The Man Who Wrestled With God

That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 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. 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.” (Genesis 32:22-26)

We’ve all met someone whom you just can’t seem to trust. This guy was one of them. No matter how many chances you gave him, it was almost guaranteed he would disappoint you. Now the first time you saw him you might be impressed. He was rugged and handsome and smart. And he was tender and sensitive with women, and even a good cook. (He made a red stew that was to die for!) He was a very wealthy man. It seemed as if everything he touched prospered and grew supernaturally. His smile could melt icebergs, and it recurrently flickered and detonated across his well-formed face. His eyes conveyed both warmth and sincerity, and he made you think he’d do anything in the world for you. But he wouldn’t. It was all façade - all an act. Beneath the tanned skin, and the tender smile lurked the heart of a professional con-artist. The polished exterior hid a heart that had more twists and turns than a corkscrew. He dreamed of ways of deceiving his own father and stealing from his twin brother. His very name, Jacob, meant “Deception.” You just couldn’t trust him. That is, until the Lord got hold of him. And the Lord got hold of him quite literally. He leaped on him physically, yanked him to the ground, and wrestled with him throughout the night.

In the passage above Jacob was returning to Palestine with his family and flocks. He was nervous because he had previously deceived and betrayed his twin brother Esau. Esau had tried to kill him and Jacob had run for his life. Many years have now passed and Jacob hoped he could come back to the land of his youth. But there was a lingering problem; Jacob didn’t know if Esau had forgiven him. He suspected Esau’s bitterness may have festered over the years and he might be leading his family into a massacre. But with every bridge burned behind him he had no choice but to hope for the best and move forward. Out of sheer necessity, Jacob who had never been a religious man, decided he had better pray about things. Some people only pray when they are in trouble, and that seems to have been Jacob’s pattern. As he prays during the night there comes one of the most picturesque stories in the entire Bible as God wrestles him to the ground.

This bizarre incident almost seems like it doesn’t belong in the Bible. Many scholars believe that this wrestler was the Lord Jesus Christ himself in a unique pre-Bethlehem, preincarnate appearance. Have you ever in your wildest imaginations pictured Jesus Christ leaping out of the darkness, jerking a man to the ground, then rolling around all night long in a knock-down, drag-out, free-for-all, exchanging head locks and arm twists and take downs? Actually, I think this is something the Lord Jesus does quite frequently. I’ve been wrestled to the ground a few times – held in a headlock - pinned to the ground – resisting God’s will but not willing to let go of Him. Maybe you can identify with Jacob’s wrestling match in the way God has worked in your life?

Three Lessons We Can Learn From the Man Who Wrestled with God:

1. Jacob Wrestled With God - And Lost
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. At first the two combatants seem fairly evenly matched. My guess is the Lord allowed it to appear an even match to wear Jacob down. It says that the two men wrestled until daybreak, and the heavenly wrestler was not able to prevail - until he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip and put his hip out of joint. He immobilized him. He touched him with pain. He conquered him. You may be struggling with God, but you can’t win. You might be saying, “I’ll go to church and I’ll try to live a good life, but I’m not going to get very serious about this Christianity thing. I have an agenda for my life, I have my dreams and goals and habits. And I’m not going to turn them over to Christ. I’m going to live the way I want to live.” You’re still struggling with God. You’re wrestling with the Almighty. And you can’t win. Sometimes the Lord has to hurt us to help us.

2. Jacob Clung To God - And Won
Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” In his pain and defeat and perplexity, he clung to God and won. He gets to the point where he abandons resistance. He could no longer wrestle. His fight was gone because the pain was shooting through him like liquid fire. He could only cling to the one who had caused his pain. He could only cling to the one who had conquered him, and beg for a blessing. When the Lord finally subdues our stubborn self-centered, willful pride and humbles us, we begin to recognize him as he is, and it makes us want to cling to him for blessing.

3. Jacob Limped From God -And Served
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 was finally a different man. He was limping, but he had never walked taller. He was in pain, but he had never been happier. His stubborn, self-destructive pride had been broken, and he was now free to serve God in true humility. This was the turning point of his life. Leaving his scheming ways behind, he becomes a man who walked in integrity before God. Through him God built a nation of people who forever altered the history of the world.

Many people still live as Jacob – living behind a facade, calculating every move to accomplish their own agendas -daily wrestling with God over who is going to control their life. The wise person recognizes it’s a losing battle. You don’t have to get yourself into a headlock in order to receive a blessing from God. Surrender your will to the Lord and place your trust in his love for you. Don’t be a person who insists on fighting a battle that can’t be won.

Live the Victorious Life,
PT