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Jacob Wrestles with a Man? an Angel? God?

Read Genesis chapters 31, 32, and 33.

We all want to be blessed, to feel significant, and that we matter to someone and to the world. It has been a driver in my own life. I am the middle child of divorced parents, an absent father, and a somewhat introverted mother. Has my need to achieve and succeed been driven by a desire for their blessing? To get affirmation?

Jacob was born into a family that had an extravagant promise hanging over their heads. Don’t diminish how that must have impacted the culture of that family. Their family and descendants were to be great. God will bless them and make them great, and through them God will bless all the families of the earth. Talk about high family expectations!

Was that what drove Rebekah to push Jacob so hard, even to the point of deception? Was that why she was so anxious about tribal purity? Is that what drives Jacob to dream of heavenly stairways and have dreams of angelic visitations that repeat the family Vision Quest? They are haunted by the notion of blessing. My paraphrase of the account:

Jacob learns that his brother Esau is coming to greet him with a garrison of 400 men. He sends Rachel, Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah ahead, and flees the other direction, across the River Jabbok. He meets a man and they fight, wrestling all night, neither of them relenting. In the morning, the man gives up but not before he wounds Jacob, striking him in the hip.

“You win.” the man says.

And Jacob’s response is peculiar.

“I will not let you go until you bless me.”

“What is your name?” the man asks.

“Grabs-the-Heel,” The name had become associated with something else entirely for the people of that region. They heard the stories. The name was now associated with usurpation and deception. When people heard the name Jacob, they thought, “Liar. Thief.” Yes, he is the titular head of Abraham’s tribe, but his leadership is tainted. His blessing is a lie. Jacob is desperate to fulfill the promise of the Blessing, but his reputation is tainted. How can he bless others when he is a phony?

“I will not let you go until you bless me.”

The man gives him a new name. Isra-El. Because you “wrestled with God and human beings and won.”

And then he blessed him.

We all want to be blessed, to have a sense of significance, and hopefully we want to then share that blessing with others. But often that sense of worth is tainted with our poor attempts at gaining significance. This is at the heart of this story.

It’s often called “Jacob wrestling the angel,” and that is a reasonable rendering of the language, a messenger of God. But more is implied: Jacob is fighting with God for significance and forgiveness.

Israel. Not only does it change the nature of Jacob’s identity, it will describe the nation that grows from this family, a people who wrestle with God.

Genesis 34–36

The rape of Dinah. The theme of tribal identity and loyalty is here again. A Shechem prince is enamored with Dinah and sleeps with her (forces himself on her?). Jacob is willing to let him marry Dinah if their entire tribe will convert to the practice of the Abrahamic tribe. The prince’s father agrees and tells all the grown Shechemite men they must be circumcised. While they are recovering from their surgery, Dinah’s brothers burst in and kill them all in revenge.

After a brief time being reunited with his brother Esau, the difference in their religious practice separates them. Esau marries into the Canaanite culture and is polytheistic. Jacob is monotheistic. Eventually the descendants of Esau settle in the region of Edom in the southeast portion of Canaan.

We will encounter the descendants of the Edomites down the road, as well as the descendants of the Moabites (remember Lot’s daughters and their offspring?). So make a mental note. Edomites, Moabites.

Questions for Reflection or Discussion

1. Jacob demands a blessing from this divine visitor because deep down he knows his blessing is a phony. Do you feel blessed? Are you getting enough blessing from your family in order to succeed? Where are places outside of the family people attempt to get a blessing?

2. What do you think about being named “wrestles with God”? Is that a good name or not? Why?