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We can learn much from the namesGod gives people, places or things because those names reflect the way Heperceives them. What can we learn about God’s church by studying the name Paulused for it in Galatians 6?
It was God Himself who firstuttered the word Israel. He changed Jacob’s name to Israel after a long,agonizing night of wrestling at Peniel (Penuel). The incident is recorded inGenesis 32:25-28:
Now when He [the preincarnateChrist, the God of the Old Testament] saw that He did not prevail against him,He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out ofjoint as He wrestled with him. And He said, "Let Me go, for the daybreaks." But he said, "I will not let You go unless You blessme!" So He said to him, "What is your name?" And he said,"Jacob." And He said, "Your name shall no longer be calledJacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, andhave prevailed."
When Jacob returns to Bethelafter his twenty years of service to Laban, God reiterates Jacob’s new name inGenesis 35:9-10:
Then God appeared to Jacobagain, 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, butIsrael shall be your name." So He called his name Israel.
Jacob's New Name
Commentators and scholars cite anumber of possible meanings for the word Israel, which is made up of twoHebrew roots. Two translations stand out:
1. He prevails with God. Thistranslation emphasizes the idea of prevailing against strength throughdogged struggle. The Jerusalem Bible translates Israel withthis force: "He has been strong against God."
2. He rules as God. Strong’sExhaustive Concordance translates Israel (# 3478) with a futureforce: he will rule as God. This rendering emphasizes the idea of rulership,as a prince ruling over his adversaries because of persistent struggle.
Is Israel an apt name forGod’s Church? Do her members prevail with God? Do they—or will they—rule asprinces with God?
God did not hide His reason forchoosing Israel as a new name for Jacob. He picked it because Jacob had"struggled with God and with men, and...prevailed" (Genesis 32:28). Prevailingis an essential idea behind his new name. Let’s look at the life of Jacobto see why God came to see him as a prevailer.
A natural place to begin isJacob’s birth. Genesis 25:24-26:
So when her [Rebekah’s] dayswere fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. Andthe first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over, so they calledhis name Esau. Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’sheel; so his name was called Jacob.
The word Jacob means"supplanter." Jacob was aggressive from the very start. He cunninglyused circumstances to his advantage—usually at the expense of others. Early on,he exploited his brother’s hunger to gain from him the birthright (Genesis25:29-34). In this incident, he supplanted his brother’s property rights. Ofcourse, Esau was not blameless in this matter; he lacked proper respect for theprivilege of the birthright—despised it—and therefore lost it (
In a later incident, Jacob andhis mother conspired to deceive Isaac into bestowing the firstborn’s blessingon Jacob. Remember, Esau was the firstborn. Genesis 27 tells the story. Theintrigue to deceive Isaac involved everything from subtle deception (Jacob worehis brother’s clothes—verse 15), to a double dose of blatant lying (Jacoboutrightly identified himself as Esau—verses 19 and 24). Jacob even broughtGod’s name into the conspiracy, a clear violation of what later became calledthe Third Commandment, by giving Him credit for the quick capture andpreparation of the food (verse 20). In reality, Jacob had merely fetched adomesticated animal from the flock for his mother to prepare (verse 9).
However, Isaac blessed Jacob. Thedeception "worked," but bore bitter fruit: Jacob had to flee for hislife. When Rebekah learned that Esau planned to kill him after Isaac’s death,she packed her younger son off to her brother Laban, in Padan Aram, to"stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away"(verse 44). A few days indeed! Jacob sojourned with Laban for two decades(Genesis 31:38) and even then "was greatly afraid and distressed"(Genesis 32:7) when he finally returned to the land of his birth.
While God’s Word gives only asketch of Jacob’s twenty-year sojourn with Laban, clearly the patriarchdeveloped an ever-stronger relationship with God as the years passed. It was anextremely slow process. But, by the time the second decade drew to a close, Godwas willing to assure Jacob of His protection. Here are Jacob’s "marchingorders": "Then the Lord said to Jacob, ‘Return to the land of yourfathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you’" (Genesis 31:3).
Jacob did not hesitate, butimmediately fled Padan Aram. With God’s help, he prevailed over thechurlish Laban as they confronted each other in the mountains near Gilead(Genesis 31:22-55). Later, at Peniel, he prevailed with God by refusingto break off the wrestling match. Just afterward, he prevailed withEsau, as the two brothers became at least nominally reconciled (
Jacob did mature, though ever soslowly. As this passage indicates, he finally came to the point where herecognized God’s working in his life during all those years. Humbled, he wasnow willing to offer thanks to His God. And God, true to His word, protectedhim during his journey home. Genesis 35:5: "The terror of God was upon thecities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob."
The prophet Hosea gives us acameo which insightfully contrasts the combative, self-reliant, competitivesupplanter, Jacob, with the overcomer he became, Israel:
He took his brother by the heelin the womb, and in his strength he struggled with God. Yes, he struggled withthe Angel and prevailed; he wept, and sought favor from Him. (Hosea 12:3-4)
Hosea completes the picture Mosessketches in Genesis: Jacob wept, humbly begging God’s favor. Jacob’s experiencein Bethel, where God changed his name, as well as his earlier experience inPeniel, where God wrestled with him, were milestones on his road to conversion.God understood that Jacob was bent on prevailing, that he was an overcomer. Hisnew name, meaning "He prevails with God," was apt indeed!
The Church Prevails with God
Speaking in type, in symbol, wecan say that the man named Jacob represents a person who has notovercome—a carnal person. The man named Israel, on the other hand,represents a prevailing Christian, an overcomer. It is this Christian who willeventually inherit the Kingdom of God.
Christ was perhaps recalling Hiswrestling match with Jacob, centuries earlier, when He commented that "theviolent take [the Kingdom] by force" (Matthew 11:12). J. B. Phillips hasit: "The Kingdom of heaven has been taken by storm and eager men andforcing their way into it." It takes sweat.
Paul also probably picturedJacob’s wrestling ardently with Christ when he, using slightly differentmetaphors, said, "I run the race then with determination. I am noshadow-boxer, I really fight! I am my body’s sternest master" (ICorinthians 9:26-27, Phillips).
Overcoming is the common threadconnecting every one of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3.Every member of God’s church has the need to overcome a sinful nature. Johndescribes that nature as "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, andthe pride of life" (I John 2:16). These are the ways of a world which ispassing away (verse 17). We must come out of the world (Revelation 18:4).
In Titus 3:3, Paul describes theway we were, all of us, including the supplanter Jacob, before we came out ofthe world: "For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient,deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy,hateful and hating one another."
Paul further defines these"works of the flesh" in Galatians 5:19-21:
. . . adultery, fornication,uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions,jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy,murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand,just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things willnot inherit the kingdom of God.
Without overcoming, we will notsee God’s Kingdom! It may be imprecise to equate overcoming withsanctification, but overcoming certainly is a big part of the sanctificationprocess. Really, there is no sanctification without it. The overcomers will bethose who are ultimately sanctified, who wear "fine linen, clean andbright" at the Marriage of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-8).
Characteristically, God’s truechurch is a spiritual organism whose members, with God’s help, will ultimatelyprevail over their own sinful natures, over the world and over Satan. TheIsrael of God, like Jacob, prevails with God. Christ certainly remembered Hiswrestling match with the unrelenting Jacob when He inspired Paul to call Hischurch "the Israel of God."
The Church Will Rule As God
Israel, as we saw, canmean, "He rules as God" or "He will rule as God." God’strue church, the Israel of God, will rule as God. Let’s start chasing this downby revisiting Genesis 35:10 where God reiterates Jacob’s new name. Noticeparticularly the blessing that follows in verses 11-12:
Also God said to him: "I amGod Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shallproceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. The land which I gaveAbraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give thisland."
In the past we have correctlyconstrued this to be a promise of national greatness for Jacob’s posterity. The"company of nations" we know beyond a doubt to be the British Empire,currently, a commonwealth of nations. The single "nation" certainlyrefers to Manasseh, the United States. The "kings" coming from Jacobrefer to the literally hundreds of monarchs who descended from him through hisson Judah. These monarchs have populated virtually every royal house of Europe.Chief among them all, and enthroned to this day, is the British monarch, who isa direct descendant of king David.
But, there is an equally valid"spiritual" interpretation of this blessing. The "kings"descending from Jacob are those individuals who, like him, have overcome andwill someday inherit God’s Kingdom, the "land" they seek. Theyare a spiritual posterity, not a physical one.
If we can determine who thepatriarchs’ spiritual offspring are, we will be well on our way tounderstanding who the "kings" descending from Jacob are. Paul clearlyestablishes that Abraham’s spiritual children are not necessarily his physicalones. He does this during a long discussion of God’s reconciliation ofIsrael and the Gentiles in Romans 9 through 11, specifically in Romans 9:6-8:
For they are not all Israel whoare of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham;but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called." That is, those who are thechildren of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children ofthe promise are counted as the seed.
In Galatians 3:29, Paulforthrightly tells us who these "children of the promise" are. Theyare true Christians: "If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’sseed, and heirs according to the promise."
Christians, then, are the spiritualchildren of Abraham. Spiritually understood, the descendants of Abraham,through Isaac (Romans 9:7), through Jacob (Genesis 35:11) will inherit thepromises. They will inherit the "land" God promised Jacob in Genesis35:12 (cf. Matthew 5:5).
Paul, having broached the subjectof heirs at the end of Galatians 3, expounds on the right of inheritance inGalatians 4:1-7. He draws a distinction between slaves (and we were all onceslaves to sin—Romans 6:6, 17-18), who have no right of inheritance, andchildren, who enjoy that right. Paul concludes, "Therefore you are nolonger a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God throughChrist" (Galatians 4:7).
Does all this mean that God’sChurch, the Israel of God, rules now? Of course not! Paul reminds usthat even sons are under the tutelage of servants "until the timeappointed by the father" (Galatians 4:2). John tells us that, "He whoovercomes shall inherit all things" (Revelation 21:7, emphasisours). We are heirs now; later we shall be inheritors!
Right now, it is Christ who rulesall things. Just before He returned to His Father, He reassured His disciplesthat, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth"(Matthew 28:18). But eventually, the "heirs according to the promise"(Galatians 3:29), true Christians, will inherit all things. These are thechildren of God, spiritually speaking, through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Paulmakes it clear in Romans 8:16-17:
The Spirit [it]self bearswitness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, thenheirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him,that we may also be glorified together.
True Christians will inheritChrist’s kingly authority, sitting with Him on His throne. John, in Revelation5:10, writes of a glorious future for us. Christ will have "made us kingsand priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth."
As members of the GodFamily—children of God, we will be God, ruling as He would rule. Spirituallyspeaking, we will be the kings God promised would descend from Jacob (Genesis35:12). Yes, Israel is an apt designation for God’schurch; the Israel of God will rule as God.
Viewed in the present tense or inthe future, we in the true Israel of God have a great deal in common with ourpatriarch Jacob. Like him, we will eventually have a new name (Revelation3:12). Like him, we struggle to overcome. And like him, those who remainfaithful among us will someday prevail, qualifying to rule as God—princesforever with Him.
but that is such a hard thing to learn.