"Why did Jacob wrestle with God in Genesis?"
Reply:
Ge 32:24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.
Comparing what happened here to Hosea, we can conclude that this Man was actually God or the Angel (capital A). Theologically, this was the pre-incarnate Christ who came to him. But that's not your question.
So, what's the point? Why did God wrestle with Jacob?
God's wrestling with Jacob was actually a symbolic spiritual summary of Jacob's life. God had been wrestling with him so to speak. Jacob was somewhat stubborn. It took time. The "Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day."
Ge 32:25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.
Of course, God could have easily overpowered Jacob physically. But that's not the point. The physical was merely a symbol of what was going on at the spiritual level. This gives us a glimpse of Jacob's spiritual condition all along. God had been struggling with Jacob all these years to humble him but Jacob was stubborn.
And so, God had to injure him and brought him to a condition wherein he would be powerless. "He touched the socket of his hip, and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him."
If you back up a bit and look at the entire context, God, in His providence, brought him to a critical condition. He was deathly afraid of his brother Esau. Remember, Jacob struggled with Esau. Jacob tricked him. And now, he finds himself in a helpless situation against his brother coming with his men. He could not escape his brother. He could not run. "His hip was out of joint" as it were.
Ge 32:11 "Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children.
Jacob was brought to a situation wherein his only hope was God:
Ge 32:26 And He said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." But he (Jacob) said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!"
Here, Jacob humbled himself. "Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better" (Hebrews 7:7). The fact that Jacob was the one who asked to be blessed is an admission that the Man was greater than him. The position of humility is the position of blessedness. The only way to "prevail" with God is through humility.
Ge 32:27 So He said to him, "What is your name?" He said, "Jacob."
28 And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed."
Jacob means a supplanter or one who usurps like what he did to his brother. Israel means one who struggles with God but prevailed. God delivered him from his brother Esau. He later found out that his brother had no animosity against him when he approached him with all humility. A man who has been truly humbled by God is humble with men.
In the same way, God through His Holy Spirit strives with us, seeking to convict us and to humble us, bringing us to a place of helplessness. But if we refuse to humble ourselves then there could be nothing but judgment for us.
Ge 6:3 And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever...
The context now is the Flood. Man would not humble himself like Jacob. God stopped struggling or striving or wrestling with man and so the Flood came.
