Falaite Fepueli 17, 2023
Israel the
God-Fighter שׂרה
‘ISILELI, KO FEFA‘UHI-MO E-‘OTUA
GENESIS 32:24, 28
AND JACOB WAS LEFT ALONE. AND A MAN WRESTLED WITH HIM UNTIL THE BREAKING OF THE DAY THEN HE SAID. "YOUR NAME SHALL NO LONGER BE CALLED JACOB, BUT ISRAEL, FOR YOU HAVE STRIVEN WITH GOD AND WITH MEN, AND HAVE PREVAILED."
SENESI 32:24, 28
Pea na‘e nofo toko taha pē ‘a
Sēkope; pea na‘e fefa‘uhi mo ia ha tangata, ‘o a‘u ki he ‘alu hake ‘a e
pongipongi.
V. 28 Pea ne folofola, ‘E ‘ikai toe ui ho hingoa ko Sēkope, ka ko ‘Isileli pē (Ko Fai-mo e-‘Otua): he kuo ke fai mo e ‘Otua mo e kakai, pea kuo ke lava.
Jacob's opponent is called "a man" (Gen. 32:24), "God" (Hosea 12:3), and "the angel" (12:4). In short, this is a wrestling match between Jacob and God who appears as a messenger in human form. That the Lord would grapple with a man in the mud is, of course, astonishing. What is truly jaw dropping, however, is that the Almighty would lose the fight. But that is what he himself says when he renames the patriarch. Jacob has sarah ("striven" or "contended") with both God and men and has overcome. He therefore gets the new name Yisra'el: from yisra (a verbal form of sarah) and El ("God"). Jacob is now Israel, the God-Fighter.
Isn't it just like our Lord, however, to lose? Jacob's nocturnal battle with this God in human form is a preview of the entirety of Jesus' ministry. When he arrived in our darkened world, he faced a lifetime of fierce, deadly opposition. Humanity wrestled with him until finally he was pinned atop the cross. There he lost everything for us, that in him we might gain everything the Father wants to give us.
Christ, may we too count
everything loss for the surpassing greatness of knowing you as our Lord.
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