Genesis 32:27-32 A New Name!

27“What is your name?” the man asked.

“Jacob,” he replied.

28Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”

29Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me Your name.”

“Why do you ask My name?” he replied. And He blessed Jacob there.

30So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

31The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip. 32Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon at the hip socket, because the man struck Jacob’s hip socket near that tendon.

God gives everyone a new name, our secret name will not be revealed until we meet Him face to face like Jacob did.

Revelation 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.

“Dear friends, I am afraid that the lives of many of the Lord’s chosen people alternate between ‘Israel’ and ‘Jacob.’ Sometimes we are ‘strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might,’ and at another time we cry, ‘Who is sufficient for these things?’ Like princes we prevail with God, and are true Israels; but perhaps ere the sun has gone down we limp with Jacob, and though the spirit be willing, the flesh is weak. We are Jacob before we are Israel; and we are Jacob when we are Israel; but blessed be God, we are Israels with God when we cease to be Jacobs among men.” (Spurgeon)

“The memorial of his weakness was to be with him as long as he lived… How pleased would you and I be to go halting all our days with such weakness as Jacob had, if we might also have the blessing that he thus won!” (Spurgeon)

“and he was limping because of his hip”. Jacob would be reminded every time he walked because of his struggle with God, not in the sense of the wrestling match but his spiritual struggle. After all, what does Jacob’s name mean? 

Jacob, the supplanter, the trickster, the scoundrel, has a new identity – Israel, which in Hebrew means “one who strives with God.” 

“Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon at the hip socket”. A new man made rule added to Gods law. 

“we are Israels with God when we cease to be Jacobs among men.”

Will you cease to be Jacob among men?

Blessings, David