32:22-24
We now come to the famous incident of Jacob wrestling with God. The Jabbok river flows westward into the Jordan valley. Jacob sent his wives, servants and children and sent them across the river. Jacob was now left alone and he “wrestled with a man until the break of day”. We will soon learn that it was God who he was wrestling with, but the revelation is made slowly. God can appear to men in human form, as He had done with Abraham (Gen 18:1-15).
32:25,26
Jacob was not overcome. Hos 12:4 tells us that the angel was overcome. Clearly God was not using all His strength, but he did make Jacob struggle. Sometimes God will make us battle with Him. The “man” then touched Jacob’s hip socket and it was put out of joint. Note that it only took a touch to do this, not some great expense of effort. The man then told Jacob to let him go, but Jacob refused to do so until the man blessed him. This indicates that Jacob knew he was, in effect, wrestling with God.
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