EL ELOHE ISRAEL
Genesis 32-33
“O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”
At this point Jacob still recognises God only as the God of Abraham and Isaac, his forefathers. He has undergone a journey and God has walked with him as he promised. The end of the journey is near, but not yet.
So far, Jacob has seen God’s hand at work to prosper him. His prayer didn’t even take into account God protecting him from Laban. Perhaps he knows Laban and can deal with him; perhaps he felt that he had the protection of his own honesty and righteousness in his dealings.
Esau, however, was a different kettle of fish; Jacob had definitely cheated him of his birthright and blessing; Esau was an unknown factor.
And so Jacob wrestled with God, wanting to extract God’s blessing with his own strength. God, however, caused Jacob to lose the support of his legs and Jacob could only cling to him. Cling he did, and God blessed him.
All of us are on our own journey and God walks with us as per his covenant with our Lord and King, sealed with his blood. I’m pretty sure we have and will make mistakes and misjudge who God truly is. The road ahead will always be a fearful one because we cannot know what awaits us. But when we learn to trust God and know that he is able and willing to hold us up even when we are at the end of our tether, we would have a name to go with our story and we will know that truly he is our God and not someone else’s.
What do you think is God’s name for you?
“There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.”