Israel
What is Your Name • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 3 viewsJacob wrestles with God and prevails. God changes his name from heel grabber to Israel.
Notes
Transcript
Lords Prayer
Lords Prayer
Before we begin today’s sermon would you join me in praying the words our Lord taught us to pray?
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: Amen
DO NOT Dismiss Vanguard and Navigators YET
Introduction
Introduction
Please stand for the reading of God’s Word.
Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”
But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.”
And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there.
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.
This is the Word of the Lord, Amen?
You may be seated
Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray
I want to start this morning by telling a story you should be familiar with by now.
Two people are alone together.
It is dark, it is hard to see… there has been a long struggle… but it seems it is coming to an end.
Finally the silence breaks… the man speaks… “What is your name?”
“I am Esau”
A lie from the younger sibling, Jacob, pretending to be his brother.
Do you remember that story? How about this one:
Two people are alone together.
It is dark and hard to see… they have been grappling together and clinging together all night.
Finally as the morning breaks…the man speaks... “what is your name?”
“I am Rachel”
A lie from the older sibling, Leah, pretending to be her sister.
And now for the third time… two people alone in the dark… wrestling all night.
“What is your name?” The “Man” asks...
And this time the answer is different… it is not deceitful, or manipulative, or said just to get the best selfish outcome… the answer comes, and it is honest… “I am Jacob” he tells God in the flesh.
“I am the heel grabber… I am the usurper, the trickster, the liar, the fraudster, the manipulator… the sinner… Here I am Lord… I am Jacob...”
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Listen, before we even get into the sermon this morning I just want to have a really honest time of ministry… I wanted the kids in here too because it is not just for adults...
I believe God wants to make you new… He makes all things new… New promises, new life, new identity.
He wants to forgive all your sins, He wants to heal your broken heart, He wants to restore lives that have been abused and torn down.
But it must start with confessing who you are NOW.
You are not good enough… you are not smart enough… you have not done enough good deeds and good works to impress God.
If you are not born again, then your identity is still in your sin.
So many people try to be something they are not.
Jacob’s name meant sinner, and he didn’t like it so he wanted to go by something else… so he told his father he was Esau...
And you think Jacob had it bad… He was a sinner named sinner! But for 16 years of my life I was a sinner named… Christian...
And I lived a lie of a life… I was named Christian… but I wasn’t a Christian… And so for me I had to come to a place to say “My name is Christian, but I am not a Christian… I am a sinner...” and when I had that breakthrough, when I confessed “I am a sinner” that is when God grabbed ahold of me and changed everything.
So this morning, before we even get into the new name “Israel” I want to deal with any old names that have been lingering… Deacons on the prayer team, if you could come up...
Here is what I want to do… if you have been deceiving others about who you are… let’s fix it… and there is nothing to be ashamed of, there is no condemnation in Christ… that was me… serving in the church, named Christian, I told everyone I was a Christian… but it was not my true identity… I was a sinner, I had never turned to Christ… but when I did turn to Christ everything changed… no one condemned me, they all welcomed me and celebrated my decision, as we will do for you too.
If you are here this morning, and you know you have not been living in a true identity, I want you to come forward… this goes for children too… and this is what I mean...
If you have never been born again, you have never given your life completely to Jesus, confessing your sins and turning away from them… I want you to come forward, right now, come and pray with one of these deacons...
If you have been living a Christian like life… you try to do good, you try to help others, you serve, you give… but you have never been born again, don’t wait… come forward right now...
Listen, maybe you have been born again… but that’s not who you have been the past few months… or years… or even decades… maybe you are here this morning and your identity OUGHT to be in Christ… but if you are honest… you have slidden back into your old identities… your old ways… you have found yourself far from Christ… if you are here and you need a fresh start, a fresh name, or just a reminder of who you are in Christ… if you need to rededicate your life… come forward right now and pray with one of these deacons… Come wrestle with God… don’t ignore it and leave it in the corner… take care of it this morning...
Come HOLY SPIRIT! Do a new thing in these hearts… give us our new names!
*Time of ministry and prophecy*
*Dismiss Children’s church*
The reason I wanted to do that first is because of the monumental importance of the key scripture this morning… what I get the honor of preaching on this morning is one of the absolutely pivotal moments in Biblical history… this is the place where God gives His people a name… not Just Jacob, but all of His people will take on this name and this identity… It is what our series “What is your name” has been leading up to...
WHAT IS YOUR NAME TITLE SLIDE
When God asks Jacob “What is your name” it is a question of identity not identification… WHO ARE YOU JACOB? What is your identity? Are you afraid, are you distressed, are you weak, are you outnumbered… what is your name?
Now we have gone through all the false names, all the false identities in this series… now we get to the new name… not just a new name for Jacob… but a name for all of God’s people… a name that you and I inherit and are grafted in to. God is about to tell us who is people are… What is OUR name?
So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.”
And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Now before I move into the two points of application this morning let me just do a little bit of teaching… some people love the teaching, some people love the application, some people love the ministry times… you are getting all three this morning, praise God!
Specifically what I want to teach on is the name Israel and what it means...
Because there is scholarly disagreement on what it means.
The name Israel comes from two Hebrew words...
יִשְׂרָאֵל — Israel
אֵל — El — God / The Mighty One
יִשְׂרָ— / Yisra — To Strive / To Prevail / Prince
Now the reason I say that Scholars disagree is because that root word Yisra is very rarely used in ancient Hebrew, so rare it is almost none existent.
in fact we don’t see it anywhere else in scripture, except we see something very similar when God change’s Sarai’s name to Sarah where the word Yisra is translated as princes...
So based on that, some scholars say the name Israel means “To reign with God” or “God’s Prince”.
Other scholars suggest that it is indeed “To Prevail” and “God” but say it should really be translated as “God Prevails”...
But you know what? I Don’t care what scholars say! THE BIBLE GIVES THE DEFINITION OF THE NAME. When the Bible defines a word we don’t need to look any further… There are only a handful of words that the Bible describes, so when it does go out of it’s way to describe a word… that is the only definition I need, amen?
And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Israel means literally “Struggled with God and with Man and has prevailed”. And I want to show you something cool about this...
I am a bit of an odd duck sometimes, and I make connections where other people don’t, or more specifically, I notice missing connections that I feel like SHOULD be there...
And here is one that always bothered me...
God changed Abram’s name to Abraham.
God changes Sarai’s name to Sarah.
Abram to Abraham
Sarai to Sarah
Then Jacob to Israel? Wait, that doesn’t follow the pattern! It bugs me for some reason that Abraham’s name sounds so similar to his hold name, and so does Sarah’s… Then you get to Jacob and it is COMPLETLY different...
It’s always bugged me… but check this out...
Your name shall be called Israel for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed… the Hebrew word translated as “prevailed” there is “Yakol”… and remember, in Hebrew Jacob’s name is “
יַעֲקֹב** — *Yakov — Jacob: Heel Graber, Usurper, Manipulator
יָכֹל — *Yakol — Prevailed, Endured, Victorious
God says “No longer are you Yakov, but you are Yakol… you are the one who has prevailed… but the name Yakol is not suffecient, because it is not just with man you have prevailed… I want people to know you struggled with Me as well… so not just Yakol, the one who prevails… but Israel… the one who struggles with El who struggles with God and endured… who has strugled with God and prevailed… who has struggled with God and has come out victorious.
And if this seems ludacrus to you… that someone could struggle with God and WIN… then I have a prophetic word for you… and it is something God had to break in me and reveal to me as I was writing this sermon…
If you read this story and think “What do you mean Jacob wrestled with God and prevailed? What do you mean he was victorious? How could a mere mortal win a wrestling match with GOD?
Here is how… God wanted Jacob to win!
And that is our first point of application this morning… God wants us to win!
God Wants Us to Win
God Wants Us to Win
Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; He wept, and sought favor from Him.
He found Him in Bethel, And there He spoke to us— That is, the Lord God of hosts. The Lord is His memorable name.
Jacob wrestled with YHWH and WON!!!! WHAT?! HOW?! It only makes sense when you understand that it was God’s desire all along for Jacob to win that wrestling match...
I will tell you a story about a young girl… Let’s call her, oh I don’t know… let’s call her Hannah for the sake of this example...
Hannah loved playing this video game called Mario Kart… and she fancied herself pretty good at the game.
Hannah also loved her dad very much and loved spending time with her dad by playing Mario Kart with him...
The problem was that Hannah’s dad was AMAZING at Mario Kart… like SO GOOD… like almost inhumanly good at this video game...
They played dozens of rounds, and every time Hannah’s dad would absolutely dominate her… until she was at the point of tears...
One more race dad… just one more race...
This final race Hannah’s dad thought “What if for once I didn’t get first place… I could be second, I could be third, fourth… heck I could even be fifth!
What about if in this race I hang back and I use all of my red shells to attack other racers to help my daughter get first.
And that is exactly what I did… I meant that is exactly what Hannah’s father did…
And Hannah got first place, not because she is better than me at Mario Kart… SHE WILL NEVER BE BETTER THAN ME AT MARIO KART… but because I wanted her to win… I didn’t need the validation of beating an 8 year old in a racing game… but she needed a win.
Listen… God doesn’t need the validation of beating a 97 year old man in a wrestling match!
And just because Jacob won doesn’t mean God lost… God had nothing to prove, God touched Jacob’s hip and dislocated it permanently with just the tippy tap tip of his finger! But God WANTED Jacob to win.
And I think God want’s us to win too...
I don’t think God want’s us being like the 9 year old girl on the verge of tears because all she has ever known at the hands of her father was defeat...
I think God want’s us instead to be like the little girl who lit up… Wait did I win? I WON?! I BEAT DADDY! I GOT FIRST PLACE...
The joy in her face, the excitement, the self confidence...
God is NOT up in heaven bullying us into submission, He could have EASILY done that with Jacob… instead He is encouraging us and helping us to be more than conquerors.
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
What things shall we more than conquer? We are told in verse 35…
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Tribulations… that means major stresses and emergencies… this is the diagnoses you never expected, this is the phone call you never wanted to get, this is when it all seems to fall apart… over tribulations we are more than conquerors.
Distress… that’s anxieties and sleepless nights, issues and external stresses that are out of our control yet you just can’t stop thinking about them… over distress we are more than conquerors.
Persecution… when people hate us and attack us, when friends and family turn against us. When we have to chose between Christ and the people we love, or even between Christ and our own comfort and wellbeing… over persecutions we are more than conquerors.
Over famine and nakedness… meaning financial stresses and hardships, bad credit, foreclosures, struggling to make ends meet… over all of these financial concerns we are more than conquerors.
Over peril and sword… danger, and the attacks of mankind… crime, terror, war… over all dangers we are more than conquerors…
Listen church: GOD WANTS US TO WIN! Did you get that… GOD WANTS YOU TO WIN… Look at all the arena’s God wants us to win in… Our health, our finances, our stress levels, our social status, our safety and security… GOD WANTS US TO WIN IN ALL THESE ARENA’S… not only will we win but we will MORE THAN WIN because we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us...
And I get it… living in this world is difficult, and there are a million challenges and stresses… so many I could not cover them all with a lifetime of sermons… living in this world is so incredibly difficult… but our faith OVERCOMES the world.
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Whatever the world is throwing at you, GOD WANTS YOU TO WIN CHRISTIAN… GOD WANTS YOU TO WIN SAINT. WE ARE NOT A CHURCH FULL OF LOSERS. NO LONGER SHALL WE BE CALLED JACOB! WE ARE ISRAEL! WE ARE WINNERS! WE STURGGLE WITH GOD AND WITH MEN AND WE WIN!
And listen… listen… don’t get it twisted, let me reiterate… Jacob was GIVEN the victory… Jacob could never hope to take victory from God, but he was given the victory! And the same is true for us, it is not by our strength or our might but by His Spirit… it is God who gives us the victory through Christ!
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So when it comes to the people of God, not just this one man Jacob, but all of us… OUR NAME IS VICTORY! And the Victory is in Jesus.
Now that brings me to the final point of the message this morning… Yakol, prevailed… It means victory, but it also means “endures”… and when it comes to struggling with God and with men, the way we win is by enduring.
We Win by Enduring
We Win by Enduring
Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”
But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.”
And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Here is something else I never understood until spending time to study this scripture… you ready for this… God was not AGAINST Jacob in this wrestling match.
In fact, I would say God was on Jacob’s side…
You see in my competitive mind I just think “There are two people in a wrestling match, one-vs-one… and one is going to win and one is going to lose”… but that’s not the case here… first of all, God does not lose… but second of all, it’s not one-vs-one… There is someone else in the ring...
There is Jacob the called, the blessed, the promised heir of Abraham’s covenant… Yeah he is in the ring… but there is also Jacob the liar, the manipulator, the heel grabber… the self made man who by his own cunning stole the things of God… AND THAT JACOB needed to lose.
And so what we see in this wrestling match is we see Jacob struggling… God is not struggling… but Jacob is struggling…
And when Jacob is completely exhausted… he has nothing left… he ahs run out of strength… he begins to weep because he doesn’t know what else to do...
And to make matters worse, it is in this moment of complete exhaustion that God touches Jacob’s hip permanently dislocating it, proving this was not a struggle for God at all… most men in this moment would give up… but not Jacob… Jacob clung to Jesus.
Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; He wept, and sought favor from Him.
And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”
This was the anointed Jacob speaking… this was the Jacob who was promised all the covenants of Abraham speaking… The Jacob who did things by his own strength had been defeated… but the Jacob who trusted in the promises of God remained… and that Jacob knew that the Man he was clinging on to was the source of all blessings.
You see, I think God need the old Jacob to die in that cave… I think the permanent limp was a reminder, it wasn’t by your strength that you were victorious, Jacob… but because you endured, because you clung to Christ… the blessing came and you found victory… victory over your old self, victory over what others thought of you, said about you, did to you...
You wrestled with God, and you won… because you endured.
You see God’s people don’t lose… we can’t lose! With Christ by our side what can man do to us? God goes before us, whom shall we fear. God’s people don’t lose, and we can’t lose… and the enemy knows that!
But the enemy does have one last trick up his sleeve, he can’t make us lose, but he can make us give up…
I have known MANY a Christian who were walking in defeat… and it wasn’t because they tried and lost… but it was because they stopped trying and gave up.
God wants you to win, and He wants you to win by enduring.
This is a theme that runs all throughout the Bible… Those who endure with God find blessing.
Abraham — endured 25 years of waiting for the promised son before Isaac was born. (Genesis 12-21)
Moses — endured 40 years in the wilderness before God called him, then endured a stiff-necked people for another 40. (Exodus)
Hannah — endured years of barrenness and bitter provocation, wept and refused to quit praying, and God opened her womb. (1 Samuel 1)
David — endured years as a fugitive, hunted by Saul, before the crown that was already his actually came to him. (1 Samuel 19-2 Samuel 2)
Elijah — prayed for rain seven times before the cloud appeared. Can you imagine if he stopped at six. (1 Kings 18:43-44)
The Persistent Widow — She wouldn’t stop pestering the judge, he kept blowing her off… but she endured and final got justice (Luke 18:1-8)
The Friend at Midnight — He wouldn’t stop banging on the door and asking for bread, persisting even when told “no” at first. Finally because of his persistence and endurance he get’s the bread. (Luke 11:5-8)
Those last two are parables about prayer by the way, when God does not answer our prayer… we endure and we keep praying.
Think about Job… you know the story of Job… He lost his kids and all his wealth… but he kept enduring… He lost his health and suffered tremendously… but he endured… his wife told him to curse God and die… but he endured… His friends told him it was all his fault… but he endured. IN the end Job won.
And Job didn’t win because of his good theology or his ability to argue his point, in fact he lost that argument… but in the end he still won because he never gave up… he never cursed God, he never walked away… and in the end he found himself with an abundance of blessings...
Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
If the worship team wants to come up we are going to start ministering as we start to close this sermon down...
Some of you have been wrestling with man for a long time...
Wrestling for a better job or a promotion… wrestling with a family member who always gives you grief… wrestling with legal issues, court cases, and Bureaucracy… don’t give up.
It might take all of your strength, don’t give up… it may seem like an impossible fight… don’t give up… God goes with you… don’t give up, endure as you struggle with man, and as long as you are walking in the will of God, you will find victory and you will be blessed, we are Israel, we struggle with men, we endure, and we find victory.
But more than just wrestling with men… we wrestle with God… and when we wrestle with God dear saints… it is so important that we endure… and even when we are out of strength… no more fight left in us… we cling to God and we say “No, I won’t stop until I receive the blessing.”
Maybe you have been struggling with God over your health… “why has the healing not come Lord? Others have been healed Lord, why not me?” Maybe it has been years.. maybe decades… DON’T GIVE UP… ENDURE! KEEP PRESSING IN TO PRAYER...
Maybe you have been wrestling with God over a child… a baby you want to have, or a child who has grown up and gone prodigal… “God did I fail them as a parent? Am I doing something wrong? God give me this child! God bring this child back!” And it just feels hopeless… Don’t give up… endure… you don’t know how that blessing is going to come… endure… press in… intercede… don’t give up...
Maybe you are struggling with your calling, or your marriage, or your self worth… maybe you are wrestling with God with a prophetic word that was spoken but it doesn’t seem to be happening… don’t give up… press in… endure.
I can’t tell you why it seems like God answers some prayers and others it seems He doesn’t… But I am not in the place of God, it is His job to answer prayers, not mine… so I can’t tell you why… but I can tell you what we are supposed to do in the face of unanswered prayers… in the face of struggling with God… WE ENDURE… Until we have no strength left… then we cling…
The one thing we don’t do is give up.
And if we don’t give up, we don’t lose...
Now before I move into a little bit of prophetic ministry, I just want to close with a final point of teaching.
Conclusion - Speak the Name
Conclusion - Speak the Name
Turn On Children’s Class Lamps
And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there.
Jacob asks "What is your name" and the Man answers "Why do you ask my name"? Why did He answer that? Because Jesus was not ready to be revealed yet. It is called the doctrine of progressive revelation. God did not dump His plan for mankind on us all at once… He progressively revealed His plan to mankind… So Jacob asks “What is your name” and Jesus replies “Why do you ask me my name...”
It is the exact same answer that Jesus gave to Samsons parents. Jesus came down and promise them a son, and Samsons father asked the exact same question and was given the same answer… with just a little bit added...
And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?”
Interesting, Jesus says “You don’t get to know my name because it is Wonderful”…
Then we get even more of Jesus name, His identity, in Isaiah 9:6… The LORD had me preach on this for Christmas…
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
What is that name? It is the name that is above every other name...
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
How wonderful to live in a time where we don’t have to guess what His name is. We know the one who has the authority to change our names, and His name is the name above all names, His name is due all the honor and glory, in His name demons flee and strongholds are broken...
Not only do we get to know the name… but we get to speak the name… would you all stand… I think God has a new name for some people here today… but before we do… let’s give honor to the name above all other names...
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” ’
Last week I was at the altar, and God spoke a name to me… a name for me… I didn’t tell anyone, it was a name just for me to know… but it encouraged me… it was a name prophesied over me… he just reminded me… I think He want’s to do the same for you.
*Altar Call*
Aaronic Blessing
יאר יהוה פניו אליך ויחנך
ישא יהוה פניו אליך וישם לך שׁלום
"The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
You are dismissed from this place but not from His Presence
ye·va·re'·khe·kha' · Adonai · ve·yeesh'·me·re'·kha
ya·eir · Adonai · pa·nav · e·ley'·kha · vee·khoon·ne'·kah
ees·sa · Adonai · pa·nav · e·ley'·kha · ve·ya·seim · le·kha · sha·lom
"The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
You are dismissed from this place but not from His Presence
