Genesis Lesson 76: A Most Significant Wrestling Match!

Genesis 32:22-32

One thing to realize as you listen to this lesson on the famous wrestling match of Jesus and Jacob is that it was the pre-incarnate Lord Who wrestled all night with Jacob to get something from him - and what He wanted was Jacob's absolute surrender!  At the end of the "match, there was something Jacob wanted, but he did not wrestle the Lord all night to get it.  It wasn't until the morning light of a new day and until his hip was dislocated and Jacob could do nothing but cling to the Lord, that he begged for a blessing and would not stop clinging until he got it!

This is not a sad picture of a loser - a pitiful failure - a weakling!  This is the picture of a spiritually strong man, for Jacob finally had been broken of his self-will.  He was finally dependent on God!  His clinging is a picture of a man of faith surrendered to God's will.

This is an important lesson for all of us, for we all wrestle with ourselves - our carnal nature with our spiritual nature!