God the Wrestler - In Memory of Jean Halvorson

A bell rings and the announcer says: In this corner, bearing the weight of his past is Jacob the heel grabber. Then the announcer continues, as another bell rings. And in this corner – Oh wait, he doesn’t fit in the corner or in the ring, or in the auditorium, or in the Universe. He has no weight upon him, yet he fills all things. This one is Theophany -“the real heal”. Only God in this appearance can bring Jacob to a reality of who he is, so he can be changed into who God created him to be.

The weight of the past – Genesis 32: 3-7
1. Jacob and Esau’s parents had favorites- Genesis 25:28.
2. When Esau came in from the field, he was so hungry and said he was dying and would Jacob sell him his birthright?
  1. It’s amazing how the appetites of this world can cause us to sell our soul – compromise our faith, just for a morsel that will go away.
  2. Esau despised that birthright from then on, just like Hagar despised her mistress Sarai, after Hagar became pregnant. It’s not always what is done to us, but how we respond to it that God must deal with.
  3. And like Abram and Moses, it was prior or present family issues that was the soil bringing a visit from the Theophany.
  4. In Genesis Chapter 27, Jacob’s mom Rebekkah stewed upon an idea, to have her dying husband Isaac bless her beloved Jacob. Here again, Jacob is a deceiver and gets the coveted blessing. He flees after this occurs.
3. Jacob ends up meeting Labuan, who was a bigger cheat than he (Genesis 31: 6-7).
  1. Often in our lives, if we are trying to escape a behavioral/sinful issue, God will make sure that we come into contact with people who have that very same issue and we will find ourselves hating the mirror image.
  2. If you have sensed things in others that really aggravate you, it may be a mirror of God revealing something to you.
4. In Chapter 31:11-13 the Angel of the Lord speaks and tells Jacob at Bethel (means “the house of God): go back and visit your brother.
  1. Jacob sends word to “My Lord, Esau” (he’s changed his wording to an honored phrase).
  2. Jacob says he’s been blessed and is sending these gifts ahead for Esau.
  3. Remember that we cannot buy forgiveness or salvation, but Jacob was hoping that it would soften the hardness.
  4. Then Jacob receives word that Esau is coming himself and bringing 400 men with him. Immediately Jacob is fearful and going to his past becomes a dread.
  5. Jacob will have to face his past in the present, so he can have a future, and he’ll face it with the face of God. The “heel grabber” is left to deal with this and he cannot hide behind anyone else.
The weight of the fight – Verse 24
1. Jacob was left alone – He is terrified and by himself and ready for a visitation.
  1. “Left” is the Hebrew word “yather” (pronounced yaw-thar), meaning “remain over, left alone”. It is the same root at the name Jethro we studied last week.
  2. “Alone” is the Hebrew word “bad”, meaning “separation, apart, alone”. It is from “badad” (pronounced baw-dad), meaning “isolated”. He felt real bad.
2. “Wrestled” is the Hebrew word “abaq” (pronounced aw-bad), meaning “to wrestle, grapple, get dusty”. To get down and dirty.
  1. With a “man”, the Hebrew word is “enosh”, meaning “man, mankind”.
  2. This word is not as refined as the original word for man, which was Adam, meaning that God is dealing with the fallen man, to bring him/her higher.
  3. “Breaking of Day” is the phrase from these words: “Breaking” is the Hebrew word “alah” (pronounced aw-law), meaning “to go up, ascend, climb”. God’s purpose is to lift up Jacob. The second word is “day” – the Hebrew word “shachar” (pronounced shaw-khar), meaning “dawn, daybreak”. This will be a new day for Jacob and God will be with him through the dark of the night.
3. The “man” couldn’t prevail against Jacob (Verse 25). This was one battle that Jacob needed to yield to, because God won’t violate our will. Even Jesus said “Not my will, but thine be done”
  1. “Prevail” is the Hebrew word “yakol” (pronounced yaw-kole), meaning “to be able, have power, prevail, endure”.
  2. Our will holds the fight inside of us and this is what God is after.
  3. So the man touched Jacob to disarm him and take the fight out of him.
    1. “Touched” is the Hebrew word “naga” (pronounced naw-gah), meaning “touch, reach, strike”. It shows physicality and reality.
      1. God breaks to build, frustrates to free.
      2. And shows that He comes in physical presence for an eternal purpose.
    2. “Socket” is the Hebrew word “kaph” (pronounced kaf), meaning “the follow or flat of the hand, palm, sole of feet, thigh joint”, it is from “kephaog”, meaning “bend, bend over, bow”. It also includes “to grasp”, and God wants Jacob to grasp Him.
    3. “Thigh” is the Hebrew word “yarek” (pronounced yaw-rake), meaning “thigh, loin, side, outside of thigh where the sword was drawn”. God touched him in the place where he would not only be rendered helpless, but it would also be a foreshadowing of the power God would give Jacob.
    4. In thinking about a few of the wrestling moves in the high school arena, I came across two that stood out: One is the ankle pick, which reminded me of Jacob, since his name meant “heel grabber”. The other one is the leg sweep, when a wrestler holds his/her opponent around the upper chest and uses leg to sweep the legs out. God was holding Jacob as He took him down; He was seeking to strengthen him, not weaken him.
Then wait for the victory
1. Jacob realizes that this “man” is not an ordinary man or angel (Verse 26).
  1. He says he won’t let go of this man until he is blessed.
  2. Quite a concept for a man who robbed his brother of a blessing.
  3. He’s willing to wait until he gets it, similar to the old time “all night prayer meetings”, where saints prayed through until the answer came or the promise was given. We give lists to God, but not time.
  4. Only God is the one who blesses, who takes us through the dark night into the new day, which reminds us of His future resurrection.
  5. “Bless” is the Hebrew word “barak” (pronounced baw-rak), meaning “kneel, bless”.
  6. The truth is this: It is imperative we wrestle with God before we meet with family, friends or deal with the past. Otherwise, we’re bringing the same person into the situation.
2. Theophany changes his name – Verse 28.
  1. In Verse 27 the Theophany asks Jacob his name. There are times when we must acknowledge who we really are, not what we think we are.
  2. God gives him the new identity of Israel, which means the Prince of El (God).
3. Jacob struggled with God and man (the story itself cites the Theophany).
  1. “Struggled” is the Hebrew word “sarah” (pronounced saw-raw), and means “persist, exert oneself, persevere”.
  2. Let’s see ourselves as God sees us, not as the world, our mistakes, victimization, family/friends see us.
4. In Verse 29 Jacob asks “the man” his name. There is no answer (God doesn’t owe us any information, but He did reveal Himself by blessing, re-identifying Jacob, and by touching him in the place of the thigh where one would hold the sword of a warrior.
  1. Jacob responded to this Theophany by calling this place peniel, which in the Hebrew is penuel, meaning “the face of God” (El).
  2. In wrestling the opponents do face each other, and here Jacob sees God and lives. Remember that in the trinity we cannot see the Father (the Son reveals Him), we cannot see the Spirit, but when God is seen in human form, it is always the second person of the Godhead.
  3. Jacob realizes that he has seen the face of God and was spared.
    1. The word “spared” in the Hebrew is “natsal” (pronounced naw-tsal), meaning “to strip, plunder, snatch away”.
    2. Jacob knows he wasn’t plundered, even though he stripped away Esau’s birthright and blessing.
    3. The daybreak comes and Jacob begins limping. This shows that this was a physical occurrence.

In conclusion, God brought Jacob back to his past to prepare him to face his future. It was necessary that Jacob met God first, instead of trying to deal with this in the flesh by himself. We know this was a Theophany because Jacob recognized him as such, the storyline reveals it, Jacob called the place “the face of God” and wasn’t rebuked for doing so.

Let us not be afraid to wrestle with God. Truly He is on the side of those who look to Him.