Search
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with Joseph as the last four main persons in Genesis constitute a complete type portraying the different stages and aspects of the experiences of a complete person chosen, called, redeemed, and transformed by the Triune God.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with Joseph are a complete unit in the experience of life. We should not consider them as separate individuals, but as different aspects of one complete spiritually mature person’s complete experience of God. Hence, although the Triune God is one God, He became the God of three persons—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Exo. 3:15). The Triune God in three aspects is for the complete experience in three sections of a person who is mature in life.
In Jacob we clearly see God’s selection (Gen. 25:21-26). Romans 9:10-13, referring to Jacob and Esau, says, “Rebecca ... having conceived by one, Isaac our father, though the children had not yet been born nor had done anything good or bad (that the purpose of God according to selection might remain, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, ‘The greater shall serve the less’; as it is written, ‘Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.’” Jacob was chosen before his birth. It was not of his own works, nor was it the issue of his own struggle and strife, but of God who calls. God’s selection altogether depends on His pleasure and mercy (Rom. 9:15-16).
In like manner, we believers were chosen by God the Father before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). God the Father’s choosing is His selection. He exercised His divine foreknowledge (1 Pet. 1:2) and chose us out of numberless people, not because of our works but absolutely because of His mercy.
God the Father called us according to His selection. Calling is the beginning of God’s work of recovery, and its starting point was Abraham. When the man whom God created for Himself fell and forsook God, God came in to call man that He might have a new beginning with fallen man. He called and transferred man from the created Adamic race to the called Abrahamic race, from the life of the old creation to the life of the new creation, for the fulfilling of His eternal purpose in the creation of man.
Abraham was called twice. The first time was in Ur of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia. The God of glory appeared to him there, telling him to come out from his land and his relatives and go into the land which God would show him (Acts 7:2-4). The second time was in Haran, where God called him again to leave not only his land and kindred but also his father’s house, and from where God removed him into the good land of Canaan. Moreover, God promised to make him a great nation and a blessing to all the families of the earth (Gen. 12:1-3).
We, the believers in Christ, have also been called by God the Father (1 Thes. 2:12; 2 Tim. 1:9). In eternity past God the Father chose us, and then in time He called us according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28) and grace (2 Tim. 1:9-10) through His own glory and virtue (2 Pet. 1:3) that we might be regenerated and saved to have a new beginning and to partake of His glory. As the God of glory, He cannot be defeated and He does not give up. No matter what our condition is in the way that we follow Him, His calling is irrevocable (Rom. 11:29) and it has such a great hope (Eph. 1:18).
Following the calling of God the Father is the redemption of Christ the Son. This is because the man whom God created became fallen and forsook God before he was called. Therefore, after God the Father’s calling of man, God the Son’s redemption is needed to bring man back to God. This is seen in Isaac. In testing Abraham, God charged him to offer Isaac, his only son whom he loved, for a burnt offering (Gen. 22:1-2). By faith Abraham obeyed God and brought Isaac to the place of which God had told him and built an altar there. As he was preparing to offer up Isaac, he experienced God’s provision of a ram as a replacement of his son Isaac (22:9-13). The ram which was killed instead of Isaac is a type of Christ. Just as the ram was killed and sacrificed instead of Isaac, so Christ, the Lamb of God, became our Substitute (1 Pet. 3:18) through His crucifixion on the cross for our redemption. In Genesis 22:8 Abraham prophesied that God would provide Himself the lamb for a burnt offering. Christ was foreordained, prepared, by God to be the redeeming Lamb for His elect according to His foreknowledge before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:19-20; John 1:29). This was done according to God’s eternal purpose and plan; it did not happen accidentally. Hence, in God’s eternal view, Christ was slain and became the redemption to God’s people from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8), that is, from the fall of man.
Isaac, who was born of grace and redeemed by God, became the unique heir of Abraham’s possessions (Gen. 21:9-12; Gal. 4:30). He was born according to God’s promise by God’s visitation; hence, he was the proper, legal heir to inherit his father’s possessions. All that his father had was his. It was absolutely and unconditionally by grace, not by his effort, that he became the heir of his father’s riches. The record of Isaac’s life shows that his life was a life of rest and enjoyment. Throughout his entire life he never suffered thirst, for wherever he went there was a well for his enjoyment (25:11; 26:18-33). He secured a choice bride without doing anything (24:61-67). He prayed to God and gained twin sons (25:20-26). Moreover, he was blessed by God in receiving a hundredfold harvest and becoming great (26:12-14). Isaac inherited not only all that his father had but also the promise which God had given to his father concerning the good land and the unique seed, which is Christ, in whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed (26:3-5).
We, the New Testament believers, are children born according to promise. Like Isaac, we are born not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, as heirs of God (Rom. 8:17), having the full right to participate in God’s promised blessing (Gal. 4:28-30), that is, to enjoy the all-inclusive Spirit (Gal. 3:14) with all the riches of Christ. We simply need to be the same as Isaac, destined to be a person of rest and enjoyment, always living under the provision of God’s grace and enjoying all the promised blessings of God the Father.
The work carried out by the Triune God in us may be divided into three stages: first, God the Father’s choosing and calling us; next, God the Son’s redeeming us and making us heirs; and finally, God the Spirit’s transforming us and making us kings of God. We were chosen and called by God the Father; we were also redeemed and made heirs by God the Son; and now we are in the process of being transformed by God the Spirit that we may become kings of God. This experience is seen in Jacob with Joseph. Jacob stands for the transformed life, and Joseph represents the reigning aspect of the transformed life.
Our proper and complete experience of the Triune God is from our being chosen by God to our becoming kings of God, both of which are clearly seen in Jacob. Jacob was born a supplanter. When he was in his mother’s womb, he fought with Esau over who would be great, and he held on to Esau’s heel, not wanting to let Esau come out first. From the beginning he was such a person, one who was full of human strength and the natural life. He was also subtle and crafty, skillful in scheming, and capable in exercising his mind. He subtly acquired the birthright from his brother and, by cheating, obtained his father’s blessing. Later, he was forced to leave his loving mother and his father’s house. From then on, God’s disciplining and dealing hand was always on him (Gen. 25:22—32:32). Under God’s sovereignty Jacob arrived at his uncle Laban’s home, and under Laban’s squeezing hand he served Laban for twenty years, during which time his wages were changed ten times and he went through all kinds of sufferings (31:38-41). The envy, competition, and wrestling between his two wives, Leah and Rachel, in bearing children (29:31—30:24) also put him in a predicament. All these grindings in the environment were used by God to deal with Jacob from all sides in order to transform him.
Genesis 32:22-32 relates a crucial experience in the life of Jacob, God’s chosen one. While Jacob remained alone at the ford of Jabbok, God came in the form of a man to wrestle with him in order to expose his natural life. Moreover, God touched the hollow of his thigh and made him crippled. God changed his name to Israel, indicating that, having been dealt with directly by God, his life was broken and was no longer whole but was genuinely transformed.
After we have been regenerated and saved, God the Spirit enters into us to be our life and to carry out a transforming work in us. Through the working together of all things (Rom. 8:28), the direct dealings of God, and the dispensing of the divine element by the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18), we are being transformed metabolically until we are conformed to the image of God’s Son (Rom. 8:29).
Eventually, under God’s leading and shepherding for his whole life, Jacob, who had been a supplanter, became Israel (meaning “the prince of God”—Gen. 32:28), a matured prince of God. When he went down to Egypt and met Pharaoh, he blessed him (47:7, 10). As Jacob was dying, he leaned on the top of his staff and worshipped the God whom he had experienced in a full way in a life of sojourning. Furthermore, he prophesied concerning his twelve sons and blessed them (ch. 49). God honored this matter and certainly fulfilled the blessings pronounced by Jacob. This indicates that Jacob’s life had reached maturity so that he could reign for God and bring blessings to his sons and to the whole earth.
The three sections of the experiences of one complete person mature in spiritual life, signified by the three persons—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—eventually produce the mature Israel. Joseph represents the reigning aspect of the mature Israel. This is proved by the fact that the biography of Joseph in the last fourteen chapters of Genesis was considered a part of the record of Jacob (37:2a).
From his youth Joseph was loved by Jacob, his father, even more than his brothers. Although he ministered to his brothers according to his father’s will, he was hated and harassed by his brothers. He was rejected by them and sold and brought down to Egypt. Eventually, he was put into prison and suffered all kinds of trials. However, God was with him, showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison; whatever he did, God caused it to prosper. By interpreting the cupbearer’s dream and Pharaoh’s dreams, he was released from the prison of death and given authority over the whole country and thus became the actual ruler over Egypt. This typifies that all those who are mature in life will reign for God to rule over the whole earth (Rev. 2:26). At His coming back Christ will establish the millennial kingdom on the earth, in which all those who have been perfected and have matured in life throughout the generations will be co-kings of Christ (Rev. 20:6) to rule over the nations on the earth.
By the wisdom and authority given by God, Joseph reigned in the maturity of life. He not only ruled over the whole land of Egypt but also blessed the whole earth by ministering food to people for their existence. Genesis 41:56-57 says, “And when the famine was over all the face of the earth, Joseph opened all the storehouses....And all the earth came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain.” This signifies that all those who have been chosen, called, redeemed, and transformed by the Triune God and have thus become mature will reign for God with the rich life supply of Christ to satisfy people’s need.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with Joseph constitute a complete type portraying the different stages and aspects of the complete experiences of a person chosen, called, redeemed, and transformed by the Triune God. God the Father’s selection is seen in Jacob: Jacob was chosen before his birth; it was not of his own works but of God who calls. This signifies that we believers were chosen by God the Father before the foundation of the world, not because of our works but absolutely because of His mercy. God the Father’s calling is seen in Abraham: Abraham’s being called was God’s new beginning among men; it was also a transfer of race and a transfer of life. This signifies that we, the believers in Christ, have been called by God the Father according to His purpose and grace that we might be regenerated and saved to have a new beginning and to partake of His glory. God the Son’s redemption and His making us heirs are seen in Isaac: When Abraham was preparing to offer up Isaac, God provided a ram to be killed to replace Isaac. This signifies that Christ became our Substitute through His crucifixion on the cross for our redemption. Isaac was born according to God’s promise by God’s visitation and thus became an heir to inherit all that his father had and the promise which God had given to his father concerning the good land and the unique seed. This signifies that we, the New Testament believers, are children born according to promise to be heirs of God participating in God’s promised blessing, that is, enjoying the all-inclusive Spirit with all the riches of Christ. God the Spirit’s transformation is seen in Jacob: Jacob was born a supplanter, full of human strength and the natural life. He was broken and experienced genuine transformation after going through God’s grindings in the environment and God’s direct dealings. This signifies that after we believers have been regenerated and saved, God the Spirit enters into us to be our life and to carry out a transforming work in us. Through the working together of all things, the direct dealings of God, and the dispensing of the divine elements by the Spirit, we are being transformed metabolically until we are conformed to the image of God’s Son. Finally, Jacob’s life reached maturity and, through Joseph, he reigned over the whole land of Egypt and blessed the whole earth. This signifies that at the time of Christ’s coming back, all those who are mature in life will be co-kings of Christ in the millennial kingdom to rule over the nations on the earth and will reign for God with the rich life supply of Christ to satisfy people’s need.
