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I should have entitled this, “Wrestling In Prayer” Gen. 32:13ff.. Jacob sends a gift to his distraught brother Esau, 550 animals, a gift to appease his enemy and the bigger the better! There is a principle ‘…Between The Lines…” here for us if we look carefully and it works. You can’t dislike or hate someone you are doing a kind deed for and it’s hard to dislike or hate someone who is doing a kind deed for you. However, in v.24 Ya’akov/Jacob the heel catcher, the supplanter, the conniver, the swindler was left alone. His family is gone, his possessions are gone, his servants are gone, his protection is gone, and the verse says, “And Jacob was left alone;” Have you ever been alone with God? Just you and God, in a cabin with a Bible, a blanket, a canteen and maybe a Strong’s concordance for a pillar? That could change your life forever and those in your inner circle, trust me!

Anyway, it says, “And there wrestled a man with him until, the breaking of the day.” All night he wrestled with this ‘Man of God’ and the angel did not prevail, Jacob was wrestling for his life and those of his family also. This ‘Man of God’ did not prevail against Jacob and the sun was coming up, I guess Jacob had him in an angel-lock, so he dislocated Jacob’s thigh and he still wouldn’t let go and said, “I will not let you go except you bless me.” Praise God! Now, that my friend is persistent, desperate, sacred praying, Jacob is destitute. In Gen. 32:28 Jacob gets a new name, ‘Israel, Prince with God’ because as a prince he struggled with man and with God and has prevailed, Wow! Can men say that about you, can they? Have you struggled with men and with God and have you prevailed with both? Do you bear the marks, do you walk with a limp? Read II Cor. 11:23-33 and 12:1-10 and tell me if Paul bore the marks, struggled with men and with God and prevailed? Tell me if he fought a good fight, kept the faith, finished his course? If you think a vibrant, effectual prayer life is easy, read on…….

The word wrestled is the Hebrew word (abaq) and means to float away as a vapor, to be dust, to grapple, to be light dust particles, the idea is one of fierce wrestling, being ground into powder; this is the only place this word appears in the Older Testament. In Gen. 30:8 Rachel wrestles with Leah (patal) to twine or struggle.  There a different word and meaning is used altogether, then you have in Gen. 32:24. Here the struggling is intense, in the dirt, dust is flying, grinding each other into powder, this wrestling match is so fierce bones are dislocated, and no one is yelling, uncle. Wow! What a beautiful picture of persistence in prayer, of not letting go until God blesses you, hanging on tenaciously until death or blessing! “Persevering in Prayer!” In Luke 11:5-10, Yeshua/Jesus tells us about ‘Importunity in Prayer’ with the parable of the, ‘Persistent Friend’ and again in Luke 18:1-8 with the, ‘Woman and The Judge.’ Importunity means to request or beg for urgently, to be persistent in a request or demand, to be troublesomely urgent. Jacob is troublesomely urgent, Esau is coming to kill him and his family with 400 warriors. He’s scared, desperate and destitute, just where God wanted him.

He is at his wits end, or in ‘Wits end corner’ have you ever been there? He is wrestling, not with Abraham’s God, and not with Isaac’s God, he is wrestling with the God of Jacob, the God of Israel, you will see that in Gen. 32:20 when he builds an altar to ‘El-elohe-Israel’  “To the God of the God of Israel.” But here he meets God ‘face to face’ and names the place, ‘Peniel’ which means, “The Face of God.” Have you wrestled with God all night in the dust lately? Do you have your ‘Peniel?’ Yes, Jacob was a scoundrel, and a conniver but he had his Water-loo on the Jabbok River and he received a new name, ‘Israel – Prince with God’ (He will rule as God). This is the first time Israel is used in the Bible. Oh that we might have our own Waterloo with God, our own Jabbok River and have it soon. I wish that every one of us could wrestle (abaq) all night for a blessing from God and cry out in the night, “I won’t let You go unless You bless me!” Then get up limping, just how desperate are you? Peniel, “The face of God,” east of the Jabbok River, he has not entered the Promised Land yet, and before he does he must meet God face to face. If he is to become the nation of Israel and rule as God would have him, he must know Him personally. Gen. 32:31, “As he passed over the Peniel the sun rose upon him and he halted/limped upon his thigh.” Just as he crosses the river, the sun rises on him, the dawn breaks, and he limps into the Promised Land ready to meet his brother, broken and humble, but a ‘Prince with God.’ What a change, what a transformation a night of prayer can make in our lives but more importantly in the lives of others in our inner circle.

Gen. 33:1, “And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked and ‘Behold Esau’ came and with him 400 men.” The moment he crossed the Jabbok River he faced his greatest fear. Prayer doesn’t always remove our fears, it gives us the strength many times to face them head on and God is always with us in the midst of them, Isa. 43:1-7. Here comes Jacob’s greatest fear, “ESAU,” Gen. 33:4, “And Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and they wept.” Oh my, I bet Jacob was not expecting that reception. Esau set out to kill him, not to kiss him, you don’t take 400 warriors to a kissing party. What changed Esau’s heart? The 550 animals, seeing all the women and children, his limping, humble brother bowing seven times; I believe the same angel, “The Angel of The LORD,” that touched Jacob’s thigh that night while wrestling in prayer, touched Esau’s heart while wrestling in sleep. Not to belittle the gift to the offended party and the bigger the better, but your prayers many times will do as much, if not more to soften the heart of the offended party to the touch of the Master’s hand than anything else. In fact 25 years later, Jacob and Esau together bury their father Isaac who is 180 years old in Gen. 35:29 in the cave of Machpelah with Rebekah their mother. That prayer on the Jabbok River is still working 25 years later or was it the gift of 550 animals? One thing for sure, Jacob was still limping on that hip…..!   “…Between The Lines…”

“Oh LORD, may we have our Peniel and may we have it soon. We want to wrestle with You or Your Angel and prevail. May we know both the ‘Presence’ of Your almighty power and the ‘Power’ of Your almighty presence in a new and personal way like Jacob.” In ha Shem Yeshua we pray. Amen!

“Portraits of Prayer In Genesis”  ‘Jacob the Angel Wrestler Part #4’