Have you ever tried wrestling with lumbago or a slipped disc? If you should ever find yourself in Jacob's situation, let me tell you what you will do. You will cling. You will hang onto your opponent with desperation. Either you cling or you fall.
And through the fog of pain and terror the words begin to penetrate Jacob's brain, "Let me go, for the day is breaking."
Let him go? How can he? He isn't even sure whether he can walk. Let him go? How dare he? At some point the awful knowledge has gripped him that the one on whose breast he leans sweating and gasping is the God of his fathers, who could slay him with a glance. And for once, since he has no choice, no other hope, Jacob's tenacity is turned in the right direction.
"I will not let you go, unless you bless me."
They are words God has waited over forty years to hear. He would have preferred that Jacob recognize his helplessness and cast himself on the mercy of his God long before. He did not wish to reduce him to such an extremity, but Jacob left him little choice. And God's response is swift in coming. Jacob has conquered by his helpless dependency.
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