Wrestling, Part II

Until this week, I had never realized exactly where Jacob wrestled the angel of God. My contemplation of that passage has focused on the timing of his encounter (before meeting Esau), or the outcome (the dislocated hip, the blessing, the changed name), rather than the geography. I suppose that is to be expected for one far removed from Biblical landmarks. But the Land is central in God’s promise to Abraham. It should come as no surprise the Lord appears Jacob once as he flees the land of promise and once again as he returns. There are spiritual lessons written into the setting.

My mother is the one who showed me the significance of the place God chose to wrestle Jacob. It is a great gift she has given me this Advent. I have been thinking of Jacob as I sit by her bed because she is currently engaged in the greatest wrestling match of her life. Mom is about to return home. She is camped on the border of her Promised Land. But she is struggling to let go of her earthly tent. She is wrestling, laboring for every breath. She will not win this battle, but neither will the Lord let go of her. She will receive her blessing. Her name will be changed.

It was the Lord who called Jacob home from Paddan Aram; but it was Laban who chased him back. Jacob had angered his father-in-law to the point he feared for his life. But returning home was also fraught with danger. Years earlier, Jacob had lied to his father and stolen Esau’s blessing. Now Esau was coming with four hundred men to meet Jacob. In Jacob’s mind that could only signal a fight which he was doomed to lose. So what did Jacob do? He divided his family and property into groups, hoping that one might escape Esau’s wrath. And he prayed.

 Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, Lord, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ I am unworthy of all the favor and of all the faithfulness, which You have shown to Your servant; for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. Save me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. For You said, ‘I will assuredly make you prosper and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be counted.’”

Scripture tells us that this happened at a crossing of the Jabbok river, a tributary to the Jordan. Jacob was not actually on the banks of the Jordan when he prayed, but he was close. Jacob knew that crossing the Jordan would provoke his brother for it would be a claim on the Land promised to Abraham. Jacob trembled in fear of Esau, not knowing the Lord had paved the way for his return. Esau had forgiven Jacob. Even so, Jacob would not enter the Land without a fight. He had to wrestle the Lord Himself.

Joshua encountered the angel of God before his battle at Jericho. And Joshua had to fight that battle before crossing the Jordan. It seems that the Promised Land is never entered without struggle. Even Jesus battled Satan upon crossing the Jordan for his baptism. He would not enter public ministry until the wrestling match was finished. And Jesus wrestled again on the cross before commending His spirit to the Father and returning home.

Did Jacob ever think he could overcome the angel? I don’t know, but I doubt it. The wrestling was not a matter of victory, but one of blessing. Jacob wrestled until he was crippled, until his strength was gone. Jacob was, for all practical purposes, defeated as he held on and demanded the blessing. And when Jacob was finally at the end of his strength, the Lord spoke the blessing Jacob had yearned for all his life. The irony, I think, is that the Lord has always intended to bless Jacob. The blessing was His plan, and His desire. But Jacob had connived in and lied to grasp that blessing, and I think he was never fully convinced that the blessing stuck. But in the weakness of defeat, Jacob heard the Lord speak and he was changed. The “Supplanter” became “Israel,” the man for whom the chosen people were named.

Watching my mother wrestle, I think of Jacob. She, like Jacob, has received God’s blessing. And like Jacob on the Jordan, she still has fears. I know the Lord has her in His grip as she struggles this side of eternity. Eventually she will have to let go, and when she does she will receive a blessing like she has never imagined.

♱
Just as I pushed the Save button for this blog entry,
my mother took her last breath.
♱
She has crossed her Jordan.
♱