Israel is a small country located in the Middle East. Its neighbors include Egypt to the southwest, Jordan to the east, Syria to the northeast, Lebanon to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. The ‘State of Israel’ was established in 1948, but it is much older than that.

Israel’s Name

Abraham and Sarah (Sarai) had one son together. His name was Isaac. Isaac and Rebekah had two sons together. Their names were Jacob and Esau. Jacob, along with two wives and two maidservants, had 13 children – 12 boys and one girl.

God’s intention is to move forward the promised ‘Seed’ of the woman who would destroy the ‘seed’ of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). He is also training chosen members of the human race to ‘subdue and have dominion’ over the earth (Genesis 1). He’s training them to ‘reign.’ What we’re about to see next is how God does that through ‘Israel.’

Jacob went through an intense ‘basic training’ with God. Jacob often made bad choices in his life, but he was God’s choice to carry forward ‘the Seed.’ God put Jacob through a training program and eventually came to this interesting point as Jacob returned from Haran to Canaan after spending many years in a type of ‘exile’ out of fear of retribution from his brother. Jacob was an old man by this time. He was ‘greatly afraid and distressed’ as he returned to Canaan, so he divided his very large family into two groups or ‘companies.’ Jacob said, If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape’ (Genesis 32:8).

You might remember the five ‘basic training’ principles I chose for this series:

  1. Believe in the Only True God (Monotheism)
  2. Fear God and Obey Him
  3. Worship God and Serve Him
  4. Listen to God and Trust Him
  5. Love God and Devote Your Life to Him

Jacob’s prayer to God as he returned to Canaan demonstrated some of what his basic training had taught him –

Then Jacob said, ‘O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ Genesis 32:9-12

Jacob believed in the God of his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac. Jacob feared God and obeyed him. The Lord told Jacob to return to his country and family with the promise, ‘and I will deal well with you.’ Jacob worshiped God and served Him. He listened to God and trusted Him. He asked God deliver him from the hand of his brother, even though he feared him. Jacob’s statement to God about making his descendants ‘as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude’ is reminiscent of promises God made to Abraham and Isaac.

Jacob sent his two wives, two female servants, and his eleven sons (his daughter had not been born yet) ‘over the ford of Jabbok,’ along with herds and flocks. Jacob was alone when a ‘Man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day’ (Genesis 32:24). Jacob later learned that he had been wrestling with God. It was part of Jacob’s training and the beginning of God’s next great phase in His plan to move the ‘Seed’ forward.

God changed Jacob’s name to ‘Israel’ – “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Genesis 32:28). Whereas the name Jacob (Yaaqob – יַעֲקֹב) means ‘heel grabber, heel grasper, supplanter – which refers to Genesis 25:26. Israel (Yisrael –  יִשְׂרָאֵל) means ‘God strives, God rules.’ It fits beautifully with God’s eternal plan for humans to ‘subdue’ the earth and ‘have dominion’ (reign) ‘over every living thing that moves on the earth.’

Israel’s Mission

God’s mission for Israel did not change from the promise or unconditional covenants He made with Abraham –

I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. Genesis 12:2

I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. Genesis 17:6-8

It’s important to remember that God’s ‘thoughts and ways’ are not our thoughts and ways. He may do many things differently than we would. If we make the mistake of trying to ‘judge’ or ‘second-guess’ God’s decisions, we will soon find ourselves lost in a wilderness of misunderstanding and doubt.

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

God had an eternal plan for Israel. He began by calling an idol worshipper (Abram) from a far-off land to become His representative of blessing on earth. That ‘blessing’ would come through the ‘Seed’ that God had promised to Eve. Israel would carry forward the ‘Seed’ and ‘blessing,’ but the journey would not be an easy one. It would also include many twists, turns, and tests.

Jacob (Israel) had 12 sons who would eventually become the 12 ‘tribes’ of Israel. However, they would first go through a process of ‘basic training’ that would prepare them to rule and reign.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin; the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali; and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram. Genesis 35:22-26

Based on that list of sons you might think the ‘Seed’ would progress through Jacob’s firstborn son, Reuben. However, remember that Jacob was not the firstborn son, yet God chose him to become the one through whom God would carry forward His promised ‘Seed.’ The ‘choice’ of eternal blessing is always up to God, the Creator of all things.

Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. This is the history of Jacob. Genesis 37:1-2

Jacob and his family were back in the land of Canaan – the ‘promised’ land. Question: which son would carry forward the promised ‘Seed’ after Jacob’s death?

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You can download the first 13 chapters of this series here.

Next Time

We’ll learn which son of ‘Israel’ would carry forward the promised ‘Seed’ in the next part of our series – Train to Reign.

“Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

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