The prophet Hosea gives us a cameo that insightfully contrasts the combative, self-reliant, competitive supplanter, Jacob, with the overcomer he became, Israel. Hosea completes the picture Moses sketches in Genesis: Jacob wept, humbly begging God's favor. Jacob's experience in Bethel, where God changed his name, as well as his earlier experience in Peniel, where God wrestled with him, were milestones on his road to conversion. God understood that Jacob was bent on prevailing, that he was an overcomer. His new name, meaning "He prevails with God," was apt indeed!
