Questions:
9.
His penchant for deception. His predisposition to use deceit, financial strength, or other cunning to take advantage of a situation
10.
punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds, he struggled with God, he wept and begged for his favor
11.
The angel of the Lord, Jesus. Face of God
12.
Man cannot force God to do anything. Anything any man receives is a gift from the Almighty. Jacob refused to let go showing a tenacity to cling to the Lord. The greater blesses the lesser, not the other way around.
13.
We too rely on our own wit and cunning. We believe that we can buy our way out of wrongs. We confess our weaknesses but do not reject the things that make us weak
My Daily Journal:
What do we cling to?
The story of Jacob wrestling with the angel of the Lord is one with many facets. Jacob is not chastised for wrestling with the Lord, but through his own strength he is unable to win, either over God or man. In wrestling strength comes from the legs and hips. Wrestlers, like most athletes, spend a lot of time physically developing “the core”, the mid body strength that transfers out. In Jacob’s wrestling, one touch showed the weakness of his own core of relying on his own strength. All he could do was hold on, cling to his opponent.
Did Jacob win? Did he force the angel to do anything? Given what he seeks, the answer is obvious. A blessing is always and only transferred from the greater to the lesser. Giving something back to someone that already belongs to them in not a blessing. Nor can a blessing be bought or forced. Receiving something unmerited is the definition of a blessing.
But, to cling to one thing, we have to let go of other things. To cling to the Angel of the Lord, forced Jacob to not cling to himself. To cling to God means to let go of our own desires to be in control.
The Notes are Good 