JACOB TIED UP GOD all night with a whopper of a wrestling hold…if we’re to believe some Bible experts.
I can’t help but wonder if the hold Jacob used was the “step-over armlock camel clutch.” That would be cool.
Remember the story? I’ve picked it for the Friday Fun Fact of the week.
“Jacob was alone, and a man came and wrestled with him until the sun came up. When the man saw he could not defeat Jacob, he struck Jacob’s hip and put it out of joint. Then he said to Jacob, ‘Let me go. The sun is coming up,’” (Genesis 32:24-26).
That man was God, many scholars say.
Jacob certainly seemed to think so: “I have seen God face to face,” (Genesis 32:30).
Two thoughts come to mind. Both are irreverent. So sorry.
- God cried “Uncle”? “Let me go.” That doesn’t sound especially all-powerful.
- Why would any high school wrestler going into a championship match pray for the help of a God who couldn’t outwrestle a 97-year-old goat herder?
This is one of the questions I tackled in my book 100 Tough Questions About God and the Bible. You’ll find it on pages 177-179.
Here’s the deal.
If any of you have the book—and I hope someone does, since it’s available on Amazon even though it doesn’t officially release until Tuesday, April 15— go to my blog page and in a comment box give me one of theories you find in the book about how scholars suggest we interpret the story.
I’ll give a free book to the first two readers who do this.
But you have to pull the info from my book, not from between your ears or worse.
You’ll have several of my giveaway books to choose from…including the 100 Tough Questions book, in case you want an extra copy to keep in a small room where you rest occasionally.
This offer ends at midnight tonight, Central Time.
Hi Steve,
I submit the first comment:
Wrestling tie-up. There’s something spiritual going on here, some say. Though the wrestlers are locked in what sounds like a tie-up, it seems that the mystery man could easily break free. With a mere touch, he dislocated Jacob’s hip. Some scholars say that what the mystery man couldn’t overcome had nothing to do with physics. It was something spiritual. Jacob, in some way, was resisting God.
There, I rest my case. You’re a great blessing to us, Steve!
Bob
OK. You’re winner #1 of a possible 2.
Pick a freebie book from the following:
100 Tough Qs About God and the Bible
Bible Snapshots
Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Complete Guide to Bible Prophecy
Who’s Who & Where’s Where in the Bible for Kids
Student’s Guide to the Bible
If I win, you can send an “Illustrative Bible Dictionary” to Jill Sizemore — I haven’t given her something of yours yet.
Ok here is one of the theories:
Some scholars have speculated that this bizarre scene is the patchwork of stories based on a legend about Jacob encountering a Canaanite God of the river Ford.
I think demanding a blessing is probably the closest suggestion you have, but I see it more like God initiating the confrontation in order to get Jacob to demand a blessing from God — Jacob had no interest or understanding of what the Covenant was without God intervening! What a way to get someone on the right track! This is the sovereign grace of God — I wish God would come and wrestle with me!
OK, Wayne. I’ll give that to you even though your note is pulled more from info between your ears than from the book.
For everyone else, here’s the “Demanding a blessing” section Wayne refers to from 100 Tough Questions about God and the Bible:
Demanding a blessing. Jacob was asking for God’s help in what he was about to face. Scholars say this story would have made more sense to readers in ancient times. That’s because there are other ancient Middle Eastern stories about gods getting held hostage for a reward. In one story, Jupiter, the Roman king of gods, asks a woman clutching him, “Why do you hold me? It is time. I want to get out of the city before daybreak” (Amphitryon). Then Jupiter gives the woman—with whom he has had sex—a golden bowl.
Steve….Remember I can give the right answer when all you can do is present the Bible experts views LOL.
I got the Neon Light Blinker in my head fixed…