At a certain point during this night of wrestling, the Lord touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh. Verse 25 says, "And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him." The Lord touched the sinew of Jacob's thigh. The sinew of the thigh is our strongest muscle. The Lord's intention was not to subdue Jacob but to expose him. After exposing his natural life, the Lord touched Jacob's thigh. It was immediately dislocated, and Jacob was crippled. As verse 31 points out, Jacob "limped upon his thigh" (Heb.).

After his thigh was dislocated, Jacob might have thought to himself, "This wrestler is greater than I am. He has not killed me, but he has certainly touched me and made me limp." Realizing that this wrestler was greater than he, Jacob asked him to bless him (v. 26). I doubt that even at this time Jacob realized that this wrestler was God. After touching him, the wrestler said to Jacob, "Let me go, for the day breaketh" (v. 26). But then Jacob said, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me" (Heb.). After Jacob said this, the Lord asked Jacob what his name was (v. 27). Since the Lord already knew Jacob's name, why did He ask him this question? It was to cause Jacob to realize who he was and to force him to admit that he was Jacob, the supplanter. After Jacob divulged his name, the wrestler said, "Thy name shall be no more called Jacob, but Israel; for thou has wrestled with God and with men, and hast prevailed" (v. 28, Heb.). The name Israel means "wrestler with God." Many Christians know that Israel means "the Prince of God," but, as the best lexicons and translations make clear, this meaning is secondary. The primary meaning of the name Israel is a "wrestler with God."

After Jacob heard that his name had been changed to Israel, a wrestler with God, he immediately realized that this wrestler was God. Perhaps he said to himself, "Oh! This One is God, and He has called me the wrestler of God." Then Jacob said, "Tell me, I pray thee, thy name" (v. 29). The Lord replied, "Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?" (v. 29). The Lord did not tell Jacob His name. In our experience, the dealing Lord is always a secret. However, although He did not reveal His name to Jacob, the Lord blessed him. After blessing Jacob, there is no record that the Lord left him. The Lord had been with him all the time and, even after the wrestling, He was still there. The Lord neither came nor went; He simply wrestled with Jacob. If that was Jacob's experience in Old Testament times, it is even more true with us today. The Lord will never leave us. Whenever we require a dealing, He will render the precise dealing we need.

Verse 30 says, "And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." After the Lord blessed him, Jacob fully realized that the wrestler was God and he named that place Peniel, which means "the face of God."

After considering Jacob's experience in this chapter, we may think that he had been transformed by it. Actually, however, there was no transformation at all, for chapter thirty-three reveals that Jacob was still Jacob. There was no change in his way of living. He was still planning, dividing, and doing everything possible to cope with the situation. Although there was no change in his way of living, there definitely was a change in his life, his very life had been touched. After his experience at Peniel, he limped. Both before and after the Lord touched him, he could do anything, but after the Lord touched him, whatever he did was done with a limp.

With us Christians there are two kinds of failures and weaknesses—those without a limp and those with a limp. For example, we may lose our temper with or without a limp. I may lose my temper with a brother, but even in this losing of my temper, others will notice that I am limping. If you do nothing, others will be unable to perceive your limp. But the more Jacob acted, the more his limp was exposed. Let me say, however, that we should not try to imitate a limp. Imitation never works.