You shall no longer be called ...

Genesis 35 and 36

Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” ² So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments; ³ and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” ⁴ So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.

⁵ As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶ So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. ⁷ He built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother. ⁸ Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named Allon-bacuth.

Jacob Is Named Israel

⁹ Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him. ¹⁰ God said to him,

Thus He called him Israel. ¹¹ God also said to him,

¹³ Then God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him. ¹⁴ Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. ¹⁵ So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel.

Since we have been focussing on the New Testament readings in the One Year Bible, I thought that I should include this additional text from Genesis 32 as context for today's text.

²⁴ Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵ When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” ²⁷ So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” ²⁹ Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. ³⁰ So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.”  

In both of these texts God gives Jacob the new name Israel. He says,  “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” The name Jacob in Hebrew actually means holder of the heal or supplanter. Holder of the heal signifies what happened at the birth of Jacob and his twin brother Esau.

Genesis 25:²¹ Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²² But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. ²³ The Lord said to her,

²⁴ When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.

We see from this account that what God said about Jacob striving with men was certainly true, even prior to his birth in his mothers womb. This striving continued throughout his life. Jacob obtained both the birthright of the first born and his father's blessing from his brother Esau by deception and trickery. Later his relationship with his father-in-law Laban, whom he worked for to obtain his wives and flocks was also based on deceit. Up to this point in his life Jacob had indeed striven with men. Things were beginning to change though. Jacob had returned and made peace with his brother Esau. 

The account of Jacob wrestling with God marks the beginning of this change in Jacob. Surely if God had wanted to overcome Jacob in that struggle He could have. God controls the ability of each one of us to take our next breath. This wrestling with God that Jacob did was really wrestling with himself. Jacob had lived his entire life in his own strength and abilities. He had done well by human standards and had obtained significant material possessions. God however was calling Jacob to something much greater. God was calling Jacob to live in the covenant promise He had given to Abraham and Issac, the promise to be the father and blessing to many nations. Jacob's struggle, his wrestling was him coming into submission, yielding to the will of God for his life.

The name Israel means God contended or ruled by God. El is one of the names of God. So after a life of striving with men and achieving success by the worlds standards, Jacob has a series of encounters with God and in this one in particular he is forever changed. Even though it would seem as though Jacob had prevailed, the truth is Jacob no longer lived. God renamed him because he was different. He was no longer Jacob who strived with men, he was now Israel, ruled by God.

We too when we have an encounter with God are changed. We are no longer who we previously were. We become like Israel, ruled by God, submitted to His will. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says:  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 

Jacob wrestled with God from sundown to dawn. We all have a choice to make, there is a wrestling that takes place in each of our lives, a wrestling not so much with God Himself, because that would be futile. But rather it is a wrestling with God's will for our lives. Our choice is how long we will  continue the contending and the striving with men and God. Do we struggle another day, a lifetime or do we allow our encounter with God to change us? Do we become the new creation God desires that we be? To walk no longer according to the ways of the world, but rather to walk in the promise of the abundant kingdom life God has for us.

God will change you. He will change your name and who you are.

Listen and recieve God's promise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK7ubGt8NxM