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Hands be Bound with Ropes and Shame

Jacob and the Angel

The account of Jacob wrestling with the angel is a story found in the Book of Genesis  and referenced elsewhere such Hosea. The account includes the renaming of Jacob as "Israel", literally "He who struggles with God."

 

The being with which Jacob wrestles is variously described as an angel, a man, or God. He is never named, yet is clearly seen as God/God's representative.  

 

The result of this encounter is that Jacob/Israel is blessed by God, but the angel strikes him in the hip, leaving him lame for the rest of his life.

 

This is the story of many within the LGBT community.  They try to approach various communities of faith only to have their "leg's broken" by those claiming to be God's representatives.

 

     He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there—the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his name!

     But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.     Hosea 12:4-6

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