Today we are going to look at a concept that is very important but is widely misunderstood. It concerns the name change of Jacob. Why, and what are the implications and why it is important to us.
Genesis 32
22 And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok.
23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had.
24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.
25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.
26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”
27 So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.”
28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
29 Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
31 Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.
32 Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.
So at first glance it seems that Jacob wrestled against God, in his own power and even prevailed against God. In fact this is what we are taught from early on. This is what the churches hold to and teaches. The only problem is it is totally wrong!! The very first thing we need to ask is who can wrestle against God, the all-powerful Creator of everything? No one, we are all like grass compared to God.
Isaiah 47
3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered, Yes, your shame will be seen; I will take vengeance, And I will not arbitrate with a man.”
Isaiah 45
9 ” Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?
Romans 9
18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”
20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”
21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
So in the word it is made very clear that we cannot wrestle against God. It is impossible much less gain victory over Him. But then what exactly is Genesis 32 saying about Jacob? Did he really wrestle against God and prevail? Or does it say something else? To understand this clearly, we have to investigate further and we have to look at the original language. The passage where it says “for you have struggled with God and with men” is a bit tricky to understand. The word “with” there is ‛im and is pronounced (eem). That word ‛im is used more than 70 times in the bible and has various meanings. Im means the following: against, with, among, before, beside. What a strange word that is. In some places in scripture it actually means the direct opposite. Let’s look at some examples.
Jos 10
29 Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, to Libnah; and they fought against Libnah.
Here we see the word “im” as against Libnah. But in the very same verse, we see “im” again and it means the opposite. It says “Israel with (im) him. So what this verse is saying is that Joshua went against Libnah and Israel was with him. So in the same verse we have the same word meaning the opposite, with and against.
Proverbs 31
23 Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land.
Here the word “im” means among and not against.
Gen 48
12 So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth.
Here the word “im” is translated as beside.
There are many examples in the word but I think those three will do. So now that we see that the word “im” can mean both with and against we can look at Genesis 32 again. Does Jacob wrestle against God or does that passage say something else? Actually what that passage says is that Jacob wrestles with God against flesh or man. It says that with the power that God gives him he wrestles against flesh and man. It speaks of God with him and that makes him powerful to wrestle against flesh. It does not say Jacob wrestles against God but with God on his side. There is a huge difference in wrestling against God and wrestling with God on your side!! What a terrible teaching that we as men can wrestle against God and win and that in our own power. Jacob gained victory over man and flesh and not victory over God because such a thing is not possible.
How can we be sure of that and how can we confirm the doctrine? Because “im” can still mean against. One way is to look at another word in that passage. “For you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” The word struggled there is the Hebrew word “śârâh” and it means to have power or prevailed. The word “śârâh” is used only twice in the bible. Once in the passage we are studying and another time in the prophet Hosea. If we then look at the other place it is used we could gain a better understanding of the whole sentence which Moses wrote in Genesis 32
Hoseah 12
3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: 4 Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed…
Wow isn’t that interesting! The other place in the word that the word “śârâh” is used is also about Jacob. It speaks of Jacobs’s birth and how Jacob had power with God or power from God. This then for me is the clincher that proves that Jacob did not wrestle against God but rather with God on his side who gave him the power to prevail. How can I be sure? Well the part where it says “he had power with God” that “with” is not the word “im” as was used in Genesis but rather a different word, the word “’êth”. And that word only means with and among and never against. And there you have it, Hosea confirms it for us. Jacob had power with or from God and not against God!! Also it says that Jacob wrestled the angel and we know we have enemies who are angels. Jacob prevailed against this angel and not against God.
But what does that mean exactly? Well in short our understanding of what happened that night at the Jabbok river is wrong. I believe what happened that night is that Jacob wrestled against the principality of flesh, and maybe even Rahab himself or even the Assyrian. Probably the Assyrian as we know that he is associated with the moon or night. Also he seemed worried when the day was about to break. It is also interesting to note the place this happened as Jabbok means “emptying”. You see that night Jacob emptied himself from flesh and with the Spirit of God gained victory over the old fleshly Jacob. I believe the angel touched his left socket which symbolizes his fleshly walk. And from that day he was never to walk the same way again or in flesh but rather in spirit.
I don’t know about you but I would rather believe the prophet Hosea above any church teaching or doctrine. Actually that would settle the matter for me, but there are more evidence that proves that Jacob did not wrestle against God but rather with God on his side. The name Israel itself means something and it must mean something extraordinary or it would not be a blessing. If it was not a blessing why would the angel bless Jacob with it as if it was a blessing? Jacob wouldn’t let go of the angel until he blessed him. The angel’s response is to ask his name and to change his name. That is the blessing. Israel means “ who prevails with God”. Remember we saw that with God means with God on his side and not against God.
Life is a battle and just like Jacob we battle daily against flesh and the old man. We wrestle with the principality or king of the flesh, Satan and his kingdom. Our thoughts and mind-set is the battlefield and if we follow the Spirit of God in obedience through faith we prevail against flesh and the enemy. Then we also empty ourselves just like Jacob at the Jabbok. Jacob means “supplanter” which is not a good name. Jacob was not a good person. He stole his brother’s birthright and blessing supplanting him. That brought enmity between him and his brother and he had to flee. He had to go work for his uncle and endure many hardships. God used those hardships to break Jacob and empty him from the old man and fill him with the Spirit of God. It took a long time, more than twenty years. Jacob symbolizes the old fleshly man and Israel the new Spirit-filled born again man with God on his side.
After many years of hardship in the flesh, the Lord tells Jacob to move back to the land promised to him as an inheritance. Jacob would have been scared to go because his brother who vowed to kill him is still there. But the many years of transformation have taught Jacob faith and obedience and he obeys the voice of the Lord and moves in spite of his fear. The good work that the Lord started in Jacob all those years back was about to be finished or fulfilled. Old fleshly Jacob the supplanter was now almost Israel. All that hard work speaks of a process of transformation or dying to self in flesh and soul and rising in spirit to become Israel. This is how the Lord puts it in:
Isaiah 43
1 But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: ” Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.
Wow, what an amazing verse and it teaches us such an amazing concept. But we have to be careful not to miss the concept. It is the difference between created and formed. Because, Jacob was created but Israel was formed. You see God created the old man Jacob and the same is true in us. God created the old man in us but just like in Jacobs’s case we are being formed into the new creation or Israel. The Hebrew word for create is bârâ and is used many times in the bible starting early on in Genesis 1. The word for formed is yâtsar and it is used only from Genesis 2 when God blows His Spirit into the man Adam. So God creates the earth and everything in Genesis 1 including man and woman. But only once He breathes His Spirit into the man Adam He forms him. That is the first time we get the word formed or yâtsar. But what does that mean? Well God created man and woman but only once they received of His Spirit were they formed. The same as with Jacob, who became Israel because he had the Spirit of the Father with him. That means man and woman were already created but their spirit was not yet formed in them.
Zech 12
1 The burden of the word of the LORD against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him
Only once your spirit is formed are you a living soul just like Adam. The question then to be answered is exactly how does God form that spirit within us. With various trials and tribulations. With a process of transformation, by dying to self in flesh and soul. By laying down our own will and ambitions and dreams and taking up our cross and dying to self, daily!! We also will go and work for a Laban who steals our wages and treats us harshly. We also will have our earthly possessions stolen and we also will be seen as the least. People will also tread on us and spitefully use us. We also will come to the Jabbok river and empty ourselves and prevail against flesh and man with the Spirit of God in our midst. We will then also get the new name of Israel because the Spirit of the Lord will dwell with us! Then we don’t fight in our own power anymore but with the power of the living God. But we first have to go through that time. That is our wilderness time and there we transform to look just like Jesus.
Friend by believing a small little lie in doctrine, that Jacob wrestled against God, we are being led astray. We have many believers who daily wrestle with God expecting to prevail and bend God’s will to suit them. That is nothing other than rebellion and rebellion will not stand. Let us come to the realization today once and for all that we cannot wrestle against God and His sovereign will. We have to die, we have to transform to become like Christ. God wants to rule in us, His temple, in and by His Spirit. His will be done, not ours. Stop wrestling and rebelling. Lay yourself down and submit to His Spirit. Let go of your earthly fleshly ambitions and let the Father rule. We are not allowed to stand at the cross, we are to get on the cross, nail ourselves on it and die.
1 Cor 15
31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
Luke 9
23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
Till next time
God bless.
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