November 26, 2024 • 14 mins
Prepare to uncover the mysteries of one of the most captivating encounters in the Bible—the wrestling match with God in Genesis 32. What if a seemingly physical struggle could teach you great spiritual truths? Join us as we delve into Jacob's dramatic night, where he wrestles with a mysterious figure, identified as the pre-incarnate Son of God. As Jacob stands on the brink of meeting his estranged brother Esau, burdened with fear and uncertainty, we explore this intense confrontation and the transformation it triggers. Through Jacob's struggle, we learn about the mercy of God, the irony in his quest for blessing, and the life-altering moment when he is renamed Israel, marking a pivotal change in his relationship with the LORD.
As the sun rises, Jacob emerges marked by a limp, a physical reminder of both his human vulnerability and the victory He has through God's grace. This episode illuminates the lasting impact of Jacob's encounter at Peniel. Whether you're familiar with Jacob's story or are hearing it for the first time, join us for an exploration that offers timeless lessons about faith, resilience, and the influence of divine encounters on our journey.
Email: nathan@nathandietsche.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Grace and peace to you.
Thank you again for joining mefor the Mysteries of God's Word.
Today we are at the end ofGenesis, chapter 32, where Jacob
wrestles with God.
Last week we read about Jacobmeeting up with a camp of angels
(00:22):
, and that was just prior toJacob learning that his brother
Esau was coming with 400 men.
Jacob then sent servants withdroves of animals as gifts to
his brother Esau, in front ofhim the night before.
And that night is where we pickup in the narrative right now,
(00:45):
starting at verse 22.
The same night he arose and tookhis two wives, his two female
servants and his eleven childrenand crossed the ford of the
Jabbok.
He took them and sent themacross the stream and everything
else he had, and sent themacross the stream and everything
else he had.
In the first two verses welearn that Jacob took everything
(01:09):
he had his wives, his children,everything, all of the animals
that were left with him, all ofhis servants, and he crossed the
Jabbok.
Now, the Jabbok River wasactually more of a stream than a
river, and it's east of JordanRiver.
The stream begins in themountains of Gilead, where we
(01:30):
find Jacob, and the streamitself will run and empty into
the Jordan River about 45 milessouth of the Sea of Galilee,
kind of halfway between the Seaof Galilee and the Dead Sea.
Today this river is known asthe Zirka or Blue River.
So the text tells us the samenight, jacob arose and took all
(01:55):
of his possessions.
So again, this is the samenight that Jacob had sent his
servants with those droves ofanimals ahead of him, as a gift
to Esau.
That very same night, jacobtook his entire family,
including his two wives, his twofemale servants, his eleven
children at this time, and hehelped them to cross the Jabbok
(02:18):
ford with everything he had.
Just a note on what a ford isif you're not familiar with it,
river fords provide a placewhere people can cross a stream
or a river easily.
It's a low water crossing.
Some fords are naturallyoccurring, while others are
man-made constructions to helpfacilitate crossings.
(02:40):
A ford still has water thatruns over the top of it, but the
water is shallow enough to bewaded through.
Picking up in verse 24, we'regoing to take that verse by
(03:00):
itself it says Jacob was leftalone.
So after Jacob had helped hisfamily and all that he had
across the Jabbok Ford, he wasleft alone on the other side and
it says a man wrestled with him.
So while Jacob was alone,suddenly a man appeared and
(03:21):
engaged in a full contactwrestling match with Jacob.
This is perhaps the most vividand clear picture of how God
took on physical form andinteracted with man during the
times of the patriarchs, both toteach and guide them, both to
(03:45):
teach and guide them.
The name that Jacob gives tothis location where he wrestles
with this man later in our textis Peniel, which means the face
of God.
Furthermore, as we will see,the prophet Hosea declares that
this man was the angel of theLord and identifies him also as
(04:06):
God.
This man that Jacob iswrestling with was certainly an
appearance of the pre-incarnateSon of God, and they wrestled
until the breaking of the day.
This full contact wrestlingmatch lasted until the dawning
of the day, describing anintense, very long battle Verses
(04:32):
25 and 26.
When the man saw that he didnot prevail against Jacob, he
touched his hip socket andJacob's hip was put out of joint
as he wrestled with him.
Then he said Let me go, for theday has broken.
But Jacob said I will not letyou go unless you bless me.
(04:55):
Let's examine these two versesto get a feel for what's going
on during this wrestling match.
It says that this man did notprevail against Jacob.
What an interesting statement.
Now, it's not saying that theangel of the Lord couldn't
overcome Jacob if he didn't wantto, but rather it's saying that
(05:15):
he allowed Jacob to prevail.
This is an incredible displayof God's mercy in the midst of
this very real physical struggle, which is very symbolic of
Jacob's spiritual struggles.
It displays how Jacob has triedmany times to bring about God's
(05:37):
plan and purpose through hisown scheming and his own effort.
But even in the midst ofJacob's foolishness, god has
been with him and God hasblessed him and brought about
his plan, not through Jacob'sdeceptions, but according to
God's own purposes.
And as Jacob is about to facehis brother Esau, the Lord
(06:04):
himself is encouraging Jacobthat, in spite of his own
failings and his own foolishefforts, god is at work in his
life, allowing him to prevail.
Then we see that Jacob's hip wasput out of joint as quickly as
we see the angel of the Lordshowing Jacob mercy and allowing
(06:27):
Jacob to prevail.
We see the angel of the Lordsimply touch Jacob's hip socket
and it comes out of joint, whilethe Lord wants to encourage
Jacob in this physical wrestlingmatch.
He also wants to remind Jacobwho he needs to trust in.
Even after Jacob's hip socketwas put out of joint, jacob
(06:51):
persisted and he continued towrestle with this man.
But the man says let me go.
The Lord is telling Jacob letgo, jacob, let go.
In this physical combat, theLord is continuing to reveal his
(07:11):
mercy to Jacob, in spite ofJacob's tendency to hold on to
things with his own strength.
The Lord is encouraging Jacob,before he faces his brother Esau
, that Jacob will prevail inthis upcoming conflict, also not
through his strength, butthrough the Lord.
And Jacob says I will not letgo unless you bless me.
(07:38):
There is a great irony going onhere that Jacob is holding on to
the angel of the Lord with allhis strength, demanding a
blessing from him, as if it werethrough his own power that he
could obtain a blessing.
Let's look at verse 27 and 28.
And he said to him what is yourname?
(07:59):
And he said Jacob.
Then he said your name shall nolonger be called Jacob, but
Israel, for you have strivenwith God and with men and have
prevailed.
Then Jacob asked him Pleasetell me your name.
(08:21):
But he said why is it that youask my name.
And there he blessed him.
Here, in verses 27 and 28, wesee the Lord asks Jacob what is
your name?
And the name Jacob means heelcatcher or deceiver.
And the Lord tells Jacob hereyour name will no longer be
(08:46):
deceiver, your name will nolonger be heel catcher, your
name will be Israel, which meanshe strives with God.
And the Lord tells Jacob foryou have striven with God and
with men and you have prevailed.
Struggles certainly defines thelife of Jacob.
Jacob struggled with hisbrother, with his father, with
(09:11):
his father-in-law, with hiswives, and now he has struggled
with God.
Yet through all of Jacob'sstruggles, including now, just
as the Lord was wrestling withhim, god continues to be with
him and protect him and blesshim.
This is why jacob prevails.
(09:33):
And then, of course, jacob asksplease tell me your name.
The angel of the lord doesn'tgive him an answer, but rather
questions jacob as to why areyou even asking me?
It implies that Jacob alreadybelieved.
He knew who this was and theangel of the Lord knew that
(09:54):
Jacob knew and he just wantedsome confirmation.
And then we read that there heblessed him.
The angel of the Lord blessesJacob in addition to the
blessing of changing his name tothe blessing of changing his
name.
It's very possible that theLord once again reaffirmed the
(10:17):
Abrahamic covenant to Jacob andhis plan for his people through
Israel, picking up in verse 30.
So Jacob called the name of theplace, peniel, saying For I
have seen God face to face andyet my life has been delivered.
I want to take this verse byitself.
It says Jacob called the nameof the place, peniel.
(10:37):
Again, peniel means the face ofGod, and Jacob said here I have
seen God face to face and yetmy life has been delivered.
Jacob states now that he iscertain of whom he's wrestled
with.
Whatever the blessing was thatthe angel of the Lord gave to
(10:59):
Jacob, jacob now understands whothis was, and this was indeed
God in human flesh, god in humanflesh.
At this point I'd like to readtwo verses from Hosea, chapter
12, verses 3 and 4.
These two verses describe Jacoband his encounter with the Lord
(11:21):
.
Here In verse 3, it says In thewomb he took his brother by the
heel and in his manhood hestrove with God.
He strove with the angel andprevailed.
He wept and sought his favor.
In those two verses of Hosea ittells us that this was the
(11:46):
angel of the Lord.
This was Jacob striving withGod as the angel of the Lord.
This was Jacob striving withGod as the angel of the Lord.
And finally, jacob says my lifehas been delivered.
This is a very common statementfrom men in the Bible.
Whenever a sinful man interactswith the Lord, they understand
(12:06):
the holiness of God.
And when they recognize thatthey are still alive, they
understand the holiness of God.
And when they recognize thatthey are still alive, they
understand the grace and mercythat's been shown to them.
And that is exactly what Jacobunderstands and is communicating
.
He has been shown the grace andmercy of God through this
encounter with the angel of theLord.
(12:28):
It's here that Jacob realizesthat the Lord God is not just
the God of Abraham and Isaac,but he is the God of Jacob.
It is here that Jacobrecognizes that the Lord God is
his God and his Redeemer.
(12:48):
Picking up again in verse 31,the sun rose upon him as he
passed Peniel, limping becauseof his hip.
Therefore, to this day, thepeople of Israel do not eat the
sinew of the thigh that's on thehip socket, because he touched
the socket of Jacob's hip on thesinew of the thigh.
In these last two verses, aswe're wrapping up, we see that
(13:12):
the sun rose on Jacob.
It is here we recognize that bythe time the sun had risen, the
angel of the Lord was gone andJacob was once again alone.
And Jacob was limping becauseof his hip.
Jacob was given a thorn in hisflesh as a lasting reminder of
(13:34):
this encounter with God.
While Jacob is declaredvictorious by God through his
relationship with God, he wasmade lame to keep him humbled
before the Lord.
And finally, we see that thepeople of Israel did not eat the
sinew of the thigh, and thatbecame a tradition amongst the
(13:57):
Israelites.
This tradition that's mentionedhere was later written down in
some rabbinic writings alongwith the names Israel and Peniel
.
Thank you for joining me andGod bless you this week.
Grace and peace to you.
Thank you again for joining mefor the Mysteries of God's Word.
Today we are at the end ofGenesis, chapter 32, where Jacob
wrestles with God.
Last week we read about Jacobmeeting up with a camp of angels
(00:22):
, and that was just prior toJacob learning that his brother
Esau was coming with 400 men.
Jacob then sent servants withdroves of animals as gifts to
his brother Esau, in front ofhim the night before.
And that night is where we pickup in the narrative right now,
(00:45):
starting at verse 22.
The same night he arose and tookhis two wives, his two female
servants and his eleven childrenand crossed the ford of the
Jabbok.
He took them and sent themacross the stream and everything
else he had, and sent themacross the stream and everything
else he had.
In the first two verses welearn that Jacob took everything
(01:09):
he had his wives, his children,everything, all of the animals
that were left with him, all ofhis servants, and he crossed the
Jabbok.
Now, the Jabbok River wasactually more of a stream than a
river, and it's east of JordanRiver.
The stream begins in themountains of Gilead, where we
(01:30):
find Jacob, and the streamitself will run and empty into
the Jordan River about 45 milessouth of the Sea of Galilee,
kind of halfway between the Seaof Galilee and the Dead Sea.
Today this river is known asthe Zirka or Blue River.
So the text tells us the samenight, jacob arose and took all
(01:55):
of his possessions.
So again, this is the samenight that Jacob had sent his
servants with those droves ofanimals ahead of him, as a gift
to Esau.
That very same night, jacobtook his entire family,
including his two wives, his twofemale servants, his eleven
children at this time, and hehelped them to cross the Jabbok
(02:18):
ford with everything he had.
Just a note on what a ford isif you're not familiar with it,
river fords provide a placewhere people can cross a stream
or a river easily.
It's a low water crossing.
Some fords are naturallyoccurring, while others are
man-made constructions to helpfacilitate crossings.
(02:40):
A ford still has water thatruns over the top of it, but the
water is shallow enough to bewaded through.
Picking up in verse 24, we'regoing to take that verse by
(03:00):
itself it says Jacob was leftalone.
So after Jacob had helped hisfamily and all that he had
across the Jabbok Ford, he wasleft alone on the other side and
it says a man wrestled with him.
So while Jacob was alone,suddenly a man appeared and
(03:21):
engaged in a full contactwrestling match with Jacob.
This is perhaps the most vividand clear picture of how God
took on physical form andinteracted with man during the
times of the patriarchs, both toteach and guide them, both to
(03:45):
teach and guide them.
The name that Jacob gives tothis location where he wrestles
with this man later in our textis Peniel, which means the face
of God.
Furthermore, as we will see,the prophet Hosea declares that
this man was the angel of theLord and identifies him also as
(04:06):
God.
This man that Jacob iswrestling with was certainly an
appearance of the pre-incarnateSon of God, and they wrestled
until the breaking of the day.
This full contact wrestlingmatch lasted until the dawning
of the day, describing anintense, very long battle Verses
(04:32):
25 and 26.
When the man saw that he didnot prevail against Jacob, he
touched his hip socket andJacob's hip was put out of joint
as he wrestled with him.
Then he said Let me go, for theday has broken.
But Jacob said I will not letyou go unless you bless me.
(04:55):
Let's examine these two versesto get a feel for what's going
on during this wrestling match.
It says that this man did notprevail against Jacob.
What an interesting statement.
Now, it's not saying that theangel of the Lord couldn't
overcome Jacob if he didn't wantto, but rather it's saying that
(05:15):
he allowed Jacob to prevail.
This is an incredible displayof God's mercy in the midst of
this very real physical struggle, which is very symbolic of
Jacob's spiritual struggles.
It displays how Jacob has triedmany times to bring about God's
(05:37):
plan and purpose through hisown scheming and his own effort.
But even in the midst ofJacob's foolishness, god has
been with him and God hasblessed him and brought about
his plan, not through Jacob'sdeceptions, but according to
God's own purposes.
And as Jacob is about to facehis brother Esau, the Lord
(06:04):
himself is encouraging Jacobthat, in spite of his own
failings and his own foolishefforts, god is at work in his
life, allowing him to prevail.
Then we see that Jacob's hip wasput out of joint as quickly as
we see the angel of the Lordshowing Jacob mercy and allowing
(06:27):
Jacob to prevail.
We see the angel of the Lordsimply touch Jacob's hip socket
and it comes out of joint, whilethe Lord wants to encourage
Jacob in this physical wrestlingmatch.
He also wants to remind Jacobwho he needs to trust in.
Even after Jacob's hip socketwas put out of joint, jacob
(06:51):
persisted and he continued towrestle with this man.
But the man says let me go.
The Lord is telling Jacob letgo, jacob, let go.
In this physical combat, theLord is continuing to reveal his
(07:11):
mercy to Jacob, in spite ofJacob's tendency to hold on to
things with his own strength.
The Lord is encouraging Jacob,before he faces his brother Esau
, that Jacob will prevail inthis upcoming conflict, also not
through his strength, butthrough the Lord.
And Jacob says I will not letgo unless you bless me.
(07:38):
There is a great irony going onhere that Jacob is holding on to
the angel of the Lord with allhis strength, demanding a
blessing from him, as if it werethrough his own power that he
could obtain a blessing.
Let's look at verse 27 and 28.
And he said to him what is yourname?
(07:59):
And he said Jacob.
Then he said your name shall nolonger be called Jacob, but
Israel, for you have strivenwith God and with men and have
prevailed.
Then Jacob asked him Pleasetell me your name.
(08:21):
But he said why is it that youask my name.
And there he blessed him.
Here, in verses 27 and 28, wesee the Lord asks Jacob what is
your name?
And the name Jacob means heelcatcher or deceiver.
And the Lord tells Jacob hereyour name will no longer be
(08:46):
deceiver, your name will nolonger be heel catcher, your
name will be Israel, which meanshe strives with God.
And the Lord tells Jacob foryou have striven with God and
with men and you have prevailed.
Struggles certainly defines thelife of Jacob.
Jacob struggled with hisbrother, with his father, with
(09:11):
his father-in-law, with hiswives, and now he has struggled
with God.
Yet through all of Jacob'sstruggles, including now, just
as the Lord was wrestling withhim, god continues to be with
him and protect him and blesshim.
This is why jacob prevails.
(09:33):
And then, of course, jacob asksplease tell me your name.
The angel of the lord doesn'tgive him an answer, but rather
questions jacob as to why areyou even asking me?
It implies that Jacob alreadybelieved.
He knew who this was and theangel of the Lord knew that
(09:54):
Jacob knew and he just wantedsome confirmation.
And then we read that there heblessed him.
The angel of the Lord blessesJacob in addition to the
blessing of changing his name tothe blessing of changing his
name.
It's very possible that theLord once again reaffirmed the
(10:17):
Abrahamic covenant to Jacob andhis plan for his people through
Israel, picking up in verse 30.
So Jacob called the name of theplace, peniel, saying For I
have seen God face to face andyet my life has been delivered.
I want to take this verse byitself.
It says Jacob called the nameof the place, peniel.
(10:37):
Again, peniel means the face ofGod, and Jacob said here I have
seen God face to face and yetmy life has been delivered.
Jacob states now that he iscertain of whom he's wrestled
with.
Whatever the blessing was thatthe angel of the Lord gave to
(10:59):
Jacob, jacob now understands whothis was, and this was indeed
God in human flesh, god in humanflesh.
At this point I'd like to readtwo verses from Hosea, chapter
12, verses 3 and 4.
These two verses describe Jacoband his encounter with the Lord
(11:21):
.
Here In verse 3, it says In thewomb he took his brother by the
heel and in his manhood hestrove with God.
He strove with the angel andprevailed.
He wept and sought his favor.
In those two verses of Hosea ittells us that this was the
(11:46):
angel of the Lord.
This was Jacob striving withGod as the angel of the Lord.
This was Jacob striving withGod as the angel of the Lord.
And finally, jacob says my lifehas been delivered.
This is a very common statementfrom men in the Bible.
Whenever a sinful man interactswith the Lord, they understand
(12:06):
the holiness of God.
And when they recognize thatthey are still alive, they
understand the holiness of God.
And when they recognize thatthey are still alive, they
understand the grace and mercythat's been shown to them.
And that is exactly what Jacobunderstands and is communicating
.
He has been shown the grace andmercy of God through this
encounter with the angel of theLord.
(12:28):
It's here that Jacob realizesthat the Lord God is not just
the God of Abraham and Isaac,but he is the God of Jacob.
It is here that Jacobrecognizes that the Lord God is
his God and his Redeemer.
(12:48):
Picking up again in verse 31,the sun rose upon him as he
passed Peniel, limping becauseof his hip.
Therefore, to this day, thepeople of Israel do not eat the
sinew of the thigh that's on thehip socket, because he touched
the socket of Jacob's hip on thesinew of the thigh.
In these last two verses, aswe're wrapping up, we see that
(13:12):
the sun rose on Jacob.
It is here we recognize that bythe time the sun had risen, the
angel of the Lord was gone andJacob was once again alone.
And Jacob was limping becauseof his hip.
Jacob was given a thorn in hisflesh as a lasting reminder of
(13:34):
this encounter with God.
While Jacob is declaredvictorious by God through his
relationship with God, he wasmade lame to keep him humbled
before the Lord.
And finally, we see that thepeople of Israel did not eat the
sinew of the thigh, and thatbecame a tradition amongst the
(13:57):
Israelites.
This tradition that's mentionedhere was later written down in
some rabbinic writings alongwith the names Israel and Peniel
.
Thank you for joining me andGod bless you this week.
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