Due to the influence of today's Christianity, many think that only prophets can prophesy. But where is the verse saying that Jacob was a prophet? Jacob was not a gifted prophet predicting the things to come, but he still prophesied. In 49:1 Jacob said, "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days." This was the opening word of his prophecy.
Today many Christians are talking about the gifts. But what gift did Jacob have? I would say that the only gift he had was the gift of supplanting. In chapter forty-nine Jacob did not say "Reuben,..thus saith the Lord." Nevertheless, the most profound prophecy in the Bible is the one uttered by Jacob in this chapter. This is the only prophecy that requires the whole Bible for its development. Although it is such a deep prophecy, it was not spoken by a prophet or by a gifted person.
Jacob was not a gifted prophet; he was a God-constituted person. He was not constituted with gifts, with utterance, or even with function; he was constituted with God. Because he had been infused, saturated, and thoroughly permeated with God, his speaking was God's speaking. His word was God's word. Whether we consider his word a prophecy or a blessing, it is the kind of speaking that is lacking in the churches today. What the churches need today is the speaking of God-constituted persons.
At this point we need to consider some verses in 1 Corinthians 7. In 1940 I received great help from Brother Nee regarding these verses. In one of his talks he said that 1 Corinthians chapter seven reveals the peak of Paul's Christian experience. When I first heard this, I could not understand it, because it was very different from my concept. I was familiar with chapter seven of 1 Corinthians. I knew that it talked about marriage and virginity. Thus, I said to myself, "How can this chapter be the peak of the Apostle Paul's Christian experience?"
Brother Nee referred us to verses 10, 12, 25, and 40. In verse 10 Paul says, "But to the married I charge, not I but the Lord, A wife should not be separated from her husband." Here Paul was assured that the Lord's commandment was that Christian wives should not leave their husbands. Because Paul was convinced that this was the Lord's commandment, he was bold.
But in verse 12 he said, "But to the rest I say, not the Lord." Regarding the matter of a brother having an unbelieving wife, Paul said, "I say, not the Lord." If I had been there, I would have said, "Brother Paul, if it is not the Lord, then you should not speak. Since you know that it is not the Lord, why do you speak? We don't want to hear you. You are just a saved sinner; you should not say anything by yourself." When I heard Brother Nee speak about this verse, I said to myself, "If it was not the Lord speaking, why did Paul keep on talking?" Nevertheless, the word Paul spoke was recorded in the New Testament and became the word of God. According to verse 12, Paul's word became an inspired word in the Holy Bible.
Moreover, in verse 25 Paul said, "Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give my opinion as having received mercy of the Lord to be faithful." If I had been there, I would have stopped him and said, "Brother Paul, since you don't have the commandment of God, please don't speak." Not only did Paul not have a commandment from the Lord; he even gave his opinion. We probably would have said, "Paul, we don't want to hear your opinion. We want to hear the word of the Lord." Although I had read 1 Corinthians 7 many times prior to hearing that word from Brother Nee, I had never seen these verses, and I was shocked when he pointed them out to us. Although Paul simply gave his opinion, for more than nineteen hundred years, his opinion has been regarded as the word of God. Thus, Paul's opinion became God's word.
Finally, in verse 40 Paul said, "But she is more blessed if she so remains, according to my opinion; but I think that I also have the Spirit of God." Here we see that Paul taught according to his opinion. According to Paul's opinion, a widow would be happier if she remained in her widowed condition. The reason Paul was bold to speak this way is given in verse 25: he had "received mercy of the Lord to be faithful." We need the mercy of the Lord to make us faithful to Him. If we have this mercy, we may be bold.