Most of us have seen true wrestling matches, such as those seen in the Olympics, or Greco-Roman style wrestling. If the two contestants are closely matched in strength and ability, every ounce of their strength, all of their muscles are put into the struggle. One wonders who will finally overpower the other, and win the match. In today’s Scripture we read about a very special wrestling match, special in regards to who the two wrestlers are, and what the outcome was.
As our Scripture opens, Jacob had recently taken his two wives and their children, along with his two concubines and their children, and left his untrustworthy and deceitful brother-in-law. They were now heading back to the land promised to his forefathers. Jacob also knew that he was going to be meeting up with his brother Esau, and was fearful as to how that would go. It had been approximately twenty years or more since he had last seen Esau. At that time, Esau had vowed to kill Jacob because he had cheated him out of his birthright (Genesis 25:33), and also his blessing (Genesis 27:27-40). Esau had been known for his anger, and because of that, Jacob was quite afraid, especially when he heard that his brother was coming with a large group of men (vs. 3-8).
After dividing his company into several groups to keep them safe, Jacob went off on his own to pray to God (vs. 9-12). Yes, he was terribly afraid and worried, but he also knew what to do in such situations. He knew to turn to God and pray. Jacob learned to pray effectively by basing his prayers on the promises of God (vs. 9). He knew that the only way he could come through this battle was through prayer.
Later that evening, Jacob went off alone to pray again. This time his prayer was more fervent. This was a time of very intense supplication to God. Jacob was wrestling all night with God in prayer. He was persistent. He would not let go until God blessed him.
This Man that Jacob wrestled with that night was, most Christian Bible scholars believe, a Theophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ (vs. 24). Later, in verse 30, Jacob said that he had seen God face-to-face, so this wasn’t just an angel that he wrestled with.
As the two continued to wrestle, and Jacob told the Lord that he will not let go until He blessed him, the Lord asked Jacob what his name was (vs. 27). Why would He do that? God obviously knew Jacob’s name, of course. The Lord wanted Jacob to say his name - Jacob, which means a deceiver and supplanter. That name had fit him, considering what he had done to deceive his brother Esau and also his father Isaac, and take his brother’s birthright and blessing. The Lord wanted him to admit who and what he was. God then gave Jacob a new name - Israel, which means a prince of God, one who struggles with God, and to have power with God (vs. 28).
The new name Jacob now had was a symbol of how God had changed Jacob’s life. He was not the same man who had fled some 20 years earlier. Jacob, the ambitious deceiver, had now become Israel, the one who struggles with God and overcomes. True faith requires that we admit what we are before we can receive what God has for us.
Sometimes we need to go to God in a prolonged time of prayer over some situation or circumstance in our life. We need to pray, and pray again, and then yet again. As some old-time Christians called it, to “pray through”. It is not that we need to convince a hard-hearted God, for He is a prayer-answering God (Isaiah 65:24). But we need to conquer our own laziness, unbelief, or indifference. Sometimes we need to wrestle with God as Jacob did, even if we end up with a limp, such as he did. We need to press through our obstacles that hinder our prayer, such as the woman who had the hemorrhage did, pressing through the crowds that blocked her way to Jesus (Matthew 9:20-22). We need to pray, and pray again, as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46), and as Paul did regarding his thorn in the flesh (II Corinthians 12:7-10). Sometimes we may need to say to God that we will not let Him go unless He blesses us.
No comments:
Post a Comment