In Genesis 35
the vision of Bethel
came again;
however, this time
it did not come
as a dream
—it came as a reality:
We all
come into the church life twice:
The first time
we come in a dream,
and the second time
we come in reality;
we need
both the dream and the reality.
The dream in the beginning
was a true picture,
and everything in the reality
is the same as
that in the dream.
At Bethel
Jacob’s name
was changed to Israel,
indicating that his being
had been changed;
now he was Israel
at Bethel.
In Genesis 35
there is
a crucial and radical turn
from the individual experience of God
to the corporate experience of God
—the experience of God
as the God of Bethel:
In Genesis 35:7
we have a new divine title
—El-bethel, “God of the house of God.”
Before this chapter
God was the God of individuals;
here
He is
no longer just the God of individuals
but is El-bethel,
the God of a corporate body,
the God of the house of God.
Bethel signifies
the corporate life,
which is the Body of Christ;
thus, in calling God the God of Bethel,
Jacob advanced
from the individual experience
to the corporate experience:
The altar
that Jacob built at Shechem
was called El-Elohe-Israel,
the name of God
as related to an individual (Gen. 33:17-20).
The altar
that Jacob built at Bethel
was called El-bethel,
the name of God
as related to a corporate body (35:6-7).
The altar at Shechem
is an individual altar,
but the altar at Bethel
is a corporate altar
—the altar for the house of God.
The All-sufficient God
is revealed for
the building of Bethel;
only at Bethel
is it possible
for us to realize
the all-sufficiency of our God:
The purpose of God’s revealing Himself
as the All-sufficient One
is for His building;
the All-sufficient God
is for God’s building.
We cannot experience the All-sufficient God
in an individualistic way;
in order to experience the All-sufficient God,
we must be
in Bethel, in the church life.
God’s all-sufficiency
requires the Body;
we need the house, the building,
in order to experience
this aspect of Him.
The Father, the Son, the Spirit, and the church
are four-in-one;
ultimately,
the church
is a group of people
who are
in union with, mingled with, and incorporated with
the Triune God.
At Bethel
Jacob set up a pillar
and poured out
a drink offering
on it;
this indicates
that the drink offering
is for God’s building:
The drink offering
typifies Christ
as the One
poured out as the real wine
before God
for His satisfaction.
The drink offering
also typifies the Christ
who saturates us with Himself
as the heavenly wine
until He and we become one
to be poured out
for God’s enjoyment and satisfaction
and for God’s buildings.
Our pouring ourselves out
as a drink offering to God
brings in
the outpouring of the Spirit
for God’s building.
The function of Bethel, the house of God,
is to express Christ:
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.
The bringing forth of Christ
for the corporate expression of Christ
will cost us
our natural choice,
our natural desire,
and our natural life.
After experiencing
the reality of Bethel,
Jacob entered into
full fellowship with God
at Hebron;
the fellowship at Hebron
means intimacy, peace, satisfaction, and joy:
Although we are in the church life,
we still need to journey on
until we come to Hebron
and enter into
full fellowship with the Lord.
The fellowship at Hebron
is not only fellowship with God
but also with other members
of the Body of Christ.
If we 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.
Toward the end of his life,
Jacob declared
that the Lord had shepherded him
all the days of his life;
the Lord’s shepherding
is for Bethel, the house of God.
The birth of Benjamin
typifies the bringing forth of Christ
as the Son of affliction
and the Son of the right hand:
The birth of Benjamin and the death of Rachel
occurred simultaneously;
this means
that Jacob gained a son
by losing Rachel:
Rachel was Jacob’s natural choice
according to his heart’s desire.
The death of Rachel,
the loss of Jacob’s natural choice,
was a deep and personal dealing for Jacob.
Jacob lost Rachel,
but in the process
he gained Benjamin,
who is a type of Christ:
In the same manner,
God will eventually take away
our natural choice
so that we
may bring forth Christ
for His expression.
God’s goal
is not to make His chosen ones
suffer loss;
it is
to bring forth Christ
through them.
As Rachel was dying,
she called the child Ben-oni,
meaning “son of my affliction,”
but Jacob
immediately changed the child’s name
to Benjamin,
meaning “son of the right hand”:
As the son of affliction,
Benjamin typifies Christ,
who, as the man of sorrows
in His incarnation and human life on earth,
accomplished God’s eternal redemption
for His full salvation.
As the son of the right hand,
Benjamin typifies Christ,
who, as the Son of the right hand
in His resurrection, victory, and ascension,
ministers in the heavens
to carry out
the application of God’s redemption
for His salvation.
Christ was incarnated
to be Ben-oni, the man of sorrows,
but in His resurrection
He became Benjamin,
the Son of the right hand
in glory and honor.
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Prophecy note, 26 October 2014
In the divine economy,
if you would gain the last son,
you must let go of
the mother.
Without loss
there can be no gain,
and without death
there can be no birth.
Birth comes out of death,
for apart from death
there is no resurrection.
If Rachel had not died,
Benjamin could
never have come forth.
Undoubtedly,
Rachel was ordained by God
for Jacob.
But God did not permit Jacob
to have Rachel
according to his way
and his time.
Jacob wanted to
have Rachel immediately.
After Jacob finally had her,
he certainly desired to
keep her
for the rest of his life.
However, at a certain point
God seemed to say,
“Jacob, I shall take Rachel
away from you.”
God has ordained us
to have our natural choice,
but not according to
our way and our time.
His one purpose in doing it
is to bring forth Christ.
God has ordained you
to have a wife,
but He will not allow you
to have her
in your way
and at your time.
God has sovereignly placed me
under the controlling hand
of my dear wife.
When I do
get to eat fast food,
it is not
according to my way
or at my time.
By this
I have learned the lesson
of not getting my natural choice
in my way
and at my time,
but according to
His way and His time.
His purpose in this
is not to make me suffer;
it is
to bring forth Christ.
Day 6
As Jacob was journeying on
from Bethel,
he experienced
a very deep and personal dealing:
his beloved wife, Rachel,
died as she was giving birth to
Jacob’s last son, Benjamin.
This experience
was a matter
related to both death and birth,
a matter of both loss and gain.
Jacob lost Rachel
and gained Benjamin.
If you had to make the choice,
would you prefer to keep the mother
or to gain the son?
The popular Christian concept
is to have both the mother and the son.
But in the divine economy,
if you would gain the last son,
you must let go of
the mother.
Without loss
there can be no gain,
and without death
there can be no birth.
Birth comes out of death,
for apart from death
there is no resurrection.
If Rachel had not died,
Benjamin could never have come forth.
Undoubtedly,
Rachel was ordained by God
for Jacob.
But God did not permit Jacob
to have Rachel
according to his way and his time.
Jacob wanted to have Rachel immediately.
After Jacob finally had her,
he certainly desired to keep her
for the rest of his life.
However, at a certain point
God seemed to say,
“Jacob, I shall take Rachel away
from you.”
God has ordained us
to have our natural choice,
but not according to our way and our time.
His one purpose in doing it
is to bring forth Christ.
God has ordained you
to have a wife,
but He will not allow you
to have her
in your way and at your time.
His purpose
is not to make you suffer.
God is not cruel.
His purpose
is to bring forth Christ.
Some of you know
that I am very fond of dessert,
especially ice cream.
But God has sovereignly placed me
under the controlling hand
of my dear wife.
When I do get to eat ice cream,
it is not
according to my way
or at my time.
By this
I have learned the lesson
of not getting my natural choice
in my way and at my time,
but according to His way and His time.
His purpose in this
is not to make me suffer;
it is
to bring forth Christ.
In Genesis 35:18
this child
was given two names,
one from his mother
and one from his father.
Ben-oni means
“the son of my affliction.”
Rachel gave him this name
because she was suffering
and in sorrow.
But Jacob immediately changed his name
to Benjamin,
which means
“the son of the right hand.”
In this whole universe
there is only One
who is
both the Son of sorrow
and the Son of the right hand
—and that One
is Christ.
On the one hand
Christ is Ben-oni,
and on the other hand
He is Benjamin.
Christ is
a wonderful person
with these two aspects.
No one has suffered
as much sorrow as Christ,
and no one has been exalted
as high as Christ.
Isaiah 53:3
describes Him
as “a man of sorrows,”
Acts 2:33 says
that He has been “exalted
to the right hand of God,”
and Hebrews 1:3 says
that He is seated
“on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Firstly,
Jesus was
the Son of sorrow, the Son of suffering.
Rachel was not the only one
to experience this sorrow;
Mary, the mother of Christ,
also experienced it.
According to Luke 2:35,
her soul was pierced
by the sufferings of her son.
But after thirty-three and a half years,
in resurrection and ascension
Christ became
the Son of the right hand of God.
Hence, no one can deny
that Benjamin was
a type of the suffering and exalted Christ.
To be at the right hand
is to be in a position
of glory and honor.
As the son of the right hand,
Benjamin typifies Christ
who, as the Son of the right hand of God
in His resurrection, victory, and ascension,
ministers in the heavens
to carry out
the application of God’s redemption
for His salvation.
Christ was incarnated
to be Ben-oni,
the Man of sorrows,
but in resurrection
He became Benjamin,
the Son of the right hand of God
in glory and honor.
Day 5
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.
It is wonderful
to be in the church life.
However,
at the beginning of our experience
in the church life,
we do not have full fellowship.
This fellowship
is at Hebron.
Many who are in the church life today
are not in a spiritual situation
that is intimate, peaceful, satisfying, and joyful.
Although you are in the church life,
you still need to journey on,
passing through deeper and more personal dealings
until you come to Hebron
and enter into
full fellowship with the Lord.
In this fellowship
you will have
complete joy, satisfaction, peace, and intimacy
between you and the Lord.
Abraham had come to Shechem (Gen. 12:6),
had passed through Bethel (12:8),
and had dwelt in Hebron (13:18; 18:1),
and Isaac spent nearly his whole life in Hebron.
Jacob, therefore, followed Abraham’s footsteps
to come to Shechem (33:18),
to pass through Bethel (35:6),
and to dwell in Hebron.
We all need to come to Hebron.
Although we are in the church life,
we do not have
rest, full peace, satisfaction, joy, and intimacy
until we journey onward
in our spirit
to Hebron.
Here in Hebron
we enjoy
wonderful intimacy with the Lord.
Hebron is also the place
where we mature in life.
Once Jacob reached this place [Hebron],
God’s work in him
was completed.
From this point on,
he dwelt in Hebron,
the place where Abraham and Isaac once dwelt.
The meaning of Hebron
is to remain in the fellowship.
It was not only fellowship with God
but fellowship with the other members
of the Body of Christ.
Bethel was not
the permanent dwelling place for Jacob.
Only Hebron
was the permanent dwelling place
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
This means
that we need to know Bethel
as the house of God
just as we need to know Shechem
as the power of God.
However, we do not live
in the knowledge of the house of God;
we live daily
in the fellowship of it.
From that time on,
Jacob realized
that he could do nothing
on his own.
Everything had to be done
in fellowship,
and nothing could be done
outside of fellowship.
The fellowship we are speaking of
refers to the life supply of Christ
which comes from the other members.
When other brothers and sisters
supply us with the indwelling Christ
and we go forward
through the supply of these other members,
we have
Hebron and fellowship.
We have to ask God
to show us
that we cannot be Christians
by ourselves.
We have to live
in fellowship with God,
and we have to live
in fellowship with
the Body of Christ.
At the time of the delivery
of Rachel’s second child,
Jacob must have been happy.
But he suddenly realized
that Rachel, the desire of his heart,
was dying.
Benjamin was coming,
but Rachel was departing.
The fact
that the birth of Benjamin and the death of Rachel
occurred simultaneously
means that Jacob
gained a son
by losing his natural choice.
The crucial point in this message
is that Jacob
gained Christ
through the loss of his natural choice.
The third pillar in Jacob’s life
was a testimony
of God’s dealing
with his natural choice.
After you experience the church life,
your natural choice
must be left behind.
Before you came into the church,
you still had your natural choice,
and God tolerated it.
But after experiencing the church life
to a certain extent,
God will tolerate it no longer.
Yes, after you have had
some experience at Bethel,
you will lose your natural choice,
but you will gain Benjamin,
who is a type of Christ.
Day 4
The church is
one Body, one Spirit, one hope,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all
—this is the church.
In the universe
there is nothing
like the church.
How wonderful it is!
Ultimately,
the church is
a group of people
who are
in union with the Triune God
and are mingled with the Triune God.
The Triune God and the church
are four-in-one.
Because the Father, the Son, and the Spirit
are all one with the Body of Christ,
we may say
that the Triune God
is now the “four-in-one God.”
These four are
the Father, the Son, the Spirit, and the Body.
Genesis 35:14
is the first mentioning
of the drink offering
in the Bible.
Its being mentioned here
in connection with the pillar at Bethel
indicates that the drink offering
is for God’s building.
The fact
that Jacob poured a drink offering upon the pillar
before pouring oil upon it
signifies that the pouring out of the drink offering
brings in the outpouring of the Spirit
for the sanctifying of God’s house.
The drink offering
typifies Christ
as the One
poured out
as real wine
before God
for His satisfaction.
Christ poured out
His very being
unto God.
Isaiah 53:12 says,
He “poured out
His life [soul]
unto death.”
Thus, Christ is
the heavenly, spiritual wine
poured out to God
for His pleasure.
Furthermore,
the drink offering
typifies not only Christ Himself
but also the Christ
who saturates us
with Himself
as heavenly wine
until He and we
become one
to be poured out
for God’s enjoyment and satisfaction.
In Genesis 35:14
the pouring of the oil
upon the pillar
follows the pouring out of the drink offering
upon the pillar.
This indicates
that our pouring ourselves out
as a drink offering to God
brings in
the outpouring of the Spirit of God
for His building.
The more
we pour out ourselves with Christ
as an offering to God for His house,
the more
the outpouring of the Spirit of God
will be brought in.
The building of God’s house
needs this.
The bringing forth of Christ
and the expression of Christ
cost us
our natural life,
our natural love,
and our natural choice.
Everything natural
will eventually die
and be buried.
Our Christian life
must have three sections:
the section of God’s care,
the section of God’s house,
and the section of
the expression of Christ.
In the church meetings
the younger ones,
those who are newly saved,
should testify of God’s care.
This is
a wonderful testimony to hear
from babes.
But we also need some testimonies
regarding God’s house and the expression of Christ.
If we have
these three kinds of testimonies,
it will be an indication
that in the church
we have the pillar of God’s care,
the pillar of God’s house,
and the pillar of
the expression of Christ.
God’s ultimate goal
is the expression of Christ.
It is wonderful
to have
the testimony of God’s care
and the testimony of the house of God.
But not even the house of God
is God’s ultimate goal.
God’s ultimate goal
is to express Christ.
The expression of Christ
is not an individual matter;
it is a corporate matter
in the house of God.
The church as the house of God
is for the expression of Christ.
In order to express Christ,
we must have the church.
It is impossible
to express Christ adequately
apart from the church.
In addition to
the pillar of God’s care
and the pillar of God’s house,
we must have
the third pillar,
the pillar for
the corporate expression of Christ.
Day 3
The altar built at Shechem
was called El-Elohe-Israel,
by the name of God
as related to an individual,
not El-bethel,
by the name of God
as related to a corporate body.
Some may say,
“Isn’t it good
to be strengthened at Shechem?”
But after Jacob had settled down in Shechem,
trouble came to him.
He had
a tent for his dwelling
and an altar
on which to sacrifice something to God.
Although Jacob might have been satisfied,
God was not.
Trouble came,
and this trouble caused Jacob
to lose his peace.
Following this, in Genesis 35:1,
God could say,
“Rise up, go up to Bethel,
and dwell there;
and make an altar there to … God.”
God seemed to be telling Jacob,
“I don’t want you
to stay in Shechem.
It is not adequate
merely to be strengthened
in the Christian life.
A strengthened life
can never satisfy Me.
I desire the church life.
I don’t want strength
—I want the house of God.
I don’t want you
to remain in Shechem
but to go up to Bethel.”
After Jacob arrived at Bethel,
he made an altar
and called it El-bethel.
Jacob’s experience of the altar
was a gradual progression.
There was no altar
in Padan-aram or in Succoth.
The altar in Shechem
was erected
to the God of his individual experience;
it was not an altar
for the experience of God
in a corporate way.
The individual experience of God
is good,
but it is insufficient.
We need to go on
from the individual experience
to the corporate experience.
The consecration I made
after coming into the church life
was much higher
than any previous consecration.
My consecration before the church life
was only for myself.
It was
for me
to be holy, spiritual, victorious,
and acceptable to God.
But my consecration
after coming into the church life
was different.
The altar in Shechem
is an individual altar,
but the altar in El-bethel
is a corporate altar.
This is
the altar of the house of God,
and you must present yourself upon it
for the house of God.
The All-sufficient God
is for the building of God’s house.
The All-sufficient God
is for the building of Bethel.
God is all-sufficient
for the church life,
for the building of His house on earth.
You cannot experience
the All-sufficient God
in an individualistic way.
In order to experience the All-sufficient God,
you must be
in Bethel,
in the house of God,
in the church life.
This truth
is proved by our experience.
Before we came to the church life,
many of us
had some experience of God.
But as we all can testify,
we did not experience God
as the All-sufficient One.
Although I experienced God
in various aspects,
I did not experience Him
as the All-sufficient One
until I came into the church life.
But after being in the church life for many years,
I can say,
“Hallelujah, what an experience
of the All-sufficient God
I have in the church life!”
God is
too all-sufficient
to be experienced by
just a few individual believers.
As individuals,
we are too limited.
God’s all-sufficiency
requires a corporate body.
We need the house
in order to experience this aspect of Him.
Only in the church life
is it possible
to realize
the all-sufficiency of our God.
What an all-sufficient God
we are experiencing
in His present move!
This is
not a teaching or a doctrinal understanding;
it is
our experience of God
in the church life.
The All-sufficient God
is revealed for the building of Bethel
and He
is experienced in the church life.
In the church life,
our experience of the All-sufficient God
is increasing
day by day
and even minute by minute.
The church life
is marching on;
it is advancing
day and night.
Many of us
can testify
that the church life has advanced
since this afternoon.
Hallelujah,
the All-sufficient God
is for the church life, today’s Bethel!
Day 2
We have seen
that many crucial seeds of the truth
are sown in the book of Genesis.
The house of God, Bethel,
is one of these seeds.
However, not many Christians know
what the experience of the house of God is.
Undoubtedly, many know
that, according to the New Testament,
the house of God
denotes the church (1 Tim. 3:15).
But where is
the practical and proper church life?
Although there are millions of Christians on earth,
very few of them
have the genuine church life.
Many merely sit in the congregation
for the Sunday morning service
and listen to a minister or pastor.
But this is
not the practical and proper church life
revealed in the Bible.
According to the Bible,
in the genuine church life
every saved one
must be
a living, functioning member.
Every member of the Body of Christ
must function.
Not only do the members function,
but they also live together
to express God in Christ
in a living, daily way.
This is
the practical church life
revealed in the Bible.
The truths regarding this practical church life
are sown as seeds in Genesis.
Prior to Genesis 35,
God was called
the God of a certain person,
for example,
the God of Abraham or the God of Isaac.
He was
the God of individual persons.
But in 35:7
we have
“El-bethel,” the God of the house of God.
He is
no longer simply the God of individuals;
He is now
the God of a corporate body, the house of God.
Many Christians only experience God
as their individual God.
Not many have the experience of God
as the God of the house of God.
How much experience do you have of God
as the God of a corporate body?
We all must experience God in such a way
that He is not only God to us individually
but also the God of the house of God.
There is
a great difference
between the two.
Bethel was a place
that particularly touched Jacob’s heart
because he dreamed
and God appeared to him there.
We have mentioned earlier
that Bethel means the house of God;
it signifies
the authority of Christ,
that Christ is ruling over His house.
It also signifies
the corporate life,
which is the Body of Christ.
In this house
there should not be
any defilement, sin,
or anything that is contrary to God’s will.
This is
why Jacob told his household and those who were with him
to “put away the foreign gods
that are among you,
and purify yourselves,
and change your garments”
when they went up to Bethel.
In other words,
they had to leave behind everything
that was related to the idols
before they could go up to Bethel.
Bethel is
the house of God.
There should only be
clean conduct and clean living
in the house of God,
and all the unclean things
should be dealt with
before one can go up to Bethel.
God demands
not only that we have a clean living individually
but that we also have a clean living corporately.
Bethel cannot tolerate
any unclean things.
The Body of Christ
is Christ,
and only Christ
can remain in His Body;
everything else
must be left behind
in Shechem.
In Shechem
Jacob called God the God of Israel,
while here
he called God the God of Bethel.
He advanced
from the individual experience
to the corporate experience.
In Shechem
he knew God
as the God of Israel.
When he reached Bethel,
he knew God
as the God of His house.
When he reached Bethel,
he realized
that the vessel God is after
is a house, a corporate vessel.
God was
not only his God
but the God of His house.
He was brought to
a broadened place.
Thank and praise the Lord
that God is not heaping up
piles of isolated stones;
He is building a house
that expresses Him.
There must be
the corporate testimony
before God’s goal can be reached.
Day 1
In Genesis 35
the vision of Bethel
came again.
This time, however,
it did not come
just as a dream;
it came as a reality.
It was not only a vision
but a fact and an experience.
The difference between chapters 28 and 35
is that chapter 28
was merely a dream.
Bethel, the gate of heaven, the ladder, the angels
—everything
was seen in a dream.
At most,
we can only say
that this dream
was a vision.
Up to that point
there was
no fact, no reality.
The fulfillment of the dream
comes into being
in chapter 35.
Jacob came to Bethel twice.
According to my experience,
this indicates
that we all
come into the church twice.
The first time
we come in a dream,
and the second time
we come in actuality.
In 1925,
I had a clear dream,
but it was not
until seven years later, in 1932,
that I came into
the actuality and practicality
of the church life.
Many of you
have had a similar experience.
When you first came into the church,
it was,
for quite a period of time,
a dream.
You might have been in a dream
for a number of years.
But after those years,
it was
no longer a dream,
and you could say,
“Oh, I am
actually and practically in the church life.
The past years
have been a dream.
Thank the Lord
for keeping me
in this dream,
but now I have
the actual experience.”
Firstly,
Jacob had the dream.
More than twenty years later,
he was brought into the experience.
Everything in Genesis 28,
being a dream,
is somewhat vague;
nothing is definite.
In the experience in chapter 35, however,
everything is
definite and practical.
Nevertheless,
we thank the Lord
that the dream in the beginning
was a true picture.
Everything in the reality
is the same as
that in the dream.
In this,
there is no difference.
The only difference
is that the dream
is indefinite
and that the actuality
is definite.
We need
both the dream and the practicality.
We praise the Lord
that today
we are in the practicality
of the church life.
In Bethel,
Jacob experienced
his new name.
His name
had been changed at Peniel,
but he experienced
his new name
at Bethel.
At Bethel,
Jacob’s entire being
was changed
and he became
a new person
—Israel.
No matter how good we were as Christians
before we came into the church life,
we were not new.
But after we came into the church life,
something within
demanded us
to be new.
We had to be
a new husband, a new parent, a new child.
We all experience
this inward demanding
daily.
We realize
that, from now on,
we must be
another person.
This is
the experience of transformation.
Genesis 35
is a radical turn
from the individual experience of God
to the corporate experience of God.
Before this chapter,
El-bethel
is not mentioned.
Elohim
was revealed in chapter 1,
and Jehovah
was revealed in chapter 2.
Later, God told Jacob
that He was
the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac.
But, as we have pointed out,
in chapter 35
we see
a new divine title
—El-bethel,
God of the house of God.
God said to Jacob,
“Israel shall be your name”,
and Jacob seemed to say to God,
“Your name is El-bethel.”
Who are you today
—Jacob or Israel?
What does Israel mean?
To answer
that it means a wrestler of God
is too doctrinal.
Israel is
the church people,
and El-bethel is
the church life.
We are
the church people
in the church life.
This is not doctrine;
it is experience.
The church people
are a people
filled with God,
and the church life
is a corporate life
of God.
The church people
are a people
filled with God
living together
to enjoy God
and to express Him.
This is
Israel in El-bethel.