Broad meadows

In todays installment, we look at a strange encounter in Genesis 32:22-32 between Jacob and an unknown man that leads to a physical altercation.

“That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with man and have overcome.”
Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.”

The first thing I would deal with here is whether or not the man that Jacob was wrestling with was God. Though the man seems to leave that question open, Jacob clearly seems to believe that the man was God. I don’t think it was because of the presence of the sun in the account and in the next installment I will dig into that idea more directly. Today, though, I’m going to be focusing more on just one concept in this account.

If you have read previous writings of mine on this blog, you may remember the concept of merging. That is, that as you’re reading an account like this, that the characters in that account and the symbols that are present there merge into one overall spiritual/prophetic concept. So basically we are talking about one person that is being spoken of, whose primary symbol is the sun. In this account the primary result is that the person being prophesied overcomes.

If you’ve been following along, you know that to truly understand the book of Revelation, it takes a whole of scripture approach. And while parts of Revelation are very direct, much of what is going on is what I have termed a wheelhouse of symbols that requires following those symbols through each occurrence in the Bible to be able to understand what is being prophesied. And as we go, other symbols become added to the main symbol giving nuance and detail to the prophetic line. So who is scripture referring to when thinking about “he who overcomes “? Let’s look at some of the verses in Revelation that speak to that concept.

“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Revelation 2:7

”Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.” Revelation 2:11 (recall that this series started with the prophet who dies twice).

”Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.” Revelation 2:17 (compare this with Jacob wanting to know the man’s name).

“To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations — ‘he will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’ —just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give him the morning star (the sun?). Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 2:26-29.

”He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 3:5 (His name becomes an item again).

”I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 3:11-13. The concept of name is reiterated 3 times here, but as we saw in earlier installments where the symbol of “pillar” was added, it now reappears.

”To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 3:21&22.

“He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” Revelation 21:7.

While most might think of these as general calls (and the newer version of the NIV has changed them to seem as such), I think prophetically speaking, scripture is referring to one person.