Israel

Hebrew words were never meant to carry profound meanings. Judaism thrived on the oral tradition where many verbs and adjectives would change as stories would be passed along. But names, oh were names different. Names gave you an identity and helped form the very person you would become. In the book of Ruth, a peaceable story stuck in the middle of some of the worst Old Testament carnage, begins with the family of Elimelech, Naomi, and their sons Mahlon and Chilion. Mahlon means "sick" and Chilion means "dying." Guess who doesn't make it to verse six?

The name Israel was given to Jacob in Genesis 32 after he wrestles with "a man" who was also God (ring any bells?). After wrestling and fighting with the man, Jacob is renamed Israel, which can mean several of the following: "he who wrestles with God," or "one who strives with God," or simply and paradoxically, "God strives." It is a name of tension, not relaxation, a name of friction and not of tranquility - it is uneasy.

Then is it any wonder why God chooses a people group (nation) and names them after Jacob? He could have named his people Shalom (peace) or Selah (rest), but instead he named his Chosen Ones, "The People Who Wrestle With God."

Those who claim Christianity are following this same God. Does this let you into another piece of His heart? He doesn't want easy-come-easy-go people, he wants wrestlers, soldiers - the ones that are willing to put up a fight.

Many of us become so alarmed when relating with God becomes difficult, but what if the moments of striving and fighting with God are actually the beginning of what we were really meant for?