Gen 32:32 | KingComments | STEP | After all his preparations to escape from a (supposed) disaster, for which he fears at the meeting with Esau, Jacob is left alone. That is the moment for God to act with him personally. Jacob must learn that not Esau, but God is his real opponent. There occurs a wrestling ( ). God – in the form of an angel – cannot win from him because Jacob does not want to bow. Until He dislocates the socket of Jacob’s thigh. In the socket of the thigh is the power to walk. In Hosea 12 we read how Jacob won: by weeping and seeking God’s favor ( ). A person only does this when he is at the end of his strengths. And that is the way God lets Himself be overcome. It is like with the man we see in Romans 7. He also does everything in his own power, until he exclaims: “Wretched man that I am!” ( ). Then comes the victory: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” ( ). The wrestling is over as soon as someone sees that God has long since prepared liberation, for it was brought about by Jesus Christ. Whoever sees this will immediately thank God for it. God meets Jacob in the dark. When God comes to Abraham, it is in the heat of the day ( ). That is not to wrestle, but to have fellowship with him. It is not Jacob’s wrestling with God, but God’s wrestling with Jacob. After God has touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip ( ), Jacob’s wrestling with God turns into a clinging to Him. Jacob does not want to let Him go, but to receive a blessing from Him. Jacob later remains the limping Jacob. That’s how he goes to Esau, that’s how he stands before Pharaoh. It is a constant reminder of his absolute dependency on the blessing of God. In asking for a blessing, Jacob acknowledges his Superior in the Wrestler. The wrestling lasts until daybreak. When God’s wrestling with us approaches its end, when we have finished our resisting, and when we give in by weeping and seeking His favor, daybreak starts in our life. Then we have found our “Penuel”, like Jacob here. Penuel means ‘face of God’. Not only daybreak has come, but the sun rises upon Jacob’s life – compare his departure from the land, where the sun has set ( ). As the awareness of one’s own weakness increases, so does the awareness of God’s greatness. That is the wonderful result of Penuel. It is to be desired that this is or becomes the experience of every child of God. At Penuel Jacob is given a new name, “Israel”, which means ‘prince of God’ or ‘warrior of God’. After this the names Jacob and Israel are used alternately in his history. If the name Jacob is used, it generally is about the weak Jacob who arranges things himself. If the name Israel is used, we see him acting in the power of faith, depending on God. This is not the case with Abraham. After Abram got his new name Abraham, there is no longer any mention of Abram. When using the name Jacob, God reminds us that the believer needs His discipline as long as he lives on earth because he still has the flesh in him. His discipline can be corrective, but also preventive. In any case, His discipline is a proof of His grace. The effect of God’s wrestling with Jacob on his posterity is that they are impressed by the event at the Jabbok and therefore do not eat the sinew of the hip. However, they haven’t learned the real lesson. The nation of Israel as a whole still counts entirely on their own – intellectual and military – strength. In this way we can also be impressed by a truth of God and show it in an outward attitude, without it really touching us inwardly and affecting our whole lives.

‏ Genesis 32:32

Jacob Wrestles with God

After all his preparations to escape from a (supposed) disaster, for which he fears at the meeting with Esau, Jacob is left alone. That is the moment for God to act with him personally. Jacob must learn that not Esau, but God is his real opponent. There occurs a wrestling (Psa 18:27). God – in the form of an angel – cannot win from him because Jacob does not want to bow. Until He dislocates the socket of Jacob’s thigh. In the socket of the thigh is the power to walk.

In Hosea 12 we read how Jacob won: by weeping and seeking God’s favor (Hos 12:3b-4). A person only does this when he is at the end of his strengths. And that is the way God lets Himself be overcome. It is like with the man we see in Romans 7. He also does everything in his own power, until he exclaims: “Wretched man that I am!” (Rom 7:24a). Then comes the victory: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:25a). The wrestling is over as soon as someone sees that God has long since prepared liberation, for it was brought about by Jesus Christ. Whoever sees this will immediately thank God for it.

God meets Jacob in the dark. When God comes to Abraham, it is in the heat of the day (Gen 18:1). That is not to wrestle, but to have fellowship with him. It is not Jacob’s wrestling with God, but God’s wrestling with Jacob. After God has touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip (Gen 32:32), Jacob’s wrestling with God turns into a clinging to Him. Jacob does not want to let Him go, but to receive a blessing from Him. Jacob later remains the limping Jacob. That’s how he goes to Esau, that’s how he stands before Pharaoh. It is a constant reminder of his absolute dependency on the blessing of God.

In asking for a blessing, Jacob acknowledges his Superior in the Wrestler. The wrestling lasts until daybreak. When God’s wrestling with us approaches its end, when we have finished our resisting, and when we give in by weeping and seeking His favor, daybreak starts in our life. Then we have found our “Penuel”, like Jacob here. Penuel means ‘face of God’.

Not only daybreak has come, but the sun rises upon Jacob’s life – compare his departure from the land, where the sun has set (Gen 28:10-11). As the awareness of one’s own weakness increases, so does the awareness of God’s greatness. That is the wonderful result of Penuel. It is to be desired that this is or becomes the experience of every child of God.

At Penuel Jacob is given a new name, “Israel”, which means ‘prince of God’ or ‘warrior of God’. After this the names Jacob and Israel are used alternately in his history. If the name Jacob is used, it generally is about the weak Jacob who arranges things himself. If the name Israel is used, we see him acting in the power of faith, depending on God. This is not the case with Abraham. After Abram got his new name Abraham, there is no longer any mention of Abram.

When using the name Jacob, God reminds us that the believer needs His discipline as long as he lives on earth because he still has the flesh in him. His discipline can be corrective, but also preventive. In any case, His discipline is a proof of His grace.

The effect of God’s wrestling with Jacob on his posterity is that they are impressed by the event at the Jabbok and therefore do not eat the sinew of the hip. However, they haven’t learned the real lesson. The nation of Israel as a whole still counts entirely on their own – intellectual and military – strength. In this way we can also be impressed by a truth of God and show it in an outward attitude, without it really touching us inwardly and affecting our whole lives.