Genesis 32-35 Be broken and made new

From the previous story, God told Jacob to leave behind his father-in-law who continuously manipulated and deceived him and to return to the land of  his ancestors. This command for Jacob is not simply going back to a physical place, but also facing the grave mistake he made in the past toward his brother. God knew that in order for Jacob to move on with his life, he needed to deal with his past. And Jacob himself knew that sooner or later he would have to face his own demons and consequences despite of being frightened and scared to death of the unforeseeable outcome.

One interesting event happened right before he was about to face his fear. A random "man" appeared and started wrestling with him. And Jacob's winning showed his determination and desperation for blessing for dealing with his past. Even though I am not sure if that man was God or just one of His messengers, it was amusing that he just struck Jacob's hip socket to stop him from winning. And I interpret that the act of wrestling as a symbol of Jacob' struggle with himself and his past and the act of striking was the necessary evil to make Jacob broken in order to become a new man. Even though it didn't make any sense for our human minds. This process had humbled Jacob down and he was willingly to step down and call his brother his master when they finally met. 

Through this event, Jacob seemingly had become a new man with the new name, Israel. However, his children still got the same old deceiving habit in them even though they seemed to have a justifiable reason that their sister got violated by a man. But their actions brought consequences and God ordered them to leave again to another familiar place named Bethel which was where God had first revealed Himself to Jacob when he was running away from his brother. There was a profound meaning for Jacob to go back to where he first met God. It emphasized and reminded Jacob that this was a serious deal for him to be a new man carrying a new identity and there was no turning back to the old way. 

I see that the constant moving signifies the progress of renewing of Israel. Moving brings changes. Life is not rigid and remains the same forever. There are no rules that you have to be in one place and has one same job for all your life. Some people might choose to do that without questioning the decision and maybe they are right where they need to be. While for others there are necessary changes to be made in order for them to grow and move up to a new level.