Knowing God
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“Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.” (Genesis 32:24, NKJV)
Mysterious. Incomprehensible. Even perplexing. These words could describe the story of Jacob’s wrestling encounter with a supernatural Man recorded in Genesis 32. Jacob had freed himself from his greedy, dishonest and nasty relative Laban. The Laban trouble was finally behind him. Now he must face the Esau encounter, his revenge-poisoned brother who had vowed to kill him (Genesis 27:41). Jacob was in a most difficult place, something of an “in between.” He was not where he was, yet not yet where God told him to be. Unless God intervenes, he may never see the Promised Land, thus fulfilling his purpose. Is this true of us?
Jacob is on his way to receiving God’s incredible blessing and of fulfilling his destiny in the plan of God. But, he is not ready yet. He is not ready to carry the blessing, the anointing of God. As one writer reminds us: “Jacob had become numb at the thought of meeting Esau; this impending event had occupied all this thoughts.” We, like Jacob, allow our minds to be filled with thoughts of our present needs and what dangers may be approaching. God is an after thought, if not all but forgotten.
And then the unexpected, the unbelievable happens; an encounter with the supernatural Man. This wresting encounter will be quite different than any Jacob had experienced, and far more dangerous. But it is required if Jacob is to carry the blessing God has planned for him and for finishing faithfully his journey.
Jacob has been undergoing a thorough transformation, as Dr. Kenneth Matthews informs us, from a “cocky trickster to a humble servant who acknowledges his indebtedness to God.” If Christians are to carry the anointing of God which He desires to increase upon His Church, humility must be thoroughly worked into or restored to our character. So we have some wrestling with God and ourselves to do. And if we wrestle and if we are blessed by the Supernatural Man, we may find ourselves with a “limp” the rest of the way.