Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him.
10God said to him,
“Your name is Jacob;
You shall no longer be called Jacob,
But Israel shall be your name.”
Thus He called him Israel.
11God also 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 forth from you. Genesis 35:9-11
In God’s plan of redemption, He chose a nation to reveal Himself. God had earlier made a promise to Abraham that he would be a father or many nations. Abraham had Isaac and Isaac had Jacob. In this passage of scripture God changes Jacob’s name to Israel. It is the nation of Israel that God uses to reveal Himself to the world. Israel received God’s love and mercy and was a demonstration of His glory to other nations.
It was Israel who was given the law and given specific instructions in how to atone for sin and to not associate themselves with the pagan world. Unfortunately, Israel continually fell into sin and the animal sacrifices were never enough to atone for Israel’s sin. God constantly gave Israel chances to redeem herself but always fell back into disobedience. So God promised a Messiah who would come and redeem Israel of her sin and save her. Not only was this promise made to Israel but to the entire world. There was no sufficient person on earth that could atone for the world’s sin and return man back to God. It was prophesied that a messiah would come and deliver Israel from her enemies and save the entire world. God’s purpose was that sin would be atoned for and man would be reconciled to God. God chose Israel as the nation that would birth the messiah.
Reflections 
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