Tag: patriarchs

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Jacob/Israel

Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him. God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, But Israel shall be your name.” Thus He called him Israel. God also said to him, “I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you. The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give the land to your descendants after you.  (Genesis 35:9-12, NASB)

The Bible passage above from Genesis 35 tells of the second time that God changed Jacob’s name to “Israel”.  The first is in Chapter 32, when Jacob wrestles all night with God:  “[God] said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.'”  (v. 28)

Now this time, God told Jacob to go to Bethel (“house of God”), where God first appeared to him.  There, God again states that his name is Israel, and reiterates the Abrahamic Covenant, which God had previously made with Israel’s grandfather Abraham, and his father Isaac.  Among God’s promises:  “A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you. The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give the land to your descendants after you.”

Jacob wrestler with God, found at The Scripture Says, 
https://thescripturesays.org/2015/01/11/genesis-32-34-you-shall-no-longer-be-called-jacob-but-israel-for-you-have-striven-with-god-and-with-men-and-have-prevailed/

God does not, and has not, failed on any of His promises.  The Nation was and is named after Israel.  Abraham was told that all the nations of the world would be blessed by him.  A line of kings descended from him, beginning with King David, and ultimately to culminate with the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ.  The sons of Jacob, the sons of Israel, indeed inhabited the land after a long captivity in Egypt, and returned in 1948. 

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel is a Promise Keeper.  Many of His promises are yet to come.  One of His promises is that “whoever believes in [Jesus] shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  (John 3:16)  We can count on this! 

Worship:  “Lord God of Abraham,” by Paul Wilbur
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Isaac

The LORD appeared to [Isaac] and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. 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. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws” . . . Then he went up from there to Beersheba. The LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.” So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.  (Genesis 26:2-5, 23-25, NASB)

God appeared to Isaac twice in Chapter 26 of Genesis, with much the same message:  “I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.”  

Why was God so gracious to Isaac?  “Because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”  God didn’t show favor to Isaac because of anything HE did, but it was because of what his father Abraham did.  God reiterated the Abrahamic Covenant upon Isaac because his father Abraham was righteous in God’s eyes. 

genesis-26-fear-not-for-i-am-with-you-1080x646
Genesis 26:24 image.  Found at New Covenant Baptist Church, https://www.newcovenantgj.org/gods-presence-with-isaac/. 

Reading this reminded me of myself.  You see, God has shown me favor in my own life.  It’s not because of anything I’VE done, but because of what Jesus did.  Jesus, God’s Son, came to this earth as God’s plan of salvation.  He died as a substitute for me, to take the punishment I deserve for my sins.  Nothing I could ever do would be acceptable to God to make up for my sins, EXCEPT–to place my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus is my Hope for this life and the next! 

Worship:  “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us,” by Phillips, Craig & Dean