Old Testament Hulkamania

Genesis 32: 22-32

Jacob sends his possessions and family on ahead and is left alone for the night. And a man wrestles him until midnight.

This is an amazingly weird passage. Where did h(H)e come from? What or who is he? He is refered to throughout as "the man" (probably not in the "dancin' for the man" sense) but later He changes Jacob's name to Israel (or he struggles with God) because "you have struggled with God and men and overcome". He also asks for Jacob to identify himself.

Huh?

So, God sneaks up on Jacob and wrestles him, not knowing who he is, and loses? God can't outwrestle Jacob but he can wrench the socket of his hip with a touch? And for what purpose?

The best I can come up with is that this an example of God's mercy. Maybe this is for Jacob's benefit. He could have wiped him out- but as Jacob later says, "...I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."

Does God pop in and out of our physical lives today? Is the guy that cuts us off at the red light actually God having some fun with us? This is all really odd to me- but knowing that God cuts his children extra slack makes the journey more feasible.

I wonder if Jacob tried a suplex.