Genesis 32:21-32

²¹ So the gift passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.

²² The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the pass of the Jabbok.

²³ He took them and sent them on across the stream, and everything else that he had.

²⁴ And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the dawn ascended.

²⁵ The man saw that he was not able to dissuade Jacob, he hit his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.

²⁶ Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn has ascended.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

²⁷ And he asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”

²⁸ Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have persisted in your struggle with God and with men, and have proved yourself able.”

²⁹ Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he asked, “Why is it that you ask for my name?” And there he blessed him.

³⁰ So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,[1] saying, “For I have seen God face to face, but my soul has survived.”

³¹ The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel,[2] and he limped on his hip.

³² Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the thigh muscle. _________________________________________

surviving the struggle

Jacob is at a crisis point in his life. He has left his father-in-law behind and responded to God’s call to go back to Canaan. He learns that Esau is preparing to meet him with a band of 400 men. He fears this meeting greatly, and sends a great present of livestock on ahead of him in the hopes that he might appease his brother’s wrath.

That night, Jacob wrestles with a “man” constantly, and is injured on his hip joint. The next morning the “man” reveals that Jacob is going to be renamed Israel – “he strives with God.” He names that place Peniel, for, he says, “I have seen God face to face, but my soul has survived.”

Have you had your encounter with God? Keep striving with him until he blesses you.

LORD, we are hanging on, and we will not let go. We want to encounter you, and live to tell about it.

[1] peniel: “face of God,” or, perhaps, “my face has seen God.”

[2] penuel: a variant of peniel, or, perhaps “our face has seen God” (reflecting a later communal tradition).