The early history of the Hebrew race shows it to have been spiritually receptive to the truth about God as the Father of man. Abraham glimpsed the Christ, Truth, and a close study of his life, as recorded in the Scriptures, shows the unfolding in his thought of a progressive understanding of God. The life of Jacob shows the transformation of character which takes place when a material sense of existence gives way to the spiritual. His struggle with material sense and his overcoming, as recorded in the thirty-second chapter of Genesis, resulted in his being renamed, or, as we might say, "renatured." Jacob's experience is of great significance to all mortals, for it shows the necessity of the change of consciousness and evidence which comes as true existence in all its perfection and harmony begins to be realized.
On page 309 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy refers to the result of Jacob's struggle as follows: "He [Jacob] had conquered material error with the understanding of Spirit and of spiritual power. This changed the man. He was no longer called Jacob, but Israel,—a prince of God, or a soldier of God, who had fought a good fight. He was to become the father of those, who through earnest striving followed his demonstration of the power of Spirit over the material senses; and the children of earth who followed his example were to be called the children of Israel, until the Messiah should rename them."
Moses glimpsed the Christ, and taught his people to worship and obey the one true God, Spirit. The human thought of his time was able to apprehend through the ideal he presented some sense of the fatherhood and righteousness of God. The majority of his followers, however, misconceived his vision, and so the ideal of spiritual being was lost sight of in the rites and ceremonies of the Judaic religion.
