TLDR: A guide for having a family discipleship time on Genesis 32 based on the ACT Bible Study Method.
Act 3: God Promises Jesus
Scene 18: Jacob Wrestles with a Man
Genesis 32:1–32
Analyze the Passage
Step 1: Introduce the Passage
Genesis was written by Moses sometime between 1445–1405 BC to help the Israelites leaving Egypt understand their history with God. It’s one of the five books of the Law that Moses wrote, which we also call the Torah, or the Pentateuch, which means “five books.”
Today’s true story is a turning point in Jacob’s life. Up to this point, Jacob has lived for himself mostly, always trying to get his way even if that meant taking advantage of someone else. That’s going to change now, though. Not completely and not immediately, but the encounter he has with a mysterious stranger will change his name and his life. This is the eighteenth story of Act 3: God Promises Jesus.
Step 2: Read the Passage
Step 3: Summarize the Passage
As Jacob continued to travel, the angels of God met him and he believed it was the camp of God. He then sent messengers to meet Esau and determine if he’d receive him well.
The messengers returned and said Esau was coming with 400 men. Jacob was afraid. He divided his people and possessions into two camps, thinking if Esau attacked one, the other would escape.
He then prayed to God, reminding God of the promises he had made and recognizing God’s goodness to him. He asked God to rescue him from Esau, again reminding God of the promises he had made.
Jacob then sent a large gift of animals, divided into three herds, and instructed the servant of each to say the same thing: it is a gift for Esau and Jacob is coming behind them.
That night, Jacob took his family and sent them across a steam, but he stayed by himself where he was.
Then, a man wrestled with him all night long. When the man saw he couldn’t beat Jacob, he hurt his hip. The man told Jacob to let him go, but Jacob refused unless the man blessed him. The man asked his name, and Jacob told him. The man said he’d be called Israel from now on, because he fought with God and with men and prevailed.
Then, Jacob asked the man’s name, but the man only asked why he wanted to know. The man then blessed Jacob. Jacob named the place Peniel and recognized he had seen God and survived.
When the sun rose, Jacob walked with a limp. This is why the Jews do not eat the area of an animal’s hip.
Step 4: Interrogate the Passage
Questions you and your family ask might include:
- Why did the angels of God meet Jacob?
- Was Jacob reminding God of his promises as a way of getting his way and being protected?
- Why did Jacob divide the gift into three herds?
- Did Jacob send his family across the stream toward Esau or away from him?
- Who was the man that wrestled with Jacob?
- Why did they begin to wrestle?
- Why did the man want to be let go because dawn was approaching?
- Why did the man ask why Jacob wanted to know his name?
Step 5: Wonder about the Passage
Wonder statements you and your family make might include:
- I wonder what the angels of God looked like and what they did when they met Jacob.
- I wonder if Jacob was trying to manipulate God in his prayer.
- I wonder how much of his herds Jacob wanted to give to Esau.
- I wonder what the man Jacob wrestled with looked like.
- I wonder how the man began wrestling with Jacob.
- I wonder how the man wounded Jacob’s hip.
- I wonder why the man chose to wound his hip.
- I wonder how Jacob prevailed against God.
- I wonder why the man didn’t give his name to Jacob.
Connect the Passage to Christ
Step 6: Find the World in Front of Text
In this account, we begin to see a change in Jacob. To this point, we’ve seen him swindle and trick to get his way. He did it to Esau to get the birthright. He did it to Isaac to get Esau’s birthright. He did it to Laban to get the bulk of the flocks. And he even does it here. He seems to try to bargain with Esau with the three gifts of the flock. Worst of all, it sure seems as if Jacob is bargaining with God in his prayer—reminding God that he had promised to protect him. That seemed less like a prayer of claiming God’s promises in joy and more of claiming them to expect God to work the way Jacob wanted.
Then, we get to the wrestling. This match is a picture of how Jacob lived his life to this point—always in combat with others. Even in this match, he wanted to get the upper hand on his opponent. When the man asked what Jacob’s name was, it was a way of asking what kind of person Jacob was. Names then were not just what a person was called, but was also about a person’s character. It might have been a way the man was asking Jacob what kind of person he was. That’s why this name change is important; it was the man’s way of saying that Jacob was about to be changed. And that’s why the heel wound and limp are important. This was a visible sign of humility.
We don’t see an immediate and complete change in Jacob after this, but this is when we see humility begin to enter his life. And that’s where we see God’s ideal world. God doesn’t intend for us to live in pride and sufficiency. He intends for us to humbly rely on him.
Step 7: Find the World of Jesus of the Text
No one defines humility like Jesus. He shows us perfectly what humility is. When he came to earth, he might not have limped like Jacob, but that he was a human and walked at all, is the greatest sign of humility ever. God wrapped in human flesh and coming to be a servant to people is complete humility. This is the humility we are to imitate.
Translate It to Your Context
Step 8: Connect the World of Jesus of the Text to Your World
How can you be especially humble this week? Remember, humility is not thinking poorly of yourself; it is thinking more highly of God and others. It is putting God first, others second, and yourself third. What are ways that you can display humility with your friends, family, and others to show them Jesus?
NEXT: Act 3: God Promises Jesus; Scene 19: Jacob and Esau Meet Again (Genesis 33:1–20)
Learn more about this family discipleship method here.
brian dembowczyk 