Genesis 32:22-31 (NRSV)
22 The same night he got up and took his two
wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the
Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and
likewise everything that he had. 24 Jacob was left alone; and a man
wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he did
not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was
put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me
go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless
you bless me.” 27 So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he
said, “Jacob.” 28 Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called
Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have
prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But
he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So
Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and
yet my life is preserved.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed
Penuel, limping because of his hip.
In Genesis 32:22-31,
we have another account of an encounter with Yahweh. In saying this, I am
taking seriously that Jacob states in verse 30 that this encounter with “a man,”
a stranger, is actually an encounter with God. Encounters with the divine can
be unexpected and dangerous. They contain a risk if one embraces the encounter.
The unexpectedness and mystery of the encounter are typical of how God often
interjects divine power and presence into human life in order to transform a
fearful, uncertain future into a future of promise and possibility. We often
want everything explained in simple terms. We want our needs met. Congregational
leaders find needs and fill them. We may learn to scratch where people itch,
but we scratch nothing significant. Yet, we also want to meet God. God is
mysterious and dangerous. Yes, God loves, supports, and provides safety or
refuge. Such a picture of God could create a relationship with God that is more
like a cradle or a cocoon. Yet, the picture we find here of God is not such a
simple one. Yahweh is abrasive, complex, and unpredictable. We need both
pictures in order to have a real picture of Yahweh.[1]
Since God wants a divine-human encounter to transform people into new persons,
God wants to engage people in battle. A chapter in the spiritual biography of
every believer needs to have the title, “My struggle with God.” Jacob has been
a scoundrel, schemer, and deceiver, but must become Israel, the father of the
twelve tribes of a people whom Yahweh will choose. Yahweh will bless him and
lock him into serving the divine and good purpose God is working out on this
earth. Such a movement is not always a pleasant experience. We must beware of
presenting a relationship with God as too rosy and clear. A relationship with
God is far from easy. God can grab us, fight with us, and jerk us all the way
around, in order to move us toward a new path we never dreamed of taking.[2]
The encounter described
in this passage forges a new understanding or perspective of the relationship
between Jacob and Yahweh. The encounter tests the fitness of Jacob for the
larger tasks that lay ahead. The placement of the story interrupts the
narrative of Jacob ’s encounter and
interaction with his brother Esau and marks a
turning point in Israel Jacob 's new honest and obedient relationship with
God? Alternatively, does it once again show the cunning and clever ancestor of
all Israel Israel Israel Jacob , the younger, the
heel-grabber, appropriated both his brother Esau 's
birthright and his blessing, thus unethically gaining for himself the
privileges of the firstborn. To achieve this, Jacob
intentionally deceived his father, Isaac ,
while willingly putting his mother, Rebekah, at risk of a curse (Genesis
27:13). Having totally disrupted any semblance of family unity, Jacob then ran off to establish a new life for
himself in the land of his uncle Laban. Now, it is time for Jacob to return to his homeland and begin his life's
work. Once again, he uses questionable
tactics. For the sake of safety, he
sends his family ahead to approach Esau first. He sends gifts to dazzle his brother. Having taken all the precautions, he
confronts the unexpected and unpredictable. In verse 30, he will say he has
seen God face to face. In most cases in the Bible, one cannot see God and live
because we need a radical change in order to participate in the eternity of
God.[3] The
visitor has the power to make Jacob
give honest responses, to receive his name, and to give him a new name, a new
character. Jacob wants to know the name of this divine being, an indication of
the human longing for the divine. Yet, in the refusal to do so, the divine
remains mysterious.[4]
A human being does not have power over the divine. Rather, this human being,
alone with God, must learn the purpose God has for him. This had become, not
just the crossing of the river, but the definitive moment in Jacob 's life. This passage is speaking about a new Jacob in the making.
Jacob’s wrestling bout with the divine opponent recalls his past
struggle with Esau for the Blessing--a struggle that began in the womb. As Jacob
prepares to meet Esau , the struggle continues; but,
on Jacob ’s part, it is now more
sophisticated. Life is not so simple for Jacob ;
it is not just the matter of getting past Esau . Jacob
must deal with God because God has an interest in what is happening between Esau and Jacob .[5]
[1]
David Clines, “Yahweh and the God of Christian Theology
[2]
Elizabeth Achtemeier, “The Wrestling.”
[3] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 607
[4] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 1, 359-60.
[5]
Frederick C. Holmgren
No comments:
Post a Comment