Before Jacob can meet with Jacob, he has a larger battle he faces with God. Free PowerPoint Download at www.BibleGuy.org

1. Wrestling with
God and Man
Genesis 32:22-32

2. Are we Fighters?
• On Veteran’s Day we honored those who were
willing to fight for our nations freedom.
• Soldiers are fighters.
• Does one have to be in the military to be a
fighter?
• Jacob never fought in a war, yet God said Jacob
fought against men and God.
• What about us? Do we fight men?
• Do we fight God?

3. Jacob was a fighter
• Jacob never fought against:
– Foreign enemies
– Never defended a country
– Never lifted up a weapon
• Jacob’s battles:
– Were with his brother
– His uncle
– His wives
– But mostly – Jacob fought God

4. Are we fighting God?
• God wrestled Jacob
• God wrestles with us
– He may wrestle with us before our salvation
– He wrestles with us after our salvation
• We wrestle with Him over life decisions
• We wrestle with Him in prayer
• We wrestle with those he send in our lives to instruct
us.

5. Video- Entertaining Angles: I need you
• http://www.wingclips.com/movie-
clips/entertaining-angels/i-need-you

6. God prepares us for our encounter
with Him
Genesis 32:22–32 (NET) 22
During the night Jacob
quickly took his two wives,
his two female servants,
and his eleven sons and
crossed the ford of the
Jabbok. 23 He took them
and sent them across the
stream along with all his
possessions. 24 So Jacob
was left alone.
• His past was a struggle
• Ahead of him was his
biggest struggle.
– He perceived it to be
Esau
– But first, a bigger battle
• God wants alone time:
– No family
– No servants
– No possessions
God brings circumstances outside of our control into
our lives to make us helplessly dependent on Him.

7. God wrestles with those
He has chosen
Then a man wrestled with
him until daybreak. 25
When the man saw that
he could not defeat Jacob,
he struck the socket of his
hip so the socket of
Jacob’s hip was dislocated
while he wrestled with
him.
• The man initiated the
match.
• God may even the odds
for awhile, but God
wins.
• God may have to cause
crisis for us to
acknowledge his
control.
Who is the man?
Gen. 32:1–2 1 So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met
him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, “This is the camp of God!
So he named that place Mahanaim.
Hosea 12:4 He struggled with an angel and prevailed; he wept and
begged for his favor. He found God at Bethel, and there he spoke with
him!
Jacob will imply that he has seen the face of God.

8. Cling to God,
our blessings come from Him
26 Then the man said, “Let
me go, for the dawn is
breaking.” “I will not let you
go,” Jacob replied, “unless
you bless me.”
• “Let me go..” Does it feel
like God is pushing away?
• He has wrestled and clung
to everyone else for
blessing:
– Esau
– Isaac
– Laban
• Crippled, Jacob
acknowledges his
dependency for blessing
was from God.

9. What are we Clinging to?
• The blessing to come from other people?
– Do we have an Esau or Isaac?
– Do we think our blessing will come in a
relationship: boyfriend, spouse, children?
• Do we cling to our possessions?
• Do we get our blessings from popularity?
• Do you depend on your talents for blessing?

10. Why do we stop grasping to God?
• Crisis?
• Broken relationships?
• Church people let you down?
• Unanswered or inadequate answers to our questions?
• Doubt?
• Unanswered prayer?
• We don’t feel God has come through for us?
These cause some to let go of God, but cause
others to cling tighter to him.

11. We must admit who we are
27 The man asked him,
“What is your name?” He
answered, “Jacob.”
• God knows Jacob’s name.
• He lied to his Dad when
last asked this question
• Jacob’s name has come to
mean:
– Heal grabber
– Cheater
– Deceiver
• Jacob owned up to who
he was.

12. What is your name?
• Do we admit who we are?
– “My name is bitterness”
– “My name is greed”
– “My name is unfaithfulness”
– “My name is deception”
• Am I self-confident, self-reliant, and self-
dependent.
• These must be conquered by God if we are to
fulfill His purposes in our lives.
• God may be wrestling with you to own up.

13. Once broken, God changes us
28 “No longer will your name
be Jacob,” the man told him,
“but Israel, because you
have fought with God and
with men and have
prevailed.”
• Your no longer deceiver,
heal grabber, cheater
• You are Israel – God
strives, strives with God
• “Fought” – sarah – verb:
strive, persist, persevere,
struggle, exert oneself.
– Fem. Noun – Princes
– Place prefix M – rule, have
dominion.
• Prevailed – overcome,
succeeded, conquered

14. God Changes Us
• Jacob was no longer Jacob, he was Israel
• We are:
– No longer called Sinners, but Saints
– No longer God’s enemies, but friends
– No longer orphans, but Children of God
– No longer rejected, but “a chosen people, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to
God.”
2 Cor. 5:17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
what is old has passed away – look, what is new has come!

15. Know God and be Blessed
29 Then Jacob asked,
“Please tell me your
name.” “Why do you ask
my name?” the man
replied. Then he blessed
Jacob there. 30 So Jacob
named the place Peniel,
explaining, “Certainly I
have seen God face to
face and have survived.”
• “Why do you ask my
name?”
– “Don’t you know who I
am?”
• “Blessed” – invoked
divine favor, success.
• “Peniel” – Face of God
– Face of God is Jesus
Christ.Hebrews 1:3 The Son is the radiance of his glory and the
representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his
powerful word, and so when he had accomplished cleansing for
sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

16. In Jacob’s weakness he became strong
31 The sun rose over him as
he crossed over Penuel, but
he was limping because of
his hip. 32 That is why to this
day the Israelites do not eat
the sinew which is attached
to the socket of the hip,
because he struck the socket
of Jacob’s hip near the
attached sinew.
• When the sun rose he
was a new/changed man
• God’s strength is in our
weakness.
2 Cor. 12:9 But he said to me,
“My grace is enough for you,
for my power is made perfect
in weakness.” So then, I will
boast most gladly about my
weaknesses, so that the power
of Christ may reside in me.What weakness has God put in your life? He
may intend it to be your greatest strength.

17. Prayer of an Unknown
Confederate Soldier
I asked for strength that I might achieve; I was made weak
that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked for health that I
might do greater things; I was given infirmity that I might
do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy; I
was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power
that I might have the praise of men; I was given weakness
that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things
that I might enjoy life; I was given life that I might enjoy
all things. I got nothing that I had asked for, but
everything that I had hoped for. Almost despite myself my
unspoken prayers were answered; I am, among all men,
most richly blessed.

18. God is not afraid to fight with you
• When we wrestle with God, we always lose.
But when we lose, we win!
• God won (he always does).
• Jacob lost, but in loosing Jacob won.
• When we loose we learn how small and
dependent we are. In our dependence we
cling to Him and become blessed.