Totally: Getting to Know Our Knowing, Present, Capable, Caring GodSample

Jacob had grown in his relationship with God but also allowed people in his household to worship idols. He was not fully prepared to lead, but God wasn’t finished with him.

God renamed Jacob Israel. The name Israel comes from combining the names Sarah and El. Sarah means “one who strives or persists,” and El means “God.”Israel means “one who persists with God” or “God strives.” This is not the first time God called Jacob Israel (see Genesis 32:24-31).

Israel was an appropriate name for Jacob because he was stubborn, but also because God had promised to be with Jacob. God planned to make Jacob into a great nation, raise up kings from Jacob’s family, and give Jacob’s family a land where they would thrive. To lead well, Jacob would have to serve God alone. When talking to Jacob, God called Himself God Almighty as a reminder that the blessings He would heap on Jacob were His doing, not Jacob’s. Focusing on Who God is and what He can do helps us believe that He will keep His promises.

The twelve tribes of Israel came from Israel’s twelve sons, who are listed in this passage. Besides allowing idols, Jacob also played favorites among his children, just as his mother had done. This caused jealousy among his sons and kept them from functioning as the team they would need to be when God made them into a great nation.

Where Jacob failed Joseph, God was faithful. Joseph was not in line to receive Jacob’s blessing, but that didn’t matter to God. He watched out for Joseph anyway and included Joseph in His plan to follow through on the family covenant. Joseph’s own arrogance played a part in the hardship he experienced, but God was patient with Joseph and gave him the same kind of opportunities to grow that He had given Joseph’s ancestors.

God knows what’s best for us even when we don’t know what’s best for ourselves, and He gives it to us.