Friday, 14 August 2009 01:00 | and posted in Unexpected Encounters
After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechemi in Canaan and camped within sight of the city... There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel. Genesis 33:18 & 20
Tonight, as he sets up camp, Jacob expects to find God in this random place. So he sets up an altar of worship calling it ‘El Elohe Israel’, which means "God, God of Israel."
Now, this only makes sense if you know that God, a chapter before, had given Jacob a new name of Israel.* But here, at the end of his journey, Jacob is saying that God is his God.
FOOTNOTE:
* Check out Genesis 32:28