Let us consider another illustration. In the Old Testament there was a set of twins; one was named Esau and the other was named Jacob. In the Bible there is no record of Esau suffering anything; on the contrary, he married whom he liked and obtained what he wanted. Everything in his life was easy and smooth. However, Jacob was different. He made mistakes on the one hand and received dealings from God on the other. Nothing in his life turned out as he wished. Every step was difficult, and every circumstance was against him. When he saw Pharaoh in his old age, he said, “Few and evil have been the years of my life” (Gen. 47:9). Jacob’s life on the earth can be described with one word—suffering.
Some may say that Jacob’s suffering was a result of his craftiness. However, even if Jacob had not made any mistakes and had not been crafty, he would have suffered, because in the Bible Jacob signifies breaking for transformation. Jacob’s father, Isaac, did not suffer much, but neither was his name changed. A person’s name represents his person. A change in one’s name implies that the person has been changed. Isaac’s name was not changed because he was never broken. In the Bible Isaac does not represent breaking; he represents inheriting. In the Bible Isaac signifies that man can inherit God’s blessing by faith.
Jacob’s life shows that a natural person must pass through breaking in order to become Israel, that is, a prince of God. For a person to be filled with God’s element, he must pass through the process of breaking. This is what Jacob represents in the Bible. He was crafty, supplanting, and full of schemes. His name Jacob means “heel-holder, supplanter” (25:26). He was a person full of schemes and plots, but he was broken, torn down, and dealt with by God again and again to the point that God changed his name and called him Israel (32:28), meaning “prince of God.” Jacob became a prince of God. This means that after passing through God’s breaking, Jacob was filled with the element of God.
According to the record of the Bible, we can see a wonderful thing about Jacob in his old age; he was entirely different from what he was as a young man. In his youth Jacob had plans, views, ideas, and tricks. He was full of schemes; he knew how to deal with his mother, father, uncle, wives, children, and God; he even wrestled with God. This speaks of Jacob’s natural capabilities. When he wrestled with God, it was not God who would not let him go but Jacob who would not let go of God. Consequently, God had to touch the socket of his hip, which caused Jacob to limp (vv. 22-32). Jacob knew how to deal with people, but in his old age, his entire being was changed; he became a man without any plans. In his old age Jacob did not have any tricks, plans, or schemes, but he was filled with God. There were no schemes or craftiness in him; there was only God. There were no opinions or views; there was only God. He was truly Israel.
In his youth and middle age he was a typical Jacob with tricks, capabilities, ways, and rules. But in his old age he was an Israel with no methods, views, or opinions. His every step was God. Although Jacob seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary person, he was not under Pharaoh when he came before him; he even stretched forth his hand to bless Pharaoh (47:1-10). This shows that he had a position before God and that he was great.
If a beggar comes before us, we may not be able to stretch forth our hands to bless him because God does not have much ground in us nor is there a sufficient element of God in us. If this is our case, when we stand before a beggar, we will not think that we are greater than he is or have more than he has. Consequently, we will not stretch forth our hands to bless him. When Jacob stood before Pharaoh, however, he stretched forth his hands to bless Pharaoh. This indicates that he had weight and position, that he was great, and that he was Israel, the prince of God, because he had been broken. We need to see that what we call blessing, happiness, and peace were but refuse in Paul’s eyes (Phil. 3:8). Often blessings, happiness, and peace hinder us from gaining God. Hence, in order for us to gain Him, God must strip us of all blessings, happiness, and peace.
God needs to break us because what hinders God from being constituted into us is our person. This tearing down in the negative sense is really a building up—whatever is related to our tearing down is also related to God’s being built into us. The more we are torn down, the more God will be built into us. We will gain God not only objectively but also subjectively. The result of God’s being built into us is that we become Israel, the prince of God.
God’s breaking is not a matter of being cruel to us but of being gracious to us. What God takes away is but refuse; it is something physical. What He tears down is our worthless self. However, what God builds into us is Himself, the peerless and infinite One. The end of the Bible shows the New Jerusalem with the tree of life. However, the tree of life is shown not only at the end of the Bible but also at the very beginning of the Bible. The New Jerusalem at the end of the Bible is not a structure built with refuse, clay, wood, and brick. No! The New Jerusalem is a structure built with pure gold, pearl, and precious stones, all of which refer to God Himself. The New Jerusalem is just God Himself in essence, appearance, nature, and glory.
God’s work throughout the generations is to eliminate all the refuse, clay, wood, grass, and stubble in order to bring in the pure gold, pearl, and precious stones needed for His building. What kind of persons are we? Are we men of gold? Or are we men of clay, men of wood, and men of stubble? It is correct to say that we are men of clay because man was made with clay. However, we are not merely men of clay but also men of grass, for all flesh is like grass (1 Pet. 1:24). Hence, we are men of grass, men of the flesh. In terms of being created, we are men of clay; in terms of being fallen, we are men of grass and wood; that is, we are men of the flesh. First Corinthians 3:12 says that those who work for God should not build with wood, grass, and stubble but with gold, silver, and precious stones. God’s breaking work in us is not His evil treatment of us but rather his kind treatment and special care for us. He wants to remove the clay and tear down the wood, grass, and stubble in us, and then build Himself into us. If we consider this carefully before the Lord, we will be joyful even when facing great afflictions, because our sufferings will bring us pure gold, pearl, and precious stones.