Scripture Reading: Gen. 25:22-23; 31:38-41; 32:22-32; 34:30; 35:1, 16-21, 27
Ⅰ
Jacob was chosen before his birth; therefore, in Jacob we see God's selection—Gen. 25:22-23; Rom. 9:11:
A
Like Jacob, we were chosen before we were born, even before the foundation of the world—Eph. 1:4; 2 Thes. 2:13; John 15:16a.
B
God's selection depends not on what we are but on God's sovereign mercy—Rom. 9:11-13, 16.
C
As those who have been chosen by God, we should cast ourselves upon Him and trust that He will bring us to the point where we are pleasing to Him.
Ⅱ
Jacob's life is a life that represents God's dealings, and the God of Jacob is the God of dealings—Gen. 31:38-41:
A
Jacob's history is a picture of the discipline of the Holy Spirit—47:9; 48:15-16a; Heb. 12:9-11:
１
The discipline of the Holy Spirit refers to what the Holy Spirit is doing in our outward environment, to His arranging of all people, things, and happenings, through which we are being disciplined—Rom. 8:28.
２
Through the discipline of the Holy Spirit, God completely tears down our old creation so that the element of the new creation may be built up in us.
３
As our natural life is dealt with through the discipline of the Holy Spirit, Christ is constituted into us—Gal. 4:19; Eph. 3:17a.
B
Everything and everyone in our environment is an instrument of sovereignty used by God for our transformation—Rom. 8:28.
C
When we say, "Lord Jesus, I love You," we are actually saying, "Lord Jesus, I am one with You and I am ready for You to deal with me"— S. S. 2:16a; 4:16.
Ⅲ
Jacob's life shows us that God has to break our natural life, that He has to touch our natural life in a drastic way—Gen. 32:22-32:
A
The Lord wrestled with Jacob in order to expose to Jacob how natural he was and how great his natural strength was—v. 24.
B
After Jacob was broken by God, outwardly he was the same as before, but inwardly his natural life had been dealt with—33:1-4:
１
It was not the outward living that was touched by the Lord; it was the inward, natural strength that was touched by Him—32:32b.
２
When the Lord touches us at a certain crucial spot, we are lame and can no longer be the same in our inward being; from then on, we limp and are no longer whole—v. 25.
C
After Jacob was broken, "the sun rose upon him," and "he limped because of his hip"; this indicates that anyone in the Lord's recovery who has light must be a crippled one—v. 31.
Ⅳ
Jacob, a man under God's transforming hand, represents a life of transformation—Gen. 32:28; 35:10, 16-21, 27:
A
The trouble Simeon and Levi caused Jacob touched him in the depths of his being, and he began to be transformed—34:30; 49:5-6:
１
After the events recorded in Genesis 34, Jacob could heed God's word about going up to Bethel—35:1.
２
Without being in a difficult environment, we are often unable to listen to the word of God; therefore, before He speaks to us, He waits for certain things to happen to us.
B
The birth of Benjamin and the death of Rachel occurred simultaneously; this means that Jacob gained a son by losing Rachel—vv. 16-20:
１
Jacob gained Christ (typified by Benjamin) through the loss of his natural choice (signified by Rachel)—v. 18; 29:9-11, 16-20.
２
Eventually, we will be confronted with a choice—to keep Rachel (our natural choice) or to gain Benjamin (the expression of Christ):
ａ
God's ultimate goal is the expression of Christ, and the expression of Christ is not an individual matter but a corporate matter in the house of God—John 17:22; Eph. 3:21; Rom. 9:23.
ｂ
The bringing forth of Christ for the corporate expression of Christ will cost us our natural choice, our natural desire, and our natural life.
C
After experiencing deeper and more personal dealings, Jacob entered into full fellowship with the Lord at Hebron; the fellowship at Hebron means intimacy, peace, satisfaction, and joy—Gen. 35:27:
１
Although we are in the church life, we still need to journey on, passing through deeper and more personal dealings until we come to Hebron and enter into full fellowship with the Lord—1 John 1:3, 6; 1 Cor. 1:9.
２
The fellowship at Hebron is not only fellowship with God but also with other members of the Body of Christ—Phil. 2:1; 1 John 1:7:
ａ
At Hebron Jacob realized that he could do nothing on his own and that everything had to be done in fellowship—Acts 2:42; Phil. 1:5, 19.
ｂ
If our flesh has been dealt with, we will know the life of the Body of Christ, we will see the importance of fellowship, and we will realize that apart from the fellowship of the Body, we cannot live—1 Cor. 12:14-27.