All Israel Will Be Saved (Part 1 of 3)

INTRODUCTION
 
The three Patriarchs are commonly referred to in scripture as “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” (Matt 8:11). As most believers know, Jacob is also called “Israel”, a name given to him after he struggled with the Angel of God as Jacob reentered the land of Canaan, (Gen 32:28). What I fail to comprehend is why the predominant name used in scripture for the Patriarch is Jacob. After all, once Abram’s name was changed by the LORD to Abraham (Gen 17:5), he is thereafter referred to as Abraham. Abraham’s wife Sarai also received a name change to Sarah (Gen17:15), and Sarai is not used again in scripture. Further, God instructed Abraham and Sarah to name the son of the promise Isaac, (Gen 17:19). However, the name Jacob, “heel catcher” was apparently given by his parents for events surrounding his birth, (Gen 25:26).
 
If given the opportunity to choose between a name given by a person’s parents or one given by God, the name given by God should win out. Yet, over and over in the Hebrew text, the covenant God made with the Patriarchs is referred to as “His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” (Ex 2:24). For this and other scripture references, the daily Amidah prayer, as in most Hebrew prayers, refers to the Patriarchs as “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Even Jesus, when discussing the resurrection of the dead used as His proof text, “‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is not the God of the dead but of the living,” (Matt 22:32). In reference to the future banquet of the saints, Jesus said, “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,” (Matt 8:11).

JACOB’S NAME CHANGED TO ISRAEL
 
A fascinating exercise is to study how the names Jacob and Israel are used to identify the Patriarch in the Hebrew text. When Jacob fled from his brother, we are told “He came to a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place,” (Gen 28:11). The phrase “the sun had set,” is seen by some to indicate the spiritual condition of Jacob as he left the land of Israel. At this place and time, Jacob had not fully embraced the God of Abraham and Isaac, but vowed, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, the LORD will be my God,” (Gen 28:20-21).

Over twenty years later, Jacob returned to the land with his wives and children. During the night just prior to his re-entry into the land, Jacob wrestled with the Man of God and received the name Israel, “for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed,” (Gen 32:28). Jacob concluded, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved,” (Gen 32:30). The next verse relates a change in the spiritual condition of the Patriarch, “Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel,” (Gen 32:31). The imagery for the reader is clear. Jacob left the land when the sun was setting, doubting the existence of God. When Jacob re-entered the land, he had an encounter that made God very real to him. Jacob received a name change to Israel reflecting a change in his spiritual condition, i.e., the “sun rose upon him” both physically and spiritually. He then crossed the Penuel and entered into the Promised Land.

After the killing of Hamor and his son Shechem by Simeon and Levi (Gen 34:26), Jacob fled to Bethel in the land of Canaan, where the LORD first appeared to him. During this time, after struggling with the Angel of God, the Patriarch is still referred to as Jacob. At this time, the LORD appeared to Jacob a second time, blessed him and said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob; But Israel shall be your name,” (Gen 35:10). Again we see the name Israel used for the Patriarch when he has a relationship with God.

Have a Blessed New Year - Scott