...no more wrestling with God...

Genesis 32 

“1 Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him; 2 and when Jacob saw them he said, ‘This is God’s camp!’ So he called that place Mahanaim.

Jacob Sends Presents to Appease Esau

3 Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, 4 instructing them, ‘Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have lived with Laban as an alien, and stayed until now; 5 and I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves; and I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.”’

6 The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, ‘We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.’ 7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies, 8 thinking, ‘If Esau comes to one company and destroys it, then the company that is left will escape.’

9 And Jacob said, ‘O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, “Return to your country and to your kindred, and I will do you good”, 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan; and now I have become two companies. 11 Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him; he may come and kill us all, the mothers with the children. 12 Yet you have said, “I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because of their number.”’

13 So he spent that night there, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 These he delivered into the hand of his servants, each drove by itself, and said to his servants, ‘Pass on ahead of me, and put a space between drove and drove.’ 17 He instructed the foremost, ‘When Esau my brother meets you, and asks you, “To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?” 18 then you shall say, “They belong to your servant Jacob; they are a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover he is behind us.”’ 19 He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, ‘You shall say the same thing to Esau when you meet him, 20 and you shall say, “Moreover your servant Jacob is behind us.”’ For he thought, ‘I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterwards I shall see his face; perhaps he will accept me.’ 21 So the present passed on ahead of him; and he himself spent that night in the camp.

Jacob Wrestles at Peniel

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 said, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, 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, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’ 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the hip socket, because he struck Jacob on the hip socket at the thigh muscle.

Genesis 33

1 Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. 2 He put the maids with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. 3 He himself went on ahead of them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near his brother.

4 But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 5 When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he said, ‘Who are these with you?’ Jacob said, ‘The children whom God has graciously given your servant.’ 6 Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed down; 7 Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down; and finally Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. 8 Esau said, ‘What do you mean by all this company that I met?’ Jacob answered, ‘To find favor with my lord.’ 9 But Esau said, ‘I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.’ 10 Jacob said, ‘No, please; if I find favor with you, then accept my present from my hand; for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God—since you have received me with such favor. 11 Please accept my gift that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have everything I want.’ So he urged him, and he took it.

12 Then Esau said, ‘Let us journey on our way, and I will go alongside you.’ 13 But Jacob said to him, ‘My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds, which are nursing, are a care to me; and if they are overdriven for one day, all the flocks will die. 14 Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.’

15 So Esau said, ‘Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.’ But he said, ‘Why should my lord be so kind to me?’ 16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. 17 But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house, and made booths for his cattle; therefore the place is called Succoth.

Jacob Reaches Shechem

18 Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram; and he camped before the city. 19 And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for one hundred pieces of money the plot of land on which he had pitched his tent. 20 There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel” 

Genesis 32 and 33.

Dear friends, this is one of he most beloved passages in the whole Bible.

When Jacob is returning to his brother Esau he wrestles with God and dislocates his hip, causing him to limp. But in this difficult journey with herds of animals and women giving birth, we finally find Jacob resorting to prayer. The only prayer previously recorded from Jacob was when he made his vow in 28:20–22. Here he begins by referring to his roots. Yahweh is the God who had directed and provided for Abraham and Isaac, yet Jacob does not yet call him “Yahweh, my God.”

It is a beautiful prayer that we can change a bit to fit our own needs: 

O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord I am not worthy of the least of all Your steadfast love and all Your faithfulness that you have shown to me. Deliver me, please, from the hand of evil, from the hands of my sin, for I am afraid of my unfaithfulness. I do not wish to die as an unfaithful follower of You, dear Lord. Surely You will count me among those who will live with You for eternity in service of You (See 32:9-12).

Then Jacob wrestles with an angel of God. The ease with which the inflicts physical damage on Jacob (32:25) indicates that any inability of the angel must be in the spiritual arena, not the physical one. If the wrestler is unable to overcome Jacob spiritually, it is because Jacob is not willing to yield. Only when the angel threatens to go without offering assurances of God’s help does Jacob show his willingness to negotiate in the critical issues.

The turning point in the fight comes when Jacob informs the angel of God that he will not release him unless he receives a blessing. I think this indicates Jacob’s willingness to submit himself to God’s demands on him. Jacob’s persistence is now beginning to work to his benefit. He is ready to do whatever it takes. The blessing of God comes in the form of a name change. This is significant for Jacob since his name has embodied his character throughout the narrative. A name change therefore signifies a character change.

The new name is designed to indicate the conversion of what has been one of Jacob’s traditional strengths. His persistence has brought him success in his dealings with people, and now it is responsible for success in his struggle with God—not because God has surrendered but because Jacob has conceded. As always, with God one has to lose in order to win. And who is it that has defeated Jacob?  The clearest statement comes in the Prophet Hosea 12:4, where the prophet indicates that Jacob struggled with an angel: “Jacob strove with the angel and prevailed, he wept and sought his favor; he met him at Bethel, and there he spoke with him.”

When the dreaded meeting finally takes place, Jacob is as humble and submissive as possible. For his part, Esau is sentimental and interested in catching up on family news. We are left with no explanation for why he chooses to come accompanied by his band of four hundred men. Esau is flattered by Jacob’s generous gifts and tries to return them, but Jacob will not hear of it.

For all of us, however, this story can speak to us of our misplaced desire to be self-sufficient, “to use God for our own benefit.” But if the wrestling match means anything, it speaks to us of the fact that God can change our character and overcome our hostility. It is time, dear friends, in all of our lives, to give in to the Lord, and follow Him. We cannot spend all our remaining days and hours wrestling with God so that we can keep even some of our sinful habits and ways. We cannot use God for our own benefit. 

Today, then, in prayer, beg the Lord to forgive you, so that you may give into the Lord, and follow Him. Pray that you stop wrestling with the Lord in your life. 

Doesn’t our closing prayer mean something special today, something clearer than ever?

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.