Genesis 35:9–12

Jacob's steps to Bethel had been slow indeed. His stay in Paddan-aram was long. Then came delay in Succoth and in Shechem. At last sin and sorrow, shame and fear drove him out — yet God was always faithful and true.

Everything shows that now he has really reached the goal. All his journeys in the land are passed over in the quiet words which treat him as just come back to it.

He appeared to Jacob, and there was no wrestling. He appeared to him and blessed him. It all comes from God. God speaks freely and fully. He does not ask, "What is your name?" He had called his name Israel before. That was part of the discipline and exercise, though it gave him strength. Now He takes it into His own hands and gives it of Himself. It is not Jacob wrestling for the blessing; he does not even have to ask God His name.

God at this hour speaks with Jacob, without saying anything at all about his experiences. He had been unfaithful, so these experiences were needed to chasten him and empty him of himself. God Himself appeared to him now, unasked... He gave him the name of Israel, as if He had not given it to him before. And He reveals His name to him, though Jacob never asked for it.

As if to show how practically ineffective Peniel had been, He gives him afresh the name which He had given him there. "And God said to him, Your name is Jacob" — still Jacob! — "no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." So we learn this: if weakness is the secret of strength — and it is — that strength is only for walking in God's ways. Israel must come to Bethel to be Israel.

The same grace that refused to call him Jacob any more declares his name from now on to be Israel; and He who loves to roll away every reproach from off His people writes this new name upon him, sealing it as His own act, for "He called his name Israel."

It was no longer Jacob begging God for His blessing: God of His own accord appeared and blessed him... The blessing is gracious, but it is in a lower key and more general in character, as suited the name God (Elohim) rather than the name LORD (Jehovah). Still, God truly revealed Himself to Jacob, unasked, as He had to Abraham and Isaac, by the title that belonged to those fathers: El-Shaddai, God Almighty. None of them needed that assurance of protecting power as much as that "worm" Jacob.

In some respects this is almost a repetition of what God said the first time at Bethel, except that He did not say, "I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land." God had accomplished His purpose in Jacob. All He did then was to tell him two things. First, He drew attention to His own Person: He was God Almighty. Second, He drew attention to His promise, which could not fail. He remained as He was, and His promises could not change.

At Shechem, Jacob called his altar "El-elohe-Israel," that is, "God, the God of Israel." But at Bethel, the true standpoint, he called his altar "El-beth-el," that is, God — the house of God. This was true restoration. Jacob was brought back, after all his wanderings, to the very point from which he had started. Nothing less than this could ever satisfy God regarding His servant.

His name is not to be called Jacob any more, the supplanter, but Israel, the wrestler or prince of God. The manner is striking. For God speaks of it as if it were given then, and not merely confirmed. That suited a man who had come back to the land, and was not a fugitive from his father's house.

God confirms the name of Israel to Jacob; but there is no double account of its origin. On the first occasion God had a controversy with Jacob. Yet He blesses him, strengthens him to prevail in the conflict, and gives him the name of Israel — "a prince who prevailed with God." Still He chastises him, and does not reveal Himself to him (Genesis 32:28). After this Jacob goes up to the place of his real meeting with God in blessing. He puts away idols out of his house, knowing he is going to meet Him. Then God begins by freely revealing His name, and confirms to Jacob the title He had given him before.

Here at Bethel God appears to Jacob again to bless him. He confirms that His servant's name was Jacob — which was not to be forgotten — and yet he was to be called Israel. This name was to have its full significance in God's place for him. It speaks of the dignity to which God had raised him by grace, "a prince with God." God had changed his name before (Genesis 32:28), yet people still spoke of him only as Jacob until he came to Bethel. In fact, even after this he is sometimes called Israel, but more often Jacob.

He appeared to Jacob, and there was no wrestling. He appeared to him and blessed him. It is all coming from God — God speaking freely and fully, not asking, "What is your name?" He had called his name Israel before. That was part of the discipline and exercise, though it gave him strength. He is now taking it into His own hands and giving it of Himself. It is not Jacob wrestling for the blessing; he does not even have to ask God His name.

The same grace that refused to call him Jacob any more declares that from now on his name is Israel. He loves to roll away every reproach from off His people. So He writes this new name upon him, sealing it as His own act, for "He called his name Israel."

"He called his name Israel" — blotting out in one sense all the history from the day when that name was first given to him. It is a sorrowful reflection for the heart when time past is, so to speak, time lost.

There has been inconsistency. Perhaps you have been away from God, and you have had chastening to remind you of it. God must have you with Himself to bring out what is there. He will bring your own name up. You won't get Israel without being Jacob with God.

God says, "Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there." The moment God says so, out comes what Jacob knew all along he had never finished with. There was a pile of idols in the house, and now he thinks about it. He knew about them all along; but there is no real putting away of idols until we come into the presence of God. Notice: once the idols were buried, the first thing God did was to tell him His name. He had not done so before, but now it is the first thing. God appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty" — the name He had given Himself to Abraham.

God was faithful to Jacob, but Jacob was not yet faithful to God. God still kept up reserve, and could not yet reveal His name as He did to Abraham and Isaac, and would in due time to Jacob (Gen. 35:11). There was not the self-judgment that made the way for it.

Writers say the word El means strength, or omnipotence. Some think Shaddai means the same. Others prefer to render it all-sufficient, or self-sufficiency. Either way, the two words together carry divine attributes. Only God has omnipotence and all-sufficiency.

Still God reveals Himself to Jacob, truly and unasked, as He did to Abraham and Isaac, by the title that belonged to the fathers: El-Shaddai, God Almighty. No one of the fathers needed that assurance of protecting might as much as that "worm" Jacob.

Jacob has got rid of all his strange gods, and he is meeting God where God can reveal Himself, and give him the new name of "Israel." He does it now as if He had never done it before. 'I know nothing,' He says, 'of the supplanter, you are now strong with God.'

Unbelief drove God back on Himself. He fixes Jacob in his place on earth as Jacob the supplanter — "Your name is Jacob." And He hangs His purposes on the new man, Israel: even Jacob's own promises, the birthright bought with a bowl of stew.

He had shown His sovereign might in keeping His promise to greatly bless Jacob and bring him back to the land. Now He will show that power again. He will multiply Jacob's descendants, make him into a nation and a company of nations, and decide that kings would come from him. His promise in Genesis 28:13-15 had been absolute, with no conditions attached. This promise is also unconditional, but adds the words about "a nation and a company of nations" and kings.

Some say this refers to the great nations of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and so on. But note that Jacob was the father of the twelve tribes. Why should this promise be limited to ten of them? Kings certainly came from Jacob's body, as we see in the long line from David to Zedekiah. The children of Israel did become a nation, and the twelve tribes were like twelve nations making up the nation.

"Jehovah" is the name of relationship taken with Israel, as "Shaddai" with the patriarchs. God revealed Himself to the fathers as "El Shaddai," and they were to walk in the faith of that name. He revealed Himself as Jehovah to Moses and Israel, and they were to walk in the faith of that. He has revealed Himself to us as Father, and so we are to walk.

God Himself appeared to him now, though Jacob had not asked Him to. We read in Genesis 35:9, "God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him." He gave him the name of Israel, as if He had not given it to him before. And He reveals His own name to him, though Jacob never asked for it. He talks with him as He once did with Abraham. He renews the promises, and confirms them to him — at least those which relate to Israel. And when He had finished speaking with him, God went up from him, for He had visited him.

At Bethel, in Genesis 28, God declared what He would be for Jacob and to Jacob. He raised no question about Jacob's response or behaviour. Now God is always true to Himself and to His word. Before God gave the law through Moses, He was dealing with these patriarchs on the basis of His promises in grace, and those promises stand.

As the Almighty, God promised to be a God to Abraham and to his descendants after him (Gen. 17:7)... The Name of the Almighty assured Abraham that God would do all He had promised. Isaac blessed Jacob in the Name of the Almighty (Gen. 28:3). And when God changed Jacob's name to Israel, He said, "I am God Almighty… The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you" (Gen. 35:9–12). Jacob uses the Name of the Almighty in Genesis 43:14, 48:3 and 49:25. He knew the almighty power of the One who had blessed him despite all his failures.

In Genesis 15 the promise rests on a covenant God made with Abraham, again without condition. It is an absolute gift of the country... In Genesis 17:7-8, the promise of the earth is renewed. These are confirmed to Isaac (Gen. 26:3-4), and to Jacob (Gen. 35:10, 12). These are "the promises made to the fathers," and to Israel, "beloved for the sake of the fathers." God made them to Abraham without any condition, whether spiritual or earthly.

God never gave Abraham, Isaac or Jacob actual possession of the land of Israel while they were alive in their natural bodies. Yet He did promise them the land — not just to their children, but to themselves. So they must rise again to have that land promised to them. God gave them the land in promise, but they never owned it. They must therefore own it another day. And they cannot own it while they are dead, so they must live again to actually have the promised land.

He has, like Abraham in Gen. 17, the promise of nations and kings from his line; but nothing here goes beyond the bounds and glory of Israel and the land.

His first had been one of confidence in the flesh (Gen. 28:18-22); his second was the pillar of broken confidence (Gen. 31:45), showing how untrustworthy the flesh is. This third is the pillar of confidence in God. This time he makes no vow. Instead he pours a drink offering and oil on the pillar, showing his genuine appreciation of God's faithfulness and grace.