Genesis 32:24-32

PENIEL

"And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him till the breaking of day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast striven with God and prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for, said he, I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And the sun rose upon him as he passed over Penuel, and he limped upon his thigh. Therefore the children of Israel eat not the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip."

Here we have the record of one of the most important events in the history of human redemption. Jacob, the head of the Messianic line through whom the CHRIST would come was facing the most serious threat of his whole life. "If Esau had been victorious here, all of God's plans and promises would have been defeated, and the world would never have had a Savior."[13] It was this crisis nature of the situation that required and justified God's personal intervention to establish and confirm Jacob's faith.

The big question here concerns the understanding of what really happened. Peake alleged that Jacob wrestled with "a local deity ... one of the river gods (pagan)," trying to prevent anyone's crossing the river.[14] "Jacob was not wrestling with an angel, but with his brother Esau."[15] "Some scholars hold that this was a struggle with a demon of some kind."[16] Still others insist that this was merely some kind of vision or a vivid dream. Against such arrogant and unbelieving denials it is a genuine pleasure to present the words of one of the great young scholars of today who wrote:

"The Biblical author is not relating a vision, dream, or fantasy; nor is he using well-known external phenomena to symbolize an inner struggle (like prayer); rather, he is relating a real, hand to hand combat. Genesis 32:28,30, show that Jacob was actually wrestling with God Himself, but apparently God had assumed a human form, for Jacob's assailant is called "a man" in Genesis 32:24,25. Although the plain meaning of the text is very hard for modern man to comprehend or rationalize, there is no justification for forcing it to say something it does not say."[17]

Yes. Here the wrestler with Jacob was "the captain of the Lord's host" (Joshua 5:13f).[18] "He was none other than The Angel, the pre-incarnate Christ."[19] As we shall see a moment later, the very name given on this occasion celebrated the divine nature of Jacob's assailant.

"Touched his thigh ..." Skinner translated this "struck his thigh, with the meaning that the socket of his thigh was dislocated."[20]

The unwillingness of the assailant to continue the conflict after daylight was not founded on the superstition that "spirits of the night must vanish at dawn," as alleged by Skinner;[21] but "The angel's desire to depart before daylight expressed God's concern lest Jacob perish through beholding his face unobscured by darkness."[22]

"Israel ..." The great spiritual crisis that Jacob passed through here was memorialized by the bestowal upon him of a new and glorious name, a boon which only God could give. The Heel-catcher has now become the "Prince of God." "The Israel of God" has signified the ultimate of human blessing and privilege from that memorable night until the present day! Although most scholars give the meaning of "Israel" as "Prince of God," Josephus declared that it means "One that struggled with the divine angel." Moreover, William Whiston, the noted translator of Josephus' works affirmed that:

"This may be the proper meaning of Israel. It is certain that the Hellenists of the first century, in Egypt, and elsewhere, interpreted Israel to be a man seeing God."[23]

This tremendous episode also carried with it a deep spiritual awakening on the part of Jacob. He was defeated and powerless to continue, but he clung to God and would not let go until he received the blessing. It is written that "he prevailed"; but how did he do so? He won by surrender, by confessing his unworthiness in the admission of his name (Heel-catcher), and by pleading for the blessing which could come only from the grace of God. That is precisely the way that the saints of all ages have triumphed. Cling to the Lord, and never let go! "Here Jacob received the final lesson that humbled and broke down his self-will, and convinced him that he would not snatch the blessing from God's hand, and that he must accept it as a gift of God's grace."[24]