In this post, I want to dive into a biblical story that has perplexed me for years. In Genesis 32, a stranger appears one night with Jacob, and the two spend all night wrestling. Jacob was convinced the stranger was God, and the text itself may indicate it was God who wrestled with Jacob. If this is correct, then there are a lot of things about this story that are really hard to understand. Let’s take a moment to read the account together.
“And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.
When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.
Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
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.
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” (Genesis 32:24-30 ESV).
Do you see what I mean? If the stranger who wrestled with Jacob was God, then it leads to many questions that are difficult to answer, the least of which is, “How can God lose a wrestling match to a man?”
For years, I have read this passage in isolation, which is why I think I have had trouble making sense of this story. But over the past few years, I have read the Bible, cover-to-cover, three times each year. This has allowed me to see the context of the biblical stories in a way I have never been able to see them before, and it has allowed me to make connections by reading the whole narrative in one sitting.
When I looked within the whole narrative of Jacob’s life, I have seen insights that, quite frankly, have astounded me in their simplicity and profound lessons about God. As we get to the wrestling with God narrative, there are three things about this event that puzzled me. The first is one I already mentioned. If the stranger was God, then why wasn’t He strong enough to beat a mere man?
The second thing that puzzled me was why the stranger asked Jacob his name. After all, wouldn’t an all-knowing God already know who Jacob was? And the third thing that puzzled me about this story was why the stranger had to touch Jacob’s hip and give him a life-long limp? Was this the only way God could secure a victory over Jacob?
So, how did Jacob get here? In chapter 32, he is on his way from exile back into the promised land. For two decades, Jacob had lived away from the land of promise because his twin brother, Esau, had wanted to kill him. You remember the story, right? Esau, the oldest son and the favorite of their father, Isaac, was in line to receive the birthright and the double portion of blessing. But Jacob deceived his father and tricked Isaac into giving him his brother’s blessings.
In fear for his life, Jacob fled from Esau’s wrath. At the same time, he was again blessed by his father and instructed to find a wife from Rebekah’s family. But this tension between him and his brother was not an isolated event. Just as Jacob tried to gain his blessings on his own terms, he became a man who struggled and wrestled his whole life to get what he wanted. Later, he wrestled with Laban over the marriage of his daughters, and then over the payment of flocks.
Even from the beginning, when Jacob and Esau were in Rebekah’s womb, Moses tells us,
“The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.
And the LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:22-23 ESV).
Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with others. This was one of the reasons he was named Jacob. His name means deceiver or supplanter, and the root of his name can mean to deceive, cheat, or trick. His name was a reflection of who he was. Listen to Esau’s rage as he ties his brother’s name to his character when Jacob tricked his father out of Esau’s blessing:
“Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” (Genesis 27:36 ESV).
I say all this so we understand the narrative of Jacob’s life that leads to him wrestling with God in Chapter 32. Jacob was a man who deceived and tricked others to get what he wanted. His life was a struggle, even when he was in the right, as he was in his relationship with Laban.
On his way out of the promised land into exile with Rebekah’s family, the sun sets and as he sleeps, Jacob dreams about a ladder between heaven and earth with angels going up and down upon the ladder. At the top of the ladder, he saw God. Perhaps, on his way back into the promised land, he recognized the stranger as the one in his dream some twenty years earlier.
That night, Jacob was terrified. He was alone, having split his possessions and family into two camps. Esau was on his way to meet him, along with 400 men. As far as he knew, Esau was on his way to finish what he had vowed to do some twenty years ago. With two camps, one had a chance of escaping if the wrath of Esau descended upon him in revenge.
When the stranger appeared, the Bible tells us they wrestled all night. In Jacob’s mind, that stranger was God, and for the second time in his life, Jacob was dead-set on receiving the blessing he wanted. So the two men wrestled and Jacob refused to let the man go without a blessing.
It finally took the stranger dislocating Jacob’s hip to end the match. This would leave Jacob with a life-long limp. Jacob wrestled his whole life, literally and figuratively, and the stranger exhibited supernatural power to strike Jacob’s center of strength with a mere touch. The man Jacob was wrestling with was no mere man. And even in his great pain, having lost the ability to act in his own strength, Jacob still clung tightly to the one he needed, the only one who could give him a blessing on perhaps the eve of his destruction as Esau continued to march forward.
Then the stranger asks a strange question. “What is your name?”
Why? What was the purpose of this question? Well, if we read the narrative of Jacob’s story in a single sitting, this question would have sounded very familiar to us, wouldn’t it? When was the last time we heard someone ask Jacob his name?
We know the answer. When his blind father suspected that he was not Esau, this is what Jacob did:
“So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” (Genesis 27:18 ESV).
Twenty years ago, Jacob lied about who he was. He said what he wanted to say to ensure he got what he was after. He took his brother’s blessing by telling Isaac he was Esau.
Now, this stranger was asking him the same question. “Who are you? What is your name?” Jacob had a decision to make. He could do what he had always done and lied to receive this blessing, or he could fess up and admit who he was; who he had always been… a deceiver, a trickster, whoever he had to be to get what he wanted to get.
But in a moment of humility and honesty, he admits the truth. “I am Jacob.” In what could be an act of confession, he stops trying to get things on his own terms and admits who he is; the deceiver, the trickster. It is in this moment of confession that the stranger takes away Jacob’s old name that had been such a negative part of his life and gives him a new name:
“Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” (Genesis 32:28 ESV).
In verse 29, God gave Israel the blessing he desperately sought. Only, this time, he didn’t obtain it on his terms, but on God’s terms. And with the blessing came a new name. As he limps toward the border of the promised land, listen to what the Spirit preserves for us:
“The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.” (Genesis 32:31 ESV).
The last time Jacob’s narrative mentions the sun, it is setting some twenty years ago as he flees the promised land. In some sense, it remained set on his life as he wandered in the foreign land that was not his home. Now, the sun was rising upon Israel as God had taken away the baggage that his old name carried.
I no longer struggle with the notion that a man wrestled with God and prevailed; not when I understand the narrative of Jacob’s life, how he struggled, and leaned on his own strength to get what he wanted. It took that last struggle, not with man, but with God, to finally give up his way and to trust in God.
Is that much different from the struggles we face with God? Don’t we spend a lot of time wrestling with God, asking for our blessing? Don’t we struggle with God trying to get blessings from Him on our own terms? Yet, God continues to wrestle with us, touching our hip until we learn that we cannot walk His path on our own terms. We must fully yield to Him and realize the strength is in God, and not in us.
When we struggle with God, that question will inevitably come to us as well. “Who are you? What is your name?”
When that question comes to us, we have the same choice Jacob had. Will we answer as the one who will do things on our terms, or will we answer in humility, “I am the sinner. I am the one who doesn’t know my coming in or going out. I am the one who desperately needs you, God.” Will we confess who we are or will we still claim to be someone else, someone who can manage without God?
If we can do what Israel did in the moment he wrestled with God, then we, too, can find ourselves on the border of the promised land, ready to cross over in God’s strength, in God’s grace. As we do, God will wipe away our reproach and give us a new name. We will be called blessed, faithful, children of God. We will no longer be known by the sin that had us wandering in the wilderness away from His presence.
I love the story of Jacob wrestling with God, not because God is not strong enough to win a match against a man, but because it shows God’s tremendous love and patience as He does what He has to do, for as long as He has to do it, until we learn to live in His strength and understand that we cannot continue to live in ours.
Knowing the whole narrative of Jacob helps us to see these wonderful lessons, and more importantly, it helps us see how God still deals with us today in total love and patience, ready to give us a new name when we are ready to come home.
Isn’t it nice when nations think we live on the edge of everything falling apart if elections don’t go a certain way,
We live in a kingdom where
Our King never changes,
Our Kingdom will never fail,
Our citizenship is eternal,
Our borders are always open,
And no earthly nation can stand against our King.
“he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16 ESV).
Today, in our small group classes at church, our three groups are engaging in “Following In The Footsteps Of Jesus: Prayer and Fasting.”
In these small group settings, we discuss the week’s theme and then identify roadblocks we may have as we try to incorporate these teachings into our lives and discuss tactics on how to manage those roadblocks to set ourselves up for success.
In this week’s lesson on Prayer and Fasting, here are some of my notes on how to apply the lessons of Jesus:
Steps for Applying Jesus’ Example of Prayer and Fasting
Set Regular, Quiet Times for Reflection: Like Jesus withdrawing to pray alone, incorporate times of solitude for prayer and fasting (Matthew 26:36-38, Luke 5:16). Try early mornings or late evenings, times that allow uninterrupted communion with God.
Balance Prayer and Fasting as Paired Disciplines: As Jesus showed in the intensity of His ministry, fasting can enhance focus and dependence on God, particularly for spiritual breakthrough (Matthew 17:21, Mark 9:29). Approach fasting with prayerful preparation and, if possible, seek spiritual support or accountability.
Develop a Responsive, Real-Time Prayer Life: Jesus prayed with immediacy in various situations—before making decisions, during ministry, and even in Gethsemane. Incorporate short, spontaneous prayers throughout the day in response to situations and needs, cultivating an ongoing dialogue with God.
By working on these areas and addressing these challenges with practical steps, you can deepen your practice of prayer and fasting in alignment with Jesus’ teachings and example.
If you want to follow along with my notes on this class, I have set up a Google Drive folder that contains notes on each lesson I am studying. These are not created for public consumption, so forgive the duplication and raw presentation of the material.
Feel free to use this resource however you deem fit.
https://tinyurl.com/FootstepsClass
“saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Luke 9:22 ESV).
How many times did Jesus plainly tell his apostles that He had to suffer and die, then be raised? Yet, when the events finally happened, they were shocked and caught off guard.
Why?
Perhaps it’s the same reason we can read the Word and not hear what it is saying to us because our presuppositions and preconceived ideas are so ingrained in us.
The apostles knew Jesus would be the military leader Who would cast off the Roman rule and lead Israel to glory. They could not consider any other reality for the promised Messiah. This is why they could not plainly hear what Jesus was telling them.
What preconceived notions are so ingrained within us that they are keeping us from hearing the plain teachings of Jesus in the Gospels and His New Testament?
Well, the stent is out and just like that, the inconveniences created by having the stent are gone. We live in an amazing time of modern medicine.
But more than the time in which we live, I am more thankful to all of you for your prayers and well-wishes.
Tomorrow, I am posting another excerpt from my book, “The Sovereignty of God,” answering this question:
Can God Still Be Sovereign And Not Always Get What He Wants?
This will be my “Tuesdays With Tony” post. Now that my medical issues should be behind me, I look forward to getting back into my regular writing routine.
Thank you all for your grace and kindness during this time.