Wrestling The Angel

“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, Isaac and to himself. This journey home would Jacob 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 had anticipated a negative encounter with his elder brother Esau who was somewhere ahead beyond the Jordan. Jacob believed that Esau was desiring vengeance for Jacob having taken Esau’s birth right and blessings through deception.

Jacob, in his anticipation of a negative reception by Esau, divided his family and possessions and sent them ahead while he remained 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 historically was a dark, forlorn , desolate and strange place, yet, it was here at the Jabbok Ford that Jacob’s life would be forever transformed.

Validation

All Jacob’s of life he had sought validation from others, from Isaac, Rebeca, 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 it but never finding it. Jacob’s need for validation was never met, he always sought 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 one us, and engaged Jacob in an all night wrestling match.

“After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.” Gen:32:22-24a

Wrestling the Angel

 Whatever issues and short comings Jacob may have had he showed a measure of tenacity in this 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 just before sunrise “the man” demanded to be turned lose . But Jacob refused until he was blessed. “The man”  then asked Jacob for 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.

 Now , Jacob is honest about who he is, not just his name, but who he is, that of being a deceiver . During this all night wrestling match Jacob was brought to face the truth about himself. His very name Jacob means “tripper”, “deceiver” “one who grabs at the heel”, 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 night struggle with God in that dark and strange place with him for the remainder of his days as a painful reminder of his wrestling match with God. As well, 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 which our God has promised us. And on that journey we may find ourselves alone in dark strange and forlorn places.

In these dark and strange places, places which 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 of those times.

Like Jacob, we may not at first 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, it is then when we confess the truth about ourselves, which 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 it is 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, we prevailers, 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 in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. 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

But we may walk in victory with a limp, even as Jacob.  God may leave an ever-present reminder in our lives of the night we Wrestled the Angel. Our God may allow that place of greatest strength and leverage to be painful to us, all the rest of our days….That it will remind us of the transformational struggle in that dark and in a strange place where our God met us and we came to see the truth about who we are, and then we saw him face to faced in the clear light of that glorious dawn, walking with a limp; but walking as a victor in Christ having received his blessing.

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

“If It Is Not About Jesus, It Is Not About Anything”

Todd Crouch is Currently the Pastor of the Topinabee Community Church, in Topinabee, MI. He Was the Long Time Host of The Fountain of Life Broadcast, which was aired on RKP Radio in Washington, PA and streamed around the world. He is a Fourth Degree Master Rank Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and is a certified Tae Kwon Do instructor of Moke’s Martial Arts—Asian American Martial Arts Alliance. Todd studied Theology and Pastoral Ministry at Grace Communion Seminary. He is also a student of Church History, the America Civil War and Scottish History. He and his wife love to travel and the beach. They live in the Straits Area of Michigan. View Todd’s complete profile