I wanna be a contender

Genesis 32: 24-31
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 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. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.

When you encounter the same passage of scripture, two days in a row, and in different settings, it's likely God is trying to tell you something.
So, I inquired of the Lord - "What is the meaning of this passage? What would you have me to know?" And here is my response from the Lord:

Jacob wrestled with a man, all night long. When the man says, "Let me go," Jacob refuses and does not succeed to the command, insisting rather that his contender bless him. When the man, who Jacob realizes is God Himself in the form of an angel, assigns him a name, he chooses, "Israel," meaning "Prince of God," saying: "for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed."
God acknowledges in this statement Jacob's power over men. Jacob, (meaning supplanter, schemer or trickster), who had manipulated his brother Esau's blessing for himself, and later dealt trickily with Laban the father of his wives, leaving him (just prior to this scene), a rich man with two wives and many possessions. Interestingly, Jacob at this moment of being named, "Prince of God," stands literally between both men he has prevailed over - Laban behind him, and Esau before him.
But why God's acknowledgment in the name of having prevailed, even, over God? Why did God not rebuke Jacob, saying, "I told you to let go and you did not heed"...the dislocated hip a minor consequence of refusing to hear the voice of God? And what does this fractured hip represent? Our inability to encounter God unscathed? The story itself perhaps a reflection on the necessity of struggle in order to have a real encounter with God? I asked, "What would have happened if Jacob had just, let go? Nothing? No blessing? No new name? No Israel?
It is as though God desired an Israel who possessed the tenacity of spirit to wrestle Him. One with the stamina to insist upon struggle all night until daybreak.
What good, for God's purposes for this world, is a servant (Israel) who gives up in the dark hour, who cannot sustain until dawn's rising? ...one who cannot bear a minor, yet painful, injury like an out of joint thigh bone? What good for God's purposes in this world is one who cannot prevail?
God met Jacob there on purpose. To show him and all Israel to come, that if you wrestle through the midnight hour, dawn comes; and with its rising, your blessing, and even more than you ask for - a whole new name.

"Princess of God," He calls me now, "for as a princess, you have power with God and with men, and prevail."

Selah



Interesting notes on the Hebrew meaning of the name Israel


On the Waterfront (classic movie clip)