Jacob Becomes Israel
Can you imagine if there was a whole country named after you? That’s what happened to Jacob.
Before You ListenLet's Get Started
Theme: Doing What’s Right - God Calls His People
- In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus reminds us that God watches over us all the time. Can you think of a time when you were struggling with something and you felt God watching over you or taking care of you?
- Jacob takes a very long journey back to the place where God had first promised him that he would be with him. Throughout his journey God watched over Jacob, even when things were a struggle for him. As you listen to this episode, think about all of the difficulties Jacob went through and how God was with him every step of the way.
After you listen
Memory Verse
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.”
Quiz
A: On his hip - he caused it to go out of joint
Reflect
Jacob certainly had a wild journey after running away from his home and his brother Esau. He wandered in the desert, got married, worked for his father-in-law for 14 years, had lots of kids, left his father-in-law’s house with all kinds of possessions, wrestled with God, got a new name, and then had to face his brother again. Jacob faced more than enough challenges for one person in a lifetime. Yet, God was always with him, even when he seemed far away from God. And when he literally wrestled with God, God still blessed him and promised to always be with him.
Facing his brother Esau must have felt like the one of the most difficult things that Jacob—now Israel—ever had to do. After all, he had deceived his brother and stolen his father's blessing. But, even after all of Jacob’s problems and fears, his brother forgave him and they became friends again. God was always with Jacob!
Read the whole story of how God was always with Jacob in Genesis 25-33. Want to dig deeper and learn more about God always being with us? Check out Isaiah 41:10, Revelation 3:20, and Zephaniah 3:17.
Challenge
While we may not physically wrestle with God like Jacob did, there are plenty of things in our lives that we do wrestle with. Maybe we struggle with friends or a certain subject in school or struggle just believing that God is with us when we face trouble in our lives. Make a list of the things that challenge you and then ask God to be with you as you work through them. One of the ways we see that God is with us is through other people. Ask someone you trust to help you with something that you are struggling with.
