Hosea 12:4
Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Beth-el, and there he spake with us; Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Beth-el, and there he spake with us;
Jacob wrestled all night with Christ Himself, the Angel of the covenant and Lord God of hosts, and found Him again at Bethel where God spoke the covenant promises. He prevailed not by his own strength or merit but by humiliation, repentance and self-surrender, clinging in pain with persevering faith while he wept and pleaded for mercy and assurance of pardon. Though the Angel recalled his past wrongs and tested his faith by trying to withdraw, Jacob held fast to God's promises until Infinite Love granted the blessing, pardoned his sins and named his victory by calling him a prince with God. That deliverance freed him not only from Esau but from his own evil nature, transforming the supplanter into one whose character was changed and whose brother's purpose God turned to kindness. His victory remains the lesson of prevailing prayer, teaching that all who lay hold of God's promises with importunate, unyielding faith through delay and hardship will prevail with God and men and stand guarded in the time of trouble.
Jacob's Wrestling and Victory
The one with whom Jacob wrestled was Christ, the Angel of the covenant, the Lord God of hosts whose name is his memorial. He found him in the same divine Person who met him at Bethel and spoke the covenant promises there.
His prevailing was not by his own strength, merit, or boastful, presumptuous confidence. It was by humiliation, repentance, and self-surrender, confessing his own unworthiness while trusting God's mercy and the faithfulness of a covenant-keeping God. His persistence was the faith of a sinner who knew he needed heaven's help, fastening with trembling grasp upon the promises of God.
Though disabled, wounded, weak, and in keen pain, he clung to the Angel with persevering, importunate faith. He wept and made earnest supplication with his mind fixed on a blessing, his faith growing stronger and more earnest to the last. He held fast to God's promises and pleaded for mercy and for assurance that his sin was pardoned. Infinite Love did not turn away his plea.
During the struggle the Angel recalled Jacob's past wrongs and tried to escape from him, testing his faith, perseverance, and unshaken confidence in God's power to deliver. He found him in Bethel, where God met with Jacob and spoke the covenant promises, and there the Lord made his name his memorial as the Lord God of hosts.
He received the blessing he sought and assurance that God had pardoned his sins. His changed name commemorated his victory with God. As a forgiven man he rose no longer a supplanter but a prince with God, delivered not only from Esau's threat but from the power of his own evil nature, its power broken and his character transformed. Because the Lord was his defense he was assured he would prevail with his brother, and God heard his supplications and changed Esau's purpose, without approving Jacob's past wrongdoing.
Prevailing Prayer for Today
Jacob's victory is the demonstration of the power of importunate, persevering, earnest prayer, and the lesson to be learned from it is prevailing prayer and unyielding faith. He prevailed through determined perseverance, earnest supplication, and faith that held fast under distress. Those who cling to God's promises and pray with the same determination, seeking His blessing and persisting in fervent prayer, can prevail as he did. Those who pray fervently and in faith as he did can prevail with God and with people and are accounted in heaven as princes with power to prevail with God and with people, with prevailing joined to earnest prayer and dependence on Jesus.
That persevering faith must be exercised now in order to be prepared to stand in the time of trouble. It must hold through delay, weakness, hardship, and perplexity, for without present effort and perseverance believers will not be prepared to stand then. Holding fast is necessary, and perseverance through perplexities in accordance with the Spirit's guidance is a human need.
His struggle foreshadows God's people in the time of trouble, when Satan accuses them of their sins and seeks to destroy them. Then the righteous in their anguish will be tested to reveal their faith, perseverance, and unshaken confidence in God's power to deliver them, and they must cling to God in faith rather than yield to despair. As heavenly messengers once changed Esau's hatred to affection, so God's people are guarded by angels while their cases are decided in the heavenly sanctuary.
The greatest victories for the church and the individual Christian are gained in the audience chamber with God when earnest, agonizing faith lays hold upon the mighty arm of power, not by talents, education, wealth, or favor of men. In helpless unworthiness all who trust in the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour will be heard, pardoned, and never perish. Prevailing with God comes through the Spirit's power, for receiving the Holy Ghost enables believers to prevail with God, by moving in accordance with the Spirit's guidance while holding fast.