Jacob encounter God a number of times throughout Genesis, the first time being when Jacob was on the run from his brother Esau: > [!bible] [Genesis 28:10-19 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/1/28/) > 10. Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11. And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 12. And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17. And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” 18. So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19. He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Later on in his life God comes to Jacob in a dream, the angel of the Lord then says the **He** is the God that Jacob met in Bethel. > [!bible] [Genesis 31:2-3 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/1/31/) > 2. And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. 3. Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” > > [!bible] [Genesis 31:10-13 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/1/31/) > 10. In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. 11. Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ 12. And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’” Continuing forward to Chapter 32 Jacob returns home and meets two camps of Angels On the way the angels of God met him, but not in a dream this time. That night Jacob wrestles with one of the angels described as a man. > [!bible]+ [Genesis 32:22-30 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/1/32/) > 22. The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24. And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27. And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28. Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29. Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” These verses reveal that the “man” Jacob wrestled with was a divine being. This divine being appeared in the tangible and corporeal form of a man. He changes Jacob’s name to Israel and says “you have struggled with God (Elohim).” The prophet Hosea confirms the divine identity of the “man” Jacob wrestled. He also adds two surprising details in [Hosea 12:3-5](https://www.bible.com/bible/59/HOS.12.3-5). > [!bible]+ [Hosea 12:3-5 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/28/12/) > 3. In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. 4. He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us — 5. the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD is his memorial name: Hosea identifies Jacob’s opponent as an angel and then identifies the angel with the same God of Bethel. The blurring between God and the Angel is deliberate. The point is NOT that Yahweh, the God of Israel is a mere angel.  The reverse is the case—This particular Angel is Yahweh, the God of Israel.