Struggling with GOD!

“… What is your name? Jacob, he said. Then He said to him, Your name will no longer be Jacob, but rather Israel, for you have struggled with God and men, and you have overcome.” – from Gen. 32:25-29 (TLV)

We have all had times in our lives which at best can be defined as seasons of struggle. Times, when it seems, we have fought the hardest battles and faced the greatest challenges – where it seems in the physical to be no possibility for a positive outcome, times of doubt, dread and unbelief, or even unrelenting hardship – yes, struggle! 

It would be easy for us if life was perfect and every avenue of our lives was problem free, but we all know that this is not a reality. And yet, there is that place in our hearts where we still yearn for eutopia or Tikkun Olam, where all of our dreams will come true! Yet the truth still remains, our human existence is full of pain, where our path has hold only bumpy roads and unsuspecting potholes. Yet through it all we still reach for hatkivah (hope), but why? I believe Parashah Vayishlach and specifically Genesis 32 provides the answer! 

If any one of us were to take the time to examine Jacob’s life, we would find the example of struggle. Prior to his birth, Gen. 25:22 notes that Jacob and his brother Esau “… fought with each other inside [Rebecca’s] so much that she said, ‘If it’s going to be like this, why go on living…”. (CJB) This foreshadow them in life where rivalry and tension marked every aspect of their relationship, and even affects us to this day. This is best seen in the context of inheritance, and the promise of current and future blessings as Jacob’s convinces Esau in Gen 25:30-33 to sell him his birthright, in as Esau demands, 

“Give me a swallow of that red stuff! I’m famished! … ‘First sell me your birthright,’ replied Jacob. ‘Here I am about to die! exclaimed Esau, ‘What good is a birthright to me?’ ‘Make an oath to me right now,’ said Jacob. He made the oath and sold his birthright to Jacob.” (The Living Torah, trans. Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan)

In reading this passage, we are further reminded of the promise God made to Rebecca,

“There are two nations in your womb. From birth they will be two rival peoples. One of these people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”  (Gen. 2523, CJB)

Certainly, Jacob’s life with relationship to his brother was marked by struggle, and this is now especially true when considering “Esau” as we collectively and individually try to process the massacre of October 7th and the war in Israel against Hamas. Even regarding the time of tribulation, we are reminded of Jacob’s trouble, where the Prophet Jeremiah declares “Alas! That day is so great there is none like it; it is a time of distress [struggle] for Jacob; yet he [i.e. Israel] shall be saved out of it.” – Jer. 30:7 

Both from our Parashah and the words of Jeremiah, we are nevertheless reminded that despite what we are now seeing or experiencing, and the tribulation to come, we are promised that Israel will be saved and brought out of it, and that in the Kingdom to Come, Yeshua will reign from Jerusalem in majesty and glory forever!

But is this all we can learn from Jacob and the struggles which he faced, or is there more encouragement and exhortation that we can find amidst our trials, hardship as Israel is attacked and anti-Semitism is growing throughout the world? Is there an answer to our deepest questions? Our answer here is found in both Jacob’s greatest struggle and blessing in Gen. 32:25-27, “Then a man wrested with [Jacob] until the break of dawn. When He saw that he had not overcome him, He struck the socket of his hip, so He dislocated the socket of Jacob’s hip when He wrestled with him. Then He said, ‘Let Me go, for the dawn has broken.’ But he said, ‘I won’t let You go unless You bless me.” From this passage it is clear, that the one of whom Jacob wrestled and struggled with was not just a man, but in fact the Lord Himself! This is confirmed by the Rabbi’s in Bereshit Rabbah stating, “you [Jacob] have fought and struggled with a divine being and have won.” This is later confirmed in Gen. 35:11-12, 

“God said to him [Jacob], ‘I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and increase.’ A nation and a community of nations will come into existence from you. Kings will be born from your loins. I will grant you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac. I will give the land to your descendants who will follow you.” (The Living Torah)
In spite of his trials, struggles and even fears – God has brought Jacob to this very place and promises him as he did to our Father Abraham and even Isaac, that from him will still come forth a great nation, the Jewish people. Yet it is interesting, is it not, that the very struggle which marked Jacob’s life and for him, the realization of the promise is the same for us, where through seasons of struggle, the hardest of battles and even perceived physical impossibilities – the promises of God in our lives is being fulfilled! 

In his book, “Walking with God through Pain and Suffering,” Timothy Keller reminds that the sufferings we face at times may even feel as that of a fiery furnace as seen in 1 Peter 4:12-13, where we read,

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange is happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share [in Messiah’s] sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.” (ESV)

Of this, Keller exhorts that, “Anything with a degree of heat is, of course, a very dangerous and powerful thing. However, if used properly it does not destroy. Things put into the furnace properly can be shaped, refined, purified, and even beautified. This is a remarkable view of suffering, that faced and endured with faith, it can in the end only make us better, stronger, and even more filled with greatness and joy.”

Like Jacob, we may feel that our trials (especially now) are pushing us over the edge, but when we place our thoughts, hearts, and lives completely in Yeshua’s hands, then we will discover that our present sufferings and trials are able to refine us, and never destroy because God Himself is the one who is walking with us through the fire, as He reminds us that His promises will soon be fulfilled!