The God of Jacob! ( A New Identity!)

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God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel." - Genesis 35:10

Jacob not only gets a new name in this scenario; he gets a new identity. Jacob means “heel-grabber,” “supplanter” or “deceiver.” But Israel, his new name, means “triumphant with God.” You would expect that from this point forward Scripture would refer to him by his new name, Israel. But if you keep reading, you will see that for the rest of his life he is called both Israel…and Jacob. I have often wondered, “Why would God give him a new name if he was still going to use the name Jacob?” And I realized, it is probably because change is complicated. Just because you have a transformed life does not mean that you are not going to have the same struggles. It is a process. God may call you Israel, but you will still feel and act like Jacob sometimes. I just want you to know that God is comfortable in the conflict. He's not intimidated by your inadequacies.

You know how I know? Many years later, after Jacob is dead, God appears to Moses (see Exodus 3) in a burning bush. Moses asked God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of…'”

You’d think the next word would be “Israel” – that’s the name that means “triumphant with God.” 

But instead, in this pivotal moment of self disclosure, He identifies Himself as “the God of Jacob.”

If you wanted to make yourself known as God, wouldn't you call yourself the God of Israel? The God of victory, triumph, and new beginning? All of this is certainly true. But in this simple pronouncement, it is as if God is saying: if you want to know who I really am, you need to understand I am the God of Jacob, too. I am the God of that part of you that you do not want anyone else to see. I'm not just the God of your SUCCESS, I'm the God of your STRUGGLE. I'm not just the God of your VICTORIES; I'm the God of your defeats. I am… the God of Jacob.”

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