May the mumbling commence!
Never give up.
Though you may fall and fail along the way, never give up chasing the
blessing that the Lord has for you.
Jacob had this attitude. Read
from Peterson’s The Message:
So his
gifts went before
him while he settled
down for the night in the camp.
But during the night
he got up and took
his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven children and crossed the
ford of the Jabbok. He got them safely across the brook along with all his possessions.
But Jacob stayed behind by
himself, and a man wrestled with him until
daybreak. When the man saw that he
couldn’t get the best of Jacob as they wrestled,
he deliberately threw Jacob’s hip out of joint.
The man
said, “Let me go; it’s daybreak.”
Jacob
said, “I’m not letting you go ‘til you bless me.”
The man
said, “What’s your
name?”
He answered,
“Jacob.”
The man said, “But no longer.
Your name is
no longer Jacob. From now on it’s
Israel (God-Wrestler);
you’ve wrestled
with God and you’ve come
through.”
Jacob asked, “And what’s your
name?”
The man
said, “Why do you want to know my name?” And then, right then and
there, he
blessed him.
Jacob
named the place
Peniel (God’s Face) because, he said, “I saw God face-to-face and lived to tell the story!”
The sun
came up as he
left Peniel, limping
because of his hip. (This is why Israelites to
this day don’t eat the hip muscle; because Jacob’s hip was
thrown out of joint.) (Genesis 32:21-32)
Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:
So Jacob's gifts
went on ahead of him,
but he himself spent the
night in the camp.
That night Jacob got up and took his
two wives, his two maidservants 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 men 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. (Genesis 32:21-32)
Now, why did Peterson omit the fact that Jacob struggled
or wrestled with men? All of the
translations I've looked at include the idea that Jacob struggled with
men. We've seen this struggle with men
so far throughout Jacob’s life. Why deny
it by omitting it in this verse? I don’t
get it, and I don’t like the omission.
I also am dissatisfied with the difference between “coming
through” (Peterson) and “overcoming” (NIV).
To overcome is much stronger language than to come through. Jacob was more than surviving (what coming
through seems to indicate to me); he was thriving (what overcoming seems to
indicate to me).
Jacob has overcome his weaknesses before God. Now he has a chance at a new attitude and a
new name – Israel. That’s what his name
will be. But, will he claim it with his
attitudes and actions?
Jacob’s new name
is not a statement of fact as Peterson seems to make it…
Anyways, you've heard of the W.W.F. (World-Wide
Wrestling Foundation). Now, you've experienced the W.P.F. (World-Wide Praying Foundation). Will we wrestle God and ourselves for our
blessing?
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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