A Night and a New Name

Jacob was preparing to meet Esau. He had sent gifts ahead and asked God to care for his family.

Later, when it was dark, he took his family to a river called the Jabbok.

The water flowed between the stones.

Jacob helped his wives, the children, and the others cross to the other side. He also sent their belongings across.

Then he stayed behind alone.

The sky was dark.

His family was across the river, and Esau was coming along the road.

Then something very special happened.

A man wrestled with Jacob during the night. He was an angel, a messenger of God.

Jacob and the angel wrestled: they held on to each other and pushed, without letting go.

The hours passed.

The wrestling continued until dawn began to break.

At one point, the angel touched Jacob’s hip. His hip was hurt, and from then on Jacob walked with a limp.

But Jacob kept holding on.

The angel said to him:

“Let me go. It’s already dawn.”

Jacob needed God’s help. He did not want to leave without receiving his blessing.

“I will not let you go until you bless me.”

The angel asked him a question.

“What is your name?”

This time, Jacob told the truth. He did not pretend to be his brother, as he had done before his father many years earlier.

“Jacob.”

Then he received a new name.

“Your name will be Israel. You have struggled with God and with men and have persevered.”

To persevere means to keep going, even when something is difficult.

Jacob also wanted to know the messenger’s name. But the angel did not tell him.

Right there, the angel blessed him.

Jacob did not receive the blessing by being stronger. Sorry for his wrong choices, he learned to depend on God and trust his forgiveness.

That night had been unlike any other.

Jacob called that place Peniel. That name means “face of God.”

“I have seen God face to face, and he has spared my life.”

The sun began to rise.

The light shone on the river and the path.

Jacob moved slowly. His hip hurt and he walked with a limp, but he carried with him the blessing he had received.

He also had a new name: Israel.

He still did not know how Esau would welcome him.

But he was no longer the same person who had left home so many years before.

He had learned that he needed God’s help.

As he thought about what lay ahead, he remembered the promise that had stayed with him throughout the journey:

“I will be with you.”

Jacob got ready to go on with his family.

Soon he would see his brother.

Their meeting was about to begin.