"I have seen God..."
What an amazing declaration! These are the very words of Jacob, one of the patriarchs in the Bible, as found in the book of Genesis, chapter 32. In this study, we will consider the true story of a meeting between God and man.
Genesis 32:24-32“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. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.”
Who wrestled with Jacob?
In order to answer this question, consider three elements that this text presents considering this man who wrestled with Jacob.
1. This man came “out of nowhere.” According to the testimony of Scripture, “Jacob was left alone.” Then, all of a sudden, as a surprise to Jacob and the reader, a man appears! Then, he starts wrestling with Jacob. Where did this man come from?
2. This man performed a supernatural act. After wrestling all night with Jacob, this man “saw that he prevailed not against him.” At that point, he performed an act that was beyond the abilities of a normal man. He touched Jacob’s thigh and, immediately, Jacob’s thigh shrunk.
3. This man said something very unusual. Near the dawn of the new day, Jacob asked this man to bless him. Listen again to what he said to Jacob: “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” How would this man be able to make such a declaration? He never met Jacob! And what does it mean that Jacob prevailed “with God and men?” When did that happen?
Who is this man that wrestled with Jacob? Finally, Jacob says to him, “Tell me, I pray thee, thy name.” Now, listen carefully to the man’s reply, “Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?” That is incredible! In other words, either Jacob already knew the answer, or Jacob already had enough information to come to the right conclusion.
Jacob says the following: “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Jacob was persuaded that the man that we wrestled with was God Himself.
What kind of man did God become?
1. God became a real human being, a man. In order to believe that God became a man, you must first believer that God is all-powerful.
Jeremiah 32:17 “Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.”
Do you believe that God is all-powerful? If you apply this truth to our text in Genesis 32, then you would have no difficulty believing that God become a man and wrestled with Jacob.
2. God did not appear to Jacob in all of His glory. God said to Moses in Exodus 33:20, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” When Jacob looked upon this man, he was looking upon God, but not in all of His glory. God veiled His glory in flesh.
3. God became a man, even with human weakness. As God has the ability to become a man, He is also able to become any sort of man. God is able to become someone who is beautiful or ugly, big or small, strong or weak. In this case, God could have become a man much mightier than Jacob, but He didn’t. God chose to become a man weaker than Jacob. The text states, “and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him.”
Why did God become a man?
This is an excellent question! We have come to understand that God is all-powerful and that He became a man for the purpose of wrestling with Jacob. The supreme question is “why?”
The answer to this question is very simple and found within the text. God became a man, even with human weakness, in order to bless Jacob. Consider the blessing of God upon Jacob:
“And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.”
What have we learned from this study of God’s Word?
We learned that God is all-powerful, that God became a man, even with human weakness, in order to bless man. What an incredible historical event! We can believe that this is truly what took place because we find it in the Word of God, the Bible. Now, for a moment, consider one more question: Did God ever do this again? If yes, when and why?
Consider Jesus Christ:
God became a man, His name was Jesus Christ:
Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
John 5:17-18 “But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”
John 8:57-58 “Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
God became a man, even with human weakness:
Luke 2:7 “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”
John 4:6 “Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.”
Matthew 4:2 “And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.”
John 11:35 “Jesus wept.”
Matthew 8:24 “And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.”
Matthew 27:50 “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.”
God became a man, even with human weakness, in order to bless man through His sacrificial death:
Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Matthew 20:28 “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Luke 18:31-33 “Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
Conclusion:
In the same manner that God became a man, even with human weakness, in order to bless Jacob, some two thousand years later, God, once again entered human history, became a man through virgin birth, a man subject to human weakness yet without sin, in order to die for the sins of men. His name was Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
If you will repent of your sins and unbelief and trust in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, God promises to forgive you of your sins and give you eternal life.
Consider one of the many promises that Jesus Christ proclaimed: John 11:25-26 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”
Lay ahold of this promise for yourself! Believe in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. He will save you and forgive you of all of your sins.