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ELOHE-ISRAEL
CRISTIAN GEORGE VASILE·21 IANUARIE 2018
The name of God that we will look at today can be found in the book of beginnings…
Now Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan,
Genesis 33:18-20
Now to understand the full power of this name of God, of this passage of Scripture, we
have to go back and look at the context. We have to back and look at Israel. We have
to go back and remember that Israel was first Jacob.
Jacob got in a good bit of trouble with his dad Isaac and his big brother Esau. He let
his mother lead him into deceiving his father in order to receive the blessing of the
firstborn. The sad thing about this was that Rebekah had been foretold by God when
the twins were still in her womb that the older would serve the younger, but instead of
waiting on God and trusting in His word, she decided to “help” God out… just like her
mother-in-law Sarah did.
This blessing deception ended with Esau ready to literally kill Jacob. So their mother,
once again comes up with scheme before her husband. She has Jacob sent off to live
with her family under the guise that she has sent him in the hope that he would find a
wife.
Now on the way, Jacob stops to sleep on a rock in Beersheba. We read in Genesis
28:10-21 how God comes and speaks to him in a dream. We read of “Jacob’s ladder.”
We also read how Jacob responds to this dream. He acknowledges that this is indeed
God speaking to him… but pay close attention to his words.
“If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take,
Genesis 28:20-21
Did you just see that Jacob has not made God his God. He is still just the God of his
father Isaac and the God of his father Abraham… He is not the God of Jacob. There is
no relationship between God and Jacob. We even see here that Jacob has taken a
bargaining mindset with the Creator of the universe and the Sustainer of his very
breath.
If God will do A,B, and C then Jacob will do God the honor of letting Him be his
God… Wow.
Yeh. Unfortunately that mindset is still very much alive and well today in the hearts
and minds of men and women everywhere.
Now over fourteen years later, after Jacob has found not one wife, but two, his beloved
Rachel and her sister Leah, he has finally decided it is time to leave Uncle Laban and
return home. We read in Genesis 31 how Laban’s other sons and servants are not to
fond of Jacob… basically because God has been blessing him like crazy and he has
gained a lot of livestock and made his Uncle quite prosperous. So Jacob goes to his
wives and tells them it’s time to move on… in this conversation we see once again that
even though Jacob acknowledges that God has been with him and that it is indeed God
that has blessed him… he still does not claim God as his personal God.
Genesis 31:5
Now after Jacob has separated from his Uncle Laban and is traveling toward home he
gets word that his big brother Esau is coming after him with 400 men. This kind of
shakes Jacob up a little bit. He gets a little scared. So he actually did what a lot of us
do when we get scared… he prays.
and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant;
for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies.
that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children.
For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of
the sea,
Genesis 39:9-12
However, in his prayer we see that God is still the God of his fathers… not his God.
But we also see Jacob beginning to take a different attitude with the God of his fathers.
This time he is not bargaining with God. He is on his face before him acknowledging
that he has not deserved any of the kindness that God has shown him. He is begging
God to keep His word even though he does not deserve for Him to keep it.
This is one of the awesome things about our God… the keeping of His word, His
promises, is not dependant upon us. He keeps His word because He is God not because
we are good.
Now later in this chapter Jacob sends his family across a stream and he stays behind…
to just be alone. This is where God has to get all of us. He has to get us alone. Away
from all distractions, excuses, false senses of security.
While alone a “man” shows up and begins wrestling with Jacob. Jacob holds tight and
keeps fighting. He finally grabs hold of the man and says that he will not let him go
until he blesses him. (Now I hope you have picked up that this was not just an ordinary
man that showed up while Jacob was alone)
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his
thigh;
so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.
But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”
Genesis 32:24-28
Why on earth did this man want Jacob to say his name?
Jacob’s name meant deceiver… and that’s exactly who Jacob was. He was a deceiver.
He was a con-artist. He was selfish and set on himself… Jacob had to admit who he
was. The real A, B, and C that Jacob needed to address was..
A– admit that you are a sinner
Now God was getting somewhere with Jacob. He had made it to step A. He had
admitted that he was indeed a deceiver, a sinner. There were no excuses, no justifying
his actions, no bargaining games, he was admitting I am the problem. It was here that
Jacob was beginning to see that God needed to be his God, not on the basis of earning
his worship, but because God was worthy of his worship, and he (Jacob) just needed to
be thankful that God was willing to accept his worship.
So now when we read El-Elohe-Israel we see the true impact of this confession of
Jacob. He was a man with a new name… and a personal God. A God that was no
longer just his daddy’s God, no longer just his grandaddy’s God, but his God. God, the
God of Israel.
Genesis 33:20
For such is God, Our God forever and ever; He will guide us until death.
Psalm 48:14
________________Traducerea___________________
Numele lui Dumnezeu pe care îl vom privi astăzi se găsește în cartea începuturilor ...
Iacov a venit în siguranță în cetatea Sihemului, care este în țara Canaanului, când a
venit de la Padan-aram și a tăbărât în fața orașului.
El a cumpărat bucata de pământ unde își așezase cortul din mâna fiilor lui Hamor,
tatăl lui Sichem, pentru o sută de bucăți de bani. Apoi a ridicat acolo un altar și la
numit El-Elohe-Israel. Geneza 33: 18-20
El-Elohe-Israel, acest ’’nume al lui Dumnezeu’’ înseamnă: Dumnezeu, Dumnezeul
lui Israel.
Acum, pentru a înțelege puterea deplină a acestui nume al lui Dumnezeu, din acest
pasaj al Scripturii, trebuie să ne întoarcem și să privim contextul. Trebuie să ne
întoarcem și să privim Israel-ul. Trebuie să ne întoarcem și să ne amintim că Israel
a fost întâi, Iacov.
Iacov a intrat într-o mică problemă cu tatăl său Isaac și cu mai marele său frate
Esau. El a lăsat-o pe mama (Rebekah) să se ducă să-l înșele pe tatăl său pentru a
primi binecuvântarea primului nascut. Problema tristă a fost că Rebekah(ăi) i-a fost
prezis de Dumnezeu pe când gemenii se aflau încă în pântecele ei, încât cei mai în
vârstă îi vor sluji pe cei mai tineri, dar în loc să aștepte pe Dumnezeu și să se
încreadă în Cuvântul Său, ea a hotărât să-L "ajute" la fel cum a făcut și soacra ei,
Sarah.
Această înșelăciune de binecuvântare s-a încheiat odată cu Esau gata să-l omoare,
literalmente, pe Iacov. Deci, mama lor, vine din nou cu planul în fața soțului ei. Ea
l-a trimis pe Iacov să trăiască împreună cu familia ei sub pretextul că l-a trimis cu
speranța că(-și) va găsi (încă) o soție.
Mda. Din păcate, acea mentalitate este încă foarte vie și bine (înradăcinată) astăzi în
inimile și mințile bărbaților și femeilor de pretutindeni.
Eliberează-mă, mă rog, din mâna fratelui meu, din mâna lui Esau; căci mă tem de
el, că va veni și va ataca pe mine și pe mamele cu copiii.
Căci Tu ai spus: "Te voi prospera cu siguranță și voi face pe descendenții tăi ca pe
nisipul mării, care este prea mult pentru a fi numărat." ’’ Geneza 39: 9-12
Cu toate acestea, în rugăciunea lui vedem că Dumnezeu este încă Dumnezeul tatălui
său... nu Dumnezeu al lui.
Acesta este unul dintre minunatele lucruri despre Dumnezeul nostru... păstrarea
Cuvântului Său, promisiunile Sale, nu depind de noi. Își păstrează Cuvântul pentru
că El este Dumnezeu nu pentru că suntem buni.
Acum, în acest capitol, Iacov își trimite familia peste un curs de apă și rămâne în
urmă ... să fie singur. Aici Dumnezeu trebuie să ne aducă pe toți. Trebuie să aduca
la a fi singuri. Departe de toate distragerile, scuzele, falsul sentiment al siguranței.
În timp ce doar "un om" apare și începe să se lupte cu Iacov. Iacov se ține tare și
continuă să se lupte. În cele din urmă, el îl apucă pe om și spune că nu îl va lăsa să
plece până când nu-l binecuvântează. (Acum sper că v-ați prins că nu era doar un
om obișnuit care s-a arătat în timp ce Iacov era singur)
Și el a zis,"Iacov."
El spuse: "Numele tău nu va mai fi Iacov, ci Israel, căci te-ai luptat cu Dumnezeu și
cu oamenii și ai răzbit." ’’ Geneza 32: 24-28
Căci pe pământ acest Om dorea ca Iacov să-i spună numele Numele lui Jacob
înseamnă.. înșelător... și exact aceasta a fost Jacob. El a fost un înșelător. A fost un
con-artist. El era egoist și se fixat pe el însuși ... Iacov a trebuit să recunoască cum
era. Adevărurile A, B și C pe care Iacov a trebuit să le adreseze a fost :