God is not after just Abraham. He is after a corporate vessel. He is after the descendants of Abraham, the church, who will fulfill His purpose. Abraham's history includes both his own experience and the necessary experience of every vessel of God. Abraham was not just an individual; he was the father of those who are of faith (Gal. 3:7). Just as he had to go through these experiences, all those who are of faith must go through the same experiences. In reading the history of Abraham, we have to realize that it is not only a description of Abraham's experience in being dealt with by the Lord, but it is also a description of the standard by which God deals with all of His people. Abraham's experience is God's requirement on every believer. If we do not meet this requirement, we cannot satisfy God's heart, and we cannot reach His goal.
God wants us to be His vessels for the fulfillment of His own plan; He wants us to have a part in His recovery work. Abraham's experiences were wonderful, and the dealings he received were precious. In the beginning he was an ordinary person, but God brought him through many experiences until one day he became a shining and glowing person in Genesis 22. Here a question arises. Why do some of us still not shine even though we have been Christians for many years? If Abraham is the standard of God's people, how can we reach that standard? How can we allow God to accomplish in us what He accomplished in Abraham? God gained a vessel in Abraham. Will He gain a vessel in us? This is the question before us.
The Bible tells us that God is not only called the God of Abraham, but also the God of Isaac. After this, He is also called the God of Jacob. As far as God's goal is concerned, Abraham was complete in himself. But as far as God's work is concerned, he was not complete. God needed Isaac and Jacob before there could be the completion. This is a very important principle in the Bible. In order for God to gain a person, he must know God as the Father, even as Abraham knew Him as the Father. He must be delivered from the work of the flesh like Abraham was delivered. He must also know God as the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. A person must know the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob before he can gain what Abraham gained. God's purpose rested entirely on Abraham, and whatever was given to Isaac had been given to Abraham already. Isaac did not go beyond Abraham, and Jacob did not travel further than Abraham. If Abraham touched the peak, why was he not able to inherit a kingdom immediately? He could not because there was still the need of supplementary experiences. There was still the need of Isaac and Jacob to be added to Abraham before God could gain what He intended to gain in Abraham. In other words, we need the experience of Abraham, and we need the experience of Isaac and the experience of Jacob as well. Abraham is a standard for us. But between Abraham and the nation of Israel, there was still Isaac and Jacob. God could not jump over Isaac and Jacob and go directly to the nation of Israel. There first had to be the experiences of the God that Isaac knew and the God that Jacob knew, before there could be the nation of Israel and before there could be the corporate experience. God is after a corporate vessel. In order to be a corporate vessel, one has to know God as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. We have to remember God's word continually: "I am...the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exo. 3:6). As soon as God was called the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the nation of Israel appeared. This is revealed in the book of Exodus. Once this point is reached, God has His corporate vessel. Now let us consider the meaning of the God of Isaac.