Bible Questions Answered:
“A man one night came and wrestled
with Jacob. Who was the man, and why did Jacob wrestle with him?”
Bernie/ Mainz, Germany
Bible Answer:
Bible Text:
Genesis 32:24-32 NLT
24 This left Jacob all alone in the
camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to
break.
25 When the man saw that he would
not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of
its socket.
26 Then the man said, “Let me go,
for the dawn is breaking!” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go
unless you bless me.”
27 “What is your name?” the man
asked. He replied, “Jacob.”
28 “Your name will no longer be
Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel,
because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”
29 “Please tell me your name,”
Jacob said. “Why do you want to know My name?” the man replied.
Then he blessed Jacob there.
30 Jacob named the place Peniel
(which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face
to face, yet my life has been spared.”
31 The sun was rising as Jacob left
Peniel, and he was limping because of the injury to his hip.
32 (Even today the people of Israel
don’t eat the tendon near the hip socket because of what happened
that night when the man strained the tendon of Jacob’s hip.)
All night Jacob
wrestled with a man.
What on earth had
started such a contest, and who was the man, who caused Jacob to
spend his night in arm to arm combat?
Who, indeed?
Well, actually the
scriptures tell us twice who the man was.
28...”you have
fought with God “...
30 Jacob named
the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I
have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.”
The man was the
second person of the Trinity, The preincarnate Lord Jesus Christ.
Known as a
“theophany,” The Lord Jesus Christ oft revealed Himself to
humanity as “The Angel Of The Lord,” or as with Jacob a man.
Angel Of The Lord:
whenever you read that in the Old Testament, remember it is none
other than The Lord Jesus Christ.
Exodus 3:1-6 KJV
1 Now Moses kept
the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he
led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain
of God, even to Horeb.
2 And The
Angel Of The Lord appeared unto him in a flame of
fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and,
behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3 And Moses
said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush
is not burnt.
4 And when The
Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him
out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And
he said, Here am I.
5 And he said,
Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the
place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
6 Moreover he
said, I am The God of thy father, The God of Abraham, The God of
Isaac, and The God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was
afraid to look upon God.
Genesis 18:1,2
KJV (Read the whole chapter. The Lord Jesus, and two angels.)
The Lord
appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One
day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the
hottest part of the day.
2 He looked up
and noticed three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran to
meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground.
Why did Jacob
wrestle this man all night?
And again in our
scripture, we are told.
Genesis 32:26
KJV
Then the man said, “Let me go, for
the dawn is breaking!” But Jacob said, “I will not let you
go unless you bless me.”
Jacob could tell this was no ordinary man, and that he wanted to be
blessed by him, at any cost.
Jacob desired The Mans blessing, more than life itself.
Hosea 12:3-5 NLT
3 Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother; when he
became a man, he even fought with God.
4 Yes, he wrestled with The Angel and won. He wept and
pleaded for a blessing from Him. There at Bethel he met God
face to face, and God spoke to him—
5 The Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, The Lord is His name!
Jacob wrestled for The Man's blessing, and we read....The Man (Angel
Of The Lord, theophany, The Lord Jesus) said....
Genesis 32:28 NLT
“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him.
“From now on you will be called Israel,
because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”
Genesis 32:30 NLT
Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for
he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been
spared.”
Dear friend have you had your Peniel?
Jeremiah 29:13,14 KJV
13 And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me
with all your heart.
14 And I will be found of you, saith The Lord..."
James 4:8 KJV
Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you...”
