The beauty of surrender
As the new year opens before us, we’re invited into new beginnings. Fresh starts need us to let go of the old and hold tightly to the new. God calls all of us into the ultimate fresh start by letting go of our perceived control and trusting rather in His. This letting go is hard, it’s a struggle and a wrestling with God. Jacob’s life can teach us how to do this, and how everything changes when we cling to God rather than ourselves and the things of this world.
Scripture
Genesis 32:22-32 ESV 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. 32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip on the sinew of the thigh.
Bible Study Questions
Jacob's life is a mess
Jacob struggled against people from the day he was born clutching his twin brother’s heel. He cheated his brother out of his birthright and blessing and then fled to his mother’s family where he struggled against his uncle. After about 20 years God sends him back home and he must confront his past.
Genesis 27:41 ESV Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
Genesis 28:16 ESV Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.”
Genesis 31:4-7 ESV So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was [5] and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. [6] You know that I have served your father with all my strength, [7] yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me.
Genesis 31:3 ESV Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”
Jacob is challenged beyond himself
Jacob sends messages and gifts to his estranged brother hoping to bribe him, but he hears that his brother is coming out to meet him with an army.
Genesis 32:6-7 ESV And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” 7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps,
James 4:6-10 ESV But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [7] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. [9] Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. [10] Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
2 Corinthians 12:8-10 ESV Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. [9] But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. [10] For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Jacob trusts in God's promise
The situation is hopeless for Jacob except for one thing. God has already promised to establish him. He trusts in this promise, reflecting on God’s past deliverance and provision. What does this trust tell us about Jacob and why is this trust so important for a child of God?
Genesis 32:9-12 ESV And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. 11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. 12 But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”
Romans 4:20-22 ESV No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, [21] fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. [22] That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”
Jacob is alone, separated from everything he had
Jacob is found in a place of solitude, separated from everything he owns and loves. We see the same situation may times in Scripture with men like Elijah. Why is solitude and separation from the things of the world used by God when He deals with us?
Genesis 32:22-23 ESV 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.
1 Kings 19:3-4 ESV Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. [4] But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
Psalms 123:1-2 ESV A Song of Ascents. To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! [2] Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us.
James 4:4 ESV You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
God confronts Jacob alone, and touches him
In the place of solitude, stressed by the things of the world, God meets Jacob and deals with him in a very personal way. We know God is dealing with Jacob through an angel, but in a mysterious way, one-on-one. Jacob wrestles with God, and refuses to give up. Eventually, the angel puts an end to the wrestling by touching Jacob and gently injuring him. Why is this injury necessary, why would God do this, is He punishing Jacob or blessing him?
Genesis 32:24-25 ESV 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.
Hosea 12:3-4 ESV In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. 4 He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us —
Genesis 32:30 ESV 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.”
Matthew 26:39 ESV And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Hosea 6:1 ESV “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
Jacob prevails by refusing to let go of God
Even with a displaced hip, Jacob refuses to let go of God, pleading for His blessing. Jacob must have realised the power He was up against, and it must have been frightening to realise how much damage a single touch could do, yet he didn’t flee, he held on tighter. Why does he do this, what does he know about God?
Genesis 32:26-29 ESV 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.
Job 13:15 ESV Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.
Habakkuk 3:17-18 ESV Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, [18] yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
Jacob is forever humbled
The extraordinary and mysterious encounter with God leaves Jacob with a permanent limp, one that is remembered even by his descendants after him. What does that limp represent, and how do our encounters with God leave an eternal impression on us?
Genesis 32:31-32 ESV The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip on the sinew of the thigh.
John 21:15-17 ESV When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” [16] He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” [17] He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.