Yahweh and the Man who wrestled with Jacob

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Who is God?
God is the creator of heaven and earth, and everything in it; this makes Him the most powerful being in existence. His existence is eternal by nature, He rules His creation with Righteousness, and His Sovereignty is established from the beginning.

Deuteronomy 10:14
Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it.

The Hebrew word for God is Elohim; and in Scriptures, the Hebrew name of God who created the heavens and the earth is Yahweh. English Bibles make use of the word LORD—all capitalized, instead of Yahweh; and the Hebrew word for Lord, a title of reverence, is Adonai.

What are the other titles of Yahweh in Scriptures?
LORD God, Creator, Maker, God Almighty.

God speaks to Moses and reveals His name—Yahweh
God spoke to Moses out of a flame of fire from within a bush on the mountain of God in Horeb and revealed His name Yahweh.

Exodus 3:5

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”


Exodus 3:15
God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you.' "
This is my name forever, 
the name you shall call me 
from generation to generation.

Exodus 6 2 Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am Yahweh. 3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I did not reveal My name Yahweh to them.

What does God look like?
God made man in His own image.
Genesis 1:27
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

There are instances in the Bible when God appears to people in the physical world and in visions.

To get a better understanding, the events mentioned below are not in chronological order.

Moses sees the glory of God
God appointed Moses to lead the Israelites to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as an eternal possession. Moses asked the LORD to reveal His glory so that he could believe that the LORD's Presence would go with them. God agreed to reveal His glory but stated that no one can see His face and live. The LORD showed Moses His back because His face must not be seen.


Exodus 33
17
And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.”
18
Then Moses said, “Please show me Your glory.”
19
“I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
20
But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”
21
The LORD continued, “There is a place near Me where you are to stand upon a rock, 
22
and when My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. 
23
Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.”

This event explains that throughout the Scriptures, when the LORD has made an appearance either in the physical world or in a vision, His face has not been revealed.


Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy elders see the God of Israel
Exodus 24:1
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance,
Exodus 24
9
Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up
10
and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky.

God walks in the Garden of Eden
Genesis 3:8
They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

God and two angels appear to Abraham like men
This event took place before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
Genesis 18
1
The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.
2
Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
3
He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by.

God and the two angels eat food served by Abraham
Genesis 18:8
He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

The commander of the army of the LORD meets Joshua
Joshua 5
13
Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua approached Him and asked, “Are You for us or for our enemies?”
14
“Neither,” He replied. “I have now come as Commander of the LORD’s army.”
Then Joshua fell facedown in reverence and asked Him, “What does my Lord have to say to His servant?”
15
The Commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.”
And Joshua did so.

The Man wrestles with Jacob 
Jacob fled from his brother Esau and went to Padan Aram in Harran where Laban, his mother's brother lived. On the way to Harran, he stopped at a place for the night, placed a stone under his head and lay down to sleep. The LORD appeared to him in a dream and spoke to him.
Genesis 28
12
And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!
13
And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.
14
Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
15
Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

The next morning Jacob took the stone and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called the place Bethel, the house of God, and then made a vow.
Genesis 28:16-22

After Jacob lived in Padan Aram for many years, he decided to go back to the land of his fathers after the LORD spoke to him.
Genesis 31
3
Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you."

On his way, he met the angels of God.
Genesis 32
1
Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2
When Jacob saw them, he said, "This is the camp of God!" So he named that place Mahanaim.

Jacob reached Jordan and prayed because he was afraid that Esau would attack him, and also the mothers with their children.
Genesis 32
9
Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, LORD, you who said to me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,'
10
I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.
11
Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.
12
But you have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.'"

The night that he prayed, a man wrestled with him till daybreak. The man could not overpower Jacob, so he touched the socket of Jacob's hip and it was wrenched. Jacob did not let the man go until he blessed him. The man told him that his name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for he prevailed in his struggle with God—the man who wrestled with him—and with humans. When Jacob asked the man his name, the man did not tell his name. Then the man blessed Jacob.
Jacob called that place Peniel because he saw God face to face, and yet his life was spared.


Genesis 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, 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, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."

It must be taken into account:
  • Jacob knew it was the LORD when He appeared to him in a dream
  • He knew it was the angels of God when he met them
But the man who wrestled with Jacob:
  • Jacob did not know his name.
  • The man could not overpower Jacob so the man wrenched Jacob's hip with a touch. 
  • Jacob sought his blessing.
  • The man said that his name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, and blessed him.
  • Then Jacob called the place Peniel because he saw God face to face, and yet his life was spared.
Questions that must be asked:
How can God not overpower Jacob, a mortal? 
How could Jacob see God face to face, and yet his life be spared?

The man who wrestled with Jacob cannot be the LORD God who destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah after meeting Abraham in Hebron.
Genesis 19
24
Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the LORD out of the heavens.
25
Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities--and also the vegetation in the land.

The LORD God Himself told Moses:
“You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”

After this incident, God appeared to Jacob and told him to go to Bethel and build an altar to the God who had appeared to him when he fled from his brother Esau.
Genesis 35:1

God Almighty appeared to him again and blessed him. He reiterated what the man, who wrestled with Jacob, said.
Genesis 35
10
And God said to him, “Though your name is Jacob, you will no longer be called Jacob. Instead, your name will be Israel.” So God named him Israel.
11
And God told him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation—even a company of nations—shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you.
12
The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”
13
Then God went up from the place where He had spoken with him.

Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where the LORD spoke to him, he poured out a drink offering and also poured oil on it.
Genesis 35:14

So, who is the God that Jacob saw face to face, the Man who wrestled with Jacob?
What is His name?

Read: Why is the Man who wrestled Jacob called an Angel?

Before these questions can be answered, the following events must be taken into account.

Israelites see the glory of the LORD God at Mount Sinai and tremble with fear
Mount Sinai is the mountain where the LORD spoke to Moses out of a flame of fire from within a bush and appointed him to rescue the Israelites from Egypt.
It is also called Mount Horeb.
Exodus 3
12
“I will surely be with you,” God said, “and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship God on this mountain.”

Exodus 19
9
The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will always put their trust in you.” And Moses relayed the words of the people to the LORD.
Exodus 19
16
On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.
17
Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
18
Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.
19
As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
Exodus 20
18
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance
19
and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."
20
Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning."
21
The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
22
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites this: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven:

Deuteronomy 5
23
And when you heard the voice out of the darkness while the mountain was blazing with fire, all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me,
24
and you said, “Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with him.
25
But now, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us, and we will die, if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer.
26
For who of all flesh has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the fire, as we have, and survived?
27
Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then you can tell us everything the LORD our God tells you; we will listen and obey.”

The LORD God will raise up a prophet from among the Israelites
The Israelites were about to cross the Jordan and enter the land that the LORD had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses told the Israelites about a prophet that the LORD would raise up for them because when the LORD descended on Mount Sinai with fire, and when they heard His voice, they trembled with fear and thought they would die.
                                     
Deuteronomy 18
15
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.
16
This is what you requested from the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, 'Let us not continue to hear the voice of the LORD our God or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die!'
17
Then the LORD said to me, 'They have spoken well.
18
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
19
And I will hold accountable anyone who does not listen to My words that that prophet speaks in My name.

From the aforementioned events in the Scriptures, it is evident that there is a hierarchy:
  • Yahweh, the most powerful being in existence who has the power to create and destroy. He has never revealed His face, for no one can see Him and live.
  • Angels of God with ranks
  • The Man who wrestled with Jacob but could not overpower him, the God that Jacob saw face to face, and yet his life was spared.
Why could the Man not overpower Jacob, yet wrench his hip with a touch?
How is the Man with the face of God related to Yahweh?
Is the Man the prophet that Yahweh has made known to the Israelites through Moses?
Does the Man make an appearance in the physical world again?
What is His name?

The visions of the prophets and the word of the LORD that was made known through them reveal the answers to these questions. 
Yahweh and the Man, who wrestled with Jacob, the God that Jacob saw face to face are distinct and make an appearance in visions of prophets. It can be identified by careful study of verses in the Scriptures.

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