Bible in a Year, Day 23: When Jacob Wrestled With God

Today's reading

Today's reading is Genesis 32, where Jacob is alone and afraid of his brother Esau, and wrestles with God until sunrise.

The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.” Jacob said, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.” He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob”. He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

(Genesis 32:26-28, WEB)

Reflection

Jacob was alone, and Esau was coming for revenge. As Pastor Jack Graham tells it, all of Jacob's lies and deception had finally caught up to him. He prayed for mercy, unaware that God was coming to challenge him.

Graham describes Jacob as a man who was always fighting, always resisting and always running, mostly from God. He spent his life trying to outsmart and outrun his problems, and he could never do it. God had chosen Jacob and loved him, and would not let him go his own way. As Pastor Jack Graham put it, "Sometimes god has to crush our resistance and crush our rebellion and even destroy our dreams in order to save us from ourselves."

That night by the river was a confrontation, not a conversation. Jacob was thrown into the dust, and the two grappled until sunrise. When God dislocated his hip, Jacob was crippled, yet he held on and said, "I will not let you go until you bless me."

Then God asked a question: what is your name? Graham points out that Jacob's name meant cheater, supplanter. To answer, Jacob had to confess what kind of man he had become. Only then did God give him the new name Israel, because he had wrestled with God and overcome.

Jacob walked away limping, leaning on his staff for the rest of his life. Graham says, "But the crippling was a gift from God because every struggling step that he would take for the rest of his life reminded him of that night when he met God face to face". When Jacob appears in the New Testament hall of faith, he is worshiping God while leaning on his staff. Graham sums it up this way: "This man learned to lean, and we all need to learn to lean on the Lord."

Jacob could never have imagined finding peace with God while he was lying, running and stealing. Graham reminds us, "God's dreams are bigger for you than even your dreams for yourself." Jacob stopped manipulating and running in fear, and began walking with God, even with a limp.

Take it with you

• Where are you still scheming, striving or running instead of facing God?
• If God asked you your name today, what would you need to confess before you could hear the one he gives you?
• What might it look like to lean on the Lord this week instead of on yourself?

Prayer

Lord, you know where I have been running and where I have tried to run my own life. Meet me in the dark places and do not let me go my own way. Break whatever keeps me from your blessing, and help me be honest about who I am. Thank you for calling me your child and giving me a new name. Teach me to lean on you each day, even when I walk with a limp. Amen.