After Noah, there are four more persons—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with Joseph. They form one group. They typify the called believer’s threefold experience of the Triune God from his selection to his reigning.
If we have the experience of the first group of five people, we will surely experience God the Father in the way of Abraham’s experience. Abraham was one called by God and justified by faith, who lived by faith and lived in fellowship with God. This is a type of the believer experiencing the calling and justification of God the Father and by faith living a life of fellowshipping with Him. Our experience of the Triune God is similar to that experienced by Abraham. God the Father first called us. Then we walk by Him, living by faith and living in fellowship with Him.
After we have the experience of Abraham, we enjoy all the riches of the Father deposited in the Son. This is the experience of Isaac. Isaac by faith inherited all the promised blessings. This is a type of a believer who lives in fellowship with God experiencing the inheritance of all the grace in God the Son for the enjoyment in satisfaction and rest. Abraham left everything to Isaac. We who belong to Christ are the descendants of Abraham. We also have inherited an inheritance according to the promise for the enjoyment in satisfaction and rest.
After we experience the riches of the Son, God the Spirit will lead us to experience Jacob’s portion. Jacob was chosen by God to experience trials to become the Israel of God, bringing God’s blessing to everyone. This is a type of the believer chosen by God who enjoys the love of God the Father and the grace of God the Son and experiences the transformation of God the Spirit through trials in his environment to become a mature man to bestow God’s blessings to others. When we who are in Christ enjoy His riches, the Spirit will lead us to pass through all kinds of trials in our environment to be transformed by the Spirit to become Israel, the prince of God.
Joseph in experience forms a part of Jacob. He reigned in Egypt for God, dispensing all the rich food to the whole world. This is a type of the transformed, overcoming, and mature believer reigning for the Lord, dispensing the riches of God in Christ to everyone.
Hence, from the experience of the first group of five people, we go on to experience the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In the end, we all become Israel, the prince of God, reigning for God and dispensing the riches of God in Christ to everyone. This is what the second group of four people typifies. The experiences of these nine people tell us how God accomplishes His economy in us, the believers. Today, although every one of us is different in our spiritual experience—some being higher, while others are lower—we have to look to God’s mercy that we would go on and advance further and further in the process of God’s economy.
A message given by Brother Witness Lee in Seoul, Korea on November 5, 1988.
(The Economy of God and the Building Up of the Body of Christ, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)