“Genesis 32:22-32”

Monday, February 24, 2020

“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. He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had. Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 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. Then he said, 'Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.' But he said, 'I will not let you go unless you bless me.' So he said to him, 'What is your name?' And he said, 'Jacob.' He said, 'Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.' 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. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, 'I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.' Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.”

---End of Scripture verses---

“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.” (verse 22) Jacob was obviously in a state of restless agitation, so he arose “that same night” and transported his whole family and “whatever he had,” that is, all his belongings, to the other side of the river. “Only the principal actors in the evolution of the nation are specified because Jacob is about become Israel, the personification of the tribal confederation. That is why Dinah and the rest of the household are not mentioned.” (Nahum Sarna) “Ford Jabbok—now the Zerka—a stream that rises among the mountains of Gilead, and running from east to west, enters the Jordan, about forty miles south of the Sea of Tiberias. At the ford it is ten yards wide. It is sometimes forded with difficulty; but in summer it is very shallow.” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary) “His tactic, apparently, is to reduce the interval between Esau's encountering the gifts and his own arrival heralded by the messengers, each in turn... He does not want to convey the impression that he is trying to avoid or delay a face-to-face meeting.” (Nahum Sarna)

“Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.” (verse 24) There has been much speculation made as to the nature of this “man” that Jacob wrestled with, and the nature of the confrontation and reason it was necessary. Hosea 12:3-4 reveals a great deal about the character of this mysterious being: “In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his maturity he contended with God. Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept and sought His favor.” A popular belief is that this “man” was actually the preincarnate Christ, but it seems highly unlikely to me. While Hosea seemed to call this individual “God,” he clearly referred to him as an “angel,” and the author in Hebrews chapter one exerts great efforts to refute the idea that Jesus was an angel. The purpose of Jacob's third angelic visitation was the Lord's further and ultimate attempt to encourage him during some of the darkest and most uncertain hours of his life. The Lord had sent a host angels to encourage Jacob at Mahanaim as he traveled back to the place of his birth (verse 1-2). Now, frightened out mind at the prospect of confronting his estranged brother and the enormous military outfit that accompanied him, God comes to him by means of an angel in human form to firmly establish Jacob’s faith at this pivotal, crossroads moment in his life.

“Here we have the record of one of the most important events in the history of human redemption. Jacob, the head of the Messianic line through whom the CHRIST would come was facing the most serious threat of his whole life. 'If Esau had been victorious here, all of God's plans and promises would have been defeated, and the world would never have had a Savior.' It was this crisis nature of the situation that required and justified God's personal intervention to establish and confirm Jacob's faith.” (James Burton Coffman) “The word for 'wrestled,' yêâbêk, is very possibly intended to be a play on the name of the river Jabbok as if it meant 'twisting.' In Genesis 32:28, and in Hosea 12:4, a different word, 'to strive,' is used for the 'wrestling' of Jacob. It is this scene of 'wrestling' which has become, in the language of spiritual experience, the classical symbol for 'agonizing” in prayer.'” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)

“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.” (verse 25) Obviously this exceptionally stronger supernatural being could easily have overpowered and defeated Jacob, so his intention was not to defeat him, but to demonstrate his powerlessness to extract a blessing through superior physical or mental prowess. Jacob had bought his brother's birthright for a bowl of broth, had stolen his paternal blessing through trickery and deceit, but this blessing he wrestled God for must be one willingly bestowed upon him. The word for “touched” is the same as that used for God's special touch in affecting a thing in a purposeful way. In Amos 9:5 we read, “The Lord God of hosts, the One who touches the land so that it melts, and all those who dwell in it mourn, and all of it rises up like the Nile and subsides like the Nile of Egypt.” 1 Samuel 10:26 says as well that, “Saul also went to his house at Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him.” The Lord's angel “touched” Jacob's thigh for the purpose of melting his heart in such a way that would spiritually empower him and instill within him a higher and more noble purpose for living.

Let's stay with these verses again for tomorrow.

Please reread Genesis 32:22-32.

Have a blessed day!

-Louie Taylor

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