A Wrestling Match
Alone at last, Jacob sat down by the fire he had made on the hillside overlooking the Jabbok River and hugged his knees. He played with the names, “Jacob, Jabbok,” and chuckled.
An evening breeze rustled the leaves of sparse grasses and scrubby bushes, and the last sounds of chattering women, squealing children, bleating goats and sheep, and sharp calls of shepherds to wayward animals were fading into the distance. Final stragglers in the long caravan of Jacob’s wealth and family were disappearing as they emerged from the shallow water of the fords and snaked up and away from the river. They would camp over there, nestled in the shelter of those hills, and he, Jacob, would remain on the hillside on this side of the Jabbok to spend a quiet night of rest and contemplation before his meeting with Esau.
“Esau should be impressed,” thought Jacob. “I’ve got the smarts and the work ethic to make things happen. I outsmarted that trickster, Uncle Laban. He took me for a fool and thought he could manipulate me, but I outfoxed him! When Esau sees all the wealth I have accumulated he will give me the respect that’s due to me.”
The stars began to appear and he tried to sleep. He was exhausted after years of contending with his deceitful father-in-law who was also his employer. He was tired from traveling many miles with his camel train, livestock, and his tribe. He was excited and anxious as he anticipated going home to meet his family.
Sleep, however, would not come and he was not alone. He was struggling to get control in a wrestling bout. He grappled and fought with all his might. He did not want to be under anyone else’s power. He was Jacob, the head of his family, God’s man in a position of leadership.
“Just let Esau try to kill me,” he mused, “I bested him years ago; I broke Laban’s control over me and no one, definitely not Esau, is going to lord it over me!”
But his struggle with his adversary continued, on and on into the night. He held his own but did not overcome. As dawn light filtered through the darkness Jacob felt a touch on his hip. He staggered, fell, got up and limped in pain. The contest was over; he was overcome. He was beaten, not by a blow, but by a gentle touch. The One he had been fighting against all night long was not an adversary but a loving Parent.
Now Jacob’s soul was calm. He was no longer boasting in his own strength. He had deceived others and others had deceived him. He was now an honest man, but not necessarily trusted. His own power was limited by a Higher Power. He rested in that power and readied himself in mind, body and spirit for his meeting with Esau.
From Genesis 32:22-32
by Andrea Kidd
