This story is our story. It’s all connected
So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him
till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not
overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so
that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the
man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless
me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,”
he answered.
Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob,
but Israel, because you have struggled with God and
with humans and have overcome.” Jacob said, “Please
tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask
my name?” Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called
the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face
to face, and yet my life was spared.”
Genesis 32: 24-30 New International Version (NIV)
Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as
wife…Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife,
because she was barren…
Genesis 25:20-21 (NIV)
But the children struggled together within her; and she
said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to
inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her: “Two
nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be
separated from your body; One people shall be stronger
than the other, And the older shall serve the younger. ”
So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth,
indeed there were twins in her womb
Genesis 25:22-24 (NIV)
…So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.
And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he
ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau
despised his birthright.
Genesis 25:33-34 (NIV)
See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like
Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as
the oldest son.
Hebrews 12:16 (NIV)
Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel
you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him
and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are
the hands of Esau.” And he did not recognize him,
because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands;
so he blessed him. Then he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He said, “I am.”
Genesis 27:21-24 (NIV)
So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which
his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The
days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will
kill my brother Jacob.”
Genesis 27:41 (NIV)
Although the promise is still present, life is anything but perfect
for God’s people. Yet God’s divine guarantee of this promise and
blessing on this family never waivers.
“…I saw God face to face, and yet my life was
spared.”
He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept
and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and
talked with him there…
Hosea 12:4 (NIV)
“So He said to him, “What is your name?”
He said, “Jacob.”
And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob,
but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with
men, and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell
me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you
ask about My name?” And He blessed him there.”
Genesis 32: 28-29 (NIV)
ISRAEL
“one who struggles or wrestles with God.”
How often do we find ourselves grasping for something that’s not ours? That’s just out of reach? That we think we should have or deserve?
“…one people will be stronger than the
other, and the older will serve the younger.”
Genesis 25:23 (NIV)
“Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open.”
-Corrie ten Boom
“Dear God, I am so afraid to open my clenched fists! Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to? Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands? Please help me to gradually open my hands and to discover that I am not what I own, but what you want to give me. And what you want to give me is love—unconditional, everlasting love.”
Henri Nouwen “You Are the Beloved: Daily Meditations for Spiritual Living .”