GOD’S ECONOMY
SERIES THIRTEEN
GOD’S ECONOMY IN ALL THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
God’s Economy as Revealed in the Old Testament
Message Two—God’s Economy as Revealed in Genesis
Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:10, 3:9, Gen. 1:26, 32:28, 3:21, 9:3, 4:26, 5:22-24, Heb. 11:8-9
I. The Bible, composed of two testaments, the Old Testament and the New Testament, is the complete written divine revelation of God to man; the major revelation in the entire Bible is the unique divine economy of the unique Triune God—Eph. 1:10, 3:9, 1 Tim. 1:4b:
A. The centrality and universality of this divine economy is the all-inclusive and unsearchably rich Christ as the embodiment and expression of the Triune God—Col. 2:9, 1:15-19, John 1:18.
B. The goal of the divine economy is the church as the Body, the fullness, the expression, of Christ, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the union, mingling, and incorporation of the processed and consummated Triune God and His redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified tripartite people—Eph. 1:22b-23, 3:8-11.
C. The accomplishing of the divine economy is revealed in the Bible progressively in many steps, beginning with God’s creation in Gen. 1—2 and consummating with the New Jerusalem in Rev. 21—22.
D. In the Old Testament the contents of god’s economy are revealed mainly in types, figures, and shadows, whereas in the New Testament all the types, figures, and shadows are fulfilled and realized; thus, the Old Testament is a figurative portrait of God’s eternal economy, and the New Testament is the practical fulfillment—Col. 2:17, John 14:6.
II. As the first book in the Bible, Genesis gives birth to and is the origin of the divine truths in the holy Word; these seeds grow and develop in the succeeding books, especially in the New Testament, and are finally harvested in the last book, the book of Revelation—Mark 4:26, Luke 8:11:
A. The book of Genesis is a miniature of the complete revelation of the entire Bible; it begins with a man created in god’s image and ends with a man called Israel, a transformed person, a man not only outwardly in the image of God but a man in whom god has wrought Himself, making him His expression—1:26, 32:28, 48:2:
1. Apparently, chs. 1—2 of Genesis are merely a record of creation; actually, nearly every item in the record of these two chapters is a revelation of Christ, who is life to God’s people for the producing and building up of the church—John 1:1,4, 11:25, 14:6.
2. Chapters 3—50 present biographies of eight great persons:
a. These eight great persons are in two groups of four, representing two races of men: Adam, Abel, Enoch, and Noah, representing the created race, and Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, representing the called race.
b. What is recorded is not primarily the works of these men but mainly their life, their living, and their way with God; in Genesis God uses both the record of creation and the biographies of eight persons to reveal the life that fulfills His purpose.
B. Genesis is divided into three sections, each beginning with a name; The first section (1:1-2:15), beginning with the name God, concerns God’s creation; the second (3:1-11:32), beginning with the serpent, covers the serpent’s corrupting of mankind; and the third (12:1-50:26), beginning with the name Jehovah, concerns Jehovah’s calling of fallen man.
III. In the book of Genesis Christ is the following items—1:26-27, 2:9, 3:15, 12:2-3, 7:
A. Christ is the image of God—1:26-27, Col. 1:15, 2 Cor. 4:4.
B. Christ is our inward life, signified by the tree of life—Gen. 2:9, John 14:6, 10:10, 1 Cor. 15:45b, Col. 3:4, Rom. 8:6, John 6:57, 2 Cor. 3:6.
C. Christ as the seed of the woman refers to the incarnated Christ, the complete God becoming a perfect man through the dispensing of Himself into humanity in order to destroy Satan and to save the believers in Christ from sin and death—Gen. 3:15, Isa. 7:14, Matt. 1:16, 20-21, 23, Gal. 4:4, John 1:1, 14, 8:24, 28, 58, Heb. 2:14, 1 Cor. 15:53-57
D. Christ as the seed of Abraham is for the blessing to all the families of the earth; the unique seed of Abraham as the last Adam became the life-giving Spirit—Gen. 12:2-3, 7, 17:7-8, Gal. 3:14, 16, 29, 1 Cor. 15:45b, John 12:24
IV. In the book of Genesis the constituents of the church are typified by Adam, Abel, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with Joseph—3:21, 1:29, 4:26, 5:22, 6:8, 12:1-3, 24:36, 28:10-22:
A. “Jehovah God made coats of skin for Adam and for his wife and clothed them” —3:21:
1. The coats of skin were probably the skins of lambs sacrificed as substitutes for the sinful Adam and Eve, with the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins; the killing of the lambs by God foreshadowed the substitutionary death of Christ as the Lamb of God, with the shedding of His precious blood for the accomplishing of redemption, based on which God justifies the believing sinners—John 1:29, Rev. 13:8b, 1 Pet. 1:18-20, 3:18a, Eph. 1:7.
2. God’s clothing Adam and his wife with the coats of skins means that God justified them through their faith; the coats are a type of Christ as God’s righteousness to cover us so that we might be justified by God—Ezek. 18:4, 20, Rom. 6:23, Jer. 23:6, 1 Co. 1:30.
B. Abel was an overcoming martyr who cared only for God’s purpose, not for his own existence—Gen. 1:29, 9:3, 4:1-2, Heb. 10:5-10:
1. Abel not only knew God but also took God’s way of worshipping God according to God’s divine revelation, not according to his concept; Abel’s faith came from hearing the word of the gospel from his parents; therefore, what Abel did came out of revelation—11:4, Rom. 10:14, 17.
2. According to God’s foreordained redemption, Abel offered to God the firstlings of his flock, with the shedding of blood for his redemption, the burning of the fat for God’s satisfaction, and the covering of the coats of skin for him to be justified by God—Gen. 4:4, Heb. 9:22, 11:4.
C. In human history Enosh was the landmark of one who called upon the name of Jehovah—Gen. 4:26, 1 Cor. 1:2:
1. The name Enosh means “frail, mortal man”; Enosh realized that he was weak, frail, and mortal, so he had no trust in himself; if we realize both the vanity of human life and the frailty of man, we will have no trust in ourselves—Eccl. 1:2, 2:14, 17, 2 Cor. 1:9, Phil. 3:3.
2. The Hebrew word for call means to “call out to,” to “cry unto,” that is, to cry out audibly; because men realized that their life was vanity and that they were frail and mortal, they spontaneously began to call upon the name of Jehovah, the eternal One—Gen. 4:26 note 2.
3. Although they were vain and weak, by calling on the name of the Lord, they were made rich and strong, for they entered into the riches and strength of the One on whom they called—Acts 9:14, 21, 22:16, 1 Cor. 1:2.
D. Enoch walked with God by faith to escape death and to obtain the testimony that he was well pleasing to God—Gen. 5:22-24, Heb. 11:5-6:
1. To walk with god is to walk by faith; faith means that we believe that God is and we are not—v. 7, Heb. 11:5-6, 1-2, 2 Cor. 4:13, 18, Josh. 9:14b.
2. Faith means that we believe that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him—Heb. 11:6, Gen. 15:1, Phil. 3:8, 14, Psa. 27:4, 8, 42:1-2, 43:4, 73:25, 119:2, 10.
E. Noah’s life was a life that changed the age—Phil. 1:19-21a:
1. God showed Noah the true situation of the corrupt age in which he lived; “but Noah found favor [grace] in the sight of Jehovah”; grace is God coming to us to be our life supply, our strength, and our everything; such grace enabled Noah to overcome the flesh and to live a righteous life—Gen. 6:8, 3, 5, 11, 13, Matt. 24:37-39, 2 Pet. 2:5.
2. The ark that Noah built is a type of the practical and present Christ as God’s salvation, and to build the ark is to build up the practical and present Christ as God’s salvation in our experience for the building up of the Body of Christ as the corporate Christ; this is to work out our own salvation—Phil. 2:12-13:
F. Abraham obeyed God’s calling by faith and lived a life of the altar and the tent—Heb. 11:8-9, Rom. 4:1, 12, Gal. 3:7, Gen. 12:1-3, 7-8, 13:3-4, 18:
1. God called Abraham by appearing to him as the God of glory, the One who transfused His essence into him; God’s glory was a great attraction to him; it separated him from the world unto God, and it was a great encouragement and strength that enabled him to follow God; in the same principle, God called the New Testament believers by His invisible glory—Acts 7:2, Exo. 29:43, Gen. 12:1, 4, 2 Pet. 1:3, Gen. 15:1.
2. Abraham’s faith did not originate with himself; rather, his believing in God was a reaction to the transfusion of God’s element into his being—Acts 7:2, Heb. 12:1-2.
3. To live by faith, as Abraham did, is to cooperate with Christ in His heavenly ministry
G. Isaac was a model, a pattern, of the enjoyment of God’s grace for God’s good pleasure—Gen. 24:36, 25:5, 26:3-4, 12-13, Rom. 5:1-2, Acts 4:33, 11:23:
1. After Abraham’s natural strength and self-effort were dealt with by God, Isaac was born; this implies that Isaac was born of grace, which is represented by Sarah—Gal. 4:23-28, 31, 1 Pet. 3:7.
2. Isaac was grown up in grace; to grow in grace is to grow in the enjoyment of all that Christ is to us as our spiritual food and living water—Gen. 21:8, 17:1, 26:3, 1 Pet. 2:2, 1 Cor. 3:2, 6, Eph. 3:8, 4:15.
3. The Spirit of grace is the grace of life, the varied grace of God, the God of all grace, and the all-sufficient grace; this grace is now with our spirit—Heb. 10:29, 1 Pet. 3:7, 4:10, 5:10, 2 Cor. 12:9, Gal. 6:18.
H. The experience of Jacob was governed by his dream of Bethel, the house of God—Gen. 28:10-22:
1. Jacob’s dream was a dream of God’s goal, a dream of Bethel, a dream of the house of God, which is the church today and which will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal dwelling place of God and His redeemed elect—Rev. 21:3, 22.
2. In His humanity Christ became a joining ladder to join heaven (God) and earth (man) into one—Gen. 28:12-17, John 1:1, 51.
3. Through the process of transformation, Jacob became mature in the divine life to reign in life, his supplanting hands became blessing hands, and his speaking became God’s speaking—v. 28-29, Luke 18:19, Psa. 68:19, cf. Rom. 5:17.
4. Joseph overcame his sufferings because he was strengthened by God, the Mighty One of Jacob and the All-sufficient One, and because he saw that everything was arranged by God to be a blessing to him—Gen. 49:24-25, 45:5, 50:20, 1 Co. 3:21-22, Rom. 8:28, Eph. 5:20, 1 Thes. 5:18.
Ministry Excerpts:
GENESIS
Now we may begin a life-study of Genesis. The original title of this book was “In [the] Beginning.” The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, adopted the title of Genesis which is a Latin word that means giving of birth, origin. Genesis brings birth to everything, gives the origin of everything. Genesis is a book containing all the seeds of the divine truths. All the divine truths in the whole Bible were sown in this book.
THE GENERAL SKETCH
With every book of the Bible, there is a general sketch. The general sketch of Genesis is:
God created, Satan corrupted, man fell, and
Jehovah promised to save.
Never forgetting these four items!
Although Genesis has 50 chapters, it is so simple; it is divided into three sections. Chapters 1 and 2 are the first section, chapters 3 through 11 the second section, and chapters 12 through 50 the third section. Each section begins with a name. The names in sections one and three are wonderful, but not the name in section two. In the first section we have “God,” in the second section the “serpent,” and in the third section “Jehovah.” (In the King James Version “Jehovah” is translated as “the Lord.”) God created, the serpent corrupted, and Jehovah called.
What did God create? God created the heavens and the earth. But this is not all. Ultimately God created man because the heavens are for the earth and the earth is for man, and man is for God. After God’s creation, the subtle one, that is the serpent, crept in to corrupt. He really corrupted God’s creation, starting with rebellion and ending with rebellion. Chapter 11 reveals the rebellion of the fallen race to the uttermost. There was no hope. Nevertheless, there was hope because Jehovah came in to call out Abraham for a new start. Hallelujah! God created, the serpent corrupted, but Jehovah called.
In which section are you? I can testify that fifty years ago I was in the second section, but today I am in the third section. Fifty years ago I was one corrupted by the serpent, but now I am one called by Jehovah.
The first two chapters are apparently a record of God’s creation. Then, in the following 48 chapters we find biographies of eight great persons: Adam, Abel, Enoch, and Noah—a group of four; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph—another group of four. Each group belongs to a different race. The first four belong to the Adamic race, and the last four belong to the Abrahamic race. In the book of Genesis are two fathers: Adam, the father of the created race, and Abraham, the father of the called race.
Do you belong to the created race or to the called race? All the called ones are sons of Abraham. Galatians 3 tells us that whoever believes in Jesus Christ is a son of Abraham (vv. 7, 29). Hallelujah! Once we were created, but now we are called. First Corinthians 1:24 says that to the called ones Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. We are no longer the created race, but are forever the called race, called to partake of and enjoy Christ.
THE CENTRAL THOUGHT
With every book of the Bible, there is also a central thought. The central thought of Genesis is:
Christ is the hope and salvation of fallen man, and God will make fallen man to fulfill His purpose through Christ.
Once we have a real and thorough understanding of the book of Genesis, we can see that it presents Christ as the hope and salvation of fallen man. Through Christ God will enable fallen man to accomplish His purpose.
Genesis is a book with Christ as the center, and Christ is life to the people whom He restored from the fall. Why does this book give us such a record of creation in the first two chapters? Why does it give us the biographies of eight persons in the following forty-eight chapters? We need a deeper understanding. The first two chapters appear to be a record of creation, but this is superficial. The underlying thought is focused on life. These two chapters are a record of life. They are too simple and too brief to be an adequate account of creation. Genesis 1 and 2 were not intended by God to be a record of creation, but a revelation of life.
Look into these chapters. First, it mentions that God created the universe, and that the universe was ruined, becoming waste, empty, and full of darkness. Then, the Spirit of God came in to brood in order to produce life. Following the Spirit of life came the light, also for producing life. After this, the air was made to divide the waters of death. Then the land emerged out of the death waters. The land appeared for the purpose of generating life, and immediately every kind of plant life was produced. Then came the animal life in the water, the animal life in the air, and the animal life on the earth, and, eventually, the human life. Following the human life is the divine life, indicated by the tree of life. Thus, we can see that these two chapters, strictly speaking, are not a record of creation, but of life.
The Biographies of the Eight Persons
What about the biographies of the eight persons? If we read Genesis carefully once again, we may be surprised that these biographies say very little about the works of these men. What mostly has been recorded is their life, their living, and their way with God. The Bible tells us little of what Adam did, but it does say how long Adam lived—930 years. If we were to write Adam’s biography, we would need hundreds of pages to tell about his work and all that he did. But Genesis only tells us how Adam walked in the presence of God.
We come to Abel, and then to Enoch. Genesis doesn’t say anything about Enoch except that he walked with God, and eventually was taken to God. This is wonderful. I do hope that I could be such a person, doing nothing and being nothing, just walking with the Lord until the day I am taken to be with Him.
You may ask, didn’t Noah do something? Yes, he did some work, but not according to himself nor for himself. He did everything according to God’s revelation and for God’s purpose. We go on to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. It is hard for us to see that Abraham did a good work, neither Isaac nor Jacob. It seems that Jacob’s son, Joseph, did something, but if we know the record we will understand that Joseph’s work was the reigning part of Jacob’s life. Joseph was reigning as a king.
A Book of Life
Strictly speaking, Genesis is neither a book of creation nor a book of biographies. It is a book of life. God uses the record of creation to show the matter of life. God uses the biographies of eight persons to show how He needs a life to fulfill His purpose. In this book the last life was the life of Jacob, one who was eventually called Israel, the prince of God. This is God’s intention—to have an Israel. We all need to be brought to the place where God can consider us to be His Israel. This is wholly a matter of life. So, Genesis is focused on life, and this life is Christ. (Life-Study of Genesis, msg. 1)
Adam—Believing in God’s Glad Tidings
After Adam believed in God’s glad tidings, God made coats of skins for him and his wife and clothed them. The coats fully covered them. Think a little about the skirts made of fig leaves. After a few days the leaves would have been dried and broken. Eventually, they would have dropped away, and the man and the woman would have been completely naked. Thus, you should never try to cover yourself by your own work. You are sinful in the eyes of God and naked in His sight. Anything that you do to cover yourself is just a skirt made from the withered fig leaves of the vegetable life. You need the skins from the animal life to cover you. The coats of skins which God made for Adam and Eve covered them day after day.
Please remember that nearly every item mentioned in the first three chapters of Genesis is a seed. Here in Genesis 3:20-21 we have the seed of believing in the gospel and the seed of justification by God. The seed of believing in God’s gospel is found in Genesis 3:20 where Adam declared that Eve’s name was “Living.” When God proclaimed the gospel and Adam responded by saying, “Living,” that was the seed of believing in the gospel. Following this, God came to justify. Adam and Eve were naked and they made themselves skirts as a covering. These skirts did not cover their bodies adequately. After God had come in to preach the gospel and Adam had responded by believing, God placed coats over the man and the woman. This means that God justified them. To be justified means to be covered with the righteousness of God, which is Christ Himself, not with anything man-made. Adam and Eve’s being under the coats signified that they were in Christ. Galatians 3:27 says, “As many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” The coat is the clearest type of Christ as God’s righteousness, the righteousness that covers us. Thus, figuratively speaking, Adam and Eve were in Christ. Hence, both man’s believing and God’s justifying the believers were sown as seeds in Genesis 3:20-21. These seeds are developed in the Epistles of the New Testament.
Although the Bible does not say explicitly that the skins were taken from a lamb, I, along with others, believe that they were lamb skins, because the skins were made into coats. Some versions say “robes” and others “garments.” At any rate, the skins were made into clothing. To be sure, the skins did not come from cows; they must have been the skins of tender lambs, skins so suitable for clothing.
After the coats of skins had been placed on them, Adam and Eve had the appearance of a lamb. Was Adam a man or a lamb? All that was visible was the wool, for Adam was completely covered by the lamb. Although he was a man, he had become a lamb in the eyes of God. People always become the very thing which covers them. Since we all are covered by Christ, we will express Christ and resemble Christ. When Adam and Eve were covered by their self-made skirts of fig leaves, they must have looked like ugly, naked, sinful persons. However, after putting on the coats made with the lamb skins, they must have looked like lambs. God has put us in Christ (1 Cor. 1:30), and we have put on Christ (Gal. 3:27). Thus, we can express Christ. Paul could even say, “For to me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). Paul became the expression of Christ through being one with Him. This thought of expressing Christ was sown in the type of the coats of skins which covered Adam and Eve and which became their expression.
The Bleeding Sacrifice—Substitution
Before the skins were taken from the animals, the lambs were undoubtedly sacrificed. They were killed and their blood was shed. I believe that God probably killed the lambs in the presence of Adam and Eve and that they witnessed the sacrifice. It must have given them a deep impression. Perhaps Adam said to Eve, “Eve, don’t you know that that should be our destiny? We should be killed. Our blood should be shed because we fell, committed sin, and transgressed God’s prohibition. According to God’s prohibition, we should be killed. But God didn’t kill us, Eve. God is killing these lambs in our place. How thankful and grateful we should be to these lambs. They are our substitute.”
The Covering Skins—Union
Although many Christians talk about substitution, about Christ’s having died in our place, not many realize the matter of union. However, genuine substitution is based upon union. Adam and Eve were sinful, and the lambs were killed and their blood shed for their sins. How could the killing of the lambs have been their killing? If the lambs and Adam and Eve had been separate from one another, the lambs could not have substituted for them. Once Adam believed in the glad tidings God covered him with a coat of the lamb skins, and he became one with the lamb. The sinner had become one with the substitute. This is union. Union brings about the effectiveness of substitution, for without union substitution stands alone. Substitution has nothing to do with us until we enter into that union. Once we participate in that union, whatever the substitute has accomplished is ours. Christ has done everything for us on the cross, but without union all that He has accomplished on the cross is unrelated to us. But if we say, “Amen, Lord,” Christ will be put upon us, and we will be put into Christ. Since we are one with Christ, whatever Christ has accomplished on the cross becomes ours; it is our portion. Union brings in the effectiveness of substitution, and substitution is based upon union. (Life-Study of Genesis, msg. 21)
ABEL—CONTACTING GOD IN GOD’S WAY
The characteristic of Abel’s life was that he contacted God in God’s way (Gen. 4:4). Do not say that as long as you contact God everything is all right. In whose way do you contact God—in your way or God’s? There are three peoples who claim to contact God: the Jews, the Moslems, and the Christians. The Jews contact God in their own way. According to Romans 10:2-3, the Jews seek to establish their own righteousness and do not submit to the righteousness of God. This means that they contact God in their own way. The Moslems are even more devoted to their own way of worshipping God. If you visit a Moslem mosque, you will find that the Moslems appear pious and godly, worshipping God by bowing themselves. Many so-called Christians, including Catholics, do their service to God according to their own way, not through the redemption of Christ, nor in the Spirit.
What is the origin of man’s own way of contacting God? The source is man’s troublesome mind, which can produce nothing except knowledge. Hence, men contact God in the way of knowledge, not in the way of life. Abel, however, contacted God in His way. As we shall see in the following message, his elder brother, Cain, contacted God in his own way. God’s way is life; Cain’s way is knowledge. We all need to be careful. Although you may say that you are for God, perhaps you are for God in your own way. You approach God in your self-invented way, and that way is entirely a matter of knowledge. Do not follow that way. We should observe the example of Abel and contact God by laying aside our thought, opinion, and concept. “Lord, I contact You in Your way. I don’t contact You by my thought, concept, or knowledge. Lord, You are my way.” If we do this, we will enjoy God as the tree of life. Abel did partake of God as the tree of life. He truly ate of the fruit of this tree.
SETH AND ENOSH—CALLING UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD
Perhaps the names of Seth and Enosh are unfamiliar to you. Seth and Enosh were the second and third generations of mankind, although the Bible considers them as one. After Abel was slain, the line of life seemed to be terminated. Nevertheless, Seth and Enosh were raised up to continue it. These two generations had one outstanding characteristic—they began to call upon the name of the Lord (Gen. 4:26). They not only prayed, but called on the name of the Lord. If you read the original text of the Hebrew and Greek, you will see that the word call means to cry out, not only to pray. Although all Christians pray, few pray in a calling way. Most pray very quietly, even in silence. However, the second and third generations of mankind learned that in order to contact God they needed to cry out to Him and call on Him. Do not argue that God is not deaf, that He is able to hear us. Even the Lord Jesus Himself prayed with a strong cry in the garden (Heb. 5:7). During the time of Seth and Enosh, men learned how to pray to God in the way of calling on Him. If you try it, you will discover that it makes a difference. The Apostle Paul said that the Lord is rich unto all who call upon Him (Rom. 10:12). If you want to enjoy the riches of the Lord, you need to call upon His name.
Suppose you are helping a new convert touch the Lord in prayer. He prays, “Jesus, You are the Son of God. You died for me. I take You as my Savior. Thank You.” Although this is a good prayer, it is better for him to call on the Lord in a strong way. If he says, “O Lord Jesus, thank You for dying for me,” his spirit will be stirred up and he will touch the Lord in a living way.
Although the second and third generations of mankind discovered the way of calling on the name of the Lord, this way of calling on Him was gradually lost. Many Christians today neglect it and even despise it. However, no Christian can escape calling on the Lord’s name. During peaceful and untroubled times you may retain your composure, unwilling to lose your face by calling on the name of the Lord. However, during a time of difficulty, perhaps after an automobile accident or in a time of sudden illness, you will call on Him spontaneously, saying, “O Lord.” It is unnecessary for us to teach people to call on the Lord. One day they will call on Him. When troubles come, they will have the need to call on His name. To call on the name of the Lord is simply to enjoy Him and to eat Him as the tree of life.
ENOCH—WALKING WITH GOD
The characteristic of Enoch’s life was that he walked with God (Gen. 5:22, 24). We are not told that he worked for God or that he did great things for God, but that he walked with God. This is very meaningful. In order to walk with a person, you must like him. If I do not like you, I will never walk with you. Firstly, I like you, then I love you, and then I will walk with you continually. The fact that Enoch walked with God proves that he loved God. He simply loved to be in the presence of God. The Lord Jesus rebuked the church at Ephesus because they did many works for God but had lost their first love (Rev. 2:2-4). The Lord does not want to see so many good works; He wants to see our love toward God. Suppose a wife performs many good works for her husband, yet would never be in his presence. Surely the husband will say, “I don’t want you to be busy and yet be away from me. I want a wife who is with me all the time.”
Enoch walked with God. If we read Genesis 5:21-24 carefully, we will see that Enoch began his walk with God at the age of sixty-five and continued walking with Him for three hundred years. He walked with God day after day for a period of three hundred years. Finally, God seemed to say, “Enoch, you have walked with Me long enough. Let Me take you to Myself.” Many Christians are fond of talking about the rapture and the coming of the Lord. Do you realize that rapture requires that you love the Lord and live in His presence? We need to love the Lord. “Lord Jesus, I love You. I want to live in Your presence. I want to walk with You because I love You.” This loving attitude is the preparation, condition, and basis of being raptured. On what ground was Enoch raptured? He was raptured on the basis of his walk with God for a period of three hundred years. Enoch offered us an excellent example.
NOAH—WALKING WITH GOD
Noah followed Enoch’s footsteps and also walked with God (Gen. 6:9). Actually, he walked with God for a period even longer than three hundred years. As Noah walked with God, God showed him a vision of what He wanted to do in that age. Noah received the vision of the ark used to save eight members of the fallen race. Like Noah, we should not act according to our concept. Whatever we do and work should be according to the vision we received in walking with the Lord. In our daily walk with the Lord we will come to see His desire, His mind, and His will. Then we will work and serve according to God’s desire, not according to our own thoughts. Noah enjoyed God by walking with Him.
ABRAHAM—LIVING IN THE APPEARING OF GOD AND
CALLING UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD
Abraham was more outstanding than Noah. As we pointed out in the Life-study of Romans, Abraham was transfused with the appearing of the God of glory. While Abraham was in Ur of the Chaldees, the God of glory appeared to him and attracted him (Acts 7:2). According to the record in Genesis, God appeared to Abraham several other times as well (Gen. 12:7; 17:1; 18:1). Abraham was not a giant of faith by himself; he was as weak as we are. The God of glory appeared to Abraham again and again, each time transfusing and infusing His divine elements into him, enabling him to live by the faith of God. Abraham’s experience reminds us of a battery which operates well after it is charged, but which needs recharging after a period of time. It is very interesting to study Abraham’s history according to God’s appearings to him. God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees and led him on by appearing to him again and again. As I have mentioned previously, when God called Abraham to leave Ur, He did not give him a map or any directions. Abraham walked according to the appearing of God. If God’s appearing was in a certain direction, Abraham simply moved in that direction. In this way Abraham enjoyed the riches of God.
In addition to experiencing the appearings of God, Abraham called upon the name of the Lord (Gen. 12:7-8). Abraham’s son, Isaac, and his grandson, Jacob, also called upon the name of the Lord. Since these three generations were all the same, God was called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This means that God is the God of His people who live in His appearing and who call upon His name. As Abraham lived in the appearing of God and called upon the name of the Lord, he enjoyed Him as the tree of life. According to Genesis 18, God appeared to Abraham as he sat at the entrance of his tent, and He stayed with him for about half a day, even enjoying a meal with him. Thus, the Bible even says that Abraham was called the friend of God (James 2:23). In Genesis 18 God and Abraham conversed together and ate together as friends.
Certainly we all would like to have such an enjoyment of the Lord. Nevertheless, our portion today is much better than Abraham’s experience in Genesis 18. According to Revelation 3:20, the Lord Jesus is knocking at the door. If anyone will hear His voice and open the door, the Lord will come into him and sup with him. Day by day we may have a feast with the Lord. Abraham dined with the Lord for approximately half a day, but we may feast with Him continually. We may meet with the Lord at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Our portion is higher and richer than was Abraham’s.
Abraham enjoyed God as the tree of life. What is the tree of life? The tree of life is the supply of life that maintains our living in the presence of God. Abraham enjoyed God in such a way.
ISAAC—LIVING IN THE APPEARING OF GOD AND CALLING UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD
Isaac, as the son of Abraham, was in the same way of contacting God as was his father. He also lived in the appearing of God and called upon the name of the Lord (Gen. 26:2, 24-25). He did not only inherit all the blessings of his father, but also his way to enjoy God.
JACOB—LIVING IN THE APPEARING OF GOD AND CALLING UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD
Jacob, as the third generation of the called race, was eventually led by God not to live by his supplanting way, but by the same way of contacting God as his grandfather and his father did. After being dealt with by the Lord for a considerable time, he learned to live in the appearing of God and to call upon the name of the Lord (Gen. 35:1, 9; 48:3). To him, this was not only the inherited way, but also the way to which he was led by God’s discipline. (Life-Study of Gensis, msg. 15)