Wrestling with God

Friday Bible Study Group

3/31/2023

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 Genesis 32:24-32
24
So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 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. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is
daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27
The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28
Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[f] because you have
struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
29
Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30
So Jacob called the place Peniel,[g] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and
yet my life was spared.”
31
The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,[h] and he was limping because of his
hip. 32 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.

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 Seeking God in difficult times
“So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak” (Genesis 32:24).

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

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 Seeking God with perseverance
“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’” (
Genesis 32:25-26).

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not
give up. Galatians 6:9

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 Seeking our new identity in Christ
“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
humans and have overcome’” (Genesis 32:27-28).

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new
things have come” (1 Corinthians 5:17).

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 Seeking the Blesser and not just the
blessing
“Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he replied, ‘Why do you ask my name?’ Then
he blessed him there” (Genesis 32:29).

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

- Matthew 6:33

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 Seeking God with humility
“The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip” (
Genesis 32:31).

“Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting
myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me — to keep me
from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And
He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly,
therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with
difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

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