Genesis 35:9 God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
When Jacob finally arrived at the place God told him to go, he immediately found great blessing. God appeared to him, God blessed him, and God called him by his new name (Israel). God granted Jacob a precious reminder of his place in God’s great covenant, begun with his grandfather Abraham. In this, Jacob did not need to hear anything new from God. He just needed to be reminded of what was true, and be encouraged to cling to it all. (Guzik)
Faith, obedience, trust, and reliance in Jesus Christ blesses the heart, soul, and mind. When we walk the lonely paths of self-directed, self-pleasing, and in self-reliance living, we will not find blessings, joy, peace, rest, refuge, firm-hope, courage, or power that is only rightly found in humble obedience following God’s leading each moment of every day.
