God wants to wrestle with you.
photo credit: https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-stories/jacob-wrestles-with-god-bible-story.html
[Gen 32:22-31 NASB95] 22 Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and 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 he sent across whatever he had. 24 Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he 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 He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, for [he said,] “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.” 31 Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh.
What a bizarre story!
Who was Jacob wrestling with that night? The interpretation that “Jacob wrestled with God” (glossed in the name Isra-‘el) is common in Protestant theology, endorsed by both Martin Luther and John Calvin (although Calvin believed the event was “only a vision”), as well as later writers such as Joseph Barker (1854) or Peter L. Berger (2014). Other commentaries treat the expression of Jacob’s having seen “God face to face” as referencing the Angel of the Lord as the “Face of God.”
The proximity of the terms “man” and “God” in the text in some Christian commentaries has also been taken as suggestive of a Christophany. J. Douglas MacMillan (1991) suggests that the angel Jacob wrestles with is a “pre-incarnation appearance of Christ in the form of a man.”
According to one Christian commentary of the Bible incident described, “Jacob said, ‘I saw God face to face.’ Jacob’s remark does not necessarily mean that the ‘man’ with whom he wrestled is God. Rather, as with other, similar statements, when one saw the ‘angel of the Lord,’ it was appropriate to claim to have seen the face of God.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_wrestling_with_the_angel)
More than a one-night event
This wrestling match has effects that are still happening. When Jacob’s name got changed to Israel, everything else changed. He was going to be the father of the twelve tribes. Out of the twelve tribes, Jesus was going to come. This wrestling match has eternal consequences.
Your wrestling match has eternal consequences.
I believe the wrestling match of Jacob and the Angel has some parallels with our transformation as Christians. Like Jacob, we have to learn to separate ourselves from things that could distract us. We learn how to be alone with God. We develop a faith that will not let go even though we don’t fully understand everything that is going on in our lives. God changes our name (identity and purpose.) We will seek to know Him and continue to strive to know Him. Our encounters with God will change how we “walk” and will affect others.
Wrestle Sermon Series
This Sunday, we will continue the sermon series “Wrestle.” I believe it will encourage and inform you as we learn how to wrestle with God. This Sunday, we will unpack the significance of Jacob not letting go even though he was told to let go and was injured. It is a powerful message.
TWO ways to enjoy the services:
1. In-person. Recommended!
2. Join us online three ways via Facebook Live (Evangel North Church), YouTube Live (John Carmichael Ministries), or http://evangelnorth.net/live-on-demand/. |
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