Through the Bible - Jacob’s All Nighter- Genesis 32:22-32
If you are reading through the Bible with the rest of us, we will have gone from creation to Jacob’s wrestling match with God by the end of the two weeks of readings. The Bible contains many strange accounts; Jacob’s all-night wrestling match with God is one of the top ten on my list. It is a strange account because it seems to come out of nowhere. There are hints and references here and there that Jacob had a strong relationship with God, but it is not at the forefront of most of our readings. It seems odd that near the eve of seeing his brother, from whom he “stole” the blessing, God would appear to wrestle with Jacob. It is doubly odd that God seems to be losing the match and resorts to the use of a bit of supernatural power to win. Even in defeat, Jacob bargains for a blessing. I don’t want to pretend that I have all the answers to this unusual event. I do have two observations and an application to our lives.
The first observation is that God appeared in a wrestling match because Jacob’s life was one big wrestling match. It was prophesied before his birth that he would be the bearer of the blessing, yet he had to game the system and wrestle it out of his father’s hands. It was prophesied that the older brother would serve the younger, yet Jacob had to use trickery and quick thinking to stay one step ahead of the older. His marriage to Rachel seemed like a sure thing, but then his father-in-law/uncle Laban pulled a fast one, and Jacob end found himself a shepherd for twice the agreed-upon time. I could go on, but you get the point. Jacob fought for everything in his life, even a male heir. It had become his habit. His view of life was shaped by conflict. By entering the wrestling match with Jacob, God met him where he felt most comfortable. As Jacob believed he was winning, the Lord showed that he could easily crush Jacob. His relationship with God was not a wrestling match. It was more like a son receiving a blessing from the Father. That’s the second observation. Jacob “stole” the blessing from his father through deceit and trickery. I imagine that in his heart, Jacob felt like the blessing didn’t belong to him. He felt unworthy of the blessing because his father really didn’t intend for him to have the blessing. It was given to him under the name of Esau. In this encounter, God, his heavenly Father, gives him the blessing. At last, it becomes Jacob, not because he stole it, but because God determined he was worthy to carry the blessing. Notice that God gave Jacob the blessing even though Jacob was defeated in the wrestling match.
The application of the encounter is as pure as it is simple: God is with us. He comes to us when we need Him most. He comes in the familiar and ordinary, the bread, the wine, the water, and the Word. He comes to give us a blessing. Peter stated, “3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises,” 2 Peter 1:3-4a. |
Through The Bible
THE MARRIED PEOPLE DATE NIGHT KIT
Comedy Night
