uncertain of what lies ahead in our journey home to those things that our God has promised us, and on that journey, we may find ourselves alone in dark strange and forlorn places.
In these lonely dark and strange places, places that
we may never have thought that we would find ourselves in, it is here that God
will come to us and engage us in a struggle and wrestle with all through
the night.
Like Jacob, we may not recognize who it is
that we struggle with. There in the darkness, going back and forth, being
tossed, pushing and holding, countering our every move.
Like Jacob our place of greatest strength
might be dislocated as was Jacob's hip, this tells us that whatever we may
have relied upon the most may be wounded and become painful, no longer
useful as strength and leverage.
We reach the point that we run out of
strategies and tactics, that all we can do is hold on.
What Is Your Name?
Then we all hear the question
" “What is your name?”,
that is, "who are you?" God speaks
and asks us to be honest about ourselves, and it is then when we
confess the truth about ourselves, that is what the struggle was all
about, to show us, that we, like Jacob have gone through
life seeking to use our own cleverness and abilities.
We have lived out of the strength
of the flesh. When we, in the midst of wrestling the Angel are
brought to see the truth about ourselves then we can be blessed; be called
by a new name as Jacob was. Given a new name a renewed nature a
new identity. We become overcomes, a child of God. All because we cling to
our Lord and will not turn him lose and confessed the truth about who we
are. And because we held on throughout the long struggle of the night
and the light of day came and we behold the face of our God. We
then see the Lord a bit clearer, and we perceive that it was God
all along who grappled was with us, all for our good and blessing.
Walking With a Limp
Benediction: May we each and all cling to our Lord until
we see his glorious face in the clear light of dawn, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen
Rev.Todd Crouch, Norman, Oklahoma
"If It Is Not About Jesus, It Is Not
About Anything"
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