What Is Your Name? – Genesis 32:24-32
Pastor Tan Thai · Jan 27, 2013
This sermon explores Jacob's wrestling with God at the Jabbok River, emphasizing that it was God who took hold of Jacob first, not Jacob who overpowered God. Through this encounter, every person is called to confess their true name before God in order to receive a new name and a transformed life.
The sermon opens by reflecting on the significance of names in Vietnamese culture and in Scripture. The name Jacob means 'one who grasps the heel' or 'deceiver,' and his life fully reflected that name: he deceived his brother Esau into selling his birthright for a bowl of stew, then deceived his father Isaac by disguising himself as Esau to receive the blessing. The pastor challenges the congregation: before judging Esau or Jacob, each person should ask what they themselves are trading away their right as a child of God to obtain.
The sermon then traces Jacob's twenty years with Laban, during which he was deceived by his own uncle, illustrating the principle of Galatians 6:8 that whatever a person sows, they will also reap. Only when Jacob became a victim did he begin to call on the name of God. The sermon also introduces the many names of God in both the Old and New Testaments—from El-Shaddai and Yahweh-Jireh to the 'I Am' statements in the Gospel of John—to show that God is sufficient for every human need.
The theological heart of the sermon focuses on the nighttime wrestling at the Jabbok River. The pastor emphasizes that this is not a picture of Jacob persistently holding on to God to receive blessing, but rather that God was the one who took hold of Jacob first. The purpose of the wrestling was to break Jacob's self-reliance, exhaust him completely, and bring him to full submission—no longer trusting in his own cunning and strength. Scholar Arthur W. Pink is quoted to confirm that the purpose was to reduce Jacob to nothing of himself, so that God's strength could be revealed through his weakness, as taught in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10.
The sermon then analyzes the moment Jacob confesses his true name: 'My name is Jacob.' This is genuine repentance—no more disguise or deception. Only by confessing his true name does Jacob receive a new name, Israel. The pastor explains that Israel means 'God rules' or 'God prevails,' not 'one who prevails over God,' because in compound names with El in Scripture, God is always the subject, not the object.
The concluding application calls every person to face their own 'Esaus' from the past, which God will require them to confront before they can receive a new name. The godly sorrow that leads to true repentance and salvation, as described in 2 Corinthians 7:8-11, is the path forward. Jacob emerged from that night wounded but transformed—no longer fleeing or scheming, but leaning entirely on the strength of God.