雅各的大腿扭了以后，领悟这摔跤者比他大，就求他给他祝福。（创三二26。）甚至在这时候，我不信雅各领悟这摔跤者就是神。这摔跤者摸他以后，对雅各说，“天黎明了，容我去罢。”但雅各说，“你不给我祝福，我就不容你去。”（创三二26。）雅各说了这话之后，主问他名叫甚么。（创三二27。）主既然已经知道雅各的名，为甚么问他这问题？这是要叫雅各领悟他是谁，并逼他承认他是雅各，那抓夺者。雅各说出他的名后，那摔跤者说，“你的名不要再叫雅各，要叫以色列，因为你与神与人较力，都得了胜。”（创三二28。）以色列这名的意思是“与神摔跤者。”很多基督徒知道以色列的意思是“神的王子，”但最好的辞典和译本指明，这意思是次要的，以色列这名主要的意思乃是“与神摔跤者。”
雅各听到他的名已改成以色列，就是“与神摔跤者，”立刻领悟这位摔跤者是神。也许他对自己说，“哦！这位是神，祂已经称我为与神摔跤者。”于是雅各说，“请将你的名告诉我。”主回答说，“何必问我的名？”（创三二29。）主没有把祂的名告诉雅各。在我们的经历里，那对付我们的主，总是个秘密。但主虽然没有将祂的名启示雅各，却给他祝福。祝福以后，圣经没有记载主离开他。主一直与他同在，甚至在摔跤后，祂仍在那里。主既没有来也没有去；祂只是和雅各摔跤。如果那是旧约时代雅各的经历，今天对我们就更为真实。主永不离开我们。
创世记三十二章三十节说，雅各便给那地方起名叫毗努伊勒，意思说，我面对面见了神，我的性命仍得保全。”主祝福雅各后，雅各完全领悟那摔跤者就是神，他便给那地方起名叫毗努伊勒，意思就是“神的面。”
我们看过雅各的经历，可能以为他已经因此被变化了。但实际上没有一点变化，因为创世记三十三章启示，雅各还是雅各。他在生活方式上没有改变，他仍旧在计画、分队，并且作一切可能的事去应付局面。他在生活方式上虽然没有改变，但他在生命里确实有了改变，他的生命已经被摸过了。在毗努伊勒的经历以后，他瘸了。在主摸他的前后，他任何事都能作；但在主摸他以后，他所作的一切都是瘸着腿作的。
信息重点：神摸着我们天然生命最强的地方，使我们学习单单倚靠祂。
应用祷告：主耶稣，求你摸着我天然生命最强、最难放下的地方。愿我不再倚靠自己的能力，乃是单单倚靠你，并接受你的祝福。阿们。
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Jacob’s Experience – Being Broken (4) — Gen. 32:27-28
After Jacob’s thigh was dislocated, he realized that this wrestler was greater than he was, and he asked him for a blessing (Gen. 32:26). Even at this point, I do not believe Jacob yet realized that this wrestler was God. After touching him, the wrestler said to Jacob, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “ will not let you go unless you bless me” (Gen. 32:26). After Jacob said this, the Lord asked him what his name was (Gen. 32:27). Since the Lord already knew Jacob’s name, why did He ask this question? It was so that Jacob would realize who he was, and to compel him to admit that he was Jacob — the supplanter. After Jacob spoke his name, the wrestler said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed” (Gen. 32:28). The name Israel means “one who strives with God.” Many Christians know that Israel means “prince of God”, but the best dictionaries and translations indicate that this meaning is secondary — the primary meaning of the name Israel is “one who strives with God”.
When Jacob heard that his name had been changed to Israel, meaning “one who strives with God,” he immediately realized that this wrestler was God. Perhaps he said to himself, “Oh! This is God — He has already called me one who strives with God.” So Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” The Lord answered, “Why is it that you ask my name?” (Gen. 32:29). The Lord did not tell Jacob His name. In our experience, the Lord who deals with us is always a mystery. Although the Lord did not reveal His name to Jacob, He blessed him. After the blessing, the Bible does not record that the Lord left him. The Lord remained with him continually, even after the wrestling. The Lord neither came nor went — He was simply wrestling with Jacob. If that was Jacob’s experience in Old Testament times, how much more real should this be for us today. The Lord never leaves us.
Genesis 32:30 says that Jacob named that place Peniel, “for he said, ‘I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.’” After the Lord blessed Jacob, and Jacob fully realized that the wrestler was God, he named that place Peniel, meaning “the face of God.”
Having considered Jacob’s experience, we might think that he was thereby transformed. But actually there was no outward change at all, because Genesis 33 reveals that Jacob was still Jacob. His way of life did not change — he still made plans, divided his family into groups, and did everything possible to handle the situation. Although his way of life did not change outwardly, something in his life truly did change — his life had been touched. After the experience at Peniel, he was lame. Before and up to the time the Lord touched him, he could do anything; but after the Lord touched him, everything he did, he did while limping.
Message Main Points: God touches the strongest place in our natural life so that we may learn to rely on Him alone.
Daily Prayer: Lord Jesus, touch the strongest and hardest-to-release place in my natural life. May I no longer rely on my own ability, but rely on You alone, and accept Your blessing. Amen.