Based upon this principle, the story about Jacob is even more interesting. His name means “heel holder,” one who grasps the heel, and he was surely a grasper. When his uncle charged him to shepherd the flock, he took the opportunity to grasp his uncle’s cattle (Gen. 30:25-43). Here you can see that although one of God’s chosen people was so cunning, God was working on him to change him from being a grasper into being a prince. Formerly, he was Jacob, but eventually his God made him Israel, which means “a prince” (32:28). In his youth this Jacob seemingly robbed everybody in his contact with them—his father Isaac (27:1-29), his brother Esau (25:29-34), and his uncle Laban. But when he was old and matured, he blessed others everywhere he went. What seemed to be stealing hands became blessing hands. When he met Pharaoh, the top king on the earth, he blessed him (47:7). In the Bible there is the principle that the one who blesses is greater than the one who is blessed (Heb. 7:7); hence, Jacob was greater than Pharaoh.

Genesis 5:22 says that Enoch walked with God for three hundred years. This also means that God walked with Enoch, a man, for three hundred years. These two friends never changed. After three hundred years God took His very intimate friend from the earth and away from death. Is this the story of Enoch or the history of God?

In Genesis 3 we read that after man fell, Adam and Eve were afraid. Then God came and called out to Adam, asking, “Where are you?” (v. 9). This seems very human. The righteous God talked to a sinner in a very intimate, friendly way. Without such a story, how could you know God? Is this the record of Adam and Eve? Apparently it is, but actually it is even more a record of God’s history. It shows us more about God than about Adam and Eve.

If you pick up this principle and apply it to the entire Bible, you can see God on every page. The Bible is not mainly a record of men but a record of God. Furthermore, it is not a record of God in creation; rather, it is a history of God in His dealing with man, who is on His heart. In His dealings with man we can know Him, and we can see what kind of God He is.

You need to read Genesis again according to this principle to see what kind of God is there. Genesis is the first book of God’s history. By reading Genesis in this way, you can see this God manifested and shown to us through all the stories of Him with man. When you add all these stories together, you see His history. Without Genesis you cannot know God very well. Some people say that the New Testament is more important than the Old, and some would even say that we do not need the Old Testament today. But I must tell you that without the Old Testament, you cannot know God so well. Without the story in Genesis 32, could you believe that God wrestled with the man Jacob and that He was not able to prevail against a man (v. 25)? In His wrestling He had no way to put Jacob down, but He exercised His almighty, divine, omnipotent strength and touched his thigh. Then Jacob was crippled, and from then on he limped when he walked. Without such a story, how could you know that God would even wrestle with His people? Perhaps you think that this is the story just of God with Jacob and that today He would not wrestle with anyone. But you are wrong. He may have even tried to wrestle with you this morning, but perhaps you were not ready. Jacob was ready that night because he was desperate, because his brother, whom he had cheated, was coming. He was afraid, so he sent his wife and his children ahead while he remained there. Then he began to wrestle with God, and he would not let God go, for he had one thing to solve with God.

God is this kind of God, but without the Bible we cannot know God in this way. We have heard all the terms about God, that He is righteous, faithful, kind, loving, merciful, and so much more. But we do not know how He is all these. If you would pick up this principle when you read the Bible, I believe that from today the Bible would be a different book to you.