Naming the Creatures.

[WRideout]

In the 1700’s Swedish physician and amateur botanist Carolus Linnaeus, son of a Lutheran pastor, devised a naming scheme for all living things that remains in use today. In his binomial method, everything that lives can be described by genus, and species. By this method, the white tailed deer receives the scientific name Odocoileus Virginianus. Humans receive the name Homo Sapiens. The Linnaean method of naming living creatures remains in use today, and is important to scientific study because it allows all scientists to use the same name for the same creature. The Linnaean method in its present form uses the evolutionary lineage of the creature to derive its scientific name. When God gave Jacob the name Israel, it showed God’s authority over him. The Hebrew meaning of that name can be translated, “He who prevails with God.”
So how do we derive the name of the person who existed before all things? The person who has no evolutionary line, whose very name conveys power and authority? Orthodox Jews to this day do not write or speak the name of God, because to do so would be blasphemous. Jacob was wrestling with the One whose name is so holy and powerful that it cannot be spoken out loud.

Jesus tells us in the parable of the persistent widow that he expects us to struggle with God. He is not proposing some namby-pamby religion where we remain helpless children; recipients of God’s gifts, unable to take action on our own. Jesus Christ wants us to wrestle with God. To take up with him our doubts, fears, and questions. He wants us to be engaged. This is far different than the religion of the time that required the leaders of the Pharisees to puzzle out the correct answers to life’s problems, and codify them in the Torah, and other writings. If you wanted an answer to any particular problem, you just looked it up in the book; kind of like using the National Electrical Code to solve a wiring problem. And certainly you can get an answer that is technically and theologically correct, but still have no heart, no soul. God is not interested in passive Christians who follow a rote set of rules, but rather those who grapple with Him.
Almighty God is faithful to his promises. He promised Abraham that he would be the father of nations. He promised Abraham’s son Jacob that his descendants would spread across the earth. And ultimately, Jacob did father twelve sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Napthali, Gad, and Asher. You might remember those names also as the twelve tribes of Israel.
Out of these tribes came Jesse, father of David, king of Israel, and whose descendants included a Hebrew baby who was given the name Jesus. And so Israel did bring light to the nations. From the root of Jesse came the Messiah, the one who would save the people from their sins. The blessing that Jacob sought, and the promise that God made, have been handed down from generation to generation.
We who are present-day Christians need to struggle with God. It is not enough to follow a script; we need to really know God. We need to wrestle with God over the big decisions we make. We need to tell him our true feelings. I have read that there is a Jewish expression called quarreling with God. Don’t be afraid to have that kind of relationship with Him. Throughout the Bible we read of prophets, kings and priests who were called against their wishes, but who simply brought their concerns to God, much as you would approach a friend with whom you had a conflict. And when you bring your concerns to God, present your case, and grapple with him, don’t forget to ask him to bless you. For God will bless his children, and his promises are everlasting

[Bzcraig]

Really good stuff! Some would​ think that grappling with God is a rebellious attitude but in the context you have provided it is a point well made.

[Blackwater]

Thank you, WR, for a great post! So many, many of our ranks DO indeed "follow the script," as you say. This prevents their truly being edified by good discussion and study of the Word. Many, many seem to have succumbed to the alure of PC theology, and too many declare it to be "the word of God," when in fact, Christ NEVER promised us a "rose garden" here. He told up up front that we'd suffer for our beliefs, and if we don't suffer for them, then .... well, isn't that an indication that we're not following Him properly?

I struggled for many, many years, seeking answers to questions I had. Many times when still very young. All I got was pre-packaged answers, and evasions. Not real, direct, authoritative answers. This was VERY disappointing to me, and I guess is at least a part of the reason I HAD to set out on my own to seek the real answers to my questions. But as promised, diligence will always be rewarded by Him. It may not come on OUR time schedule preference, but it WILL come, with certainty, unless we falter and abandon the search. I just couldn't do that. My thirst was too great, and my determination was based on my conviction that there HAD to be really good answers to my questions. Only those who question will ever find the real answers. That's rather simplistically obvious, isn't it? And "seek and ye shall find" was NOT an idle recommendation, but a PROMISE! But we have to seek, in order to find, and many busy themselves with everything BUT really seeking good answers to the questions that haunt us all. So .... quite naturally, those who quit seeking, can't find any more than what they already have. To make it worse, with all the forces in this world working against us, we cannot "hold our position" without constantly seeking more. Our knowledge, concern and status as believers will ALWAYS wane if we don't continually question and test and prove our Faith. That's just how it all works, and it's not exactly a secret, nor is it difficult to understand. But many resent this kind of Truth because it makes them feel "uncomfortable." Good! If we're comfortable, that's usually a sign that we've quit really doing God's will, and sat down by the wayside and serving our OWN way and sentiments! And in that case, we NEED to get back "in the game," and make some headway, however difficult that may be.

But in fighting the good fight, there is satisfaction unlike any other satisfaction we can know. And a greater reward than any amount of serving our own wills COULD ever bring us. The world would be a very different place today, if only we Christains did what Christ charged us to do. We all too often, simply don't do that, and sit by the wayside serving our own wills. God help us come to our senses! We need a great leader in our ranks who can and will speak the words to call us to arms once again, and get us out of our easy chairs, and back in the fold again, doing His will. What a world we'd have if just WE Christians did that!

[WRideout]

In my day job as a drug and alcohol counselor, I teach a lot about family systems. One of the principles is that families have to have disagreements, and teenagers have to buck their parent's authority, to find out where their boundaries are. Grownups do that too, sometimes.

Wayne