Kick up the dust!

Richard Spurlock

Genesis 32:24-30

Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking
of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched
the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He
wrestled with him. And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”
But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”
So He said to him, “What is your name?”
He said, “Jacob.”
And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for
you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.”
And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him
there.
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to
face, and my life is preserved.”

When we read what Jacob says in Genesis 32:30, “…I have seen God face to face…” we are left to ponder how it is possible that a man has seen God face to face. Next, we are left with the troubling concepts of Jacob wrestling with One described as a ‘Man’ and how he was able to restrain him by wrestling with him until the dawn approached. Who is it that Jacob wrestled with, and why is this a Messianic passage?

Any passage that deals with a visible manifestation of God, or His Voice, has Messianic implications. But is this One with Whom Jacob wrestled God? Could it be Messiah?

There is no question by the plain reading of the text, that Jacob believes he has wrestled and ‘seen’ God. There is no question by the plain reading that the ‘Man’ renames him Israel because Jacob had struggled with God and man and had prevailed. The ‘Man’ is One Who can bless, and can rename. He is God. – and as a ‘Man’ He is likely Messiah Himself.

Hebrew Perspective

‘Jacob’ in Hebrew is [Ya’akov]. It literally means to ‘take by the heel’. Esau, in
Genesis 27:36, uses Jacob’s name in a play on words where he says that Jacob had taken his birthright and his blessing ‘by the heel’. This is where the view of Jacob as the ‘deceiver’ comes from. This is not God’s view. God told Rebecca that Jacob would be the one who inherited the birthright and the blessing (Genesis 25:23). What is better seen in the name Ya’akov, is the grasping of the heel and not letting go.

Jacob desired two things, and we see them throughout his life. We see them repeated in his life and defining him.
􀂃 He wanted to be the heir of Abraham and Isaac – i.e. the birthright.
􀂃 He wanted to be the recipient of the Promises made to Abraham and Isaac – i.e. the
blessing.

What is interesting is how Jacob goes about getting those. He contends with Esau in the womb for them. He purchases the birthright from Esau with his own hands (the stew). He deceives his father for the blessing. He then receives in a dream the promise of the birthright and the blessing from God Himself. When we get to Genesis 32 we are seeing what, in effect, is the culmination of all of Jacob’s struggles in seeking those two things. Jacob finally learns that is God that he must grasp and never let go of. What he learns is that the things that he is desiring are found in a single Person – Messiah. The purpose of the birthright and the purpose of the blessing was always the promised Seed.

The key to this understanding is the linking of the two words: Jacob’s name, Ya’akov, and the word for ‘wrestle’ which is the word [abak]. This is not the usual word for ‘wrestle’ in Hebrew. Remember, one of Jacob’s sons was named Naftali, which comes from the root which means ‘to twist’.

Instead, the word, abak, ‘wrestle’ comes from a root verb which means ‘to kick up dust’. This word is used only in this passage. It gives us a dramatic picture – one which tells us a most important fact about this night in Jacob’s life. You see, Jacob had ‘seen God’ in a dream before – but this was no dream, and no spiritual metaphor. Jacob and ‘the Man’ kicked up dust in their grappling that night. You cannot kick up dust, with someone who does not physically exist. This One, is not a apparition, a vapor, an emanation, or any other device used to escape the theological implications. This One is a physical being described as a ‘Man’.

Jacob kicked up dust with God, and would not let go. He finally had gotten it right. When he asks to be blessed by Him, he receives a distinguishing mark – the touched thigh. The distinction was now made between Ya’akov, who goes about trying to achieve the birthright and promise by his own effort, the Ysra’el, who grabs hold of Messiah and won’t let go.

That distinguishing mark, the limp caused by the touched thigh is explained in the word for ’thigh’. It is the word yarek, which is translated ‘thigh, side, or loins’. It is the yarek, where a man places his sword, and it can be the inner thigh where the source of paternity is. The yarek is seen as the source of a man’s strength and his foundation.

God renames Jacob ‘Israel’. This is the word [Ysra’el]. It is a contraction. The
‘El’ portion is ‘God’. The Ysra part is told in the play on words that God pronounces when he names him.
“… Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with
God and with men, and hast prevailed.” Genesis 32:28(KJV)

The word for ‘power’ used here is the word sarah. It means ‘to exert oneself, or to persist, or to contend’. It is related to the word sarar, which means ‘a prince who rules with power’.

How can you “kick up dust” like Ya’akov [Jacob] our father?
To gaze upon the Person of HaShem demands we be like Ya’akov: steadfast in seeking Him… humbly depending only upon Him. Then we will be known as Yisra’el!