.
● Gen 32:24b . . And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.
There's been some speculation regarding not only the identity of this man but also his species. Some say it was the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. Some say it was Esau's evil angel. Some say it was one of God's holy angels. And some say it was God himself in a human form. Hosea can help settle this.
"The Lord once indicted Judah, and punished Jacob for his conduct, requited him for his deeds. In the womb he tried to supplant his brother; grown to manhood, he strove with a divine being, he strove with an angel and prevailed-- the other had to weep and implore him. At Bethel [Jacob] would meet him, there to commune with him." (Hos 12:3-5)
There can be no doubt who Jacob communed with at Bethel. Jacob met Yhvh there on his way north when he left home. And he met Yhvh there again in Bethel after returning. The man that Jacob wrestled with that night was no evil angel, that's for sure; and Jacob very well knew it too.
How it is possible for Yhvh to appear in a human form? I don't know but He did it again in Moses' day. (Ex 24:9-11)
Their conflict shouldn't be construed as some sort of combat or an athletic event. It wasn't that at all. When Jacob perceived that the man was actually divine, he clutched and hung on; refusing to let Yhvh depart until He blessed him.
When my boy was little, sometimes he would cling to my ankles like a little boa constrictor and I would have to drag him around the room for a while before he'd let go. Well, that's what Jacob did. No one since has ever been so dogged determined with God like that. The angel was reluctant to bless Jacob for good reason: so Bible students could see just how much Jacob really valued spiritual things. Some people extol David's love for God, but I prefer to extol Jacob for his stubborn refusal to let go. It's easy to see now why God wanted the patriarchy for him instead of his brother Esau.
From the little we know about Jacob, I'm guessing that the one thing he valued most about God more than anything else was providence. We got a glimpse of that back in chapter 28 when Jacob said: "If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then Jehovah shall be my God"
Juxtapose Jacob with Cain; the man who walked out on God. Well; not only did Jacob not walk out on God, but he refused to let God walk out on him. Jacob was a pretty amazing guy.
There is a really good story about a Gentile woman in the New Testament who was persistent with God like Jacob. Not quite as physical as he, but, in her own way, just as persistent nonetheless. (Matt 15:21-18)
Some people lose heart, and give up on God way too soon. It's not that He's stubborn and doesn't really want to bless, or that we have to somehow overcome His reluctance. No, that's not it. For some reason God is very pleased when we cling and show Him we mean business. Dogged prayer, like tough love, gets results and shows God we mean business and that we won't take "no" for an answer. Is God annoyed by that? Far from it. Compare the "persistence" parables at Luke 11:5-10 and Luke 18:2-8.
Many years prior to where we are now in Genesis, Jacob had a dream. He saw a staircase with Yhvh standing at the top. At the time, Jacob just gawked in awe; but were he to have that same dream at this point in his life, Jacob would have run up those stairs and tackled The Lord before He could get away. The man coming back down from the north isn't the same man that ran away from home. He's different.
● Gen 32:25 . .When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he wrenched Jacob's hip at its socket, so that the socket of his hip was strained as he wrestled with him.
In spite of the injury, Jacob still hung on and refused to let go. The injury served a purpose. It wasn't to make Jacob let go; after all, the angel could just as easily broken both of Jacob's arms. The injury served to handicap Jacob, and force him to depend even more upon God's providence; and less upon himself.
_
● Gen 32:24b . . And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.
There's been some speculation regarding not only the identity of this man but also his species. Some say it was the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. Some say it was Esau's evil angel. Some say it was one of God's holy angels. And some say it was God himself in a human form. Hosea can help settle this.
"The Lord once indicted Judah, and punished Jacob for his conduct, requited him for his deeds. In the womb he tried to supplant his brother; grown to manhood, he strove with a divine being, he strove with an angel and prevailed-- the other had to weep and implore him. At Bethel [Jacob] would meet him, there to commune with him." (Hos 12:3-5)
There can be no doubt who Jacob communed with at Bethel. Jacob met Yhvh there on his way north when he left home. And he met Yhvh there again in Bethel after returning. The man that Jacob wrestled with that night was no evil angel, that's for sure; and Jacob very well knew it too.
How it is possible for Yhvh to appear in a human form? I don't know but He did it again in Moses' day. (Ex 24:9-11)
Their conflict shouldn't be construed as some sort of combat or an athletic event. It wasn't that at all. When Jacob perceived that the man was actually divine, he clutched and hung on; refusing to let Yhvh depart until He blessed him.
When my boy was little, sometimes he would cling to my ankles like a little boa constrictor and I would have to drag him around the room for a while before he'd let go. Well, that's what Jacob did. No one since has ever been so dogged determined with God like that. The angel was reluctant to bless Jacob for good reason: so Bible students could see just how much Jacob really valued spiritual things. Some people extol David's love for God, but I prefer to extol Jacob for his stubborn refusal to let go. It's easy to see now why God wanted the patriarchy for him instead of his brother Esau.
From the little we know about Jacob, I'm guessing that the one thing he valued most about God more than anything else was providence. We got a glimpse of that back in chapter 28 when Jacob said: "If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then Jehovah shall be my God"
Juxtapose Jacob with Cain; the man who walked out on God. Well; not only did Jacob not walk out on God, but he refused to let God walk out on him. Jacob was a pretty amazing guy.
There is a really good story about a Gentile woman in the New Testament who was persistent with God like Jacob. Not quite as physical as he, but, in her own way, just as persistent nonetheless. (Matt 15:21-18)
Some people lose heart, and give up on God way too soon. It's not that He's stubborn and doesn't really want to bless, or that we have to somehow overcome His reluctance. No, that's not it. For some reason God is very pleased when we cling and show Him we mean business. Dogged prayer, like tough love, gets results and shows God we mean business and that we won't take "no" for an answer. Is God annoyed by that? Far from it. Compare the "persistence" parables at Luke 11:5-10 and Luke 18:2-8.
Many years prior to where we are now in Genesis, Jacob had a dream. He saw a staircase with Yhvh standing at the top. At the time, Jacob just gawked in awe; but were he to have that same dream at this point in his life, Jacob would have run up those stairs and tackled The Lord before He could get away. The man coming back down from the north isn't the same man that ran away from home. He's different.
● Gen 32:25 . .When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he wrenched Jacob's hip at its socket, so that the socket of his hip was strained as he wrestled with him.
In spite of the injury, Jacob still hung on and refused to let go. The injury served a purpose. It wasn't to make Jacob let go; after all, the angel could just as easily broken both of Jacob's arms. The injury served to handicap Jacob, and force him to depend even more upon God's providence; and less upon himself.
_
