In the winter time I have my two boys in the sport of wrestling. And it’s not because they enjoy it. In fact often during the season they don’t want to go to the wrestling tournaments. They would much rather spend their Saturday with video games and Legos. Often they’re matched up with a tough kid who they’d just like to forfeit to if they could. But I have them in the sport because I agree somewhat with the parenting philosophy of the dad in that old Johnny Cash song, “A Boy Named Sue”. He wasn’t going to be around to raise his boy, so he named him Sue, knowing with a name like that he’d be in some conflict and fights and learn to be tough. Okay, I better clarify. I’m not okay with my boys fighting to hurt someone unless they’re defending somebody. But I know wrestling tends to build grit, toughness. It can teach you some stress management and give you some practice in facing your fears and not giving up when it gets hard. It can help you learn how to lose and not be dramatic about it. I know that because I was in wrestling all through junior high and high school. Not that I’m tough now. But I was a real weenie and it did a bit for me.
Likewise our Father in heaven wants all of us, young and old, ladies included, in wrestling of a sort, because it’s so good for us. He wants us to wrestle intensely every day. And that’s what I want to talk to you about this morning. And to do so I’d like to remind you of the Bible story of the man named Jacob.
Jacob Before He Became “Israel”
Jacob came from a godly family. Abraham was his grandpa and Isaac was his dad. He was a twin, the second one out. Esau was his older twin brother.
Both boys received their names because of the occasion of their birth. You’ve heard of babies coming out with a full crop of hair. Well, Esau came out with a full body of hair, reddish hair. So they named him “hairy”, which in Hebrew is ‘esav,’ we say “Esau” in English. Then Jacob came out of the womb with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, and that’s why they named him Jacob, “Ya`aqob” in Hebrew. It means “heel grabber”. But from what I understand, the term Jacob also had a metaphorical meaning of a supplanter, usurper, one who takes the place of another, like somebody who comes up behind you, grabs you by the heel and pulls you out of his way. So heel grabber or supplanter is what Jacob means.
The boys grew up to be two very different people. Esau it says became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, a rough outdoorsman kind of man. Jacob though wasn’t a big fan of going out and killing things. It says he was a peaceful man. He liked to hang out at home with his mom and cook. Esau was his dad’s favorite. Jacob was his mom’s favorite. Which of course made for some family dysfunction, but that’s the way it was.
Jacob lived up to his name, heel grabber or supplanter. On two occasions we’re told about in Genesis he sort of pulled his brother out of his way and took what belonged to his brother. The first occasion was when Esau came in from an unsuccessful hunting trip starving and Jacob was cooking up a pot of stew. It must have been really good smelling soup. And maybe Esau had not eaten for weeks. I don’t know. But incredibly Jacob managed to get Esau to trade his birthright for a bowl of soup. He probably made him swear an oath that he was handing over his birthright. Which was no small matter. The firstborn in that culture would get a double share of the inheritance.
The second occasion of supplanting was when their dad Isaac was old and blind and he called Esau to himself and said, “Get your gear son, and go hunt for me and bring back some game and fix up a savory dish for me the way I like it. Then I’ll bless you in the presence of the LORD.” Which is a foreign thing to us, but you see it a few times in OT Scripture. When an old godly father would bless his sons, it was more than just sharing a wish for their future. It was more than just a prayer request. It seems more like God gave to the father certain gifts of future condition to distribute to his sons and the father would distribute the gifts or futures to his sons by pronouncing the blessing on them. It’s interesting and I still have a lot of questions about it. But anyway, Isaac intended to bless Esau when he came back with dinner. Their mom overheard what was going on and wanted Jacob to get the blessing instead. So she connived a plan with Jacob to deceive old blind Isaac into thinking Jacob was Esau and get him to give the blessing to Jacob instead. While Esau was out hunting, mom fixed up the kind of dinner Isaac wanted, and helped Jacob cover the back of his neck and his forearms with goat skins so he’d be hairy like his brother. Then Jacob carried the dish in to Isaac and said, “Dad, it’s your son Esau. I’m back with the game I fixed up for you and you can bless me.” “Wow, you’re back awfully quick, aren’t you?” “Yeah, the Lord was with me and blessed my hunting with quick success this time.” The voice sounded like Jacob’s, but Isaac was old and perhaps thought his ears maybe shouldn’t be trusted. Isaac had him come close and touched him and even smelled him. He felt and smelled like Esau. So Isaac was convinced it was Esau and blessed him as if he were Esau. He blessed him with prosperity and dominion over his brother and other nations.
Of course when Esau came back and found out, he was so angry he intended to kill Jacob. His mom found out about Esau’s intentions, and told Jacob to head up to her brother Laban’s place, a few hundred miles northeast. She told him, “Go stay with uncle Laban until Esau’s anger subsides.” Jacob agreed that was probably a good idea.
Along the way Jacob stopped at a certain place for the night and used a rock as a pillow. (Speaking of things that will make you tough, try that for a while.) Jacob dreamed that night of a ladder or stairway connecting heaven and earth, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it, and the Lord stood at the top of it. Then the Lord spoke to Jacob saying, “I’m the God of your father and grandfather. The land on which you lie I will give to you and your offspring. I’m going to multiple your offspring like the dust of the earth. And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And I’m going to be with you on this journey and take care of you and one day bring you back to this land.” Jacob woke up and said, “Wow! The Lord is in this place. This is the house of God and the gate of heaven.” He named the place Bethel, which means house of God. He marked the spot by setting up the rock he was sleeping on as a pillar and pouring oil on it, which would stain it. Then what Jacob said next makes it appear to me that he didn’t have much of a relationship with God at the time. Sure, he’d heard about God Most High from dad and grandpa, but he hadn’t really committed himself to worship, serve and walk in God’s ways in his life. Jacob didn’t really feel his need for God. He was young, strong and smart. Through his own doing he had managed to oust his brother from his birthright and blessing. He seemed to be doing fine without God. But on this occasion, after God had appeared to him in the dream, he made God a deal. He took a vow and said, “If God does as He promised, if He will be with me on this journey and keep me safe and provide me with food and clothing and bring me back safely to my father’s house, then He will be my God…” In other words, “Then He will be the one I worship and serve and to whom I’m loyal.” And he said, “If God does this for me, I will make Him a sanctuary here at this place and give back to Him a tenth of all that He gives me.” Now, you know you shouldn’t wait for God to do something for you before you will serve him, right? You should serve him because he made you and sustains you and He’s good and loves you. But Jacob wasn’t at that point spiritually yet.
So then, up at uncle Laban’s, within a month Jacob fell in love with Laban’s youngest daughter Rachel. She was the pretty one. Jacob made a deal with Laban to serve him, taking care of his flocks, for seven years for the hand of his daughter Rachel in marriage. At the end of his seven years of service, Jacob got a taste of his own cheating, deceiving medicine that he’d dished out to his brother. At the wedding, uncle Laban did a switch on him. The bride was veiled through the whole wedding and they went to bed together in the dark. In the morning he looked over and, behold, it was the ugly older sister, Leah. Jacob had a few words of course for uncle Laban. Laban said, “Well, it’s not our custom here to marry off the younger before the older. We always marry off the oldest first. And so you get Leah. But I’m willing to give you Rachel as a wife as well if you will agree to serve me for another seven years.” Jacob was peeved at what Laban had done, but he so loved Rachel he agreed to serve for another seven years.
During that second seven year service Leah and Rachel tried to outdo each other in having kids. They even gave to Jacob their maids as additional wives so they could have more kids through their maids. By the end of those years of service Jacob had 4 wives, 11 sons and 1 daughter.
Then Jacob continued to work for uncle Laban in exchange for wages, wages in the form of certain colored sheep and goats. To make a long story short, for 6 more years Jacob worked for Laban and Laban kept changing which colored animals’ were Jacob’s wages, trying to keep Jacob from making so much off of him. But God kept making the flocks bear primarily whatever colored animals would belong to Jacob. Finally, God told Jacob in a dream, “It’s time to head back to the land of your birth, to the land of Canaan.” They had a little difficulty getting away, but finally managed to break free of Laban. Jacob’s huge family with their livestock, possessions and servants they had acquired were on their way to the land of Canaan.
When Jacob Became “Israel”
Jacob is hoping that after 20 years, his brother Esau’s anger toward him had subsided. He sent some messengers on ahead to tell Esau of his coming. When the messengers came back, they said, “We told Esau you’re coming and now he’s on his way to meet and… uh…um…” “And what?” “Well, he’s bringing 400 men with him.” Jacob assumes it’s not a welcoming party. He assumes Esau is bringing an army to kill him and everyone with him. And he’s scared to death. He divides his people and livestock into two companies, thinking if Esau attacks the one, the other may escape.
Finally he’s come to a moment where he’s desperate for help. Finally he feels his need for God. And it brings him to his knees, and he prays. This is Genesis 32:9-12. “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,’ 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. 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. 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.’” Isn’t that often what happens, people have to be brought to a point where they’re scared to death before they really turn to God? That’s how it was with Jacob, I think.
He came up with a present to send on ahead to Esau, goats and sheep in the hundreds as well as camels, cattle and donkeys. He had his servants drive out the animals and make their way to Esau, and tell him, “These are a gift from your brother Jacob.” Perhaps it would appease Esau before they faced each other.
Jacob was so anxious and stressed that night anticipating what would happen the next day, he couldn’t sleep. He decided to spend some time alone just on the other side of the Jabbok river from his family
There alone that night by the river the most interesting thing happened. The way I picture it: Out of nowhere, suddenly comes this “man” charging at him. Jacob finds himself quickly tackled to the ground. His instincts and adrenaline kick in, and he’s in a wrestling match! Maybe at first he thought it was Esau. It appears they went at it for quite some time in the darkness of the night. Genesis 32:24 says, “a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.”
Then it gets more interesting. Genesis 32:25, “When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched [or struck] his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.” Sounds like the guy wasn’t winning the wrestling match, so he broke the rules and punched Jacob right in the hip socket, dislocating it. Jacob I’m sure screamed out as the pain exploded. But Jacob still didn’t let go of the hold he had on the man.
Then we begin to find in the text that this “man” he was wrestling was no mere man. Genesis 32:26, “Then he [the “man” who wasn’t just a man] said, ‘Let me go, for the day has broken.’” In other words, “It’s starting to get light, you better let me go.” Why does the sun coming up matter? Well, it may have something to do with the ancient belief that no man can see God and live to tell about it (Exodus 33:20). That’s why in the OT when somebody thought they were seeing God they would hide their face (Exodus 3:6; I Kings 19:13) or afterward make some statement of surprise like, “I’m alive after seeing him!” (Genesis 16:13; Jugdes 13:22). So this statement, “Let me go before it gets light,” I think is a way of saying, “This is God you’re dealing with, Jacob.” But Jacob says, “Unhuh, I’m not letting you out of this headlock until you bless me.” And that’s very interesting, because I think God could have whooped Jacob no problem if He wanted, don’t you? But Jacob held his own pretty good against him.
The “man” asked, “What’s your name?” And he said, “Jacob, heel grabber, supplanter.” Then the “man” said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Yisra’el in Hebrew means either God wrestles or one who wrestles with God, one who strives with God.
Then Jacob asked him “Please tell me your name.” The “man” said, ‘Why do you ask for my name?’ Perhaps the sense was, “Jacob, don’t you realize who I am?” Then he granted Jacob the blessing he asked for. He pronounced good things for Jacob. Maybe it involved protection from his brother Esau. Then they parted ways. And Jacob said “I’ve seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.” And he named the place “Peniel” which means “face of God.” The sun rose and Jacob limped across the shallow river and joined up with his family.
What in the world was all that about? Why did God, in human form, attack him and then let him win? In times past I think I misunderstood this occasion. I took it as a physical depiction of how Jacob had been resisting the will of God in his life, not letting God have His way with him. But I don’t think that’s what was going on here, because this wrestling was apparently a good thing, not a bad thing. God rewarded Jacob for this wrestling and not giving up at it.
I think this physical wrestling match illustrated a good struggle that was now going on spiritually between Jacob and God. Jacob was now at a point in his life where he was desperate for God’s blessing, desperate for God’s help and protection, and he was wrestling for it by repentance and prayer. Remember his prayer the day before, “O God of my fathers, I am not worthy of how good you have been to me. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother.” And we find in the next chapter and the following chapters, after everything goes well in the meeting with Esau, that Jacob is a changed man. He builds an altar to offer sacrifices to God and he names the altar “El-Elohe-Israel”, which means God, the God of Israel (Genesis 33:20). God is now his God. God is the one He worships and serves and to whom he is loyal. In chapter 35 you find him leading his family in repentance. He tells them to put away all their foreign gods and says, “Let’s go to Bethel where God first appeared to me when I was running away from Esau. Let’s go there and worship Him.” They do and there God appears to Jacob again and again says to him, “You’re not just Jacob anymore. You are Israel.” He was a changed man. He was no longer just a heel grabber and supplanter. He was Israel, one who wrestles God for His favor and blessing, one who takes hold of God through repentance and prayer, worship and obedience and doesn’t let Him go.
There’s another passage in the OT that speaks about Jacob’s wresting with God. It’s…
Hosea 12:3-6
The people of Hosea’s day were not too concerned about their relationship with the Lord. They were doing whatever they wanted without concern for what God’s word had to say about it. They were heel grabbers and supplanters in their own way. They lied, cheated, defrauded each other and took advantage of the weak among many other things. Hosea has told them God has had enough and He’s bringing the Assyrians to destroy them. But in this passage Hosea uses their forefather Jacob as an example of what they can do with God.
Hosea 12:3-6, referring to Jacob says, “In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God [he wrestled with God]. 4 He strove with the angel [that is the angel who was God in an angel/man appearance] and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us— 5 the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial name: 6 So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.”
Hosea is telling the people you don’t have to be separate and at odds with God. You don’t have to be hopeless and destined to be destroyed by the Assyrians. You can do the same thing your forefather Jacob did with God. Though unseen, God is here within reach. And He loves to wrestle. He may not make it super easy for you. It is wrestling. But you can wrestle out of Him His forgiveness, His grace, His help and protection. Give your honest effort and He’ll let you win.
How do you do it? Notice these words in the text, at the end of Hosea 12:4 “he wept and sought his favor” that involves repentance and prayer. It involves today if you haven’t done so, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38). In Hosea 12:6 you have the word “return,” change directions in your life, quit going about life your way, turn to go God’s way. Decide to quit just thinking about yourself all the time, decide to start thinking about the people around and how you can help them and be a servant of everyone. Decide to be honest in everything. Decide to keep sex where God says it should be kept. Decide to clean up your language. Decide to forgive. Decide to work on controlling your temper. Decide to go God’s way in your life. Then you have “hold fast to love and justice.” Keep at it, don’t give up. That’s how we wrestle the Lord. It’s not necessarily easy. It’s wrestling. But it’s so good for you and God will let you win; God will give you His blessing.
And I find in Scripture that…
The more we wrestle God, the more blessing we receive.
You know the song the little kids sing, “The blessings come down as the prayers go up, The blessings come down as the prayers go up.” That’s the truth!
James 4:2 says to followers of Jesus, “You do not have, because you do not ask.” In other words, you would have if you had been asking. You haven’t been wrestling enough so you’re not as blessed as you could be. The next verse, James 4:3 adds a little clarifier though, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” In other words, it doesn’t do any good to pray like Janis Joplin, “Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.” If our prayers are just greedy or totally for our own selfish pleasure we can’t expect them to be granted. But when the motive of our hearts, in the things we ask for, is not just selfish, but so that we can use what God gives us for His glory and for the benefit of souls, then our prayers can wrestle out blessings from God.
James 5:16, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” If you’re a righteous person, honestly trying to do the will of God in your life, your prayers are about the most powerful thing in the world. If you are a righteous person when you pray, you are moving the God of heaven and earth to action! Does that not blow your mind, that He not only pays attention to us little specs on His earth, but He hears us as friends, as His children, and lets us move Him to do things in the world.
The language of struggling, striving, wrestling is applied to prayer a few times in the NT. Like Romans 15:30, ” I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.” The Greek word there for strive is agonizomai, from which we get our word agonize. It means to strive, struggle, fight, wrestle, contend. And Paul thinks the kind of prayer that is like wrestling, prayer that is earnest and fervent and with passion and persistent, gets blessings out of God. Colossians 4:12, “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling [agonizomai, same word] on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.” Epaphras was struggling, striving, wrestling in his prayers for the Colossian Christians, for their spiritual maturity, that they might be completely sure about the will of God.
Remember the parables Jesus told about the power of persistent prayer? There’s the one about the guy that went to his friend’s house in the middle of the night asking for bread (Luke 11:5-10). He didn’t get the bread the first time he asked. But he kept bugging his friend until finally his friend got out of bed, went through the cupboards and gave him the bread. The other parable was about a widow who went before a king who cared about nobody but himself, and she asked him for legal protection from some opponent in her life (Luke 18:1-7). She didn’t get it the first time. But she kept asking and asking and then finally the king gave in and granted her request. The point of those parables is not that we are annoying God by our prayers, but that persistence in prayer gets results. Like wrestling, you take a shot at your opponent and may not get him down the first time. It may take several tries to get him down.
I came across a great statement from an early Christian I wanted to share with you. It was written by the name of Tertullian who lived from about 145 to 220 A.D. He wrote a work called “The Apology” to the Roman authorities explaining and defending Christian belief and practices. In chapter 39 of that work, Tertullian explains what goes on in the Christian assemblies, and he makes this statement, “We meet together as an assembly and congregation, that, offering up prayer to God as with united force, we may wrestle with Him in our supplications. This violence God delights in.” I like that statement, “This violence God delights in.” God loves prayer wrestling. In the book of Revelation and elsewhere in Scripture our prayers are pictured as a sweet incense that ascends to His throne (Revelation 5:8; 8:4). When we pray it reaches God and He goes, “(Deep breath) Mmmmmmmm!” He delights in it and allows us to move Him to action.
So wherever you are in your prayer life, I want to encourage you and myself to pray more and to pray harder, more fervently and persistently, to be more of an Israel, one who wrestles with God, because God delights in it and He let us win and He blesses us for it. And when you really want to wrestle God for His blessing in some way, examples all through the pages of Scripture suggest that we should fast and pray (Esther 4:16; Nehemiah 1:4; Daniel 9:3; Matthew 6:16-18; Luke 2:36-37; Acts 13:2-3; etc.). Instead of eating your meals, spend the time in prayer.
– James Williams
