We only need to consider one thing to find out the great difference between this person and the Jacob of the past. When Simeon and Levi slew all the males in the city because of the incident with Dinah, Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house" (Gen. 34:30). This was what he said at Shechem. But now he mentioned it in another way: "Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel" (49:5-7). What he saw now was not related to his personal interests but to sin and evil. Previously, he focused on self-profit, gains, and losses. He thought, "What shall we do if the race of Shechem rises up and takes revenge on us for what you have done?" But now, he said, "Come not thou into their secret." This means that he could not take part in such slaying and killing, that such cruelty was to be cursed. Here we see a new Jacob, one who was washed, pure, and new. He possessed a new character which he did not have before.

"Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward" (vv. 16-17). His prophecy concerning Dan's future was not that good; Dan would be serpentine in every respect and much rebellion would come out of him. At this point he immediately said, "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord" (v. 18). He meant, "I cannot do anything about this kind of rebellion; I can only wait for God's salvation." These words reveal his new character. While he was prophesying, he was waiting for God's salvation.

Genesis 49 contains Jacob's prophecies concerning his twelve sons. Eventually, all the prophecies regarding these twelve tribes came true. Jacob was a prophet. He had entered into and understood God's mind, and he told his sons what God would do. Jacob knew more than Abraham and Isaac. He was able to foretell the things that would happen to Manasseh, Ephraim, and the twelve tribes. This proves that he was a man who fellowshipped and communicated with God.

Jacob was a hopeless person in his early years, but God nevertheless made a vessel out of him. He made a vessel out of the cunning, scheming, and self-willed Jacob. The more we read about Jacob's later years, the more we sense his loveliness. Here was a man who was broken by God. Here was the constitution of the Holy Spirit. This was the result of God's work on him step by step. We can only say that our God is full of wisdom, grace, and patience. He will always finish His work.

After Jacob finished his prophecies, the Bible records, "All these are the twelve tribes of Israel" (v. 28). By the time Jacob was dying, the twelves tribes were formed; God's people was formed. Brothers and sisters, today God is also after a group of people to be His vessel to accomplish His purpose. Through such a group of people, all the nations on the earth will be blessed. What God did through Israel typifies what God wants to do through the church. The commission of the church is to accomplish the work of God's recovery. The church is God's vessel in His recovery work. To be the vessel in God's recovery work, the church needs to know the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. This does not mean that we need someone to be an Abraham, an Isaac, and a Jacob separately. It means that we must all know the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. After we have known Him, we will become His vessel to accomplish His purpose.

We must never be satisfied with a little spiritual experience. The Word of God tells us that God wants us to be experienced in three aspects: in knowing the Father as Abraham did, in enjoying God as Isaac did, and in being disciplined by God as Jacob was. All these three are definite experiences and definite knowledge; they are not doctrines or letters. God intends to give us the vision, the revelation, and the discipline of the Holy Spirit so that He can lead us on step by step until we become the vessel for the accomplishment of His purpose. May God give us the grace to have such a clear vision.