“O God of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, You said to me, ‘Go back to your family and country. I will make you prosper.’ I am unworthy of all kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant.” Jacob acknowledges it is God’s hand that has been with him. It is all about God’s grace and kindness! “Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, Esau. For You said, ‘I will bless you and make your descendents like the sand of the sea.’ Those were Your words, not mine!”

Jacob sends his family and all his possessions across the River Jabbok (It is interesting to note that in Hebrew the names Jacob and Jabbok and the word “wrestle” all come from the same root word.). He is left all alone — just as he was when he originally left his home. In the middle of the night he is suddenly aware of a presence. He looks up and sees an outline of a man in his camp. “What do you want?” No response.

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Before he knows what to do next, Jacob finds himself in a wrestling match with this man that lasts the whole night. Jacob is 90 years old at this time, a tough dude. If you have ever done any wrestling, you know after five minutes you are exhausted. These two wrestle ‘til daybreak. Jacob tries every move he knows — the airplane spin, the diamond cutter, the full nelson, the half nelson, the Bohemian nutcracker — all to no avail. His opponent is too strong, but he gives a valiant fight. As the first hint of the dawn greets the horizon, the man reaches down and touches the socket of Jacob’s hip, and it is wrenched. He falls down in pain, but he will not let go of his grip. The man says, “Let me go for it is daybreak.”

Jacob says, “I will not unless You bless me.” Jacob had a grip on this man like the grip he had on Esau’s heel and on Esau’s blessing. But this time it is a grip not of deception, but of desperation for Jacob had discovered this is no ordinary man he wrestles. “I need You. I need Your help — Your blessing — Your assurance. My life is in Your hands.”

The man asks, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” meaning one who supplants.

“Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, which means one who wrestles with God — God’s fighter. For you have struggled with God and have overcome.”

Jacob wants to know the man’s name, but He wouldn’t tell him. He leaves after giving Jacob a blessing. Jacob calls the place Peniel — meaning “‘face of God,’ because I have seen God face to face and lived.”

Who is this man? Some say it was an angel. Others, including myself, believe it is the one often referred to in the Old Testament as the Angel of the Lord, who may well be a pre-incarnate appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ — the Son of God. Jacob leaves Peniel with a limp. He leaves the crossing of Jabbok different from when he arrived. I suspect many of us here have wrestled with God long into the night, though not in a physical sense. We have struggled with Him and found Him to be a tough opponent who will not let us pin Him down — He doesn’t readily submit to what we want!