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Listen "#53 | Jacob Wrestles with God - The Struggle is Real"
Episode Synopsis
In this episode we look at the strange, yet revealing encounter between Jacob and God. Jacob wrestles with God all night long, and the amazing thing about this encounter is that God does not overpower him. In other words, God does not use shear strength to overcome Jacob in the wrestling match. Instead, God weakens Jacob by touching his hip. God does this because Jacob will not let God go until God blesses him. Jacob is a very competitive person, and is determined to get what he wants.
This story of Jacob wrestling with God is mentioned in Hosea 12, and it is there that we discover Jacob came to a point of tears with the angel as he pleaded with God to bless him. Apparently, the wrestling match seemed to be all about Jacob getting a blessing, but the angel apparently did not want to give it to him at that time.
Jacob's encounter with God has some overlapping similarities with the encounter Jesus had with God in the garden of Gethsemane. There Jesus struggled with God as he asked for God to lead him down a different path. A passage that describes this encounter from a different perspective is Hebrews 5:7-9. There it says that Jesus prayed to God, made loud cries and came to a point of tears as he asked God to rescue him from death. Jesus, as a human, genuinely struggled with God, and the struggle was real. This gives us an important window into the human nature of Jesus, but also into his relationship with God and Israel. Jesus steps into the human condition, not just as any human, but as an Israelite. Jesus enters into Israel's struggle with God and prevails, but not over God, but over the forces of evil in his own flesh and the spiritual world that resist God and frustrate our progress along God's developmental path. Jesus rules over those forces and completes God's developmental path, becoming the source of healing - salvation - for all who will respond to his voice.
Key Passage:
Genesis 32:22-32
Hosea 12:2-5
Hebrews 5:7-9 - the word for "heard" and "obedience" in this passage is from the same root word that essentially means to be responsive to what you hear. The imagery here is that Jesus wanted God to hear and respond to him, and God did hear and respond to Jesus' request to be saved out of death - through the resurrection. But Jesus was also discerning and responsive to God's voice throughout the whole course of his life. Now, those who are responsive to the voice of Jesus can be saved, too. In this passage, hearing and responding is a pattern that is woven throughout the relationship between God, Jesus, and us.
Explainer Video on how to use www.biblehub.com and www.blueletterbible.org
Leave us a question or comment at our website podcast page.
* Intro Music: "Admirable" Carlos Herrera Music
This story of Jacob wrestling with God is mentioned in Hosea 12, and it is there that we discover Jacob came to a point of tears with the angel as he pleaded with God to bless him. Apparently, the wrestling match seemed to be all about Jacob getting a blessing, but the angel apparently did not want to give it to him at that time.
Jacob's encounter with God has some overlapping similarities with the encounter Jesus had with God in the garden of Gethsemane. There Jesus struggled with God as he asked for God to lead him down a different path. A passage that describes this encounter from a different perspective is Hebrews 5:7-9. There it says that Jesus prayed to God, made loud cries and came to a point of tears as he asked God to rescue him from death. Jesus, as a human, genuinely struggled with God, and the struggle was real. This gives us an important window into the human nature of Jesus, but also into his relationship with God and Israel. Jesus steps into the human condition, not just as any human, but as an Israelite. Jesus enters into Israel's struggle with God and prevails, but not over God, but over the forces of evil in his own flesh and the spiritual world that resist God and frustrate our progress along God's developmental path. Jesus rules over those forces and completes God's developmental path, becoming the source of healing - salvation - for all who will respond to his voice.
Key Passage:
Genesis 32:22-32
Hosea 12:2-5
Hebrews 5:7-9 - the word for "heard" and "obedience" in this passage is from the same root word that essentially means to be responsive to what you hear. The imagery here is that Jesus wanted God to hear and respond to him, and God did hear and respond to Jesus' request to be saved out of death - through the resurrection. But Jesus was also discerning and responsive to God's voice throughout the whole course of his life. Now, those who are responsive to the voice of Jesus can be saved, too. In this passage, hearing and responding is a pattern that is woven throughout the relationship between God, Jesus, and us.
Explainer Video on how to use www.biblehub.com and www.blueletterbible.org
Leave us a question or comment at our website podcast page.
* Intro Music: "Admirable" Carlos Herrera Music
In God we trust