Battle with the Angel

Rembrandt van Rijn The Struggle between Jacob and the Angel

This story in Genesis 32, in which Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord, is very strange and mysterious. As however always when the higher forces contact to the man. Certainly, all can be considered it from the metaphorical point of view. It is a metaphor for human struggle: personal or spiritual. Our life is like this long night of battle .
Before the encounter, Jacob is scheming in life to ensure survival. He is filled with fear. The odds are against him succeeding. He is driven to prayer: to seek God`s blessing. He is a wilful man. He knows what he wants and he is determined to get it. He was not going to take "no" for an answer. But did he realise that he may have to pay a price or that something needed to be done before his prayer would be answered .
And if the object of one's desire is a relationship with God, his blessing and his love, then the battle cannot but culminate in the gift of oneself to God, in the recognition of one's own weakness, which triumphs precisely when we reach the point of surrendering ourselves into the merciful hands of God.
In a straight contest of wills between man and God, man`s struggle is doomed to failure. But by the struggle and subsequent surrender to God`s will, he is rewarded through God`s mercy and is transformed. He is given a new name and is declared the victor. His will is aligned to God`s will.
His fear is overcome.