57
T h e
February 1931
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
Here, then, is the beginning of a nation, the nation, as distinct and separate from the nations. It is a nation that in its very call, as above quoted, is associated ever and al ways with the land. Shortly the covenant promise is re newed in terms of the possession of the land; but, as we quote it, we must ask the reader to note how the further feature of the pattern, that of separation, is introduced; indeed, the promise seems to hinge upon Abraham’s step of more utter separation: “And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee” (Gen. 13:14-17). Now we are prepared to see the double feature of Is rael’s national life, so strikingly set before us in the pat tern. In the. purpose of God they are to be: (a) a sep arated people, set apart to Him; and (b) a fruitful, pros pered people. Yes, and the prospering is in proportion to the separation. Really these two features, in their interplay of rela tionship, furnish us with the inside story of Israel’s his tory. When they refused to be separated to God and the land, in faith and worship, then came their failures—in Egypt, at Kadesh-barnea, in the times of the judges— till, under the kings, the principle breaks down and they become the captive subjects of the nations. Yet God ever appealed to them with such promises as these: “Trust in the Lord, and do good: so shalt thou dwell in the land . . . Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land” (Psa. 37:3, 34). Jehovah holds them in His heart as His vine yard, planted in the land and hedged about with His watch-care: “A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day” (Isa. 27:2, 3). 5. Gospel. This brings us to Christ, the great Light of whom all previous light is but the adumbration. Her alded with the light of the star and outshining the “glory of God,” welcomed as “a light to lighten the nations,” how often He referred to Himself as the light, saying: “ I am the light of the world, he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life . . . While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light” (John 8 :12; 12:36). ,Of special interest to the student is the exact corres pondence between “sun, moon, and stars” in the pattern chapter and “Christ, church, and Christians” in the gos pel age. While the “Sun of Righteousness” is banished through unbelief, and a resulting spiritual darkness en shrouds mankind, we “are the light of the world”-1—the church as she walks in His light; believers who “were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord.” To us comes the command to “walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8). In the interests of brevity we summarize the remain ing dispensations: ■6. Tribulation. The symbolism is that of water. The experience for the remnant of Israel will be the “waters” of the nations overflowing the “land” of Palestine in the mighty conflict that will culminate in the Valley of Je- hoshaphat, where the Battle of Armageddon is to be (Continued on page 61)
It must now be noted that fidelity to the structural scheme of Genesis 1 requires us to deviate from our usually accepted designation of the dispensations in sev eral particulars: First, the word “conscience” is not the most natural or truly descriptive title for the second dispensation. The thought is duality. This, the fundamental feature of “two,” will reappear in all our subsequent studies. Second, the thought of the law is absent. It can be found in this scheme only by inference, as God’s fence to secure the separation of His people and their continu ance in that separation. Third, the tribulation takes its place as one of the dis pensations. This is an exceedingly important finding—a finding that receives unmistakable corroboration from our later studies in other scriptures. Fourth, the dispensations numbered four and seven, following the pattern of the double days in Genesis 1. partake of the same double character. Fifth, the eternal age finds its place as one of the dis pensations, the goal and climax of them all. S equence of t h e D ispensations As briefly as we may, let us follow through the suc cessive steps of God’s dealings with man in redemption, as set forth in the foregoing arrangement. 1. Creation, ending in the Fall. This is introductory and, taken with the so-called: creation account of Gene sis 1, constitutes the introduction to the Bible narrative. It shows man in his original estate of innocency, of fel lowship with God, and of responsibility to God. But man did not retain his original estate. In a simple test of obe dience to God, with its rewards and penalties, he failed and thereby fell into a state of sinfulness and1of conse quent separation from God. Thus the problem is stated, and the stage is set for God’s work of redemption. It will occupy six days, correspondent to the six work days of Genesis 1. 2. -Good and Evil. As in the material world dark ness set in, answering which God called for light, yet the darkness persisted in opposition to the light, so it was in the life following the fall. Satan deceived our first parents, promising that through the course he tempted them to take they should “know good and evil.” And they did, not only personally but in their posterity. Their first-born became a murderer. To this his evil heart was provoked by the “light” of the true faith and worship in his brother. But God raised up the good line of Seth, in the place of Abel and in opposition to the evil line of Cain. Thus Genesis 4 and 5 maintain throughout the duality found in the pattern. 3. Government, that is, of the Nations. Genesis 6 to 11 tells the story of the occasion for the flood, in the increasing wickedness that is traced to a coalescing of the “light” and the “darkness,” the “good” and the “evil.” The remedy is the narrowing down of the race to eight souls wherewith God would make a new beginning (Gen. 6 to 9). Then follows the story of how, in this new civilization, the nations sprang into being and spread over the earth, God placing them under a system of human gov ernment and regulation of life (Gen. 10, 11). This is the regime, the dispensation, that emerged from the “waters” of the flood, in strict correspondence to the pattern. 4. Chosen People, called to dwell in the Land. This was the call that came to Abraham: “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee” (Gen. 12:1).
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