The Sermon: Genesis 32:22-31

The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. ²⁴ And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. ²⁵ When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched 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 day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” ²⁷ And he said to 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 striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” ²⁹ Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. ³⁰ So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” ³¹ The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

Theme: WRESTLING WITH GOD

Summary: Twenty years after stealing his brother Esau’s birthright and running away, Jacob has returned home with his family and possessions in tow. Jacob is terrified that Esau might still want him dead. After praying for God’s deliverance, Jacob spends all night wrestling with a man who turns out to be God Himself. At daybreak, God agrees to bless Jacob and changes his name from Jacob (“deceiver”) to Israel (“he who wrestles with God”). Notice that it was God who initiated the exercise and used it to strengthen Jacob’s faith. It was God who blessed Jacob for his persistent faith and left him with a physical memento of his victory as a warning against relapsing into his “deceiving” nature. We pray that God would stamp out any deception in our hearts and grant us such persistent faith which boldly trusts His promises.