Jacob to Israel: Wrestling With God I. Base Text: Genesis 32:22-31 II. Context A. Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham 1. Jacob is the younger son of Isaac, Abraham’s son of promise (Genesis 17:15-21, 25:15-28) 2. Despite being the younger, Jacob would receive the blessing and the promise (cf. Genesis 25:29-34, 27:1-46, 28:10-22) 3. Yet Jacob had lived up to his name: the means by which he obtained the blessing and promise were deceitful, and enraged his older brother Esau (Genesis 25:29-34, 27:1-46) B. Jacob and Laban 1. In order to preserve his life Jacob was sent away to live with his uncle Laban (Genesis 27:42-45, 28:1-5) 2. In Laban Jacob had met his match, and one with greater authority: Laban cheated Jacob in terms of wives and livestock for 21 years (Genesis 29:1-31:16) 3. After twenty-one years Jacob arose with his family and fled from Laban; Laban and his associates pursued and caught up to him; Laban reached a détente with Jacob without admitting any wrongdoing, and all because the God of Jacob’s father had warned him against harming him (Genesis 31:17-55) C. Jacob and Esau 1. Having addressed the threat of his father-in-law, Jacob now had to contend with the threat of his older brother Esau, who had wanted him dead years earlier 2. Jacob sent a message to Esau in Edom; he heard that Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred men, a potentially ominous sign (Genesis 32:1-6) 3. Jacob divided his people in companies for protection and defense, prayed to God, and sent many contingents of servants and presents to meet Esau and so as to mollify him (Genesis 32:7-21) D. Jacob and God 1. Throughout all of his adventures Jacob had learned to put confidence in the God of his father Isaac 2. Genesis 28:10-22: before Jacob left the land of Canaan God granted him a vision of a ladder with angels descending and ascending; God spoke with Jacob and declared he would receive the promise made to Abraham and Isaac, receive the land of Canaan, and through whose seed the earth would be blessed; he would leave the land but return to it; Jacob called the place Bethel, “house of God,” and promised that if YHWH would keep him, sustain him, and restore him to the house of his father, that YHWH would become his God and he would tithe and give offerings at Bethel 3. Genesis 31:3, 9, 11-13: Jacob received a vision of an angel telling him to return to the land of his father, that YHWH had seen what Laban did to him and blessed him despite it all; Jacob accepted it all and confessed it 4. Genesis 31:24, 29, 42: God spoke to Laban, told him to say nothing to Jacob good or bad, that is, to not hurt him; Laban complied, called him the God of [Jacob’s] father; Jacob chastises Laban, confesses that the only reason he has anything is because the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac was with him, and for that reason God had rebuked him 5. Genesis 31:53-54: Jacob swore to Laban by the Fear of his father Isaac, offered sacrifice 6. Genesis 32:9-12: in his distress about the potential malevolence of Esau Jacob prays to the God of his father Abraham and Isaac, confesses his unworthiness of all he has been given, confirms his trust in the promises God has made him, and thus asks to be delivered from Esau E. Jacob at the Jabbok therefore has come a long way from the young man who cheated; the stage is now set for the encounter Jacob will now experience III. Interpretation A. The Jabbok (Genesis 32:22-24a) 1. Jacob sent his wives, children, and property across the Jabbok but remained on the north side 2. The Jabbok is a tributary of the Jordan to the east 3. In this way the stage is set for what will take place, explaining how Jacob is alone but his family and property is (relatively) safe 4. Yet it is a compelling boundary, for Jacob’s descendants will inherit the land south of the Jabbok but not north of it; it shows that Jacob must go through one more contest, despite his present apprehensions, before he can return “home” 5. Jabbok also seems to be related for the word used for wrestling in Genesis 32:24 B. The Contest (Genesis 32:24b-26) 1. After his family crosses the Jabbok, we are told Jacob is left alone, and wrestles a man until daybreak 2. Probably “Greco-Roman” style 3. Much is left unrevealed a. Why wrestling? b. Is it a custom to meet random people and wrestle with them? c. For exactly how long did they wrestle? 4. Regardless, neither gained an advantage until the unknown man “touched,” or struck with some violence, the “hollow” of Jacob’s thigh so as to dislocate the hip 5. And yet they still wrestled until the man asked Jacob to let him go since day had arisen; Jacob would only let go if he received a blessing, a mark of having prevailed C. The Blessing (Genesis 32:27-30) 1. The man asked what Jacob’s name was; Jacob replied 2. The man said he would no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for he had striven with God and with men, and had prevailed 3. Not absolutely true, since Jacob is called as much frequently after this event in Genesis and the rest of Scripture 4. Nevertheless, we can understand the premise: as Abram became Abraham, so now Jacob is Israel, given a special name from God 5. Jacob then wants to know the name of his opponent; he asked why he asks, and blessed him 6. Jacob then recognizes the import of the new name and the contest: his opponent was a manifestation of God; he names the place Peniel (“face of God”), because he had seen God face to face, and yet survived 7. With whom did Jacob wrestle? a. We know it cannot be God the Father, for no man has seen God (John 1:18) b. It could have been an angel c. It could also have been an embodiment of YHWH akin to Genesis 18:1-2: a manifestation of the Son? d. Jacob certainly thought he wrestled with God! D. The Aftermath 1. The sun arose on Jacob as he limped past Peniel across the Jabbok (Genesis 32:31) 2. The Genesis author explains that Israelites do not eat the sinew of the thigh on the hip socket since that is where Jacob was touched when wrestling (Genesis 32:32) 3. Jacob then saw Esau approaching, and all his apprehensions and fears were for naught: Esau embraced Jacob warmly (Genesis 33:1-16) 4. Jacob then went to Shechem and dwelt there in the land of Canaan; of note is the altar he built, calling it El-Elohe-Israel, “God, the God of Israel” (Genesis 33:17-20) 5. Until the days of his sojourning in Egypt Jacob remained in Canaan, and considered YHWH to be his God, for God had accomplished all that he had promised E. And so we have the story of how Jacob became Israel, wrestling with God IV. Application A. Striving With Men 1. Few characters are as well developed in Scripture as that of Jacob 2. From Genesis 25 through 49 we are told much about Jacob and see his character develop before us 3. He certainly earned his name: he cheated Esau out of his birthright and blessing, contending with both brother and father in his own way 4. He then found himself in contention with his uncle turned father-in-law, let alone how he was caught in the contention between his wives Leah and Rachel 5. In all of these contests he ultimately prevails: he obtains the birthright and blessing, his father comes around to appreciate him, he has children with both Leah and Rachel, he leaves Laban with a family and with wealth in cattle, he is reconciled to Esau, and he returns in triumph to Canaan 6. Yet, in the process, Jacob is forever changed: humbled, worn down, yet persevering 7. We thus see the trail Jacob had to take: he had to leave home; he had to develop into the kind of person who was worthy of the promise God gave to Abraham and Isaac 8. In our own lives we can most likely see some elements of Jacob’s story 9. How many of us have had to learn through the experience of life? 10. How many of us have been forever changed through our strivings with men, whether the result has come to our advantage or disadvantage? 11. How many had to leave home, literally or otherwise, in order to be able to develop into the kind of person we needed to be? 12. So many in our society privilege knowledge as the ultimate resource, and yet we see in Scripture time and again that knowledge and wisdom must be put to practice, and it is in the doing that we grow and develop (James 3:13) 13. As we travel on the road of life, whether that road goes from point A to point B or from point A to B to perhaps other points only to go back to point A again, we are to be forever changed, and ideally for the better, as we strive to serve God faithfully among men, and trust that in Him we shall prevail B. Wrestling With God 1. Jacob had a lot going on; he had just escaped Laban, and a portentous encounter with Esau loomed large 2. So why at this particular juncture does God appear as this man and wrestle with Jacob? a. Consider again Jacob’s prayer (Genesis 32:9-12) i. The prayer is far more humble than the vow made 21 years earlier (cf. Genesis 28:20-22) ii. But the prayer is still addressed to the God of Jacob’s father; it ventures greater trust in God, but underneath is still this anxiety: OK, you said you were going to bless my descendants, so please make sure they don’t get killed by Esau, since I just promised Laban that I would not marry anyone else... b. I hope we can see that whereas Jacob’s character has been developed and refined through his striving with men, his faith remains quite undeveloped; the trust he is developing is in the God of Abraham and Isaac, the Fear of his father Isaac, but he maintains his distance from the God of his ancestors c. In the flow of the narrative we can perhaps see that God answers Jacob’s prayer by coming to him and wrestling with him! d. All night Jacob wrestles with an unknown person who ends up being God or God’s representative, and he prevails, obtains a blessing, and does not die e. If Jacob were going to meet his demise, would it not have been at this man’s hand? f. And so Jacob can face Esau with renewed confidence that God is with him and all will be well 3. In our own lives we may wonder why it is that God seems to have come to wrestle with us when we have a lot going on and are greatly concerned about our future; perhaps God is treating us as He treated Jacob, developing our character and faith through discipline so that we may endure the trials before us with the confidence that God is with us and we will be preserved on the final day (Hebrews 12:3-14, 1 Peter 1:3-9) 4. Above all things we must not miss out on the significance of the naming and its import throughout the generations a. We have mentioned how Jacob’s character is one of the best developed in Scripture; this is no accident, for Jacob is the nominal patriarch of Israel, and so we are to understand that Jacob’s story will be the story of Israel b. So many national names are just the word for “the people” in that nation’s native tongue, or are patronymics, named from a famous ancestor i. In this way we have the Assyrians, Arameans, Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Canaanites, etc. ii. Israelites is itself a patronymic: the sons of Israel c. The difference is that God provided the name for this people, and the name He gave them was: wrestles with God! d. Jacob wrestled with God in a concrete way; in a very real way, his descendants would wrestle with God ever afterward e. We can see this wrestling in a negative way: constant disobedience, serving other gods, exalting their own views and understandings over the purposes of God, proving to be a disobedient and contrary people (cf. Romans 10:21) f. But then there is also the more positive way of seeing this wrestling: a grappling with life as part of the covenant people of God, something which many in Israel proved willing to do with great zeal (e.g. Psalms 44, 88-89, Job) 5. Israel would thus be defined by this wrestling with God; since the language of Israel is appropriated for the people of God in the new covenant as well in Galatians 6:16, Christians represent the spiritual Israel of God, and thus themselves also must wrestle with Him 6. This idea of wrestling with God does not necessarily sit well with many people a. Without a doubt there is a crisis of faith in the modern Western world b. The causes are legion, but among them the lightness of faith cannot be denied c. It has become fashionable to presume that we cannot respect the sovereignty of God and ever question Him, challenge things, or in any way argue with Him d. Many modern Westerners imagine that faith should always be something in which God is treated as if a tempestuous dictator, as if we are on eggshells in His presence, and demands unquestioning obedience e. In such a view Christians must always seem like they have everything sorted out, have a sunshiny faith, and to put a smile on everything f. And yet the way that the holy men of old actually interacted with God completely discomfits such perspectives, and seems quite arrogant, belligerent, and impious to the modern Westerner! g. Who among us feels as if they could haggle with God as Abraham did regarding Sodom (Genesis 18:22-33)? h. Who among us would dare to ask God to wake up and see what is going on in prayer, as the sons of Korah did (Psalm 44:23-24)? 7. And yet the problem is entirely our own because of the shallowness of faith a. Abraham, the sons of Korah, and others wrestle with God not because their faith is weak or lacking but precisely because they strongly trust in God b. They have complete confidence in YHWH as their Creator and their God, full of covenant loyalty, justice, love, and mercy; that confidence is what compels them to ask God why it seems as if He is not fulfilling His promises! c. These examples show us that God is willing to give much wider latitude to His people who are grappling with difficult questions of life and faith than we might imagine He would... but only to those who do so in faith d. We do well, therefore, to develop the kind of deep faith and trust in God which would allow us to draw near and wrestle with Him (James 4:8)! 8. The people of God will be called upon to be Israel: wrestles with God C. Prevailing in the Contest 1. Jacob prevailed in his wrestling with God; all was well with him and Esau; yet there is a significant shift in Jacob’s relationship with God after this contest 2. Before Jacob wrestled with God he spoke of God as the God of his fathers or the Fear of Isaac; afterwards he built an altar to El-Elohe-Israel, “God, the God of Israel,” and ever afterward spoke of God as his own God 3. God did not wrestle with Jacob to destroy him but to have him draw near and overcome; and so it would be with Israel a. Israel would need to wrestle with God in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 BCE; in the teeth of an existential threat in the days of Haman the Agagite and Antiochus IV Epiphanes b. They lamented; they grappled with the question of where YHWH went and whether they had been abandoned; they wondered how they could serve YHWH in a foreign land, to glorify Him despite suffering and persecution (cf. Psalm 137, Lamentations) c. Yet because they had wrestled with God, they proved able to endure in their faith despite all odds 4. In the end the Assyrians, Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Canaanites, and many others faded away, assimilating with the dominant cultures of later days; only Israel, those wrestling with God, maintained an ancestral faith and loyalty to their covenant God! 5. This was only possible because each successive generation made YHWH their God, having grappled with the difficulties of their lives in faith 6. Habakkuk 2:4: the righteous lives by his faith; the faith of his ancestors, spouse, etc. cannot sustain him; he must make it his own (cf. Romans 1:16-17)! 7. And so we must all have our moments of wrestling with God in order to be prepared to endure the trials of life and to make the faith our own V. Conclusion A. Jacob became Israel 1. God was preparing him in his path the whole time 2. Jacob, the one who cheats, got his comeuppance, and learned through experience 3. Jacob made the God of his ancestors, the Fear of Isaac, the God of Israel, by wrestling with Him 4. In this way the second son of Isaac and Rebekah was called and prepared to become Israel, the father of the nation of the people of God B. We will all have our Israel moment, to wrestle with God 1. We spend a good number of years in our youth growing and learning, absorbing the instruction of our families and teachers 2. We can develop quite the big head, presuming that we have everything figured out because we’ve learned a few things 3. And then we will have those crisis moments in our lives a. They vary in their magnitude and origin b. For some it is leaving for college or for a new job c. For others it is the challenges to their worldview they obtain in higher education d. For some it is illness, their own or that of someone they love e. For others it is a tragic death of someone they love f. Some experience it in the form of a mid-life crisis g. Many endure many such crisis moments 4. It is in these moments of difficulty when we must wrestle with God, to grapple with our confidence in God as our Creator, showing covenant loyalty, loving, gracious, merciful, and kind 5. God can and will see us through this contest; if we come out on the other side in faith, we might well ascertain that beforehand we had put our trust in the God of our fathers, but now we have our own faith in God, and have made God our own! C. God has so arranged the world that at some point there will be questions for all our certainties, challenges to all our assumptions, and experiences which will humbleus and give reason for fear, apprehension, and anxiety; these moments do not make us bad people, nor do doubts or difficulties at this time make us awful D. Instead, it is through this striving, struggling, and wrestling with God, His creation, and our standing in it that we grow in faith and character and can be turned into a people for His own possession, refined as through fire, able to obtain the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob E. May we prepare for the times we are called upon to wrestle with God, make the faith our own, and endure to the end so as to obtain the resurrection of life! F. Invitation Scripture, Meditation, and Application 1: And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day (Genesis 32:24). Jacob was attempting to obey God’s message to him. He had been preserved from his uncle Laban. He would soon meet his brother Esau who had wanted to kill him years before. It was a night of apprehension and fear, and yet at this point a man comes and wrestles with Jacob. Sometimes in the midst of trial we must wrestle with our ideas, anxieties, and fears. May we strive to glorify the Lord Jesus in all things! 2: And he said, “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed” (Genesis 32:28). Jacob proved successful in his contest with the man; they wrestled until the break of day. The man blessed Jacob and changed his name to Israel, “wrestles with God.” Jacob had striven with men and with God and had endured. We all will have our moments when we must wrestle with God. God prepares these contests so as to strengthen our faith so we can endure. May we grapple with difficulties in life and faith and prevail in the Lord Jesus! 3: And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for, said he, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (Genesis 32:30). Jacob recognized that the man with whom he wrestled was not some ordinary human. He had seen God face to face, and survived. He had all the more reason to trust in God, for if God wrestled with him and let him live, surely He would not allow Esau to overcome him. God disciplines and wrestles with us for our strengthening and good, not our destruction. May we trust in God and obtain the victory! 4: And [Jacob] erected [at Shechem] an altar, and called it El-Elohe-Israel (Genesis 33:20). During his time in Aram-naharaim Jacob spoke of God as the God of his fathers. After wrestling with God Jacob spoke of God as the God of Israel, his God. At some point everyone must grapple and wrestle with the information handed down to them; they must make their belief their own. We do well to wrestle with the faith so as to make it our own so we can endure and obtain the victory in Jesus!