Genesis 32:22-32
Jacob Wrestles With God
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 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. 26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak."
But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
27 The man asked him, "What is your name?"
"Jacob," he answered.
28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
29 Jacob said, "Please tell me your name."
But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon.
Jacob is going to be meeting with his older twin brother, Esau...Jacob had not seen his brother in years...Jacob had taken his twin brother Esau's birthright...The birthright gave the oldest son a special share of the family inheritance and leadership of the family, after their father had died...Jacob had also taken Esau's blessing as his elderly father lay frailly in bed, years earlier...After Jacob had gotten his father's blessing, he left quickly with the help of his mom, Rebekah...
Jacob would have a lot on his mind, before seeing his brother, years later...Esau could have been very mad...So the night before they would meet would have provided some anxiety and apprehension...Jacob would have probably prayed...Jacob was left alone, yet he will wrestle with a man all night...How could he be alone, and be wrestling with someone?...
He probably remember the time when he was ask by his dad, who is it?... Jacob answered, I am Esau, your first born...And Jacob got Esau's blessing...While wrestling now God does ask, "What is your name?"...This time Jacob answers correctly...
Can praying be compared to wrestling???...Wrestling all night would have been long, hard, and exhausting...You must be mentally persistent...But Jacob persevered, like one should in prayer...He wanted a blessing from the man or angel, he was wresting... Jacob got the blessing, but the angel touched his hip and Jacob would always, now have a wrenched hip...
The angel changed Jacob's name to Israel...Israel means "he struggles with God"...Jacob had struggled with man and God and had overcome...His limp was worth the blessing he would receive...
The place where the two wrestled, Jacob would call Peniel, which means face of God...Does this mean when we feel alone, or at our loneliest times, God seems closer?...
When Jacob met Esau, he gives Esau many gifts...Maybe these gifts were actually his (Esau's)...Because if he had gotten the blessing that was rightfully his, maybe these gifts of livestock would have been a gift of God to him...We will not know...But maybe this is what Jacob was thinking, when he gave these gifts to his brother...
Jacob wanted to meet with Esau again...Jacob prayed to our LORD that He would keep him safe from Esau...That morning Esau and Jacob met...Esau brought four hundred men...The two brothers hugged...They cried... Esau accepted the gifts, and the brothers departed...God had kept him safe from his brother...
When you pray, be mentally persistent...Put everything into your prayers...When you tire keep praying...
Jacob's prayers were answered...