Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. Genesis 32:28-29
There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel. Genesis 33:20
El-Elohe-Israel means God-the God of Israel"
In the past when I have read "The God of Israel" or this name El-Elohe-Israel", I made a presumption that it was the country or people of Israel, which He is the God of also. However, Jacob was declaring God the God of himself. He encountered God. God gave Jacob a new name, Israel. Jacob then asked Him, "What is your name?" Jacob did not get an answer, instead God blessed Him.
Following this, Jacob gets up to face his brother Esau whom he had wronged many years before. Esau had forgiven him. Jacob then set up a tent and alter that he called El-Elohe-Israel.
Could it be, that God became personal to man again in that encounter? After the flood, God was more far off from the people. We read of a few people having encounters with God, but they are far between. In this moment, God was no longer a far off God, He became Jacob's God. The God of his personal life. Could it be that God blessed Jacob, not because he wrestled with God but because Jacob sought a deeper knowing of who God was in that moment? And that in that seeking, Jacob came to know that God wanted a personal relationship with him. God didn't want to be some magic genie kind of relationship with Jacob. He wanted Jacob to see Him as a friend he could count on for the long haul.
There have been times in my life where I have viewed God as a far off God. I wondered where He was. Have you been there too? I have also treated God as a genie, someone I could pull out when I had a need, but generally kept in a small area of my life. Can you relate? I have learned that there is nothing better than a deep and personal realtionship with God. El-Elohe-Jackie. God, the God of Jackie; when I stop and see Him in relationship I know that I am beyond blessed regardless of what I might face.
Prayer - Lord, I want to know you in a deeper more personal way. I may never physically wrestle with you like Jacob. I know in my strong-willed nature, we have wrestled a lot. Lord help me to just seek that relationship and know that You have my best interest at heart.
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