OYB: JAN 16

Genesis 32:13-34:31 ~ Matthew 11:7-30 ~ Psalm 14:1-7 ~ Proverbs 3:19-20

Psalm 14:1a
The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."

Whatever else we may say of Jacob, he does not fit the definition of a fool. He may be a scoundrel and a cheat, but he is no fool.

Genesis 32:25
When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.

I find it amazing--weird even--that Jacob the cheat is defeated because "the man" basically cheats. It seems that the man uses "super powers" to win the wrestling match. Why was it so important for "the man" to win and for Jacob to lose?

Genesis 32:29
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.

I wonder, should Jacob have known the man's name? Should he have known that this "man" was Yahweh?

Genesis 32:30
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered."

After the wrestling match and the blessing, Jacob--now Israel--knows "the man."

Genesis 33:10
Jacob said, "No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me.

I've read this passage before. Was the relationship with Esau helping Israel to understand his relationship with Yahweh--that Yahweh accepts him (even despite himself)?

Genesis 33:20
There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

Israel calls the altar "God, the God of Israel". This is the first time, I think, that Jacob has named God has his God, and not merely the God of his fathers.

Genesis 34:30-31
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household." But they said, "Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?"

Despite the changes that took place in the wrestling match, Israel is still a bit of a jerk, who raises jerks (v. 25). Thus the process.

Knowing that God used scoundrels like Jacob gives me hope when I mess up.

OYB Blog: Jan 16

Tag(s): one year bible

“Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” http://www.esv.org/