By: Steve Wilmot
Shyster: someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way; a shifty, dishonest or untrustworthy person.
Jacob was a shyster. From birth, Isaac and Rebekkah suspected it. He was the second-born twin who exited the womb grasping his brother’s heel.
So, his parents named him Jacob, which means “he deceives.” They sensed he would use deceptive methods to get ahead in life.
They weren’t wrong. Jacob took advantage of a famished Esau to grab Esau’s birthright for some stew he’d just whipped up.
The birthright gave the firstborn a double inheritance and made him the head of the family after his father died. Jacob wanted it and tricked Esau into giving it to him.
Years later Isaac lay on his deathbed and beckoned Esau so he could give him the blessing — a special honor from one’s father that included words of affirmation, details concerning each son’s inheritance, and prophetic words regarding his future.
Before he gave Esau his blessing, Isaac sent him to hunt wild game and prepare him a tasty meal with it. Jacob got wind of the plan and snuck in to his father with food disguised as Esau to fool Isaac into thinking he was Esau and get the blessing himself.
Jacob wanted the blessing and hoodwinked his father into giving it to him.
Knowing Esau would kill him for stealing the blessing, Isaac fled to hide at Uncle Laban’s house. In the 20 years that followed, Isaac married Rachel and Leah, and 12 sons and a daughter were born to him.
Finally, he decided it was time to go home. But first he deceived Laban into giving him the best of his flocks of sheep and goats and ending up exceedingly wealthy.
Jacob wanted flocks and prosperity and conned Laban to get them. Jacob was a first-class shyster, unmatched in his time. But God had big plans for Jacob that a shyster couldn’t fulfill.
So, the night before Jacob was to meet his brother Esau to try to appease him after all his unscrupulous actions against him, God encounters Jacob.
“So, Jacob was left alone, and a man [actually God in human form, see Genesis 32.28, 30] wrestled with him till daybreak… Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’
But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jacob,’ he answered. Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob [deceiver, shyster], but Israel’” (Genesis 32.24-28).
This wrestling match with God changed Jacob forever. Jacob the shyster was gone. All things were made new. His new name was indicative of the new man Jacob had become.
Israel is a combination of two Hebrew words. “Isra” meaning “to wrestle,” and “el” meaning God. Someone who wrestles with God.
Perhaps we who identify ourselves as “Christian” should consider adding “Israel” to our description — “we who wrestle with God.”
Jacob isn’t the only one who ever wrestled with God. Christians wrestle with God a lot.
We wrestle with whether we can really trust him in challenging situations. We wrestle with whether he will really keep his promises to us.
We wrestle with temptation, struggling against the belief that if we give in to sin it will satisfy something within us we’re not sure God can or will.
We wrestle with obedience, doubting that God knows what’s best for us. Whenever we wrestle with God it is imperative God wins, and we lose.
Consider what Jacob would have missed had he won his match with God. Picture the future of his descendants, the Chosen People, if he had prevailed against God. Horrific to even imagine.
Like father, like son, Jacob’s descendants wrestled with God throughout their history. Jacob wasn’t a proxy for future generations of his family.
Everyone — you included — must wrestle with God. There will be one major, pivotal match over whether Jesus will be Lord and Savior of your life, or whether you will. If you win that competition, you’ll mess up your life. You won’t mean to, but it always happens.
But if God wins… you can’t even begin to imagine the quality of life you’ll live. One thing is certain: You won’t be sorry God won when he wrestled you.
This whole idea is so counter to every instinct and everything we’ve learned. We wrestle to win, not to lose.
But God told us, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55.8). It’s always better when God wins.
So let him. Surrender. Why prolong the struggle like Jacob did? God is going to win eventually. Why not get it over with ASAP so you can enjoy the blessings and abundant life God has for you sooner?
What a blessing it is when God wins your wrestling match with him. When he does, you’ll wonder why you didn’t throw in the towel sooner.
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Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.