Dispensational Truth
V
Rightly Dividing the Word
Writing to Timothy, Paul said-
"Study to show thyself approved of God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth" 2Tim. 2:15.
The student of the "Word of God" is here spoken of as a "Workman" A workman cannot intelligently do his work without a plan. He must have drawings and specifications. God said to Moses as to the Tabernacle,
"See that thou make all things according to the 'Pattern' showed to thee in the mount." Heb. 8:5.
The student of God's Word must understand
"God's Plan and Purpose in the Ages, "
or there will be confusion in his work of interpreting the Scriptures.
To this end charts are indispensable. But care must be taken not to depend on them alone. While the drawings and specifications of a building are separate they must correspond. So a Biblical chart must correspond with the "Word of, God, " or it may lead to error. The two must be compared.
St. Augustine said-"Distinguish the 'Periods' and the Scripture will harmonize. " After an address by Rev. Dr. A. J. Gordon on "The Plan of the Ages, " a gentleman said to him, "Why, Doctor, you have a 'Pigeon Hole' for every text."
We must learn to
"Rightly Divide the Word of Truth."
While the "Word of Truth" is written FOR all classes of people, and FOR our learning, it is notaddressed to all peoples in general. but part of it is addressed to the JEWS, part to the GENTILES,and part to the CHURCH. These three constitute the THREE CLASSES into which humanity is divided. 1Cor. 10:32. it follows therefore that while the whole Bible was written for the INSTRUCTIONof the Church, it is not all written ABOUT the Church. The Church is not mentioned in the Old Testament. It was hid from the Old Testament prophets, and was a "Mystery" first revealed to Paul, and disclosed by him in Eph. 3:1-3. The Old Testament is mostly taken up with one nation, that of Israel. In the first five chapters of Genesis we given the history of Creation, and 1700 years of human history. In the next four chapters we are given the account of the Flood. The tenth and eleventh chapters give the account of 400 more years of human history, and then God singles out one man, Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3), and from there on the whole of the Old Testament centers around the Jewish Race. When we take the Old Testament promises and apply them to the Church we rob the Jew of that which is exclusively his. For illustration, the prophecy of Isaiah is largely applied to the Church, whereas the very first verse declares that it is-"Concerning JUDAH and JERUSALEM." Isa. 1:1. In the New Testament the Epistles of Hebrews and James are Jewish. The Epistle of James is addressed, not to the Church, but to the"TWELVE TRIBES scattered abroad." James 1:1. Therefore the "Prayer of Faith" (James 5:13-15) for the sick is not primarily a promise to the Church but to Israel, though doubtless it will be answered for all who comply with the conditions. In the Epistle to the Hebrews many Christians stumble at the words "fall away" (Heb. 6:4-6), and "if we sin willfully" Heb. 10:26. But these words do not apply to Christians They were spoken to apostate Jewish professors of Christianity who had never been born again, and who, if they did not accept Jesus as their Messiah, practically crucified Him again, and were as bad as their brethren who did crucify Him.
Some books are general. As for instance the Epistle to the Romans. No one would apply Romans 8th to the Jews, or Romans llth to the Church, for in it Paul speaks not only to Israel but also to the Gentiles.Rom. 11:11-13. ALL Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction,(2Tim. 3:16), and what happened to Israel was written for our ENSAMPLE and ADMONITION, (1Cor. 10:11), but we must not apply to the Church what does not belong to it. We see then that to misapplyscripture is to not "Rightly Divide the Word" and tends to confusion and error.
In "Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth, " we must also distinguish the work of Christ. We are told in the Scriptures that He is a "Prophet, " "Priest" and "King." But He does not hold those offices conjointly but successively. From the Fall in Eden to the Cross, He was a "Prophet." He is now a "High Priest" and when He comes again He will be a "King." From Eden to the Cross there was an "Altar, " from the Cross to the Crown there is a "Table" (the Lord's Table), and from the Crown to Christ's surrender of the Kingdom there is a "Throne." See the chart on "The Greater Life and Work of Christ."
In Heb. 1:1, we read-God hath spoken "at SUNDRY TIMES, " as well as "in DIVERS MANNERS, "and if we are to understand what He has spoken, we must not only distinguish between the class of people He has spoken to, as the Jews, Gentiles or the Church, but we must also note the "SUNDRY TIMES" at which He spoke, and the "DIVERS MANNERS." We must also distinguish between the"TIME PAST" when He spoke by the Prophets, and these "LAST DAYS" in which He hath spoken to us by His SON. Heb. 1:1-2. We must not forget the "DIVINE CONJUNCTIONS" and "DIVINE DISJUNCTIONS" of the Word of God. We must not separate what God has joined, as the "Word of God" and the "Spirit of God, " "Christ and Salvation...... Faith and Works." Neither must we join what God has separated, as "Heaven and Hell, " "Baptism and Regeneration, " "Natural Heredity" and "Spiritual Heredity, " "Standing and State, " "the Church and the Kingdom."
We must also distinguish between the "TIMES" and "SEASONS" of the Scriptures. Daniel said of God-"He changeth the 'TIMES' and the 'SEASONS', " (Dan. 2:21), and Jesus said to His Disciples-"It is not for you to know the 'TIMES' or the 'SEASONS'." Acts 1:7. job testified that the "TIMES are not hidden from the Almighty." Job 24:1. And of the Children of Issachar it was said that they had "understanding of the TIMES." 1Chron. 12:32. By the "SEASONS" we are to understand the climatic changes of the earth due to the movements and changing characteristics of the 'Sun, Moon and Stars, which God ordained to regulate the "Seasons." Gen. 1:14. As to the "TIMES" we have them designated as the "TIMES OF IGNORANCE, " (Acts 17:30); the "TIMES OF THE GENTILES, " (Luke 21:24); the "TIMES OF REFRESHING, " (Acts 3:19); the "TIMES OF RESTITUTION, " (Acts 3:21); and the "Dispensation of the FULNESS OF TIMES." Eph. 1:10. See Chart of "The Times and Seasons."
From the statement, "The Times of the GENTILES, " we see that when the "Gentiles" are in power the "Jews" are not. And as the "Times of the GENTILES" is still running, the Church cannot be in thisDispensation a governing or Kingdom power.
The Relation of Jew, Gentile and Church
The Times and Seasons
But it is not enough to classify the Scriptures in the manner already mentioned, we must learn to separate the Scriptures as to "TIME" and "ETERNITY" and the different "AGES' and"DISPENSATIONS" of "Time." A reference to the Chart-"RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD" will reveal the fact that outside of "TIME" the Scriptures mention "TWO AGES:" before "Time, " the"ALPHA" or "CREATIVE AGES, " and after "Time, " the "OMEGA" or "AGES OF THE AGES."In "Time" there are three "AGES" and seven "DISPENSATIONS." The three "AGES" are-
1 THE ANTEDILUVIAN AGE.
This extends from the "Fall" to the "Flood."
2. THE PRESENT AGE.
This extends from the "Flood" to the "Second Coming of Christ."
3. THE AGE OF AGES.
This extends from the "Second Coming of Christ" to the "End of Time." This last "Age" is a "Dual Age" composed
1. The Millennial Age.
2. The Perfect Age.
The "Millennial Age" is also a "Dispensation" in its relation to the six preceding Dispensations.
An "Age" in Scripture is from one "cataclysmic" or "climatic"change to another in the earth's surface or condition. This corresponds to what is called in Geology an "Age." So we see that Science
and the Bible agree as to the meaning of the word "Age."
We know that at the time of the Flood there were great "cataclysmic" and "climatic' changes, for the"fountains of the great deep were broken up." Gen. 7:11. That is, there was a subsidence that resulted in great physical changes that affected the climate of the earth, and divested the atmosphere of some of its life-sustaining properties, so that the length of life was reduced from 900 to 100 later to threescore and ten.
At the beginning of the Millennium all this will be reversed, for when Christ comes back-
"His feet shall stand in that day (Millennial Day) upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north and half of it toward the south."
"All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem and it shall be lifted up." Zech. 14:4, Zech. 14:10. In verse eight we read-
Living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the 'former sea' (Red Sea) and half of them toward the 'hinder sea' (Mediterranean)."
That means that the Dead Sea, that is now 1200 feet below the Mediterranean, is to be elevated, and its water flow south to the Red sea, and that it shall lose its saltness and be filled with fish, for we read inEze. 47:1-3, that fishermen shall spread their nets upon its shores.
This great "cataclysmic" change is going to make a great change in the climate and restore the life-sustaining power of the atmosphere like unto that before the Flood, for we read in Isa. 65:20, that in the Millennial days that are to follow-
"There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days; for the child shall die an hundred years old."
That is, a person a hundred years old shall only be considered a child, which means that men shall live again in the Millennium to the age of Methusaleh.
The Chart is divided into 3 "Ages, " corresponding to the Divine number "Three" (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) ; and into 7 "Dispensations, " to correspond to the Perfect number "Seven" composed of the Divine number "Three" and the World number "Four" -Winter Spring, Summer and Autumn, or the four elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water.
The difference between an "AGE" and a "DISPENSATION is that an "AGE" stands for a period between two great physical changes in the earth's surface, while a "DISPENSATION" stands for a"moral" or "probationary" period in the world's history. The form of "Administration" is different in each "Dispensation." For illustration, the Administration of the Jewish Dispensation was that of "LAW, " the Administration of the present Dispensation is of "GRACE, " and of the one to follow is"RIGHTEOUSNESS."
All the confusion about the "Ages, " "Dispensations, " and "End of the World" is largely due to the mistranslation of two Greek words in the New Testament.
The first word is "Kosmos." It means the external arrangement and beauty of the natural world,and includes the thought of nations, peoples, and worldly possessions, as in Matt. 4:8.
"Again the Devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them."
Also Matt. 13:38, "The Field is the World." And Luke 11:50, "That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the 'foundation of the World, ' may be required of this generation." This word "Kosmos" occurs 170 times and is always translated "World."
The second word is "Aion" and means "Age, " "Dispensation, " "Indefinite Time." It occurs 28 times, and is also translated "World."
To show how misleading this translation is we need only to cite a passage or two. Take Matt. 13:39, Matt. 13:40, Matt. 13:49.
"The enemy that sowed them is the Devil; and the harvest is the end of the world."
It should read-the "end of the Age." "Be not conformed to this world (Age)." Rom. 12:2. "In whom the god of this world (Age) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not." 2Cor. 4:4. "Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world (Age)." Gal. 1:4. "Charge them that are rich in this world (Age)." 1Tim. 6:17. "Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds (Ages)." Heb. 1:2. "Through faith we understand that the worlds (Ages) were framed by the Word of God (Jesus)." Heb. 11:3. From this we see that Jesus not only made the "earth-worlds, " John 1:1-3, but He also made the "time-worlds, " that is, He planned the "Ages" and "Dispensations."
Let us now take up the "Ages" and "Dispensations" and study them separately.
I. THE CREATIVE AGES
The Scriptures begin with the sublime declaration-
"In the beginning God 'CREATED' the heaven and the earth." Gen. 1:1.
As the word "heaven" is in the singular it will clarify matters to limit this creative act to our own planet, and the solar system to which it belongs, rather than to the whole of the starry spaces or universe.
1. THE ORIGINAL OR PRE-ADAMITE EARTH
This creation was in the dateless past. It was not at the beginning of the first day as described in Gen. 1:3-5. The six days' work as described in Gen. 1:3-5 was the restoration of the earth (not the heavens or starry space), to its original condition before it was made 'formless and void, " and submerged in water and darkness.
Peter speaks of it as the "World that then was, that being overflowed with water, perished." 2Pet. 3:5-7.
The manner of the "creation" of the Pre-Adamite Earth is not revealed in the Scriptures. They simply declare that-"In the BEGINNING GOD CREATED the heaven and the earth." We have to fall back then upon Science. Among the theories advanced for the origin of the Solar System of which our Earth is a part is-
THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS
In the year 1796 the astronomer La Place advanced the theory that the sun, planets and moons of our Solar System were once one vast spherical mass of nebulous or gaseous matter, out of which they have developed. He claimed that this mass of nebulous matter coming in contact with the cold of space began to contract, and in . contracting a rotary motion was set up around its center, and the more rapidly it cooled the faster it revolved, until it became flattened at the poles and protruded at the equator, until it more resembled two watch crystals placed edge to edge than it did a round ball. As the cooling progressed, and the rapidity of revolution increased, a ring of matter was detached from the edge of the watch-crystal shaped mass, which still continued to revolve around the parent mass, which parent mass as it cooled shrunk away from the ring, and that this process continued until a number of rings were thrown off, all revolving in the same direction within each other and around the central mass. These rings of matter as they separately condensed were broken into fragments, and some of the fragments were retarded and others accelerated until they coalesced and formed a globe which continued to revolve in the same direction, the outermost ring forming the planet Neptune and the innermost Mercury. The central mass of this nebulous matter, after the rings had been separated from the parent mass, is now our sun.
The moons of the planets were formed in the same manner, they having been detached rings of matter circling around their respective planets. As an evidence of this we have the rings of Saturn, that doubtless in time will break up and form moons for that planet.
Between Mars and Jupiter there seems to be a break in the series, which can only be accounted for by supposing that the Asteroids, which appear to be the fragments of a planet, and that all revolve around the sun in the same direction as the other planets, are the fragments of a nebulous ring that would have formed a planet if it had not been for the nearness of the immense planet Jupiter.
If the sun and planets of our Solar System sprang from the same parent mass, they should be composed of the same chemical elements, first, would be in the most advanced stage, but we must not forget that the larger the mass the slower it cools, and therefore, if the Nebular Hypothesis is correct, Jupiter and Saturn must still be very hot, and not as far advanced and fit for habitation as the earth, and this we know to be the fact.
Objection has been raised to the "Nebular Hypothesis" Theory on the basis that a "gaseous" nebula could not exist in the cold of space, and that the nebulous matter of the nebula is not gas, but meteoric luminous matter, made luminous by the collision of meteoric particles, and out of the union of these particles the. planets were formed. Another theory is that the planets have been formed by the union of smaller planetary bodies that were welded together by the immense heat generated by their impact upon each other. But each theory has its difficulties.
A survey of the heavens reveals numerous "spiral nebula" that seem to be "Solar Systems" in the process of formation, but the invention of powerful telescopes has revealed that many of these nebula are not gaseous but clusters of stars. Nevertheless it has been shown that many of the nebula are gaseous, but it was not until May, 1914, that Dr. Slipher, of the Flagstaff Observatory, Arizona, by spectograms proved that the nebula in the Constellation of Virgo was revolving, this proving that the Nebular Hypothesis of La Place is not without foundation.
The proofs of the Nebular Hypothesis are-(l) The orbits of the planets are nearly circular. (2) They revolve almost in the same plane as the sun's equator. (3) They all revolve around the sun in the same direction, which is also the direction of the sun's rotation. (4) They rotate on their own axis also, as far as known, in the same direction. (5) Their satellites or moons, with the exception of those of Uranus and Neptune, revolve in the same -direction as their planet. (6) The earth is still cooling, as is proved by its outer crust and internal fire that. finds vents in volcanoes, for when we examine a hot ball and find it warmer inside than out we know it is cooling off.
The time was then when our earth was a globular mass of molten matter surrounded by an atmosphere of gaseous and metallic vapors. As the globular mass cooled off by radiation a thin crust of rocky formation was formed on its outer surface. This increased slowly in thickness, and as the interior mass shrunk in cooling the outer crust fell in or wrinkled, and was here and there by earthquake and volcanic action tilted out of the horizontal, and thus was formed the diverse stratification of the rocky foundation of the earth's surface. The cooling of the earth's surface and the formation of its rocky crust permitted its gaseous and metallic vaporous atmosphere to cool, and the metallic vapors condensed and were precipitated in the form of metallic rain upon the earth's crust, and, according to their specific gravity, they collected and distributed themselves in pockets and recesses of the earth's crust to be later by upheavals and changes in the earth's crust thrown to the surface for the use of man.
In the course of time-and the formation of our Solar System took thousands upon thousands of years-the earth cooled off sufficiently to permit the oxygen and hydrogen in the atmosphere to form water, that fell in the form of rain on the earth, but like when water falls upon a red-hot plate it is immediately turned into steam, the first rain that fell was vaporized by the heat of the earth's crust, but, continuing to fall, it finally so cooled the earth's surface as to be able to remain and form seas and oceans. As time passed on the rocky surface of the earth was disintegrated and formed soil, and when the soil was fit, vegetation and trees and plant life appeared. Then came the lower orders of marine life, followed by fish and fowl. Then the land animals, and whatever other orders of beings that inhabited the original earth.
That we may have a faint idea of the time it took for the earth to become habitable, we have only to turn to the Carboniferous Period of its history. Coal is formed from vegetable matter. In the Carboniferous Period the atmosphere was full of Carbonic Acid Gas, in which animal life could not exist. The atmosphere was Moist and steamy like that of a hothouse, and vegetation was very rank, and ferns and plant life grew to immense proportions. By atmospheric and earthquake action the immense forests of the Carboniferous Period were thrown down and buried under layers of soil and rock. until their vegetable matter was compressed into coal. This was repeated until coal bed after coal bed was formed in overlying seams. The time it took to form these beds of coal is seen when we learn that it would take 1200 years for the most luxuriant vegetation of the present day to form a coal seam 6 inches thick, or 7200 years to form a seam 3 feet thick, the thinnest that can be worked to advantage. In the coal measures of Nova Scotia are 76 seams of coal, of which one is 22 feet thick, and another 37. Thus we see that it took thousands of years to form the coal beds of the earth alone. How many millenniums of years must it not have required then for the earth to pass from a molten state to a habitable condition?
But the "Word of God" and the "Works of God" must harmonize. There can be no conflict between the Bible and Science. Science demands thousands of years for the formation of the earth and all the time it demands is given to it in the sublime words of Gen. 1:1, "In the BEGINNING God created the heaven and the earth." This verse then covers the whole period of the formation of. the earth and its preparation for the habitation of man.
The Egyptians, as Plato informs us, taught that the earth and the heavens originated out of a kind of pulp, and that men were generated from the slime of the river Nile. Other sages of Egypt held that the world was hatched from a winged egg. Now as Moses was "learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" (Acts 7:22) how is it that he did not say that the heavens originated out of a kind of pulp, and that the world was hatched from a winged egg? Simply because God revealed to him, probably when he was up on the mount with God, just how the world was created.
