Now I Get It…

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

It has always confused me regarding the situation with Jacob wrestling an angelic being/God in Genesis 32. I confess the reason it confused me was due to the way that section of Scripture was structured. I would read it, think about it and simply get tripped up when I came to the part where we learn that the angelic being/God apparently could not beat Jacob in their wrestling match.

25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”

But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” (Genesis 32:25-26 NKJV)

The capital “H” used in the first section refers to the angelic being/God and the small “h” refers to Jacob. Notice in v25, it tells us “Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him…” which I’ve always found interesting. One would think even an angel, much less God, would be able to easily prevail over a mere human being, yet that’s obviously not the case. So what gives?

I will also admit that apart from simply contemplating these verses, I never took the time to really research things to find out what learned men knew about the passage. So I decided to stop being lazy and stupid and do the research. There are some very interesting responses to this section as to the whys and wherefores. Some are somewhat outlandish, while others seem to hit the mark completely and illuminate the actual meaning of the text. Before I get into one particular article on the subject, I’d like to point out a few things that I learned all by myself that helped me to better understand the text. These are things I knew of but simply did not put together before.

One of the things God always did when He called someone to Himself was to make promises to them. Often, those promises included the fact that God would literally, on oath, promise to never leave or forsake that person, in some cases, at least until He had completed the work that He promised to do through them. This also applies to each and every Christian and we know that His work will never be completed in us in this life, but only after our body dies and our spirit soars free to God’s abode in the heavenlies. However, even then, we will always have part in God’s blessing, nearness and shared perfection (free of sin), throughout all eternity. Does it really get any better than that? If only we could have all that now, but of course, the sin nature remains within us, cramping our lifestyle to live for Him. But the fact that the sin nature remains with us even after we receive salvation can actually be seen as a somewhat “good” thing because of what it should prompt us to do. Let me explain.

In Genesis 28:13-15, God spoke to Jacob and made the following promise to him.

13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

This occurred at Bethel, where Jacob dreamed of a ladder that reached the heavens with angels climbing up and down that ladder. When he awoke, he realized the Lord was in that place and created a memorial stone, naming that place Bethel, which means house of God.

Please notice specifically verse 15 where the Lord tells Jacob that He is “…with you and will keep you wherever you go…I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” So, we see God promising to be with Jacob and to not leave him. That’s an important fact in understanding what happened when Jacob wrestled the angel/God, so please keep that in mind.

As a Christian since the age of 13, I can attest to the fact that I have tried to do many things with my own strength, not God’s. I have spent years depending on my own intellect, critical thinking skills and inner strength to accomplish what I thought God would have me do in various situations. Jacob spent years doing the same thing, but I will state that the main difference between Jacob and me is that Jacob was far more conniving and manipulative than I have been. That’s not to pat myself on the back, because I still rely too heavily on my own strength instead of “wrestling” with God over an issue. Don’t get me wrong. I have spent time wrestling with God over certain situations but it has never become something that accomplished what Jacob’s wrestling accomplished for him.

So we know that God had previously promised Jacob He would not leave him. Segue way to Genesis 32, where we see Jacob literally wrestling with a being that many conservative commentators believe to be Jesus incarnate. This is exactly why it never made sense to me at all. How could Jacob even have a chance to wrestle with God and arrive to a point where Jesus incarnate says that Jacob must let go of Him because He could not prevail against him? It doesn’t make sense at all, unless we look at it from a different perspective.

The text tells us that the two wrestled until the break of day at which point the heavenly being needed to leave. At this point, it appears to me that the two are not wrestling anymore, but that Jacob is simply holding onto the Man with all the strength he had in him. In essence, Jacob refused to let Him go. I can picture him in my mind holding onto his leg or foot or waist with every bit of strength in him so that the heavenly being could not depart. I also find it interesting that this same heavenly being did not simply disappear as Jesus all of a sudden appeared in the midst of believers after His resurrection (John 20:19–20).

The fact that the Man did not instantly disappear out of Jacob’s grasp proves the point that God would not leave Jacob, as He had previously promised in Genesis 28. This is why, I believe, the Man asked Jacob to let him go. If Jacob had released his grip on the Man, He could have then left the area. But because Jacob refused to let him go and kept a vice grip on Him, the Man remained. This realization has become extremely uplifting to me. God not only cares deeply about His children, but if we make the effort to cling to him, He will honor our clinging. As Dr. Bob Wilkin notes in the quote below, clinging is what the New Testament refers to as abiding in Christ.

In essence, Jacob was not wrestling with God at this point, but seriously clinging to Him! Jacob did not want to dare release his grip until the Man blessed him! Again, he wasn’t wrestling with him in the normal sense of the word to win a match. He was clinging to the Man because he so desperately wanted a blessing from Him.

Dr. Bob Wilkin, in an article he wrote in 2023, notes the following about this incident.

Are you clinging to God? We are to cling to Him no matter what troubles we face.[1]

Wilkin goes on further to state the reasons why we Christians must also learn to cling to God.

1. We must cling to God if we wish to be blessed now and in the life to come. The NT expression for clinging to God is abiding in Christ (see John 14-16; 1 John).
2. Perseverance (continued clinging) is required if we are to please God and rule with Christ in His kingdom (Gal 6:7-9; 2 Tim 2:12; 4:6-8).
3. God changes our lives as we continue to cling to Him. The NT says it this way: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” (Rom 12:2). “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror [the Bible] the glory of the Lord [Jesus], are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor 3:18).

When Jacob chose to cling to God, his outlook finally changed. In essence, he came to the end of his own trying because he had learned to rely on God. The fact that his hip was put out of joint and he spent the rest of his life limping because of it was a continual reminder of the incident in which he pursued God with all of his heart and was rewarded for his efforts.

Because he pursued God, Jacob was given a new name for one thing. He was now called Israel. It is interesting that when Israel – the nation – was being rebuked or judged by God, He would often refer to them as “Jacob,” not “Israel.” Israel was Jacob’s new name and his new life as he now learned to trust God to guide and direct his steps.

As I’ve said, there have been times in my life when I’ve “wrestled” with God through prayer, pursuing Him, His guidance and His purposes in my life. The trouble is that I’ve not had a time in my life I can look back on and know beyond all doubt that God’s Presence as I pursued Him was so overwhelming that it forever changed my outlook. I can look back and recall and remember with fondness how God has responded to many of my prayers, but still, too often, I tend to rely on my own strength, thinking and decision-making, rather than rely solely on God and Him alone, trusting that He will come through because He loves me and will never leave me.

I am realizing just how much God wants us to cling to Him/abide in Christ. We cannot abide/cling unless we are going out of our way to reach for it. Are you reaching for God? Are you absolutely intent on gaining from Him; answers to prayers, blessings unknown, a greater awareness of His Presence? These things do not happen haphazardly. They happen when we purposely reach out to God to grab ahold of all that God has for us.

Isn’t this the essence of what we are told in Hebrews 10:23?

Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. (Berean Study Bible)

Let me repeat something I’ve said many times previously. If you are not in His Word, chances are you are not thinking too much about Him, His plans in and through you or His promises to you. If you are in His Word daily or at least often, the truth there will be at the forefront of your mind. Because of that, you will likely be reaching out to Him in prayer.

Reaching out is only the first step. Clinging or holding onto the promises of His Word in continued prayer is the only way I know of to gain from God. We must learn perseverance in our pursuit of God and I’m not talking about in the area of feelings or emotions (though God can certainly impact those areas). I’m talking about being consistent and persistent in desiring blessings from Him.

I’m not at all consistent in this but having a greater understanding of the situation between Jacob and the Man he wrestled with has given me hope that not only is it not wrong to heavily rely on God for all things, but it really is the only way to live the Christian life.

May you be blessed as you endeavor to grab ahold and cling to God for all things.

[1] https://faithalone.org/blog/why-and-how-did-god-wrestle-with-jacob-genesis-3222-33/

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

Source: https://studygrowknowblog.com/2025/01/10/now-i-get-it/