Genesis 32:22-31 (GNT)
22 That same night Jacob got up, took his two wives, his two concubines, and his eleven children, and crossed the Jabbok River.
23 After he had sent them across, he also sent across all that he owned,
24 but he stayed behind, alone.
Then a man came and wrestled with him until just before daybreak.
25 When the man saw that he was not winning the struggle, he hit Jacob on the hip, and it was thrown out of joint.
26 The man said, “Let me go; daylight is coming.”
“I won't, unless you bless me,” Jacob answered.
27 “What is your name?” the man asked.
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 The man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob. You have struggled with God and with men, and you have won; so your name will be Israel.”
29 Jacob said, “Now tell me your name.”
But he answered, “Why do you want to know my name?” Then he blessed Jacob.
30 Jacob said, “I have seen God face-to-face, and I am still alive”; so he named the place Peniel.
31 The sun rose as Jacob was leaving Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
Reflection
The scripture reading today is just a part of a longer story so basically we have missed Jacob being born clutching onto the heel of his older brother, Esau (by minutes), his getting Esau to trade him his birthright for a bowl of stew (Esau was really hungry) and stealing his father’s blessing by pretending to be Esau (his father was blind and Esau was really hairy) after which Esau was really mad and Jacob runs away gets married (twice- long story)) has concubines and lots of children as well as goats, sheep, cows and camels. You get the gist of it – now he finds himself (he has father-in-law troubles) on the way home (God told him to go). He hears that Esau is coming with four hundred men so is a little worried about the greeting he will get (who wouldn’t be)!
So he prays to God, and all his fear for his family in face of his brother’s wrath and army and all his doubt about whether God really wanted him to return home, rise up as he reminds God what God has promised.
We are almost caught up here: Jacob decides that Esau might be a little more welcoming if he (Jacob) gives Esau some of his flocks and herds, sort of a pre-homecoming present so he sends off - 200 female goats and 20 males, 200 female sheep and 20 males, 30 milk camels with their young, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 males. He divided them into herds and put one of his servants in charge of each herd. These are big presents.
Jacob then breaks up his remaining herds into smaller groups in hopes that some might survive the wrath of Esau. If you are getting the idea that Jacob is more than a little afraid of meeting his brother, I think you are right. And now night is falling so Jacob takes his family and the servants and all their belongings across the river where they make camp and then he returns to spend the night alone.
Now that’s a place many of us have been – we know that feeling of not just being by ourselves but feeling alone – like the weight of the world is on our shoulders and we don’t know if we have the strength to hold it up. How did we get to this place and will we get out of it. I don’t know what Jacob was thinking that night on his way to bring his family across the river, saying goodbye to them and going back alone. But when he gets to his camp he isn’t alone, the scripture describes a man or an angel as being there and he and Jacob wrestle that whole night. As morning comes and Jacob seems to be winning the man/angel strikes Jacob on the hip managing to disable him. So you have Jacob wrestling, and while maybe not winning, certainly surviving albeit with a limp.
Then, you have a conversation between the man/angel/God and Jacob in which Jacob is given the name Israel (meaning God struggles or struggles with God) and when Jacob demands to know the name of God, he receives God’s blessing. Finally, Jacob/Israel makes the announcement “I have seen God face to face and I am still alive”. And he names the place Peniel (Face of God) and limps away into the sunrise.
The story ends well as Esau does welcome his brother with open arms, says he doesn’t need Jacob’s gifts and Jacob buys some land and settles down- home at last.
As I try to make sense of the story I find this last segment to be the hard part. Yes, we all or many of us know what it is like to feel alone - but wrestling with God! God giving us a name? Seeing God face to face! Yikes!
And yet this story does tell us something. Jacob went back to his camp expecting to be alone, maybe to continue his praying as he had the night before, maybe to endure a restless night as he contemplated the decisions and actions that led him to this very place in time. But he was wrong – God was there – with him.
So maybe those times when we feel most alone, times when we wonder if things could have been different if we had just done something differently, said something differently, been less harsh or rash. Times when we don’t know what the next day will bring. There is God, in that place, with us just like God was with Jacob.
The other thing that strikes me as important about this passage is that Jacob is not the same when he leaves, his name change may tell us who he will become but his limp is a part of him for the rest of his life, reminding him of this encounter every time he moves. Our encounters with God may not be as dramatic as Jacob’s but still they mark us in indelible ways. We cannot encounter God and walk away the same person. We may not expect it, we may not invite it but struggling with God can be part and parcel of believing in God. Thanks be to God.
Prayer
Holy One, God of Mystery
We read scripture and think
But those stories are long ago
And far away.
They aren’t about us.
They aren’t about me.
And then your vision of the Kingdom of God breaks through
And we get a glimpse of a changed world
Jacob gets to go home and be reconciled with his brother
We too ask for reconciliation and want to live in peace
with one another, seeking the best
for our many and diverse communities.
We get a glimpse of a changed people.
If you could be with Jacob wrestling through the night
You could be with all who feel alone
You could be with all who fear the future
You could be with all who face a past they regret
You could be with us and this we pray
In the name of Jesus the Christ
Amen
22 That same night Jacob got up, took his two wives, his two concubines, and his eleven children, and crossed the Jabbok River.
23 After he had sent them across, he also sent across all that he owned,
24 but he stayed behind, alone.
Then a man came and wrestled with him until just before daybreak.
25 When the man saw that he was not winning the struggle, he hit Jacob on the hip, and it was thrown out of joint.
26 The man said, “Let me go; daylight is coming.”
“I won't, unless you bless me,” Jacob answered.
27 “What is your name?” the man asked.
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 The man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob. You have struggled with God and with men, and you have won; so your name will be Israel.”
29 Jacob said, “Now tell me your name.”
But he answered, “Why do you want to know my name?” Then he blessed Jacob.
30 Jacob said, “I have seen God face-to-face, and I am still alive”; so he named the place Peniel.
31 The sun rose as Jacob was leaving Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
Reflection
The scripture reading today is just a part of a longer story so basically we have missed Jacob being born clutching onto the heel of his older brother, Esau (by minutes), his getting Esau to trade him his birthright for a bowl of stew (Esau was really hungry) and stealing his father’s blessing by pretending to be Esau (his father was blind and Esau was really hairy) after which Esau was really mad and Jacob runs away gets married (twice- long story)) has concubines and lots of children as well as goats, sheep, cows and camels. You get the gist of it – now he finds himself (he has father-in-law troubles) on the way home (God told him to go). He hears that Esau is coming with four hundred men so is a little worried about the greeting he will get (who wouldn’t be)!
So he prays to God, and all his fear for his family in face of his brother’s wrath and army and all his doubt about whether God really wanted him to return home, rise up as he reminds God what God has promised.
We are almost caught up here: Jacob decides that Esau might be a little more welcoming if he (Jacob) gives Esau some of his flocks and herds, sort of a pre-homecoming present so he sends off - 200 female goats and 20 males, 200 female sheep and 20 males, 30 milk camels with their young, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 males. He divided them into herds and put one of his servants in charge of each herd. These are big presents.
Jacob then breaks up his remaining herds into smaller groups in hopes that some might survive the wrath of Esau. If you are getting the idea that Jacob is more than a little afraid of meeting his brother, I think you are right. And now night is falling so Jacob takes his family and the servants and all their belongings across the river where they make camp and then he returns to spend the night alone.
Now that’s a place many of us have been – we know that feeling of not just being by ourselves but feeling alone – like the weight of the world is on our shoulders and we don’t know if we have the strength to hold it up. How did we get to this place and will we get out of it. I don’t know what Jacob was thinking that night on his way to bring his family across the river, saying goodbye to them and going back alone. But when he gets to his camp he isn’t alone, the scripture describes a man or an angel as being there and he and Jacob wrestle that whole night. As morning comes and Jacob seems to be winning the man/angel strikes Jacob on the hip managing to disable him. So you have Jacob wrestling, and while maybe not winning, certainly surviving albeit with a limp.
Then, you have a conversation between the man/angel/God and Jacob in which Jacob is given the name Israel (meaning God struggles or struggles with God) and when Jacob demands to know the name of God, he receives God’s blessing. Finally, Jacob/Israel makes the announcement “I have seen God face to face and I am still alive”. And he names the place Peniel (Face of God) and limps away into the sunrise.
The story ends well as Esau does welcome his brother with open arms, says he doesn’t need Jacob’s gifts and Jacob buys some land and settles down- home at last.
As I try to make sense of the story I find this last segment to be the hard part. Yes, we all or many of us know what it is like to feel alone - but wrestling with God! God giving us a name? Seeing God face to face! Yikes!
And yet this story does tell us something. Jacob went back to his camp expecting to be alone, maybe to continue his praying as he had the night before, maybe to endure a restless night as he contemplated the decisions and actions that led him to this very place in time. But he was wrong – God was there – with him.
So maybe those times when we feel most alone, times when we wonder if things could have been different if we had just done something differently, said something differently, been less harsh or rash. Times when we don’t know what the next day will bring. There is God, in that place, with us just like God was with Jacob.
The other thing that strikes me as important about this passage is that Jacob is not the same when he leaves, his name change may tell us who he will become but his limp is a part of him for the rest of his life, reminding him of this encounter every time he moves. Our encounters with God may not be as dramatic as Jacob’s but still they mark us in indelible ways. We cannot encounter God and walk away the same person. We may not expect it, we may not invite it but struggling with God can be part and parcel of believing in God. Thanks be to God.
Prayer
Holy One, God of Mystery
We read scripture and think
But those stories are long ago
And far away.
They aren’t about us.
They aren’t about me.
And then your vision of the Kingdom of God breaks through
And we get a glimpse of a changed world
Jacob gets to go home and be reconciled with his brother
We too ask for reconciliation and want to live in peace
with one another, seeking the best
for our many and diverse communities.
We get a glimpse of a changed people.
If you could be with Jacob wrestling through the night
You could be with all who feel alone
You could be with all who fear the future
You could be with all who face a past they regret
You could be with us and this we pray
In the name of Jesus the Christ
Amen
