Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name." So He called his name Israel. Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. – Genesis 35v9-11
Here we have Jacob’s second encounter with God at Bethel. He returned with his people and there appears to be a personalisation of the place. He renames Luz again this time with the name El Bethel – ‘The God of the House of God.’ This is interesting in itself because the focus seems to be more on God Himself than the place itself.
Not only does Luz get a new name – so does Jacob. He had carried that horrible name a long time. Can you imagine being called Usurper your whole life? But no more, now his name would be Israel – ‘Strives With God.’ He had been promised that name when he wrestled with God and now it was his.
That may not seem like much of a name at first, but when we think about it for a second I think we capture in our minds why it is powerful. Usurper didn’t care that anyone thought. He wanted things His way and did whatever he could to achieve that. Usurper did not care about God and His plans. Usurper watched out for Number One.
But Strives With God is different. Instead of just manipulating things to have them his way he deals with God along way. I am sure we lose something in translation here, but even with the word ‘striving’ we know that there is an involvement and a contending.
Somehow this reminds me of Romans 7. Paul wrote about his struggles with obeying the Spirit or the flesh. Living for God is a battle. For Usurper there was no fight, he just satisfied himself, but Strives With God was in the fight.
If there is no battle going on between our flesh and following God we have to wonder about our relationship with Him.
1 comment:
This twice-told story has definitely tickled my brain. I've been thinking about it on and off for days. Here's an interesting view of what was happening when Jacob wrestled with God from a "Control Freak" sermons series at http://fpcbmodernworship.wordpress.com/
"Jacob was born grasping the heel of his twin brother Esau (who was the first born). Jacob’s name literally means “he grasps the heel” and figuratively means “deceiver.” So it is no surprise that Jacob became a man who was a control freak who always manipulated to get his way. In the story of Jacob, it is obvious that he is controlling. Most of us do have problems with control; whether we show them outright like Jacob or passive aggressively. Even our prayers often focus solely on “help me, fix me, do this God” and we neglect to let God guide us in our struggles and desires. Everyone needs to search their hearts honestly and ask “who/what am I trying to control?” so that we can be convicted of our need to surrender fully to God’s will.
When Jacob wrestles with “the man,” we see a glimpse of our stubbornness to be in control. Many theologians assert that the “man” that Jacob is wrestling may have been Jesus himself. An image that is projected from this scripture is that of a father wrestling with his son. The son enjoys wrestling with his father for several reasons: he likes to test his strength, he wants to have control, and ultimately he desires to be like his father. The father enjoys wrestling with his son for other reasons: he wants to be close to his son, he wants his son to become more confident and strong, and he wants his son to look up to him. In the end, the father must remind the son that he is still his father who must be respected (he puts his hip out of socket).
Through wrestling with God however, Jacob was given the new name Israel, which means “he strives with God.” The word “with” in “strives with God” has two meanings: “strives alongside God” and “strives against God.” That is where we find ourselves a lot of the time. Sometimes we are doing things with God according to his will, while other times we stray and try to control everything ourselves. The encouragement in this passage is that God (our father) is willing to wrestle with us and be in relationship with us. He will not give up, he calls us by name and even gives us new names as his sons and daughters. If we are willing to ask God in every situation “God what are You doing here? Show me so I can get on board,” He will be glorified as we joyfully bring His kingdom here on earth."
What you said - with different words.
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