God's New Name for Jacob
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I. Jacob’s Old Name Reflects His Flawed Character
I. Jacob’s Old Name Reflects His Flawed Character
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל
The etymology of Israel offered by the text relates ישׂראל “Israel” to the verb שׂרה “to struggle, fight.” So the word literally means “El (God) fights.”
שׂרה + אֱל
What did the name Jacob mean?
אֱלֹהִים
The supplanter. There was an element of deception attached to the name Jacob.
His old name, Jacob, recalled his past underhand dealings; his new name, Israel, recalled this incident in which he wrestled with God and prevailed. “Thus his renaming as Israel is not merely an honourable accolade, it is itself a valuable gift, a blessing” (Dillmann, 357). Whenever his descendants heard this name, or used it to describe themselves, they were reminded of its origin and of its meaning, that as their father had triumphed in his struggle with men (i.e., Esau and Laban) and with God, so they too could eventually hope to triumph.
What were God’s promises in Genesis?
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
“I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.”
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.
“Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.
II. Jacobs New Name Reflects God’s Grace in Regeneration
II. Jacobs New Name Reflects God’s Grace in Regeneration
What do you think the immediate change of Jacob’s name couple with the progressive change of his character over time mirrors?
Regeneration and Sanctification.
Let’s be 100% clear: you have never wrestled with God.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
The believer in Christ is declared righteous. No longer is the person a slave to sin. Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.
Jacob’s New Name Reflects His Mission
Jacob’s New Name Reflects His Mission
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
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