JACOB means swindler, supplanter, deciever

ISRAEL means contender with God and men

contend means STRIVE, VIE, WRANGLE, WRESTLE



when we are un-believers, we are like JACOB , we are liars, sinners, supplanters, I am my own God (in my eyes),.......I have supplanted God.........(the same lie that satan told Eve, YE SHALL BE AS GOD!)

when we are believers, we are like ISRAEL,.....we have STRIVED, WRESTLED with God and men, and we have prevailed........GENESIS 32;28 AMPLIFIED BIBLE

"you have contended and have power with God and with men and have prevailed."

I think it's a WRESTLING of 2 FREE WILL AGENTS (PERSONS) ........God and myself,.........and , somehow, we come to some kind of arrangement where we can walk together,........2 FREE WILL PERSONS without struggling AGAINST each other





Genesis 32:29
Then Jacob asked Him, Tell me, I pray You, what [in contrast] is Your name? But He said, Why is it that you ask My name? And [the Angel of God declared] a blessing on [Jacob] there.


http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?searc...&spanend=73


24And Jacob was left alone, and a Man wrestled with him until daybreak.

25And when [the Man] saw that He did not prevail against [Jacob], He touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob's thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with Him.

26Then He said, Let Me go, for day is breaking. But [Jacob] said, I will not let You go unless You declare a blessing upon me.

27[The Man] asked him, What is your name? And [in shock of realization, whispering] he said, Jacob [supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler]!

28And He said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob [supplanter], but Israel [contender with God]; for you have contended and have power with God and with men and have prevailed.

29Then Jacob asked Him, Tell me, I pray You, what [in contrast] is Your name? But He said, Why is it that you ask My name? And [the Angel of God declared] a blessing on [Jacob] there.

30And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [the face of God], saying, For I have seen God face to face, and my life is spared and not snatched away.

31And as he passed Penuel [Peniel], the sun rose upon him, and he was limping because of his thigh.

32That is why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the hollow of the thigh, because [the Angel of the Lord] touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh on the sinew of the hip.

Jacob is tenacious....That can be good and bad. In this case he was blessed for clinging to the right thing. But some cling to old ideas and become entangled and can't let go.