Wrestling with God

When Jacob was about to be reunited with his estranged brother, Esau (Gen 32:22-32), Jacob spent the night by the stream called Jabbok. All night he wrestled with an unnamed man. When morning came Jacob would not let the man go until he received a blessing. What he received was the new name “Israel” which he carried into the meeting with his brother, into the promised land, and into history. The place, which may have looked something like this site on the modern day Jabbock, was called Peniel, which means “face to face with God.”