Wednesday, April 1, 2020

UFC in Biblical times

In answer to the video "Muhammad and Merkabah Mysticism"

Sure there is talk in the apocrypha about demons getting choked and tapping out. But we find such things in the HB itself and the famous story of Jacob's night long "wrestling" with an angel Hos12:4-5. Esau, who had been deceived, with God's approval, by his younger brother Jacob would eventualy reconcile and then like with Ishmael and Isaac, would both attend their father's burrial Gen33:4,35:28-29. Prior to this reconciliation, occurs the strange incident of Jacob's night long "wrestling" with this angel. Jewish oral tradition asserts this angel was Samael, Esau's guardian angel who was against Jacob's blessing (Bereshit Rabba 77 as well as Rashi and the Zohar).

The encounter was not conversational but a real clash of titans, a contest so brutal that it says in the Talmud they were casting up dust all the way up to the divine throne! The celestial entity couldnt overpower Jacob no matter what. They went on for hours like this until daybreak where the angel was able to dislocate Jacob's hip through a stealthy technique consisting of a light touch Gen32:26. But Jacob was apparently so resilient, or maybe this angel so feeble, that he was still grasping the angel with a grip so firm that to extricate himself, the angel eventually gave in to Jacob's demands. The defeated and submitted angel, in some interpretations it is God Himself in the form of an angel or human shape, acknowledged Jacob's stolen rights over Esau, even blessing him and changing his name. This is because Jacob implies deception. The rabbinic tradition states
"it shall no longer be said that the blessings came to you through trickery and deceit, but with nobility and openness, and ultimately, the Holy One, blessed be He, will reveal Himself to you in Beth-el and change your name, and there He will bless you, and I will be there.“ He then acknowledged them (the blessings) as being his (Jacob’s)".
The "nobility" of Jacob was not in humbly admitting to deceit, repenting and restituting others' rights but instead in succesfully wrestling a celestial entity wanting to punish him
Gen32:29"Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, because you have commanding power with [an angel of] God and with men, and you have prevailed".
Years after the deception, Jacob wondered whether Esau still held a grudge against him. Upon finding that he did, he prepared for war all the while still sending gifts to appease his brother. It never crossed Jacob's mind to return his brother's stolen rights.

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