Genesis 32:22-31
The Godfather trilogy are some of my all time favorite films. The story centers on Michael Corleone’s struggle for his own identity. The youngest son of Sicilian mafia kingpin Don Vito Corleone, Michael has grown up knowing about the violent ‘family business’ but wanting no part of it. Having returned from the Army after World War II, an assassination attempt on his father’s life and the murder of his older brother give Michael the opportunity to ‘get out’ – but he chooses to allow circumstances and family expectations to force Michael’s hand and he surrenders over time to fulfill his ‘destiny’ as the Godfather. In Genesis, we find another younger brother struggling with his identity. Jacob’s very name means ‘supplanter’ or ‘cheat’. Having literally robbed his brother Esau’s blessing right out from under him, Jacob has lived the next several years by his wits and ‘street smarts’; a moral but flawed man who believed in God but did things his own way. Now it is time for the proverbial you-know-what to hit the fan; a confrontation with his older brother – who has sworn to kill him – is imminent. He has run out of tricks and is at the end of his rope. Let’s pick up there:
Genesis 32:22– During the night…he was alone. Jacob sends his family and possessions across the river and he is left alone with himself. Is there anything more frightening? Have you ever payed attention to the times messages are left on My Space and Facebook?; We crave that interaction with other people perhaps not so much for friendship but for fear of being left alone with ourselves. That’s why we stay at the bar until morning, work extra hours, or desperately want to stay out with friends even when there is nothing to do.
Genesis 32:22-24 – a man wrestled with Jacob until dawn… What is more frightening than being left alone with yourself we asked? What about being jumped on by an aggressor? Imagine this scene: in a fight Jacob’s first reaction was perhaps to pull from his attacker and get away, but the attacker kept on coming. Fists flew, attempts at fleeing were struck down, and exhaustion begins to set in. When dawn is about to break the attacker strikes Jacob’s hip and cripples him in an effort to leave the scene of struggle. But some time during the struggle Jacob realizes Who it is he is fighting against – it isn’t Esau, or even himself, but God. Jacob had stolen Esau’s blessing but desperately wanted to be truly blessed; to live a peace with God and himself. We struggle with this every day whether we realize it or not; God desperately wants to give us everything we could have ever hoped for but we fight against Him because we ‘know better’ – we drink, we shoot up, we sleep around, we over work, we over eat…all in attempt to define ourselves on our terms.
Genesis 32:27-31– the exchange of names… These days, when we ask to know someone’s name it means little more than to find out what their parents named them. Back then, a person’s name defined who they truly were: Jacob was forced to admit who he was – a cheat, a thief, a coward. Because Jacob ‘won’ – not by defeating God but by defeating himself and surrendering to God, he was finally given the identity he desired all along; a new name Israel which meant one who fights for God.
Michael Corleone allowed his circumstances and choices to eventually lead him to a violent end; this was not who he really was at first. Jacob emerged from this struggle broken; the displaced hip forced Jacob to remember that he could no longer be self sufficient and stand on his own terms; he was no longer defined by his wits and abilities; his circumstances and family expectations but by his God given name and destiny.
Who are you? What defines you? .
Ryan Revolution