When Jacob was fleeing from his brother Esau it was because he had just stolen Esau’s birthright and was afraid that Esau would come after him. Their mother told Jacob to go to her uncle Laban and marry someone from her family. This was very important—and one of Esau’s downfalls is clearly expressed as both his marriages to the Canaanite women early in his life and even moreso through his marriage to Ishmael’s daughter after this event. As Jacob is on his way to his mother’s homeland he strikes a deal with God. God meets with Jacob in a dream and promises him protection and many other things including that He will bring him back to the Land. “Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God.” (Gen. 28:20-21)
Jacob makes his way to Laban’s house and tells his uncle his story. His uncle replies that Jacob is clearly one of his kin—an acknowledgement that doesn’t speak highly of Jacob. And we then go into the part of Jacob’s story that usually gets the most attention. Jacob is promised Rachel’s hand in marriage in exchange for 7 years of working for Laban and then is surprised to find, after his wedding night, that he has been given Laban’s older daughter Leah as a wife. In exchange for another 7 years of working for Laban Jacob is allowed to marry Rachel. He doesn’t have to wait another 7 years; she becomes his wife as soon as his wedding week with Leah is completed. In a continuation of sibling rivalry into the marriage bed Leah and Rachel begin competing for Jacob’s love and for position in the home—a competition that grows to include Zilpah and Bilhah, the maidservants for Leah and Rachel.
The storyline continues and Jacob is blessed by God and prospers, despite his uncle’s attempts to take advantage of him. “Then the LORD said to Jacob, ‘Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.’” (Gen 31:3). Jacob heeds the call from God to return to the Land and presents his plans to his wives who agree that this is what they are to do. At this point it seems that God has fulfilled his earlier promises to Jacob—the promises that Jacob said would need to precede his own faith and relationship with the Lord. Yet even at this point he says to Laban, “If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He rendered judgment last night.” (Gen 31:42) At this point God has fulfilled His promises but Jacob has not fulfilled his vow. But he is obeying God and returning to the Land.
Jacob learns that his brother Esau is coming out to meet him as he gets closer to home, and he speaks this to the Lord:
Jacob said, “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 relatives, and I will prosper you,’ I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.’” (Gen 32:9-12)
Jacob then sets aside many gifts for his brother Esau to appease him. And then Jacob goes to sleep.
Gen. 32:24-32
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.” Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.
After this encounter with God Jacob has his meeting with Esau who wants nothing from him and seems to have grown up during the 20 years that Jacob was gone. He even invites Jacob to dwell with him but Scripture makes a point of telling us that Jacob left this meeting with Esau and went instead to a place where he built a dwelling for himself and booths for his animals and because of this the place was named Succoth.
This is surely a challenging portion of Scripture. Most believers are comfortable with Jacob realizing that he has wrestled with God because we accept that Yeshua was God in the form of a man and, in fact, most believers will argue that this is Yeshua wrestling with Jacob. Not everyone is convinced of this, but I take no issue with this idea, mostly because I don’t believe that is ultimately the point of the text. Rather I believe the meaning of this text is best found in the placement of events in the greater context of the story of Jacob’s life.
At the beginning of the story we have Jacob proclaiming a vow that if the Lord would fulfill the promises to bless, prosper and restore Jacob to the Land of his father then Jacob would worship Him. After all of the time with Laban, during which the Lord has grown Jacob’s family and prospered him greatly, Jacob is still speaking of the Lord of his father Abraham and the Lord of his father Isaac. And this is where God calls Jacob to return to the Land—just as all Israel was to be called to return to the Land during the month of Elul before Rosh Hashanah. In obedience, Jacob returns.
As Jacob gets closer to his homeland he is confronted with the need to get right with his brother against whom he has sinned. Esau, he learns, is not only waiting for him, but is coming to see him. Jacob is afraid. He puts in motion the plan to make things right with his brother by sharing of his possessions, and then Jacob spends the night wrestling with someone in an encounter that changes his life.
One particularly challenging portion of this text involves the reality that at times Jacob appears to be winning this wrestling match. This is one reason many have been unwilling to accept that Jacob is in fact wrestling with God. Wrestling is a very physical and kinesthetic thing, but it can also be a very metaphysical thing. Many people have wrestled with the text of Scripture or even wrestled with God over the application of something or the meaning of something or even just how to respond in some situation. If the wrestling that Jacob did with God was more metaphysical than physical it would account for the ability of Jacob to be winning at any point—if Jacob was refusing to submit His will to God’s instruction then Jacob would be winning at the wrestling (even if he was losing at the eternal level).
Another particularly challenging part of the text is that “the man” tells Jacob to “let him go” because it is “almost daybreak.” It makes no sense that the Light of the World would be afraid to be caught in the sunlight of morning. What is helpful to this point is to understand that the ancient root of the Hebrew word for “daybreak” also means “understanding”. The darkness cannot comprehend the light but those who walked in darkness are told they will see a great light and when they accept that light they experience their own daybreak.
Because this experience of wrestling with God takes place between being called to return to the Land and, at the end of the story, progressing to Succoth, it is not unreasonable to place this encounter with God during the Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. If that is in fact the time of this wrestling then what takes place at this time is very relevant to the story.
Tradition teaches that “the books” are opened on Rosh Hashanah. In Revelation 5 we learn that the One who is worthy to open the books is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. In Revelation 20 the books are opened. Tradition teaches that these books are the Book of the Righteous, the Book of the Wicked, and the Book of the Undecided. All of the books are opened on Rosh Hashanah, but the Book of the Righteous and the Book of the Wicked are also closed on Rosh Hashanah. The judgment of those within these books is already set. The Book of the Undecided remains open during the Days of Awe and those within have 10 days to move their name into one of the other two books.
If we place this encounter between Jacob and God into this context we find Jacob—whose father and grandfather are most assuredly written in the Book of the Righteous—having his name in the Book of the Undecided. He has returned to the Land and here the One who is worthy to open the Books confronts Him and they begin to wrestle. Physically? Quite probably. More importantly, they wrestle over what is Truth and what must Jacob do to fulfill his vow to the Lord. They wrestle over what Jacob will choose. Sometimes Jacob’s stubbornness has him firmly resisting the Lord. Ultimately, though, the One wrestling with Jacob tells him to stop fighting—he has understanding. It is time to choose. Jacob says he will stop wrestling and let him go but only if He blesses him. The blessing Jacob receives is a new name (Isaiah 62 and Revelation 2 speak of God giving a new name to those who believe) and a more humble walk (literally and figuratively). As Yom Kippur arrives, the day that the Book in which Jacob’s name has remained, he finally confesses faith and receives a new name and a humble walk. The wrestling is over. More importantly, Jacob is ready to move to Succoth. From this point forward Israel is dwelling with God.