"Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day...So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” vv.24,30
Read chapter 32.
It seems so random that this man wrestled with Jacob as him and his household are on their way to meet Esau, but that's because this isn't just a man but God. This man was the preincarnate Jesus Christ as we know God in the flew is Jesus (John 1), the image of the invisible God (Col. 1). Jacob wrestled with Jesus. Why did He come down to wrestle with him? "Jacob had been struggling all his life; even at the moment of his birth with Esau, later he struggled with Laban. Yet right before meeting Esau, Jacob had the stubble of his life! He who once grasped his brothers heal, now clang to the bodily form of the living God" (NKJV study bible notes). God blesses Jacob and gives him the new name Israel because he'd prevailed struggling with both God and men. May we have the same attitude when we're struggling with men and God that we'd prevail and God always wins! What wrestling with man and/or God are you struggling with?
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