The story of the patriarch, Jacob, in the Book of Genesis (Genesis 25:19-49:33), like the whole of Genesis, is fascinating mix of mythology, folktales, campfire stories with a thin, at times nearly invisible, thread of deep faith. Jacob struggles with his twin brother, Esau, beginning in their mother Rachel’s womb. Esau is born first, but Jacob came out holding tightly to his brother’s heel. The sibling rivalry between these extremely different fraternal twins continues throughout the rest of the biblical narrative about them.
In one version (Genesis 25:29-34) Jacob is cooking a lentil stew and Esau, coming in from the field, is very hungry. Esau asks Jacob for something to eat, and Jacob – always the wheeler-dealer and trickster – says, “Sure. Just sell me your birthright.” Esau is more concerned with his empty stomach than with his birthright as firstborn, so he answers, “I’m starving to death! What good to me is a birthright?” The firstborn would succeed his father as head of the family and possess authority over all his brothers and sisters.
In another version (Genesis Chapter 27) their father, Isaac, is old and blind. Jacob, with the help of his mother, cheats his brother out of the blessing due to the first born. Now Jacob, according to their tribal traditions, is Esau’s lord. Esau becomes enraged and plans to kill Jacob after his father’s death. Rachel hears of this and sends Jacob away. But this isn’t the end of their contentious relationship.
Jacob survives and prospers because of the combination of his cunning and God’s blessing. Esau does fairly well himself, but can’t forget that his brother wronged him. Esau wants revenge. In Genesis Chapter 32, Jacob manages to avoid a direct confrontation with Esau and tries to appease his brother with large gifts of livestock. One day it was getting late. Night was coming on – when the primitive peoples understood that spirits or demons came out. Esau was in pursuit of Jacob. Jacob sends his wives, children and goods across the river Jabbok and returns to the other side to camp for the night.
During that night something, or someone began to wrestle with Jacob, trying to overcome him. Was it a demon? An angel? Was it God? Jacob grappled with this spiritual opponent until just before sunrise. The contest seemed to end in a tie. Jacob demanded a blessing. The opponent touched Jacob’s hip, dislocating it. When asked, the mysterious figure refused to reveal its name, but did concede the blessing of a new name to Jacob. In bestowing a name, the spiritual wrestler indicates superiority over Jacob. From now on Jacob will be known as Israel, which in Hebrew wordplay comes out as the one who has contested with both man (ish) and God (El).
We almost always would prefer that our spiritual growth and development would come without struggle. Yet we have things from our past and our previous choices and habits that inhibit or hinder us from living as fully as God desires. Sometimes we become content just to go with the flow of our life instead of questioning and discerning. God is both incredibly patient and gentle with us and, at the same time, tenacious.
God will not just let us remain as less than we might be. So, God challenges us to wrestle over whatever holds us back. If we put aside our fears and contend with God, God will prevail, and we will receive a new freedom and a new identity – blessed by God in a totally unexpected way.
Jana Buckley says:
As I reread this posting, I realize God does not give up on us. He uses all of us sinners, as He did with Jacob, though we repeatedly do wrong things. He still has a mission for us if we are willing to give in to His Will.