Theologians don't understand the name of 'Israel'. It is the name given by God to Jacob. <ref>[[Ge 32:28]]  And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.</ref> He had many children who were brought into Egypt by Joseph when he was King of kings <ref>[[Ge 47:28]]</ref>, grown into a nation called 'Israel', and separated from Egypt at the Exodus.  

 

This causes confusion. When you read scripture, does it mean the man or the nation? It is more confusing than that. Some say the church replaced Israel and is the new Israel.   

 

'Israel' [[ישראל]] means 'man [[יש]] joined to God [[אל]] by revelation [[ר]]. It always means this. It applies to Jacob, because God changed him through revelation in his dreams and his encounter wrestling with God in a ditch. It applies to the nation because God changed them through the revelation of the cloud and fire, the laws and judgements in the wilderness, and other such revelations.  

 

It also applies to the children of Abraham. The nation of Israel are descendants of Abraham, but he had other children. They are called 'dust' <ref>[[Ge 13:16]]  And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, [then] shall thy seed also be numbered.</ref>, 'sand by the sea', and 'stars' <ref>[[Ge 22:17]]  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which [is] upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;</ref>.  

 

His children called 'dust' are those without the word of God (symbolized by water). The ones called 'sand by the sea' are washed by the word. The ones called stars are those who Jesus called the 'light of the world' <ref>[[Mt 5:14]]  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.</ref>, which are the lights in the firmament of Ge 1. <ref>[[Ge 1:14]]  And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: [{the day … : Heb. between the day and between the night }]</ref>  The church does not replace the nation of Israel, Israel was never the man or the nation. Those are just symbols of those who are changed by the revelation of God.

 

God's name, Elohim [[אלהים]], said that God was separated from men by ignorance. He fixes that problem by revelation. Israel, [[ישראל]].