Persevering with God :: Genesis 32:22-32

A couple thousand years ago, it was called the Jabbok. Today, this river is called Zerka ... “the River of Blue.” That’s probably a pretty accurate description of how Jacob felt that night long ago when he was left alone alongside the river. Jacob was heading home and he was worried ... emotionally distressed ... you know, feeling blue. He was worried about seeing his brother Esau again. He was worried that his past sins would catch up with him.

Would Esau still be angry when they met? Did Esau still want to kill him? Would all of the deceptions of his past ... first of Esau, then of Isaac, then of Laban, and even of his wife Leah ... would they catch up with him? Did God still love him? Would God bless him and keep him and make his face shine upon him? 

Yes, left to himself, Jacob must have felt mighty blue by the blue brook called the Jabbok. 

This is the setting of our Old Testament reading for this second Sunday in Lent. Jacob ... who had deceived his brother Esau, not once but twice, and then his father Isaac, and then his uncle Laban, and then his wife Leah ... was worried. As all of his past sins pressed down upon him, we read that: During that night, [Jacob] arose and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven children, and ... caused them to pass over the river, [along with] all that he had [so that] Jacob would be left alone. But a man wrestled with him until dawn (vv 22-24).

GOD INTERVENES IN OUR LIVES TO GIVE US A NEW IDENTITY

This is our theme today. Before we get much further into our text from Genesis 32 ... 

1. We need to know: Who is this man? Who is Jacob? Who says what to whom? And who ultimately prevails?

Answering these questions correctly is important for our meditation today. Otherwise, you will miss the point of our Old Testament reading: It is God who intervenes in our lives to give us a new identity. As most scholars know, this text is one of the most obscure passages in the Hebrew scriptures to translate because it is lacking proper pronouns. So as I always do in my sermons, I have taken great care to work out a faithful translation. 

Listen closely so you can understand why it is so difficult to translate ... When HE saw that HE was not able to overcome HIM, HE touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was dislocated as HE wrestled with HIM. Then HE said, “Let ME go because the dawn has arisen.” And HE said, “I will not let YOU go unless YOU bless ME.” And HE said to HIM, “What is your name?” And HE said, “Jacob.” Then HE said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, because YOU have persevered with God. And with men YOU have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked, “Please tell ME your name.” And HE said, “Why [do] YOU ask for my name?” And HE blessed HIM there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel because “I saw God face to face and MY very being was rescued” (vv 25-30).

Those six verses from Genesis 32 use the personal pronouns he, him, you, me, and I TWENTY-SIX times and the proper nouns Jacob and God just seven times! The only thing that is absolutely clear in these verses is that Jacob’s hip was dislocated with just a touch, and Jacob’s name was changed after Jacob identified himself. More than that we can be sure that it was God who initiated this encounter, literally because Jacob says so ... and it was Jacob who was left as a changed man when God himself declared to Jacob, your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, because you have persevered with God. 

Yes, thanks be to God, HE is the one who intervenes in our lives. HE is the one who calls us ... and gathers us ... and enlightens us ... and unites us. HE is the one who changes us ... and nourishes us ... and sustains us ... and raises us. God alone gives us strength to confess who we actually are. It is God alone who intervenes in our lives and enables us to persevere in the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

2. When the night began, Jacob thought he knew who he was. 

Then God intervened in Jacob’s life and Jacob began wrestling ... getting dusty if you will ... with this reality. Just like he had done with everyone else in his life, Jacob tried to dominate the man ... supplant the man ... overpower the man ... just like he had been doing all of his life.

In Hebrew, the name Jacob means to follow at the heel or to supplant. He had been given this name because Jacob and his brother Esau were born seconds apart ... Esau first, followed immediately by Jacob, who was literally following at the heel of his brother, grasping the heel of his brother (Gen 25:26), wrestling with Esau. He would ultimately supplant Esau ... supersede Esau, and continue living that way ... struggling with and supplanting men ... following on their heels and pulling them down. He tricked his brother Esau into giving up his birthright (Gen 25:33) ... he deceived his father, Isaac, into giving him Esau’s blessing (Gen 27:27-29) ... he manipulated the flocks of his uncle, Laban, to his own advantage, making himself incredibly rich (Gen 30:25-43). He even supplanted his first wife Leah with his favorite Rachel. 

When we meet Jacob in our text he has finally decided that business tensions with his uncle Laban have become too great. So he heads home to Canaan, where he hasn’t seen his brother Esau in 20 years. The last time they were together, Esau wanted to kill Jacob for taking his birthright and blessing (Gen 27:41). 

That brings us back to our text. Jacob is worried. So he sends his family and all his belongings across the river Jabbok. And Jacob remained [behind for the purpose] of being alone. And a man wrestled with him until dawn. And [Jacob] saw that he was unable to overcome [the man] (v. 24-25a). 

Before we wrestle with the he, him, you, me, and I in this text, there are a couple of things to note here. First is the Hebrew verb we translate as overcome. It is the Hebrew word ya.khol (יָכֹל). This word means to be able, or because it is negated here ... to be unable. It is a word that carries a connotation of weakness, especially of men. It is never used to describe the Lord God Almighty. Men are weak when compared to God. 

So when we read that “he saw that he was unable to overcome him” ... it must mean that Jacob saw that HE was unable to prevail over God ... not the other way around, as some Bible translations suggest. The voice of the prophet Hosea helps us further with our interpretation. Hosea says the man wrestling Jacob is an angel. Like God, angels are not weak. It took just one angel to strike down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night (2 Kgs 19:34-36). ... And on this night ... the man ... an angel ... preincarnate Christ ... dislocated Jacob’s thigh with just a touch. And Jacob persevered with God and was changed forever ... into the Christian we know today. 

Then [Jacob] said, Let me go for the dawn has arisen [because] I am not going to let you go until you bless me. So [the man] said to [Jacob], What is your name? And he said, Jacob. Then he said, Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, because you have persevered with God, and with men you have prevailed (vv 26-28).

3. Now I will ask, who are you? 

As you sit here in worship today, wrestling with the sickness of sin in your life ... some of which has left you disabled and disjointed ... you need to know how to answer this important question: Who are YOU? 

Too often we think we are in charge of our lives, that we can overpower God. Too often we think we are the masters of our destiny. We think we know who God is. But then we forget where he meets us. We forget how and when God cares for us ... we forget how God preserves us ... and nourishes us ... and reconciles us to himself. We forget who unites us ... and brings us together ... and ends discord and strife. God is the one who blesses us through word and sacraments 

So now I ask you to join me in identifying yourself so that God hears your confession of who you are. You don’t need to say it so that anyone else hears it. Join me in admitting ... O almighty God, I, a poor miserable sinner ... 

4. I am Jacob. I need a savior. And I won’t let you go until you bless me (v. 26). 

And so God did. And so he does. 

Please now turn to page 326 in you [Lutheran Service Book] and join me in confessing our faithful doctrine on confession. What is confession? ....

5. God has intervened in your lives to give you a new identity as one his very own.

Now you who persevere with God have nothing to worry about. He has changed you from sinner to Saint. He has baptized you, setting you apart from the world. He has spoken his promises to you through the promised son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ... our Lord Jesus Christ, who alone has atoned for your sins. Jesus has overcome ... supplanted ... prevailed over sin, death, and the devil. Our sinless Lord took your sin upon himself and died for you. He shed his blood for you ... because without the shedding of his blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins. 

Jesus has prevailed over the sinful man within you ... drowning the Old Adam so that you can arise into the newness of eternal life. And now, like Jacob ultimately did with his son Joseph, he has clothed you with the robe of righteousness to wear to the Supper ... where he delivers to you the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God has intervened in our lives to give us a new identity. You are a Christian ... saved by the intervention of God’s grace ... that is, the blood of Jesus ... which is received by the faith that perseveres with God ... in Jesus’ name.