September 27, 2015
Guide #2-3
Genesis 32:22-30
Leader Guide
This is a story about identity. Jacob has been living a life of deception for quite some
time. He swindles his brother out of an inheritance; he swindles his father-in-law out
of possessions. But on the shores of the Jabbok, as the wrestler-blesser strives with
him, he speaks his name: “I am Jacob, the heel.” It is in that moment of self-identity,
of admitting who he is, that God takes all that Jacob is and fulfills all that he will be.
Jacob and his older brother, Esau, have been estranged ever since the 27th chapter of
Genesis when he swindles Esau out of his rightful inheritance. Poor Isaac, blind and
floundering, was duped by his beloved Rebekkah when she encouraged Jacob to
pretend to be the oldest son. Jacob wasn't supposed to get anything in the inheritance
laws, but because of his mother's plan and Jacob's enacting of it, Jacob got everything
and Esau got nothing.
In the next few chapters, Jacob goes on to make much of his life – although he has to
do all this far from his homeland and by less than righteous means. Throughout it all,
God comes to Jacob again and again offering guidance. In fact, you may find it
helpful to read Genesis 28-32 to see the scope of Jacob's life and his conversations
with God. Eventually, God comes to Jacob and sends him back to his homeland
(Genesis 31).
Jacob does go, along with his wives, his children, and his flocks. But it is not without
great distress. Our story today picks up right after Jacob has sent appeasing gifts to his
brother Esau. Jacob's angst continues in our reading when we hear that he sends
everyone and everything ahead of him and he stays the night alone on the shore of the
Jabbok.
And this is when this mysterious wrestler-blesser appears. Who is this wrestler? This
isn't a dream sequence like in so many other places. It isn't a “servant of the Lord”
that appears. This person is only described as a wrestler and a blesser. He arrives as if
by magic and leaves in the same way. In his wake, he leaves three new things: two
names and a new eating habit.
He leaves Jacob with a new name: Israel. The wrestler-blesser tells Jacob that he
receives this name because he has “striven with God and with humans” (32:28). This
word, “strive,” is not something we use today in common conversation to talk about
relationships. Instead, it is often reserved in reference to goals or competitions. The
word means to make great effort to achieve something or to struggle or fight
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September 27, 2015
violently. To use this word to describe Jacob's relationship with God and other people
may seem alien to us. How is it that we would ever think to struggle violently with
God?
But this is a fledgling relationship between God and Abraham's descendants; it is only
three generations old. There is bound to be some struggling to make sense of it. And,
as the story of Genesis and Exodus and even into the history books unfolds, this give
and take between God and God's people unfolds. This name, Israel – striving with
God – is the name that the entire nation will take and it is an identity that they will live
out. This story today, besides giving a nation a place name (Peniel, “face of God”) and
food constraints (Israelites won't eat a certain part of the hip socket of the animal),
gives the descendants of Jacob a way of being in relationship that is honest and
truthful. It is an identity that honors a people who are constantly trying to wrestle
with what it means to be in relationship to God and with one another. The gift of
God to these people is not that they have a cookie-cutter identity, but that God gives
them permission to wrestle it out with God throughout the centuries.
When our story ends today, we are left wondering if this wrestler-blesser was God.
We are left wondering how it is that this reunion between bothers will turn out. But
we have this assurance: Jacob knows that God is with him, because you cannot strive
with an absent God. And so, too, as descendants of Israel, we are left with the
assurance that God is with us in our striving. We are given hope that the struggles we
have with one another and with God are part of the heritage. When we find ourselves
wrestling, or striving, with who God is and what our relationship with God is – it is
part of our name.
There are so many different types of stories in scripture. There are stories about
God and stories about people. There are conquering stories and stories about the
patriarchs. Today we have a story not only about Jacob and his wrestler, but also a
place-name story, a name-change story, and an origin story. Can you distinguish
all these different kinds of stories?
? Who do you think the wrestler-blesser is?
? As you think about your own life, when have you striven with God or others?
Have these struggles deepened your faith? How so?
?
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Genesis 44
Mark 14:32-52
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Philippians 2:5-13
Romans 8:22-28
© 2014-2015 Spirit and Truth Publishing – All Rights Reserved
September 27, 2015
Guide #2-3
Genesis 32:22-30
Participant Guide
Our story today is about Jacob, whose name means “heel.” He got that name because he was
holding onto the heel of his twin brother when he was
born. But he lived into that name for the rest of his life,
because he was a real heel – swindling people and
The word “genesis” means
conniving to get the most out of life. What does your
“beginning”: and that is precisely
name mean?
A lot has happened between last week and this week.
Abraham was promised a son, and got one: Isaac. Isaac had
two sons: Jacob and Esau. Can anyone remember the story of
Jacob and Esau and getting their father's inheritance?
What was the aftermath?
Read Genesis 32:22-24
? Jacob is left alone, but there is a stranger who
appears out of nowhere. The stranger wants a
wrestling match. But who is this stranger?
Read Genesis 32:25-27
? Jacob has been running from his own past for
his entire adult life. He has become the “heel”
that his name portrayed because he has swindled
people all along his path just to make his name
and possessions great. In this moment with the
man on the riverbank, Jacob comes face-to-face
with his own name and his own past. “What is
your name?” “I am Jacob: the heel.”
Read Genesis 32:28-29
?
what this book of the Bible
contains. It contains the beginning
of the world, the beginning of
humanity, and the beginning of
God's special relationship with a
chosen people.
The book of Genesis paints the
very earliest picture of that
fledgling relationship between
God and humanity. Genesis
contains stories of the genesis of
creation to be sure, but also the regenesis of creation after the flood.
The stories of Abraham and Sarah
relate to us the genesis of God's
covenant with a particular family.
And the stories of Isaac, Jacob, and
Joseph play out those covenants in
real lives and sticky situations.
Genesis is a book filled with real
life people who strive with God
and with each other as they grow
in relationship with one another.
The text tells us that Jacob gets a new name
because “he has striven with God and with
humans,” which is exactly what the word
“Israel” means. The dictionary tells us that “to
strive” means “to make great efforts to achieve or obtain something” or “to struggle
or fight vigorously.” Most often, it has been understood that the “striving” referred
to in this passage is the wrestling match, and therefore, the wrestler is God. But Jacob
has been striving all his life: with his father, with his brother, with his father-in-law.
And all along, God has been talking with him and giving him direction (you can read
more about these events in Genesis 28-32). Jacob has already made a big decision to
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September 27, 2015
reconcile with his brother. Could it be that he has already striven with God before
this moment? Do you think the wrestler-blesser is God? How have you “striven” or
struggled with God in your life?
Read Genesis 32:30-32
?
The Bible is a book full of different kinds of stories. Of course there are stories about
people and their relationship with God. But there are also origin stories and stories of
the patriarchs and place-name stories. What new names do we hear of in this story?
What about an origin story?
There is a moment in the story when Jacob admits to
himself who he really is: a heel. In this moment, God takes Names mean something.
all that he is, the good, the bad, the hidden, the revealed,
Find out the meaning of
and turns it into something far more than Jacob could ever
your name at:
have mustered for himself. In a sense, Jacob “came to
www.ohbabynames.com
himself” and got out of his own way. In his confession of
who he was, God could transform him into something more.
 Prayers of confession are meant for exactly these times. Confession helps us
admit who we are so that we can get out of our own way and allow God to do
what God has in mind for our lives. How often does your congregation practice
prayers of confession in corporate worship? How might you do so more? Do you
practice prayers of confession in your personal prayer life? Why or why not?
 St. Paul writes that God works through all things for good for those who love God.
Have you ever experienced this to be true? Have you ever found yourself praying for
this? What is something that you want God to work through right now?
 Close in prayer today, even if it is not your practice. Give the group a few moments
of silence to think on the one thing they want to confess or have transformed. Ask
participants to offer up, in the prayer, a one-word summary; it doesn’t need to make
sense to anyone but themselves and God!
Last week we heard about the promise of a son to Abraham and Sarah. Today we can see that the
promise has come to pass: Isaac (whose name means “laughter”) was born, and from him come Esau
and Jacob. The family has continued in the tradition of Abraham through prayer and listening to God.
But Jacob isn’t a stellar character and today’s reading helps us to see that even through Jacob’s less
than upright nature, God still maintains the promise of faithfulness to Abraham’s offspring. Next
week, we catapult 400 years into the future to a man named Moses. The people of Israel (or the
descendants of Jacob) find themselves enslaved by the Egyptians. And once again, God is faithful to
the promises made to Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses will be named as a prophet – albeit
an unwilling prophet. For next week: Bring along a picture or souvenir from someplace that is “holy
ground” for you.
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