Called By His Name

2 Chronicles 7:14-16 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. ¹⁵ Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. ¹⁶ For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

Isaiah 4:1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

Exodus 20:17 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Some have a desire to be called by the name of God for the benefits that can bring.  But taking on that name comes with responsibilities.

In our culture it has become more common place for the wife to keep her name instead of taking on her husband’s name.  She gets the benefits of the marriage relationship and yet shuns the identity of her husband.  How often do we as Christians want the benefits of being a Christian but shun the true identity?  With that identity comes a taking on of the character that name signifies.  The names of God throughout scripture show us the breadth and depth of His character.  His desire is for that character to be manifested in and through a people that take on His name.

One of the Ten Commandments tells us not to take the Lord's name in vain.  We have made that be about using His name as a swear word.  It goes far beyond that.  Taking on God's name in vain has to do with being called one of His, but not manifesting who He is. 

A New Day, A New Identity, A New Walk (Part 2)

In the midst of wrestling with God, when asked what his name was Jacob had to admit that he was Jacob.  He was a deceiver, a swindler, a schemer.  (Genesis 32:22-32)

Being a deceiver, a swindler, a schemer, was a family trait.  Jacob's mother, Rebekah, helped him deceive his father to receive the blessing. (Genesis 27:5-17)  After that Jacob went to live with his uncle Laban, who deceived him by giving him Leah when he had served for seven years for Rachel. (Genesis 29:20-27)  Then Laban schemed over and over changing Jacob's wages time and again. (Genesis 31:4-7)  As Jacob was heading back to his homeland with his family and goods, his wife Rachel, Laban's daughter, deceived her father concerning the idols she had stolen. (Genesis 31:30-35)

We see that this was a family trait and it needed to go.  We may say "this is just the way I am" or "that is just the way my family is."  But if it is a character trait that is not honoring to God it must go. 

By asking Jacob to admit who had been, I believe God was putting His finger on that thing in his life at that time so it could be dealt with.  In the wrestling encounter, I believe God wanted to get at that core issue in the life and family line of Jacob.  That day when Jacob confessed who he had been God gave him a new name, a new identity.  Jacob was now Israel, which God had always intended him to be.  It probably took a little while to not think or act in the same way he always had.  Sometimes it takes a little bit to walk into the fullness of our new identity. 

A New Day, A New Identity, A New Walk

Sometimes we hit a critical juncture in our journey with God.  It may require a face to face encounter with God in a wrestling match like Jacob had. (Genesis 32:22-32)

Jacob found himself in a difficult place, poised between his disgruntled father-in-law and his brother who had wanted to kill him.  He sent forth all he owned and all he held dear. He was left alone with God in the dark of the night. It was in that difficult place alone with God that Jacob found himself in a wrestling match with God.  Functioning as he always had was not going to work in this situation.  Jacob had to prevail with God.

There are times when we must wrestle with God in the darkness of the night until the light of the new day comes forth.  Even when the light of the new day begins to dawn, we can't let go until we receive the blessing we so desperately need. We may be done wrestling and we may have little or no strength left, but we can't let go.

It is possible that his nature as Jacob (deceiver, supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler) felt like a strength to him all those years.  It had gotten him a lot of things he wanted.  Even his "success" in being Jacob was a weakness and not the strength it may have felt like.  Jacob had to acknowledge who he was when he was asked, "What is your name?"  He had to acknowledge that he had indeed been a deceiver, supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler. That confession was necessary in order to receive his new name.  He now had a new identity as Israel, a prince with God or one who has power with God or one who prevails with God. In God's book Jacob was always meant to be Israel.  

To be given a new name/identity/nature and be changed in the encounter, we must first realize who we have been. We must confess it before God and let Him change us into who we really are.  We can be changed when we recognize and confess who we really have been.  God touches that place in us that we have relied on as a strength.  Then He can be our strength. 

Jacob walked away with a limp because of his hip being put out of joint. We also leave the wrestling match with what had been the strongest part put out of joint.  We walk away with a limp that requires a new dependence on the Lord, a dependence upon His strength and not our own.  We never walk the same again.

The scripture says that God "blessed him there."  Not sure if the blessing was the new identity,  the limp of a new dependence on God, or something else.  But Jacob did come away from that encounter into a new day, with a new identity, and a new walk.