But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
“What is your name?” the man asked.
He replied, “Jacob.” Genesis 32:27 (MSG)

Wrestled and Won – Jacob Series – Part 5

Go to PART 1  |  PART 2  |  PART 3  |  PART 4  |  PART 5  |  PART 6  |  PART 7

Yesterday, we chatted about Jacob's encounter with God in the wilderness: presence changes everything. We’re going to fast-forward through a lot of years: the years where Jacob lived with his Uncle Laban, worked to marry Rachel, only to marry Leah, then worked more years to eventually marry Rachel (yep… bizarre… ha!) His wealth increased, his sneakiness was still in play, and time was flying by. Until one day, God told Jacob to go home. Back to his Father Isaac's, and his Grandfather Abraham's, land. The place where his brother, Esau, lived.

The same brother who he stole from some twenty years earlier. The same brother who vowed to kill him should he ever see him again…

He set off. He traveled and journeyed, he sent messages and gifts ahead to his brother to try and appease his anger. And finally, it came to the night before he faced Esau and discover his fate. He sent his family ahead and camped by himself for the evening. He began to pray.

Genesis 32 tells us that while Jacob was praying, a man came to wrestle with him. Some people believe that the man was an Angel, God, Jesus… who knows. The Bible isn’t specific about it – the translated word here literally means “a man.” He wrestled with that man long into the night until the dawn began to break.

In fact, Jacob had wrestled all his life. With his position as the youngest son; with his identity crisis; with his own deception and will to sin; with the relationship with his brother… perhaps that night he wrestled it all: life, himself, God… He finally got his hands and heart into it.

The story goes:

“When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
“What is your name?” the man asked.
He replied, “Jacob.”” (Genesis 32:25-27)

This echoed a conversation from years earlier when Jacob sought a blessing from his Father that he thought would change his life for the better, but had instead brought him pain and sorrow.

He wanted a new blessing. A reset. He was done with the old. He was ready for the new; for what was always his.

And this time, when asked his name, he didn’t pretend to be someone else, he didn’t hide his identity away, or cover up who he really was; he spoke the truth: Jacob.

He had finally come to accept himself and what he had done. He wrestled it all to the ground and was ready to stand in his own name, taking full responsibility for his life and living.

At that moment, Jacob received HIS blessing. Not someone else’s, not a contrived or stolen blessing. His. The one he had wrestled for and won.

The funny thing is that the moment Jacob had finally overcome his identity crises, the man he had wrestled with changed his name.

“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” Genesis 32:28

The name Israel DOES mean “You have struggled with the divine and succeeded.” A divine struggle.

Hang on… fought with God? And won? Did he beat God in a wrestling match? Is that possible?

Perhaps the struggle is part of the story. Besides, can you really ever fail if you’re struggling with the Divine?

Have you been too scared to wrestle with God? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Go to Part 6 – With God »

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