Genesis 32:27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered.
Commentary says “From this point on, this son of Isaac will be called Jacob twice as often as he is called Israel.” To me this means that while Jacob wrestled with God and won, thus earning the name Israel (which, I’ll be honest, is still something I struggle with in this text), there’s still a lot of the old, the Jacob, left in him.
Genesis 32:28-29 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
That hefty dose of Jacob that is apparently still in him, though, gives me hope. I know that no matter how hard I try, I am still human and fallible. I still fail daily. I want to be good, to shine His light, and there are glimmers of success, but there is still so much of the human in me that it’s never perfect.
Genesis 32:30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
Precious Savior, The one message I am getting loud and clear from Genesis during this reading is that I do not have to be perfect for You to use me. You can and will and do use the human, the fallible, the messy, in Your kingdom work. That gives me such hope. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.
Genesis 32:31-32 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.
Have a blessed day.