(Undecided)

Scripture Reading:

Introduction

“If God will Be with Me”

Genesis 28:20–21 (NASB95)

20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, 21 and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the Lord will be my God.

“He Who Strives With God”

Genesis 32:28 NASB95

28 He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

From the context, “Israel” is probably to be understood as meaning “he strives with God”; the alternative meaning is “God strives” (see ESV footnote), but the context makes this less likely. Hosea 12:3–4 reflects on this event. The renaming of Jacob brings to a climax a lifetime of struggling with others (see Gen. 25:22). Through all this, Jacob has finally come to realize the importance of being blessed by God. The events of the preceding years have changed Jacob. The God of his father has now become his God (32:9; see also 28:21).

Jacob sounds like the Hebrew words for “heel” and “deceiver.” Israel means “God fights.” God first had to fight with him, but now God would fight for him. Jacob’s name was thus full of promise for Jacob and his descendants. • you have fought with God and with men: Through his entire life, Jacob had been seizing God’s blessing by his own abilities and by any means possible. Jacob knew the importance of the blessing, but he was too self-sufficient and proud to let the blessing be given to him. He had been fighting God long before this encounter. • and have won: He had prevailed in his struggles with Esau and with Laban; now he prevailed in obtaining God’s blessing.

Having disabled his opponent, the man demanded that Jacob release his hold, since the new day was dawning. There has been much discussion as to why dawn would necessitate that Jacob let loose the man. It is often suggested that since this man would later be revealed as God, and since no-one can see God and live (Exod. 33:20), Jacob’s survival depended on it. Yet Jacob demanded a blessing, acknowledging that his opponent was a superior. Before proceeding to the blessing, the man enquired about Jacob’s name. The point is not that the man was ignorant of Jacob’s identity, but that Jacob had to admit to who he was, and therefore to what he had done to Esau, whom he feared (cf. 27:36). The new name given to Jacob is constructed of two elements: the word ’ēl, meaning ‘God’, and the verb root śārāh, meaning ‘contends’. The explanation for this name is given by the man who had wrestled with Jacob. It was to serve as a reminder that Jacob had struggled with God and with men and had prevailed, thereby implying that this man was God himself (v. 28).

Israel would Continue to Strive with God & God would Continue to Strive with Israel

It was a Broken Relationship that God Continued to Pursue Despite Israel’s Endless Repetition of Sin, Betrayal, & Apostasy