Israel

Do you know what the name Israel means? In the Old Testament in Genesis 32, God gives a man, Jacob, the new name of Israel. Jacob had 12 sons. His sons multiplied and became the 12 tribes of the nation Israel, God’s people. The name Israel is made by putting two Hebrew words together, isra = to fight or wrestle, and el = God. What you end up with is a word meaning God fights or one who struggles and wrestles with God.

It is interesting to me that God would choose to give this name to his people. I think this may show us a picture of a relationship, two people wrestling together. It is interesting to think that God wrestles with his people. It reminds us that God is a relational God. In order for two people to wrestle, they have to be latched on to one another. Sometimes God allows us to grapple with him, to plead and petition for things, and sometimes God grabs us and pins us down, placing us where we need to be. It gives us greater cause for thanksgiving, comfort, and celebration to know that the LORD is deeply involved in our lives and is a relational God, not just a far removed deity who simply watches as things happen on Earth. On the contrary, he does stretch out his hand to comfort, to build, and to wrestle.