“Genesis 32:22-32”

Tuesday, February 25, 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---

“Then he said, 'Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” (verse 26) Before confronting his brother who was advancing toward him in company with an army, Jacob wrestled with an angel of the Lord from some point in the wee hours of the morning “until daybreak” (verse 24). It appears that the two contestants had grappled to a draw by the time the sun had begun to arise. The angel tried to escape before the full light of the new day, but Jacob desperately clung to him and he couldn't shake him off for anything. Much speculation has been made as to the reasons why the angel desired to depart before dawn, and here are three of the more believable ones: 1) Esau was quickly approaching and Jacob needed to make that his focus. 2) The angel did not want there to be any spectators to witness the wrestling match. 3) The angel did not want Jacob to clearly see his face or physical form.

“But he said, 'I will not let you go unless you bless me.'” (verse 26) Jacob hung on for dear life because he knew he needed God’s blessing more than ever. He had been struggling all his life—against his father, against his brother, against his father-in-law—but the struggle had always really been against the Lord. He was just too tired to struggle any longer, so he prevailed by surrendering and pleading for a blessing that only God could give and give willingly. This was the struggle that really served as a spiritual awakening for the patriarch. He was defeated and powerless to go on fighting, so he just clung to God and would not let go. If he had ever been convinced that he could snatch God's blessing away from Him, he realized now through his humbled, broken will that he must accept it as a gift of God's grace. “Jacob's sense of his total debility and utter defeat is now the secret of his power with his friendly vanquisher. He can overthrow all the prowess of the self-reliant, but he cannot resist the earnest entreaty of the helpless.” (Barnes' Notes on the Bible)

“He said, 'Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” (verse 28) “It is the bestowal of the new name that constitutes the essence of the blessing and the climax of the entire episode. Jacob had feared for his posterity; now is tacitly assured that he will become the patriarch of a nation named Israel.” (Nahum Sarna) “Israel. That is, He who striveth with God, or, God striveth. The name is clearly a title of victory, from a root meaning 'to persevere.' The meaning seems here to be applied to Jacob as 'the perseverer with God.'” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) “Israel.—That is, a prince of God, or, one powerful with God... a change has now come over Jacob’s character, and he is henceforth no longer the crafty schemer who was ever plotting for his own advantage, but one humble and penitent, who can trust himself and all he has in God’s hands.” (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers) The heel-catcher became the Prince of God.

“Then Jacob asked him and said, 'Please tell me your name.' But he said, 'Why is it that you ask my name?'” (verse 29) After Jacob's vanquisher had bestowed a new, meaningful name upon him, Israel then had the temerity to ask his otherworldly “opponent” what his name was. The angel's response seems to imply that his name was of no consequence to anything. What mattered was that Israel live up to his name and honor the perfect name of the Lord God of heaven who had delivered him out of all his troubles. “So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, 'I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.'” (verse 30) “Peniel” literally means the “face of God. Jacob was facing the most serious threat of his life and to the future of all God's plans through him and his seed. Like Hagar who had seen the angel of the Lord in the wilderness on the way to Shur, when she said, “'You are a God who sees'; for she said, 'Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?'” (Genesis 16:13). No one can look upon the full glory of the Lord and survive the ordeal (Exodus 19:21; 24:11; 33:20; Deuteronomy 5:24). This statement may imply that he actually did see the angel's face clearly in the light of the dawning sun, and equated it with the face of the Lord.

“Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh.” (verse 31) It has been argued that this fight was merely a metaphorical battle fought in Jacob's mind, or merely a vision or dream emblematic of his struggles against the Lord to do His will. But this was obviously real hand-to-hand combat because Jacob walked away with a limp that he kept for the remainder of his life. If this was merely some sort of reverie, what a dream it truly was! “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.” (verse 32) “The Compiler adds this note, which explains the Israelite custom of abstaining from eating the muscle in an animal, corresponding to the muscle, or sinew, in the thigh of Jacob that was touched by God: it was regarded as sacred... No mention of this practice of ritual abstinence occurs in the Levitical law; but it is referred to in the Talmud...” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)

Please read Genesis 33:1-7 for tomorrow.

Have a great day!

-Louie Taylor

Share