Genesis 32: 22-26: “And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.”
Jacob made sure that he kept himself safe. I suppose he would have justified himself by saying that Esau was only interested in hurting him so it would be okay to send his family ahead but he still sent his family ahead of him. He was afraid of Esau but he made sure that Esau would have to get through all his family to finally reach him. Today that would be called using human shields. Never the less, God wasn’t finished with Jacob yet and he met with an angel of the Lord during the night. We know that this was an angel of the Lord, or maybe even the Lord Himself come in the form of a man because Jacob understood that this man could bless him. This man was also able to touch Jacob in the hollow of his thigh and leave him with a permanent disability. Jacob had spent the majority of his life fighting against God to get the things that God promised him and wanted to give him and now he wrestled with this man all night. Jacob spent many years working outside with animals and was a strong man but he was unable to defeat this man who came to him in the night. Even though he couldn’t defeat the man, Jacob still wanted to have the blessing and asked this man to bless him as well. In this case the blessing came with a reminder; Jacob had to limp for the rest of his life. Christians have a blessing as well, one that comes straight from the Lord God but the only reminder that we have of this is the Lord’s Supper where we follow His command and remember that He paid the full price of our salvation.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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