The Way Up Is the Way Down

In this passage, we find Jacob alone and afraid. He was afraid because he had heard that his brother Esau was coming, not alone, but with a small army of four hundred people to meet him. Many years ago, Jacob had cheated Esau and he knew that Esau had a grudge against him. So Jacob was afraid.

Jacob was alone, and it was night. All of a sudden, in the night, a man began to wrestle with him. Jacob was about sixty years of age at this time. He was a strong, hardworking fellow. In verse 24 we are told that a man wrestled with him, and in verse 30 we discover that this man was God. In referring to this incident, the prophet Hosea says an angel of the Lord wrestled with Jacob (Hos. 12:4). This is similar to Genesis 18, when God assumed the form of a man and came with two angels to visit Abraham.

Verse 24 also tells us that this wrestling lasted all night. Generally a wrestling match is short, maybe six minutes. But this lasted the whole night—man-to-man wrestling, in the night. Jacob was winning, as he had won in his struggles against Esau and Laban. He was always winning.

Then the man touched the socket of Jacob’s hip. That is where the wrestler’s strength is. This man dislocated Jacob’s hip. What happened to Jacob?

Jacob became weak and fell. He clung to the man and held on to him. He would not let the man go. The man wanted to go, but Jacob would not let him go because he realized that this was not just a man; he was superior to him. He realized this man was mighty. He realized this man was God.

Hosea says that Jacob wept and begged, realizing the greatness of this One. For he realized this man was God in human form, that he was superior, that he was mighty, and that he was letting him win. But God can touch us to weaken us at the right place, and he did so to Jacob.

When we fight with God, we will always lose. I have seen wicked and arrogant people try to fight God; they always lose. He knows how to cut us down. The Lord opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble.

So Jacob realized this man is not just a man, but a superhuman being. He is God. So Jacob begged the man to bless him. In the Bible, the superior always blesses the inferior (Heb. 7:7). Additionally, the superior gives a new name to the inferior. Abram’s name was changed to Abraham, indicating that Abraham is the servant of God. Sarai was changed to Sarah. Simon’s name was changed to Cephas (Peter). This name change indicates that the one who gives the new name is the Lord, and we are his servants for life. So if our name is changed to Christian (1 Pet. 4:16; Acts 11:26), it means we are to serve Christ all of our lives. We should never take God’s name while thinking we can be boss. We will not be, and he will not let us.

There was no immediate blessing given to Jacob. He said to the man, “Bless me.” But God was saying no. We can say anything we want, but he will not bless us until we identify ourselves. So we read, “The man said to him, ‘What is your name?’” (Gen. 32:27). Of course, God knew who he was, but he asked, “What is your name?” We need to admit to him that we are sinners.

The Samaritan woman wanted a blessing from Jesus also. In John 4 we read, “‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.’ [Jesus] told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’ ‘I have no husband,’ she replied. Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with is not your husband’” (John 4:15–17).

The name Jacob means, “I am a crook”; “I am a deceiver”; “I am a cheat.” Why don’t we stand up and say these things about ourselves? No, that is not what we want. We want to justify ourselves. But if we justify ourselves, hiding the truth about ourselves, we will get nothing from God. Do you think he doesn’t know us? He is the omniscient, all-seeing God. We can pray all we want, but God cannot bless us until we identify our name as “Sinner.” We must tell God, “I am a sinner.” God won’t bless us unless we pray the sinner’s prayer, “Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner.” The prodigal came and said, “I have sinned against God, against heaven, and against you.” There is no blessing for proud, arrogant people.

So Jacob told the man, “My name is Jacob.” In other words, “I am a deceiver. I deceived Esau; I deceived Laban.” In the same way, the Samaritan woman identified herself: “I am a sinner.” So is every son of Adam. What is your name? “I am a sinner.”

In verse 28 we read that the man blessed Jacob and changed his name to Israel (“he struggles with God”). By surrendering to the man, Jacob prevailed with God and with men. He struggled with man and God. He struggled with the angel of God, as Hosea tells us, and won.

With Jesus Christ, losing is winning. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8–9).

Jacob wrestled and struggled. His hip was dislocated and he clung to the man/God, the angel. He wept, he prayed, and he begged. (PGM) Then his name was changed, and he was blessed by this God/man, who told him, in essence, “From this day forward, you are my servant and I am your Lord.” Look at him as he went away. He was limping, and he would continue to limp all his life.

Yet Jacob was a prince. His name was changed to Israel. He was the victor. He was successful. He had struggled with God and, in a sense, overcame him. The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5–6). As we surrender to God in all our ways, he will prosper us. He will cause us to be successful in life. Whatsoever we do shall prosper (Ps. 1).

In weakness is our strength. By losing to Jesus, we receive his blessing. That is not what Americans typically do. They are arrogant and autonomous. They refuse to repent. They pretend that they can stand on their own two feet. They are arrogant because they have some money. And now this country is reaping the fruit of its arrogance. We have been reaping it for quite some time. How many leaders in this country have lied to the people? Five justices made a decision that has killed fifty million infants. Politicians lie and cause young people throughout the world to lie. We are in serious trouble. Immorality prevails in this country. We will not be blessed unless we repent and ask God to forgive our sins.

In repentance and faith in Jesus we discover our salvation. This is winning by losing. We read about such people in Hebrews 11: “And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies” (Heb. 11:32–34).

God detests arrogance. Paul was a proud man. He said, “Concerning the righteousness of the law [I was] perfect” (Phil. 3:6). This was his own self-declaration: “I was perfect.” But he learned a few things. God wrestled with him and touched his hip too, and he fell. He became blind and prayed for three days, and learned a few things. This is what he says:

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. The things that mark an apostle—signs, wonders and miracles—were done among you with great perseverance. (2 Cor. 12:7–12).

He also wrote, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13). And at the end of his life, he told Timothy that everyone abandoned him. Then he said, “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength.” So Paul is saying, “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth” (2 Tim. 4:17).

Let me ask a question especially to those who are arrogant and proud: Have you surrendered to Jesus Christ, who has all authority in heaven and on earth? He alone is the Savior of the world. If you fight with him, you will lose. If you surrender to him, you shall become a winner, and he will let you be a winner for life.

We recently read the story of Job. He was arrogant. He wanted to argue with God. But when God showed up, Job surrendered and won. So we read, “Then Job replied to the LORD: ‘I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. [You asked,] “Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?” Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.[You said,]”Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes’” (Job 42:1–6). And Job became a winner. May God help us to go down, that we may go up and win by losing.