What do we learn from Jacobs fight with God
I have seen that many muslims find this account of Jacobs "battle" with God a difficult subject and do not see why it is in the Bible or what lesson we are to learn from it.. I thought I would explain. There is some discussion on weather the battle was spiritual or an actual physical contact. We are taught that Jacob had an anger or inner struggle within him from birth, deceiving his brothers and was full of fear and anxiety. There existed an enmity between himself and his brother Esau all his life. He comes to a realisation that his struggle is not against Esau as man but rather against God himself. Before God can use Jacob in his plan as the father of the Israelite nation, Jacob must have a change of heart.
Do we take it as a spiritual battle? Later in the Old Testament the Prophet Hosea tells of the life of Jacob, saying of his struggle started even in the womb with his brother and when he became a man he fought with God and won. At Bethel he met God face to face, and God spoke to him. It seems clear that we are meant to interpret that the "man or angel" was God himself. This may seem strange to believe but there are many occasions in the Old Testament that God spoke with his people...one has to remember that this was the time that God was laying down the rules about how his people should live. As I believe God is all powerful I do not question his methods. we also have to believe it was indeed a physical encounter and not spiritual because Jacob was left with a physical wound...a permanent limp.
You may well ask the question at this point... "but surely God is all powerful he could so easy defeat Jacob in a blink of an eye"? Well.. True, yet God matched Jacob's strength but did not overpower him, so that the struggle could continue. Though God could obviously defeat Jacob at any time, the extended battle was somehow important to Jacob's spiritual development. When at daybreak the "man"/ God is ready to discontinue the wrestling match, he simply touches Jacob's hip and it is over. The lesson for us here is easy to understand...and everything in the Bible is a lesson for us to learn from, as I expect you take the same such lessons from the Quran.
So often in life are we in the midst of a struggle and praying for God to end it, only to find that He allows the struggle to continue... If you've ever been in a situation like this, wishing for something hard for you to be made easy or just go away, you also know that it is when we have to struggle for something and succeed we learn the greatest lesson and grow ourselves as a person. This is why God allowed Jacob to wrestle all night and why He leaves us in our trials, often far beyond what we think we can tolerate. But in His mercy, he does eventually reach down, and with "one touch" end the struggle. The fact that we may bear a scar, as Jacob did in his resulting limp, serves to remind us of His rescue and provision.
When at last the wrestling has subsided, the "man" asks Jacob what his name is. Of course He knew what Jacob's name was, but Jacob needed to come to terms with what his name meant. When he states his name, which means "the grasper" or "the deceiver", he is admitting who he is. His name is then changed to Israel, which means "he struggles with God" or "God prevails". He has had a fundamental shift in his relationship with God and in his concept of himself. He is ready to move into the Promised Land and into his role as the father of God's holy people.
So the lesson to take from Jacobs struggle.. God is with us always bad times and good. He can end the bad times easy if He wished..but our struggles to overcome them make us better and stronger.
Peace and blessings.
