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According to the experience of a called one, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are three individuals but one corporate person. Therefore, even though the section on Isaac’s experience reaches a climax, a called one does not reach maturity in Isaac’s experience.
The Holy Spirit inserted some ambiguous and vague matters at the end of the lives of Abraham and Isaac. For example, in Genesis 24 Abraham can be considered matured, for he had reached an apex in his experience. However, in chapter 25 the Holy Spirit writes that Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah and who bore him some children (vv. 1-2). We dare not say that these children were Ishmaels, but nonetheless they were not Isaacs. Their later condition is not so clear (v. 6). Such matters indicate that even though Abraham’s experience reached a peak, this peak is not the climax of the experience of the called ones.
Most Christians rank Abraham’s experience highly. In their consideration Abraham’s experience was the highest, Isaac’s was a little lower, and Jacob’s was even lower. As a young boy, when I read the story of Abraham in the Bible, I felt that he was high and noble and that I could not reach his experience. I also considered Jacob to be low and Isaac to be in the middle, neither good nor bad. We need to change our concept. Abraham’s experience was merely the beginning, Isaac’s experience went up a step higher, and Jacob’s experience was at the peak.
When Abraham was old, he did not stretch forth his hands to bless his sons. A person’s ability to stretch forth his hands to bless people before God indicates that his life is rather mature. A new believer cannot stretch forth his hands to bless people. Many people believe in the Lord, but not many can stretch forth their hands to bless others. It is easy to pray for people in an ordinary way before God, but it is not easy to stretch forth one’s hands to bless people, because blessing people requires a certain degree of life. Believers usually think that Abraham was high and noble, but they have not seen that Abraham did not have enough life to bless people. Abraham was an exalted father, but he did not stretch forth his hands to bless his children or his grandchildren. Instead, he received Melchizedek’s blessing (14:18-20). Abraham could receive blessings but not bestow blessings, because he typifies the initial experience of a called one.
Isaac was able to stretch forth his hands to bless others. When he was young, he could not bless people, because blessing people requires a certain degree of life. In his old age he was able to bless people, but he did it in a mixed-up way. He first had to eat a tasty meal before he could bless people (27:3-4). This means that he mixed the things of God with the things of man and the spiritual with the fleshly. His prayer was very spiritual, but his eating the tasty meal was fleshly. His condition was neither of heaven nor of earth, for it is unclear and vague. The Bible says that Isaac’s “eyes had become so dim that he could not see” (v. 1). Since Isaac could only feel blindly, he was deceived by Jacob (vv. 21-25). While Isaac was touching Jacob, he said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are Esau’s hands” (v. 22). Isaac could not recognize Jacob (v. 23). Nevertheless, he was able to bless, because his life was higher than Abraham’s life. However, in comparison to Jacob in his later years, Isaac was somewhat short.
When Jacob in his later years went to Egypt, it seemed that he could do nothing but bless people. He blessed whoever was brought before him (47:7; 48:9; 49:1-28), and his blessing was not vague. Joseph thought that Jacob was making a mistake when he laid his right hand upon Ephraim’s head. Joseph tried to remove Jacob’s hand and said, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand upon his head” (48:18). But Jacob refused and said, “I know, my son, I know” (v. 19). Jacob was very clear within when he was bestowing blessings on others.
Isaac’s blessing of others was different from Jacob’s blessing of others. One person blessed blindly, and the other blessed clearly. Isaac had to eat a tasty meal before blessing people, but Jacob simply blessed people. To bless people requires a degree of life. Being able to bless people in a clear way indicates that the one who bestows the blessing is quite mature before God. Abraham could only receive others’ blessings, Isaac could bless people but in a confused and blind way, but Jacob’s blessings were proper and clear. This proves that the experiences of each person progressed higher, not lower, than the preceding person. Therefore, Jacob’s experience is the highest experience.
We have said that Abraham’s experience is the initial experience of a called one. He received God’s appearing and was called by God, he was justified and accepted by God, and he enjoyed God’s care and received God’s blessing. These are the initial experiences of a Christian. Afterward, Abraham went further and learned the lesson of living by faith. He also learned how to obey God’s will by relying on God’s grace instead of using his own ability and ways. Abraham learned to place everything on the altar. He had an altar at the beginning of his experience, and he still had an altar when he offered up Isaac (12:7; 22:9). In addition, he learned the lesson of being led by God.
Some people say that Abraham’s experience was very high because he brought his only son to Mount Moriah, bound him, laid him on the altar, and took a knife to slaughter him (vv. 9-10). They say that no one can pay as great a price as Abraham paid and that no one’s experience can be higher than his. Whoever says this does not have sufficient knowledge of spiritual experiences. If we understand spiritual experiences, we will know that even if one’s consecration reaches a high peak, it is not the highest experience of spirituality. The condition of Abraham’s consecration was quite high, but his consecration was merely in the first section of a Christian’s experience. It is the “elementary school” of Christian experience.
We can compare ourselves to Abraham. He was called, and we also are called. He was justified, and we are justified. He had God’s blessing, and we have God’s blessing. He learned the lesson of faith, and we have learned the lesson of faith. He knew grace, and we know grace. He lived in fellowship with God, and we live in fellowship with God. He offered up everything to God and for God, and we have learned this lesson, because everything we have is for God. Although we may not have learned these lessons as well as Abraham did, there is a difference only in degree between his experience and ours. Nevertheless, these lessons are still like elementary school. His “grades” may be higher than ours, but they are still grades related to elementary school. Therefore, we should not regard Abraham’s experience too highly, for it was an elementary experience.
Let us consider the Christian experience according to the book of Romans. The apostle Paul’s writing begins with a sinner and then progresses step by step to the believer arriving at maturity. Paul says that the first section of the Christian experience is justification unto salvation. In this section of experience he uses Abraham as the example of the experience of justification (4:1-25). This shows that Abraham’s experience was not that high.
After Abraham learned grace, Isaac came forth. A Christian is no longer the same when Isaac comes forth in him. The believer’s eyes are opened to see that he receives everything in the Son of God and that he does not need to struggle, because everything has been given to him by God in His Son. Because Isaac was a son, he inherited everything. Isaac experienced the Son of God, Christ. Every experience that a Christian can have was accomplished by Christ, is obtained in Christ, and is inherited in Christ. Because we are already in Christ, we have everything of God. We have inherited and obtained everything. A Christian can arrive at this in his normal experience. Many saints have already arrived at this condition. They are calmly and securely resting in Christ and are always able to thank and praise the Lord because they have entered into Isaac’s experience.
Nonetheless, a person who has arrived at the stage of Isaac’s experience is still not matured, because he has not yet been touched by God. Although he has experienced circumcision from the section of Abraham’s experience, in which he was cut by God, his person remains intact, unchanged. He has been called and justified and has learned the lesson of faith, but his person has not yet been touched. His person is not broken and has not been constituted by the Holy Spirit. Outwardly, this believer has experienced God, God’s hand, and God’s being the Almighty, but inwardly he does not have much of the element of God.
Two special names of God are revealed in Abraham’s experience. The first name is El Shaddai, that is, the All-sufficient God (Gen. 17:1). This means that the God whom Abraham knew was a rich and all-sufficient God. The second name is Jehovah-jireh, which means “Jehovah will provide” (22:14). These names reveal the extent of Abraham’s experience of God. Abraham’s experience was mainly outward. He knew God as the all-sufficient One, who could bear the responsibility of his life, and as Jehovah-jireh, the God who would provide. It seems that he did not know the God who touches our inward being, because his person was not broken or dealt with. He did not have much of God’s element in him, because he did not experience many ordeals.
This also applies to the first section of our experience in following the Lord. Most believers know that God has saved them and that He bears all their responsibilities. They often have experiences that enable them to testify for the Lord. For example, a brother may say, “I was in a difficult situation, but God saved me,” or “I was in poverty, but God supplied me.” A believer can give many such testimonies, but his being may still be intact. His temper may still be present, his flesh may still be strong, and he may still be very natural.
A good number of saints may still be in the section of Abraham’s experience. On one hand, they testify how God has been gracious to them, has answered their prayers, and has led them through problems. On the other hand, they lose their temper and live in their flesh. They sometimes lie immediately after fellowshipping with God, just as Abraham did (18:1-33; 20:2). I met such a brother in the northern part of mainland China. He was very zealous while speaking to people about spiritual things. Those who listened to his testimony of how he received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and of how quickly God answered his prayers were overjoyed. However, not long after speaking, he lied to me. At that time I could not understand how such a spiritual person could lie. Today, however, I understand that this was the same experience that Abraham had. Although he knew God, his knowledge was objective, not subjective. He knew God as El Shaddai, the All-sufficient God, and he knew God as Jehovah-jireh, the God who provides, but his being had not been broken by God.
In the past I considered how someone like Isaac could bless people. It seems that he had to eat a tasty meal before he would bless people (27:3-4). He seemed to be addicted to tasty meals; he could bless people only after his addiction had been satisfied. This may be likened to a basketball player who has to eat ice cream before he can play ball or to a poet who has to have a large glass of wine before he can write a poem. This is ridiculous. However, we are often such an Isaac with a fondness for tasty meals. Sometimes we are not happy and do not want to speak, but a person who knows our psychology and understands our preferences and temperament often can open up our being with two or three sentences. A sister who is praying on her way to the meeting may meet a responsible brother when she enters the meeting hall. If the brother says a few sentences that make her unhappy, she will not open her mouth in the meeting. If the responsible brother says a few words that please her, she may pray excitedly in the meeting. Isaac’s blessing his sons was similar to this. He gave all the blessings to Jacob and left nothing for Esau (vv. 27-37). As Isaacs, we often behave in the same way. When we are unhappy, we keep quiet so that the meeting is weighed down. However, after a tasty meal we become very happy and pray without stopping.
When we notice someone praying nonstop in the meeting, we often realize that he probably had a tasty meal. If he does not say one word in the meeting, he did not eat a tasty meal. We know that a saint who is unhappy and silent did not eat a tasty meal. This was Isaac’s condition. Therefore, although Isaac knew grace, there was no change in his being. A believer in the stage of Isaac’s experience knows that everything in Christ is his portion and that everything is his, but his person remains intact.
Some saints should have had a change in their person, but they remain intact. For example, a brother may consecrate himself to the Lord, forsake the world, and desire to live solely for God. This brother may also be learning the lesson of living by faith, or he may know that all that is in Christ is his. However, his person remains unchanged, and he is not broken. There is no scar or crack in him; hence, he has not changed.
When God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, he was no longer the same person as before. Formerly, he could grab, snatch, supplant, and flee, but as Israel, he was crippled (32:27-31). When Jacob fled from his elder brother and went to Paddan-aram (28:5), he walked with vigor. However, when he went down to Egypt in his later years, he was carried. He was a different person. Not only did he know God’s care outwardly and believe in God’s leading, but he also had been touched by God’s hand. His body had the scars of being crippled; these were cracks. Because he had been dealt with by God, he was no longer Jacob but Israel.
Hence, it was not until after Isaac that the Holy Spirit prepared Jacob. Just as the Holy Spirit prepared Isaac after Abraham, so He prepared Jacob after Isaac. Jacob was prepared after Isaac, because in his later years Isaac’s experience was not thorough. In his old age Isaac’s person remained unchanged. A person may love the Lord and experience grace. He may also rely on the Lord and experience the Lord’s leading. However, his person is not broken. He is still the same person. As a result, he still needs Jacob’s experience.
What is Jacob’s experience? Jacob’s experience is not a separate experience. Jacob’s experience must be combined with the experiences of Abraham and Isaac in order to form a complete experience. Abraham experienced God as the Father, signifying that everything is initiated by God. Isaac experienced God as the Son, signifying that everything is inherited. Jacob experienced God as the Spirit, signifying the work of the Holy Spirit. Hence, Jacob’s experience refers to a Christian’s experience of the indwelling Spirit. Not only should we know objectively everything that is in Christ; we should also subjectively experience the Spirit of life. The Spirit has entered into us and is upon us. He is also in our circumstances and afflictions, ruling over us, disciplining us, dealing with us, and breaking us. This was Jacob’s experience.
