Up For The Count

“So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.”    Genesis 32:25

Back in the day, no true fan missed Friday nights at the local Farm Center. For just the price of a ticket, the wonders of the wrestling world were right before your eyes.  Who wouldn’t leap at a chance to see the Public Enemy duel the masked American Nightmare?   Fierce would be the battle—full of throws, kicks, punches, and pins.  The floor would rumble, the ropes would shudder, and heaven help the referee.

But no cheering crowd was ringside the night that Jacob wrestled with God.   Headed home after a twenty year absence, Jacob was understandably anxious and apprehensive.  He sent his spouses, his sons, his servants, and his stuff across the river but stayed alone on the other side.

But not for long.  “So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak”(Gen 32:24).  God’s wonders of creation capture the attention of many.  Others respond to the gentle whisper of His Word.  But this encounter required hand to hand combat, and so they wrestled.  Jacob was strong and scrappy.   God was great and graceful.  The fight wasn’t fair, but conquest wasn’t the God’s objective.  His goal was change, so He let Jacob grasp and grapple—all night long.

The bell rang as the sun rose.  Jacob wouldn’t let God go until He blessed him.   God didn’t let Jacob go until He broke him.  The knock-out punch was framed as a question.  “What’s your name?”(Gen 32:27)  And in a word, Jacob admitted he had become the deceiver his name described.

So God gave him a new one—Israel. “Because you have struggled with men and with God and have overcome”(Gen 32:28).  His success came from his surrender.  Jacob finally faced who he was—and who God is.   And he was never the same.  His sacred souvenir was a lifelong limp, but better a wrenched hip than a wrong heart.

Jacob never defended his title.  He didn’t need to.  For though the match was fixed, the victory wasn’t fake.

God’s truth will always triumph.