In his benediction to the Galatian churches, Paul employs the unique phrase – the “Israel of God.” This expression in Galatians 6:16 has proven to be difficult for interpreters because the grammar around the phrase allows for it to be understood in several, defensible ways, ranging from a reference to (1) the church as the “New Israel” to (2) Jewish Christians among the Galatian churches. Much depends on how one assembles all of the data leading up to 6:16 and the emphases put on the particulars found in the early chapters of Galatians. In all cases, the danger is attaching a reading that puts it at odds with Paul’s earlier argument of breaking down the division between Jew and Gentile. This paper raises a question about the eponymous name “Israel” from Genesis 32:22-30 and then explores the possibility of understanding the “Israel of God” in Galatians 6:16 as a rhetorical reference to both Jacob, the trickster/deceiver of Old Testament lore and to the troublemakers in Galatia who are doing what Jacob typically did in his efforts to gain his own, rightful inheritance. Jacob tried to capture by deceit what was his all along. How did God handle Jacob’s deception? Jacob’s life was spared. He went from being the “trickster” par excellence to the “Israel of God.” Thus, even the “trickster” got the inheritance. Jacob’s name was divinely changed that night when he finally received the blessing God’s way and not man’s way – this is Paul’s interpretive perspective and his whole point to the Galatians. Paul is trying to show the naïve Galatians, who are now (not coincidentally) being tricked by Jacob’s descendants (i.e. the “Israel of God”), the futility of trading in their inheritance-status for “works of Law.” Being a son-heir of Abraham only comes through dependence on God’s mercy (and subsequent Spirit), not man’s effort. Along with the paper’s attempt to connect deception and inheritance in Galatians, the suggested thesis will also need to be supported by (1) a grammatical analysis of the benediction in Gal 6:16 (2) the explanation of a Greco-Roman metaphor in 6:15 and (3) the identification of Paul’s opponents in Galatia.