Jacob is in great anxiety as he
is about to face whom he believes to be his arch nemesis, mainly his brother,
Esau, whom he stole the blessing of the first born by deceiving their father,
Isaac. He stumbles upon a place in which
he seems to be exasperated at the trial that he thinks he’s about to face. In the midst of this, he is confronted by a
most peculiar situation. He finds
himself in a wrestling match with Elohim himself. I don’t have time to go into why some of your
translations say an angel, but with some study you will see that he is
wrestling with Elohim. You know the
story, on and on they wrestled throughout the night, trading advantages as
wrestlers do on the mat; one grapples and the other struggles to get out, then
he makes a move, and submits the other into some type of hold. The other escapes that hold and gains an
advantage from another position. The night
goes on like this until finally Elohim said, “The new day is about to dawn. Let me go. (I’m paraphrasing).” The famous words of Jacob are now uttered, “I
will not let you go until you bless me!”
Question, do you recognize your
season of wrestling? Do you understand
that it has been a test the whole time – of your endurance, of your strength, of
your tenacity, of your full-doggedness if you will? This test of wills is for our example, to let
us know that the Lord watches to see if we will persist, if we will press on,
if we will simply not give up until we receive His promise. Will you be one who gives in this wrestling
season that you are in right now?
If you will look closely at the
scriptures, you will see that when Elohim leaves him, Jacob recognizes that he
has just seen God face to face. In the
previous Aliyah, Elohim changes Jacob’s name to Israel. And, in so doing, makes him a candidate for the
blessings that he was promised. Jacob names
that place “Peniel” in verse 31 of the Humash, which means “Panin,” (face) of
El (God), or literally face to face with God.
What is most interesting about the next verse is that it now reads, “Penuel.” In your King James Version it reads in verse
31, "And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh." How profound that they used the word “pass”
and “over.” Your “pass over” season is
upon you now. You are about to “pass
over” from the promise you received from Elohim, face to face, into the
receiving of that promise as you “pass over” that wrestling season.
The two Hebrew letters that
change in the Torah are these: the Yod is written in the middle of “Peniel” and
the Vav is used in the middle of “Penuel.”
Why the difference? The Yod, in ancient Hebrew, is a picture of
an arm, almost as if it is extended, offering you something, “your promise
perhaps?” Then comes the wrestling, “…after that ye
have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you in your promise (1 Peter 5:10).
You must understand that the Vav
is very significant in the sense that its meaning is exemplified in that its
purpose is to connect heaven and earth through liquid light. It also connects your future and your
past. The Vav is a tangible, revelatory
entity, in that its ancient pictograph is a tent peg or a stake. All
that you have been promised in your future and all that you have wrestled with
in your past shall be staked together in that you will be able to receive your
future because of your past.
Stay the course, my brothers and
sisters. Do whatever it takes to make it
in life as you gain advantages, as you move and turn, and navigate the turns
and mazes of this life. I promise you, a
new day is dawning, and with it comes the fulfillment of the very promise that
you have been struggling over for years and even decades! Hallelujah!
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