UFC in the Bible!!

Genesis 32

This story to me is scary. Just imagine the scene for a minute. In the middle of the night, Jacob wrestles with God ALL NIGHT until the break of dawn. Now I am not too sure about you, but Jacob sounds like he knows how to throw them thangs!

However the fight, it seems, is going no where, the two men are stuck in a stalemate.

Jacob says "I will not let go unless you bless me". These I have always thought to be brave words to say to God.

God blesses Jacob by blessing him and changing his name to Israel.

However, to get the real picture behind this story, we must back track a little bit...

Jacob was in fact getting ready to meet his estranged brother Esau, the brother whom he tricked out of both his birthright and a blessing from his father Isaac. He thought he brother would be furious with him, and kill him and his family. And so he separtes himself between him and his family. He sends his family and all that he has ahead of him as a gift to Esau to try and smooth him over.

With all his family gone ahead of him, he is all alone. This is when God reveals himself to Jacob. This must have been a rather distressing time. Jacob sitting there all alone, frantically worried about his family probably, wondering what on earth he is going to say to Esau when he sees him, and then a Man comes out from no where and starts beating him up!!!

I think that Jacobs struggle with God, was probably to do with everything that has happened in his life so far. Perhaps it was Jacob 'working things out' with God, this maybe why he says "I will not let go unless you bless me"...

I think that Jacob being alone is a significant factor here. Sometimes we need to be alone in order to 'wrestle' with God, to work things out with him. And after this, we are changed forever. Jacob was changed in two ways. First of all physically (his hip was wenched..he now walks with a limp) and he was also changed in his name, his being..(he became Israel).

But when its all done, daybreak (light) arrives!