Genesis 32:23–32 (ESV)
He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had.
And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 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. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 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.” 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.
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.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. 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.
Picture the scene. Cold night air. River sounds in the dark. Jacob has sent everyone ahead. No more plans. No more clever angles. Just silence. Then a hand in the dark. A struggle. Not seconds, not minutes, but all night. If you have ever prayed till you had no words left, if you have ever waited through the longest night of your life, you know something of this story.
The text is stunningly simple and wonderfully deep. Jacob is left alone, yet he is not alone. A mysterious man meets him and wrestles till daybreak. Scripture later tells us Jacob strove with God. This is no ordinary opponent. The Lord confronts Jacob, and in mercy He condescends to wrestle with him.
When the man sees He does not “prevail” in the sense of ending the match on Jacob’s terms, He touches Jacob’s hip socket. One touch was all it took touch. Divine power ends human self-reliance. Jacob’s strength goes out, yet his faith wakes up. He clings. He will not let go unless he is blessed.
Then comes the question that goes right to the heart. “What is your name?” It is not that God needs information. He calls Jacob to a confession. Jacob says his name, which means heel-grabber, supplanter. It is an honest admission of a life spent grasping. God answers with a new name. “Israel.” You have striven with God and with men and have prevailed. Not prevailed by overpowering God, but by clinging to Him in weakness and refusing to seek life anywhere else. Grace has brought Jacob to the end of himself, and grace gives him a new identity.
Jacob asks for the Name of his opponent, but the Lord does not answer that curiosity. He gives something better. He gives blessing. Jacob names the place Peniel, face of God, because he has seen God face to face and lived. The sun rises, and Jacob limps forward. The limp is not a mark of failure. It is the souvenir of grace. From this night on, Israel will walk differently.
This is the essential story of the gospel and Scripture in narrative form. God is the one who initiates. God is the one who wounds to heal. God is the one who gives the blessing. God is the one who gives a new name, a new nature. Jacob brings nothing but his need, and even his clinging is the gift of grace.
And this is important for us because many of us live like old Jacob. We grasp. We manage and maneuver. We want the blessing, but we prefer to control how it comes. The Lord loves us too much to leave us to our schemes. Sometimes He meets us in the dark and puts something out of joint. A plan fails. A relationship cracks. A diagnosis comes. We feel weaker than we like. In that place the Lord teaches us the prayer of faith. Not “I can handle it,” but “I will not let You go unless You bless me.”
In Christ the promise is sure. On the cross Jesus took our unworthiness and bore our curse. He is the Seed in whom every blessing of Abraham finds its Yes. He wrestled through the darkest night, sweating blood in Gethsemane, and He did not let go of the Father’s will. Because He prevailed through obedience and death, the Father raised Him. Now we do not wrestle to earn a blessing. We cling to the One who has secured it. Faith is stubborn not because we are strong, but because God is good and has spoken and we can cling to that.
Notice also the order. New identity in faith comes first. Jacob receives a name, then he limps into the sunrise. Then new steps or a different walk. That is the Christian life. In union with Christ you are named first. Beloved. Forgiven. Adopted. Then you walk, perhaps with a limp, into a new day. Your weakness will remain in some form. It keeps you near the Lord.
Let’s pray.
Father, thank You for meeting us in our nights. Thank You for wounding our pride and healing our souls. Give us grace to cling to Christ and not to our own strength. Rename us, and teach us to walk as those who are already blessed in Jesus. Amen.