Objection: God Afflicted Jacob with a Hip Problem (Genesis 32:25, 31)

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 you 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 [limped] upon his thigh.

Unless you have had an experience of wrestling with God as Jacob did, you can’t blame your hip problem on God.  There is no indication that this was a permanent condition that afflicted Jacob (Israel) for the rest of his life.  He was only limping that morning as far as we know.  He was able to go to Egypt much later in his life, so he was not a permanent invalid.

This situation was a special test for Jacob.  Jacob proved that he was determined to have the blessing of God on his life at any cost.  This was a special case and not one that you can use to prove that God sends hip problems to people today.  If you think that you’re another Jacob, please describe exactly what blessings you have wrestled God for.  Then cringe at how silly you seem given that under the New Covenant, all blessings have already been given to you (Ephesians 1:3), so there is no need to wrestle God for ANY blessing.  Then get hip to the fact that God didn’t cause your problem.

This is similar to the testing of Abraham, Jacob’s grandfather.  God told Abraham to sacrifice His son Isaac on an altar.  Does this mean that you should attempt to slay your child unless an angel stops you?  I hope that you don’t think so.  Jacob’s hip situation was a special, one-time case.  Jesus’ healings were ongoing events throughout His earthly ministry.  Do you want to extrapolate your theology from a one-time case or from the norm?

Jesus healed EVERY form of sickness, which must include hip trouble.  You can expect Him to do the same today.

So don’t blame osteoporosis on God!  If you haven’t been wrestling with God lately, you may safely assume that your hip problem is just another physical problem that Jesus bore for you as your substitute.