Lesson 15 — The Dispensation of Promise

1. 1 THE DISPENSATION OF PROMISE

THE DISPENSATION OF PROMISE

Genesis 12:1

THE PRESENT AGE Genesis 8:14

This dispensation is so-called because of the promises and covenants made to Abraham and his seed and because these promises formed the basis of God’s dealings with His chosen people during this period. This is the first period during which God began to emphasize and promise the coming of Christ through a particular line or branch of the race. It is true that history reveals that Christ came through Seth and his descendants as listed in Gen. 5 and Lk. 3:23-38, but never before Abraham did God prophesy that Christ would definitely come through a particular branch of the race. The only clear prophecy of Christ had been given to Adam and Eve in the Garden at the time of the Fall, but it was not then predicted that He would come through any particular one of Adam’s sons Genesis 3:15.

The prophecy, that of Noah concerning Shem, is generally taken as the next prediction of the coming of Christ, but that passage does not mention the Messiah in particular. It simply predicts that God would be a special deity to Shem. In the light of what has happened since, we take this prophecy as referring to Christ, but by itself it does not so state, nor was it then clear that He was to come through Shem Genesis 9:24-27.

Beginning with Abraham, God singled out his branch of the race as the very one through whom the seed of the woman should come. In this period of 430 years God gave many promises and prophecies of the coming Messiah through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and his descendants. In Gen. 12:1-3 we have the first prophecy in the Bible that awaits complete fulfillment when, in the Millennium and forever, “In thee [Christ, the seed of Abraham] shall all families of the earth be blessed.” This prophecy and promise was confirmed later to Abraham Genesis 17:19Genesis 21:12Genesis 22:17-18; to Isaac Genesis 26:3-4; to Jacob Genesis 28:3-4, 13; and to Judah Genesis 49:8-12.

II. The Length of the Dispensation of Promise: 430 Years

According to Exod. 12:40; Gal. 3:14-17 this dispensation lasted for 430 years, or from the call of Abraham to Moses. The 430 years are made up as follows:

1. 1 From the 75th year of Abraham to the birth of Isaac Genesis 12:4Genesis 21:5 25 years

1. 1 From Isaac’s birth to that of Jacob Genesis 25:26 60 years

1. 1 From Jacob’s birth to his death Genesis 47:28 147 years

1. 1 From Jacob’s death to that of Joseph Genesis 37:2Genesis 41:46Genesis 47:27Genesis 50:22 54 years

1. 1 From Joseph’s death to the exodus from Egypt Exodus 12:40 144 years

TOTAL 430 years

The 400 years of Gen. 15:13 and Acts 7:6 are reckoned from the confirmation of Isaac as the seed when Ishmael was cast out Genesis 21:12Galatians 4:30. This was five years after the birth of Isaac. The 430 years are reckoned from Abraham’s departure from Haran, twenty-five years before Isaac was born. Abraham’s seed was in Egypt only 215 years, while the whole “sojourn” in the “strange” countries of Canaan, Philistia, Egypt, and other countries fulfilling the prophecy of Gen. 15:13, was 400 years in round numbers or 430 years from Gen. 12:1-3. Various countries make up the land of the sojourn as is clear from Gen. 12:1-20; 13:1-18; 15:13-14; 20:1-18; 21:22-34; 23:4; 26:3-35; 28:10; 29:1; 31:13-55; 35:6; 37:1; 46:1-7; 47:27; 50:22-26; Exod. 1-12; Heb. 11:8-10.

III. The Favorable Beginning of the Dispensation of Promise

The Dispensation of Promise began with the call of Abraham. God revealed Himself to him and made an eternal covenant with him to bless him and his seed forever and to give them the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession Genesis 12:1-3Genesis 13:14-18Genesis 15:17-21Genesis 17:7-19. Abraham had the true knowledge of God and of His worship Genesis 12:4-9Genesis 13:1-4Genesis 14:17-24Genesis 15:1-21Genesis 17:4-19. He had the gospel of Christ and faith in God and in the blood of Christ to redeem from all sin Galatians 3:6-9Romans 4:1-25. He was a saved and born-again man in the same sense in which men are today saved and born-again James 2:21-24. He had the promise of eternal life and of an eternal home, and he looked for a city to come, where he could live forever with God Hebrews 11:8-19. He had faith in the resurrection of the dead and had personal experience of many things of the gospel we now enjoy Hebrews 11:19. He believed in divine healing and was greatly used of God in the healing of a whole nation Genesis 20:7, 17.

He was separated from the idolatrous nations and was a fit representative of God in the Earth. He had the promises and covenants that all nations would be blessed through him, that his seed would be as the stars of the heavens and as the sand of the sea in number, that he would have a great name in the Earth, that he would be the father of a great nation, that kings would come from him, that his natural seed would be eternal, and that he would be great and rich in the Earth. He had a personal relationship with God such as few men have had, having received many revelations from Him concerning this life and the one to come. He became a rich man, and God caused everything that he did to prosper. There certainly could not have been a better and more favorable beginning for any man to start his stewardship in carrying out the purpose of God in this age. By reading Genesis from the twelfth chapter on, one can see many favorable conditions for man in this age.

Human Government Enlarged

Many laws of human government besides those given to Noah by God in Gen. 9 were added from time to time as sins against society made such laws necessary. Some of these laws are listed in Genesis. They concerned monogamy (12:18; 16:1); adultery (12:18; 20:3-9); priesthood (14:18); tithes (14:20; 28:22); covenant-making (15:10-18; 21:27-34; 31:44-55); circumcision (17:10); hospitality (18:1-8; 19:8); licentiousness (18:20-21); fornication (34:7); oaths (21:23; 24:41); birthright (25:33); anointing oil (28:18; 31:13); vows (28:18); idolatry (31:32-35); a brother’s widow (38:8); dowry (34:12).

Some of these laws were man-made, and some of them were given by God. Many of them were included in the laws of Moses as God continued to enlarge human government in the Earth and hold man more and more responsible for his sins against others. Some of these civil laws were part of the code of laws made by Amrophel, the ruler of Babylon, that governed people at various times from Persia to the Caspian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. In Gen. 14 we have mention of the vast Babylonian Empire that ruled many peoples in the early days of the race since the flood. Some of the civil laws made by man concerned “adoption” Genesis 15:1-6; “concubines” Genesis 16:1-3Genesis 30:1-24; “burial places” (Gen. 23); “execution for stealing” Genesis 31:32; “execution by burning” Genesis 38:24; “death for stealing in a palace” Genesis 44:9; “a special portion allotted to a favorite son” Genesis 48:22, and others that can be discovered by carefully reading the book of Genesis.

God did not do away with human government and man’s responsibility faithfully to execute human laws for punishing crime just because He began to introduce more fully the gospel of grace. Human government is here to stay. It will continue even in the Millennium and the New Earth, as we shall see in Lessons Forty-nine through Fifty-two.

IV. The Test in the Dispensation of Promise

The particular test for man in this age was to believe the promises of God and obey the gospel as revealed in the Abrahamic Covenant. This phase of man’s test primarily concerned the chosen family of Abraham. God saw that He could not deal with the race as a whole because they were determined to rebel against Him and perpetuate idolatry in the Earth and live lives consecrated to self-gratification. His plan now was to work through His elect of this period, the family of Abraham. To them were given the particular promises and covenants and the responsibility of remaining separated from all other people and of being wholly consecrated to the true God and His worship. God required them to leave their own relatives and sojourn in a strange land, remaining sanctified to God as His representatives in the Earth.

Besides requiring the elect of this period to carry out their particular calling, God required of them to obey all civil laws that would not conflict with His divine plan for them. Concerning the other nations, their test in this period was to obey the laws of human government and also have faith in God and conform to the gospel as revealed to them by the chosen race and by the conscience that is in every man Romans 2:12-16

There was no excuse in this period for man’s not knowing the truth of his lost state and of what God required for him to be saved. There was a knowledge of God among many people. All the inhabitants of Canaan knew of God because of the presence of both Abraham and Melchisedec and later of Isaac, Jacob, and others. God dealt personally with the “Egyptians” Genesis 13:10-20Genesis 39:1-50; “Hagar” (Gen. 16); “the cities of the plain” (Gen. 19); “Philistia” (Gen. 20 and 26); “Rebekah’s family” Genesis 24:1-67Genesis 28:1-31, and others throughout this age. The heads of the nations of Moab, Ammon, Edom, Midian, and other branches of the race were all brought up in the homes of Lot and Abraham. Abraham’s family sojourned for 430 years in various lands, and these people all had the testimony of God from Abraham’s family. At the end of this age many nations saw God’s great power in the plagues in Egypt, in the wilderness, and in Canaan and surrounding countries—miracles that only God could bring about. Thus God has not been without witness among the nations of every age. Men were required to live up to the light they received in each period, and they will be judged accordingly.

Because mankind had utterly failed God in every test and was sinful, idolatrous, and rebellious against God, the Lord saw that He could no longer deal with humanity as a whole. He, therefore, purposed in this dispensation to call out one man and to make him and his seed the representatives of God among all nations. God planned to give them the land of promise for an everlasting possession and as a base of operations to further His plan concerning the coming of the seed of the woman and the defeat of the giants and other satanic enemies in the Earth. He planned that this land would be the place in which the Messiah should be born to rule all nations forever. God’s plan was to keep the chosen race pure Adamite stock and free from corruptions of the giant races that were then filling the land, so that there would be no failure in the coming of the seed of the woman into the world to redeem the race and carry out His eternal purpose.

The second eruption of the sons of God had already taken place before the call of Abraham, and God knew full well the purpose of the devil in this. It was the same purpose as before the flood; that is, to corrupt the human race and do away with pure Adamite stock so that the seed of the woman could not come into the world which event would have averted Satan’s own doom and that of the fallen angels and would have caused their rulership of the Earth to continue. Already the sons of God were marrying the daughters of men and producing a race of giants in the Earth as before the flood. They were then in possession of Canaan and surrounding countries, the very lands God had in His plan to become the base of His missionary and governmental operations among the nations. But God purposed to let Israel multiply in another land until they became strong enough to destroy these giants and possess the lands He had in mind in fulfillment of His plans. In Lesson Seventeen we shall see how these giants were destroyed by the sword of Israel, thus accomplishing what God had planned in this dispensation. (See Lessons Eleven and Thirteen concerning the sons of God and the daughters of men before and after the flood.)

God purposed by the choice of Abraham and his seed that He would make of them His physical, financial, and spiritual representatives in the Earth. God wanted to demonstrate to all the heathen who served false gods what serving the true and living God would be like. He wanted to show the great contrast between the blessings of service to a living God and to dead idols that the nations served. God wanted to make Israel a spiritual power in His hands to defeat the powers of Satan and demonstrate to all men that all can have and use the power of God to conquer all satanic forces of sin and sickness. He wanted to make Israel perfect in physical health in order to prove to men that it is the will of God for all men to be free from sickness and diseases. He wanted Israel to prosper and be rich materially to also prove that it is the will of God for all men to have freedom from want and poverty. He wanted Israel to be happy and victorious over all foes and to be a true example of what God’s highest will is for all the fallen race. He wanted Israel to be the ideal nation whose people would be happy, prosperous, sinless, and healthy, living in perfect peace and blessedness so that all heathen nations would be drawn back to God and accept God as the rightful Moral Governor of the universe.

Thus by an actual demonstration of the blessings of God upon Israel, God planned to make perfectly clear His will to all mankind. Israel was called to be the missionaries for God to all nations. If they had proved true to God the Earth could have been evangelized centuries before Christ came. All men could have had today a definite demonstration of truth in the bodies, souls, and spirits and in the religion and government of the chosen nation. They would have been the head and not the tail. They would be the esteemed leaders of all the Gentiles, and all nations would be blessed along with them as they are going to be in the Millennium and forever. We would have now the days of Heaven on Earth, which will not be until Jesus comes the second time, as we shall see in Lesson Forty-nine.

God planned to banish poverty, want, sickness, sin, and all misery from the Earth in the lives of all that would follow Israel in service to the true God and the gospel of Christ. Never did a nation have a better opportunity to be used of God among all the other nations than did Israel from the call of Abraham to the advent of Christ.

Never was there a greater program for a people on the Earth than the one God had in mind when He called Abraham and elected his race to represent truth. Most of what is now included in the gospel of this period of grace had its beginning and purpose in the Age of Promise. God preached the gospel before to Abraham and his seed, saying, “In thee shall all the nations be blessed” Galatians 3:7-9. All the wonderful doctrines of the New Testament are found in the promises and covenant made with Abraham. Blessings such as salvation in its manifold aspect, remission of sin, conversion, repentance, faith, consecration, eternal life, spiritual revelations, redemption, sanctification, justification, bodily healing, health, grace, heirship, reconciliation, imputation of righteousness, answers to prayer, bodily resurrection, fruit of the spirit, and many other parts of the present gospel were experienced in Abraham’s seed before the cross. This we shall see in Lessons Thirty-three and Thirty-four.

VI. The Means of God in Accomplishing His Purpose

The call of God, the covenant and promises which included “the gospel” Galatians 3:6-9, 13, and the personal dealings and revelations of God and His plan to Abraham and his seed were the means used by God in accomplishing His purpose in this age. God had confidence in Abraham that He would remain separate and represent Him according to the gospel to all the other nations. He trusted him and his seed to preserve their own pedigree and remain free from the giant-mixture in the race so that the seed of the woman could come and bruise the serpent’s head.

Little did Abraham realize what all God had in mind when He first called him, but he was obedient and followed God step by step as God revealed His plan. He left his own country and went into the land of the giants to sojourn there. In this land God revealed to him many things. One of them was that his seed should sojourn in Egypt and become a great nation and then be brought back to possess the land Genesis 15:13-21. This was fulfilled in this Dispensation of Promise. His seed multiplied slowly to begin with, only 70 souls in 215 years, but in the next 215 years they multiplied rapidly so that they increased to 600,000 men of war besides their wives, children, and older people. There were also many Egyptian proselytes who united with the nation Exodus 12:38Numbers 11:4Nehemiah 13:3. There must have been over six million people when they came out of Egypt. God wanted them to be strong enough to destroy the giants that occupied the promised land and thus do away with all abnormal beings that came from the sons of God and the daughters of men since the flood Genesis 6:4. In Gen. 15:16 we learn that even at the time of Abraham God purposed to destroy these giants.

The sword of Israel was the means God used in destroying the mighty race of giants since the flood, as we have already explained in Lesson Eleven. Israel was made a great nation in Egypt and was greatly used of God in fulfilling God’s prophetic Word concerning Egypt, Canaan and other lands round about the promised land Genesis 15:13-16Deuteronomy 20:17Joshua 3:10. In times of surrender to the whole will of God by obedience, Israel demonstrated before all nations the power of God over sicknesses, poverty, want, and sin. God made the whole nation healthy, and there was not one feeble person in all their tribes Psalms 105:37Psalms 107:20. He promised continued freedom from sickness and diseases Exodus 15:26Exodus 23:25. He promised wealth and happiness forever, and Israel enjoyed these blessings as long as she walked in the will of God (Lev. 26; Deut. 28). During the reign of David, Solomon, and a few other kings of Judah all nations were attracted to the God of Israel, thus showing the purpose of God in Israel in a measure in the period from Abraham to Christ.

VII. The Failure of Men in the Dispensation of Promise

The history of Abraham and his seed as recorded in Genesis 12–20 and Exod. 1–12 reveals the failure of Israel in particular and of all men in general. These failures are made clear in the following points:

1. 1 THE FAILURE OF ABRAHAM Genesis 12:11–25. The first failure of Abraham was in not leaving all of his relatives behind when he went into the Promised Land. God had told him to “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house” Genesis 12:1-3. Abraham permitted Terah, his father, to take him into Canaan, and this was not as God commanded Genesis 11:31-32. Several of Abraham’s family started from Ur of the Chaldees, and they were delayed in Haran until the death of Terah. Then some of the family stayed in Haran, and some went along with Abraham to Canaan Genesis 12:1-6.

The next failure of Abraham was in manifesting unbelief in God’s preservation. He left Canaan to go into Egypt in time of famine. This might not have been such a great failure and might have been permitted of God, but his becoming afraid that the Egyptians would kill him for Sarah’s sake and his deceiving Pharaoh was inexcusable Genesis 12:10-20. It was a clear failure not to believe the promise of God that his seed would bless all nations. He should have known that if God’s promises were true the Egyptians could not have killed him, for he had no seed as yet, and he would have to live if he was ever to have any. In Egypt Satan tried to corrupt Sarah and frustrate God’s purpose in the coming of the seed of the woman through Abraham, but God intervened and protected Sarah, and Abraham’s deception was discovered. He was then expelled from Egypt; so his sojourn there clearly was apart from the will of God, or else he failed God while there.

God was with Abraham in his coming back into Canaan. He was finally separated from Lot, and then God promised him seed as the stars and as the sand of the sea in number Genesis 13:1-18.

Abraham delivered Lot from his enemies as recorded in Gen. 14. Then God appeared to him again and promised a son, and offspring as the stars and as the sand in number (Gen. 15). Fifteen years went by, and still there was no promised son; so Sarah got a bright idea how to help God fulfill His Word. She suggested that Abraham take a second wife, and she gave him Hagar, her handmaid, who bore to him Ishmael (Gen. 16). This was not God’s plan of how to get the promised seed, and it caused untold family trouble. Thus Abraham failed God again in not having faith for seed through Sarah.

Fourteen more years went by and still there was no promised seed. God then appeared to Abraham and renewed His covenant with him and confirmed it by commanding circumcision. Abraham was 99 years old, and Ishmael was thirteen when they were circumcised (Gen. 17). A few weeks later God again appeared to Abraham in person and promised a son through Sarah, who was 89 years old. Both Sarah and Abraham were past the age of parenthood, but God renewed His promise and told them that they would have a child next year.

At this same time Abraham went to Philistia and failed God again in unbelief. He sinned in that he gave Sarah to the king for his harem. This was another attempt of Satan to corrupt Sarah, but God again intervened by cursing the whole nation of the Philistines and making all their women barren. If God had not permitted this to protect Sarah the promised son that came from Abraham would have been considered by Abraham himself as being the child of Abimelech. In this case there would have been untold scandal and family trouble. God rescued Sarah so that Abimelech never knew her so that Abraham could know without a doubt that Isaac was his own child—the long promised one.

From here on Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, counting that God was faithful to His Word. God renewed the youth of both Abraham and Sarah, and Isaac was born Romans 4:12-21Hebrews 11:11-12. At this same time God appeared to Abraham and ate a good meal with him and told him about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18-19). Lot was delivered from Sodom, and the last we read of him was concerning his shame with his two daughters, from which came Moab and Ammon Genesis 19:33-38. Hagar and Ishmael were cast out when Isaac became old enough to be weaned (Gen. 21). Abraham and Abimelech made a covenant together, and Abraham sojourned in the land of Philistia many days. After this Abraham consented to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, but God intervened and provided another sacrifice (Gen. 22). Sarah died when Isaac was thirty-seven years old, and she was buried in the cave of Machpelah (Gen. 23). When forty years of age Isaac married Rebekah, whom Abraham’s servant got in Haran from his kindred (Gen. 24). Abraham married Keturah and had six sons by her as well as other children by his concubines. He left all his wealth to Isaac except gifts which were given his other children whom he sent away from Isaac into the East country. Abraham died when he was 175 years of age and was buried by Isaac and Ishmael beside Sarah in the cave of Machpelah (Gen. 25).

Thus Abraham was not absolutely perfect as so many people of today think that he was. For about twenty-four years he had a struggle with his faith and patience concerning the promised son. After several failures to believe God without wavering, in the twenty-fifth year he was strong in faith with no more recorded failures Romans 4:17-25. After that there was no need for faith in a promised son, for he had what was promised Romans 8:24-25. He lived as a good man, full of experience, for seventy-five more years and then died in the faith of God.

1. 1 THE FAILURE OF ISAAC Genesis 21:1–35. Isaac seemed to be less spiritual than Abraham. He had fewer revelations than did Abraham. He loved Esau better than Jacob, thus causing much family trouble later on. Isaac, like Abraham, failed in faith when famine came and he went into Philistia and sinned the same way Abraham did concerning his wife. This was Satan’s attempt to corrupt Rebekah, through whom the Messiah was to come, but God intervened, and she was spared sinning against man and God (Gen. 25). God had promised that Isaac’s seed would be as the stars and as the sand in number, and if he had believed God no man could have killed him to get his wife.

Isaac had more troubles and trials with the inhabitants of the land than did Abraham and also more troubles with his children. Altogether we see a decline in the spiritual and home life in the family of Isaac as compared with that of Abraham. Twenty years went by after Isaac was married, and there was no child; so he prayed to God about it, and twins were born Genesis 25:19-34. God predicted that Jacob would be the greater of the two boys, and it was through him that the Messiah was to come, but in spite of this, Isaac loved Esau and tried to give him the blessing, but he was defeated through the trickery of Rebekah (Gen. 27). After this, Isaac lived in the land for many years, the twenty that Jacob was away from home and many years after this. He died at the age of 180 years, and Jacob and Esau buried him Genesis 35:27-29.

1. 1 THE FAILURE OF JACOB AND HIS SONS Genesis 25:24–49. Jacob was less spiritual than Isaac. He was of a disposition that always tried to get ahead of everyone else in life. In fact, he was called “Jacob” or “supplanter” because in the womb he tried to get ahead of his brother and be the first born Genesis 25:24-26. His history begins with the story of twins struggling in Rebekah’s womb and with the prophecy that he should be the greater of the two boys Genesis 25:22-23. When grown he bought his brother’s birthright and stole his blessing Genesis 25:27-34Genesis 27:1-46. For this he had to flee to Haran to escape his brother’s wrath (Gen. 28). While there he reared a big family and schemed in every conceivable way to get the riches of his father-in-law by tampering with nature and working underhandedly against him (Gen. 29-30). This caused Laban’s sons to plot against him, and this plot made Jacob decide to go back home. He fled from Laban, who pursued him and caught him in Gilead and would have harmed him if God had not intervened (Gen. 31).

Jacob heard that Esau was coming after him with 400 armed men, and he failed God in being afraid that he would be killed. He wrestled with God all night, and his whole life and disposition were changed (Gen. 32). God made Esau friendly, and Jacob settled in Canaan (Gen. 33). It was there that he began to reap his many years of sowing by trying to get ahead of everybody. His daughter was defiled, and this caused her brothers to kill all the men of Shechem. Some of his family became idolaters Genesis 35:25. Rachel, his beloved wife, and Isaac, his father, both died (Gen. 35). Reuben committed adultery with his father’s concubine Genesis 35:22. His family of sons became lawless and unfaithful and lied to him. They sold Joseph into Egypt (Gen. 37). Judah, one of his sons, brought shame upon the family in the matter of his daughter-in-law and in marrying outside of the chosen family (Gen. 38). Jacob ended his life in Egypt with his sons and died at the age of 147 years (Gen. 47).

Jacob’s descendants were less spiritual than he was, except Joseph, and in a period of 215 years they were almost wholly backslidden and had forgotten God. For this God permitted them to be brought into bondage to the Egyptians so that they could be brought back to faith in God through their troubles. Their backslidings can be seen in such passages as Exod. 2:23-25; 3:13-18; 4:1-9, 29-31; 5:1-23.

Thus we see that the devil tried many times through all these failures on the part of the chosen family to defeat the plan of God in the coming of the seed of the woman He tried three times to corrupt Sarah and Rebekah. He tried several times to cause Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and his sons to be fearful of death before the promises of God were fulfilled in them. He tried famine, unbelief, fear, war, deceit, lying, slavery, murder, and other means to defeat God’s purpose. He tried cutting off the male children to destroy the race. He tried stirring up Moses to bring about a premature deliverance so that the leader that God had chosen to deliver Israel would be killed. He tried hardships and discouragements of all kinds. He tried many ways to cause Israel to sin so that they would be destroyed by God, all to keep the seed of the a woman from coming into the world as God promised. Satan was defeated every time, and the particular line through whom the Messiah should come was preserved until Christ actually appeared and defeated him on the cross. This battle between God and Satan concerning the seed of the woman was carried on through this age and continued in many forms through the Dispensation of Law, with God always victorious, as we shall see.

1. 1 THE FAILURE OF ALL MEN IN GENERAL

   Not only did the chosen family fail God on many occasions to live up to the best light known, but the Gentiles (nations) among whom Israel sojourned rebelled as a whole against God, and few righteous men are mentioned in this period. There were Melchisedec, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Sarah, Moses, Job, and a few others that are mentioned in Scripture as being righteous in this period, but as a whole the nations were given over to idolatry and sin. Some cities and nations are specified as being very sinful, such as the Amorites, Sodom, Gomorrah, Egypt, etc. Genesis 13:13Genesis 15:13-16Genesis 19:1-25Genesis 31:30. The majority of men in every age have failed to live up to the light they have received, and for this they shall receive the judgment of God Romans 2:12-16.

VIII. The Judgment of God upon Men in the Dispensation of Promise

The judgment of God ending this age was twofold: first, upon Israel, the chosen family, to whom God gave the special responsibility of being His representative in the Earth during this period; second, upon Egypt because of their persecution of Israel.

1. 1 THE JUDGMENT UPON ISRAEL Exodus 1:7–6. For the continued decline of the spirituality of Israel through this age and her almost universal backslidings from the original faith in God and His promises that were given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God permitted His chosen race to be greatly oppressed by the Egyptians, in an effort to bring them to repentance. This oppression did bring them to repentance, and they cried to God for mercy. God heard and raised up Moses to deliver them Exodus 2:1–4Acts 7:17-36Hebrews 11:23-29.

The Beginning of “the Times of the Gentiles”

By this term we mean the dispensation or administration of the Gentiles, as the rod of chastening upon Israel, to further God’s purpose concerning them. It began with Israel’s first oppression by the Gentiles in Egypt, and it continues with the history of Israel through this Dispensation of Grace. It ends at the return of the Messiah in glory when He will deliver Israel from the Gentiles and exalt them as the head of all nations in the Millennium and forever Luke 21:24Revelation 11:1-2.

The Door of Mercy Always Open to Gentiles

This dispensation of the Gentiles is mentioned only in Lk. 21:24 and referred to in Rom. 11:25 as “the fullness of the Gentiles.” The fullness of the Gentiles is often taken to mean that a time will come when God no longer will save Gentiles, but will give salvation only to the Jews. Such a doctrine is not once mentioned in the Bible. During the future tribulation both Jews and Gentiles can and will be saved.

Peter said that during this time God would “pour out of his Spirit upon all flesh . . . And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” Acts 2:16-21. This is to be during the time when God is to “shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord,” and certainly this is during the Tribulation. John predicts that “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” would be saved and come “out of the great tribulation” Revelation 7:9-17.

These and many other Scriptures which we shall study in Lessons Forty through Forty-four prove that the Holy Spirit will never be taken out of the world and that the door of mercy to the Gentiles will not be closed during the Tribulation, or at any other time. Such a doctrine is foreign to the Being and justice of God and contrary to all Scripture.

In the time of the salvation of the Jews, God made provision for the salvation of the Gentiles, so in this time of the turning of God to Gentiles, He has made provision for the Jews to be reconciled to Him, “For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” Romans 10:11-13. The gospel has always been and always will be to “the Jew first, and also to the Greek” Romans 1:16. Paul said, “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles . . . and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” 1 Corinthians 12:12-13.

Salvation is for all men and for all ages, and whether Jews or Gentiles are saved in any age is determined by their acceptance or rejection of salvation and not only by God’s choice in the matter. God wills for all men to be saved and if it were entirely up to Him all men would be saved, but because men also have a choice and a part in their destiny, all men are not saved. The central theme of the gospel is that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” John 3:16. Mark wrote, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” Mark 16:16. Paul said of God, “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” 1 Timothy 2:4-6. Peter taught the same thing of God when he said, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” 2 Peter 3:9.

The term “the fullness of the Gentiles,” therefore, could not mean that God will some day cut off Gentiles from salvation and that God will become a cruel tyrant, damning the souls of men in eternity regardless of what those men would desire to do about their own destiny. This term means the same as “the times of the Gentiles” and has nothing to do with the salvation of the Gentiles, but to the political domination over the Jews by the Gentiles, off and on, from the Egyptian bondage to the second coming of Christ.

The word “Gentiles” simply means “nations,” “heathen,” the “non-Israelites.” Any person who is not a Jew, or not of the tribes of Israel (from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) is a Gentile. (See Lesson Three, Point VIII, 16, for the three classes of people dealt with in Scripture.)

The flood ended all the different families of the Earth. All men on Earth today came from the three sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth, as recorded in Gen. 10; 1 Chron. 1. Before Abraham the whole race was made up of Gentiles or nations of various kinds of people. From the call of Abraham God began a new race, and He began to deal with the human family as made up of two parts, which would be known today as Jews and Gentiles. When the New Testament Church was started, God dealt with the human family as being made up of three classes: the Jews, the Gentiles, and the Church of God 1 Corinthians 10:31-32. The Church is being made up of both Jews and Gentiles who make one body in Christ by the gospel 1 Corinthians 12:13Galatians 3:26-29Ephesians 2:11-22Ephesians 3:6.

The term “the times of the Gentiles” refers to the time in Israel’s history as a nation when she has been oppressed, more or less, by the Gentiles, whether she was in the land or not. It means the political domination of Israel as a nation by the Gentiles. If it refers to the domination of Israel while in their land only, then “the times of the Gentiles” could not be from the Fall of Jerusalem as by Babylon or Rome to our day, for the Jews have been out of their land most of this time. The term must be understood in connection with the Gentile oppressions of Israel throughout her history, from the first to the last oppression of the Jews by the Gentiles, whether in their land or not.

The whole length of “the times of the Gentiles” has already been over 3,700 years and will continue until the second advent of Christ, who will deliver the Jews from the Gentiles under Antichrist and set up an earthly kingdom over them forever Luke 1:32-33Revelation 11:15Revelation 19:11-21Revelation 20:1-10Daniel 2:44Daniel 7:13-14, 18Isaiah 9:6-7.

It is generally taught that “the time of the Gentiles” is 2,520 years, based upon a human theory about the “seven times” of Lev. 26, where God predicted that when Israel sinned He would punish them “seven times” for their sins. It is believed that a prophetic year is 360 days long and that one can make a day mean a year any time one wants to; so a year of 360 days is made a period of 360 years. Seven times 360 years would make 2,520 years. Many men teach that these 2,520 years began with the Fall of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar about 606 b.c. One can stretch 2,520 years over a period of 2,520 years so when they are started at a certain date in the past they will naturally end at a certain date 2,520 years later. This is why we have many endings for “the time of the Gentiles.” We have in modern books written by students of prophecy such dates as 1914, 1917, 1918, 1925, 1927, 1932, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1942, 1945, 1948 and others for the ending of “the times of the Gentiles.” It certainly stands to reason that all these dates cannot be right. It is equally clear from Scripture that there is no definite date stated in the Bible for the ending of “the times of the Gentiles,” or someone would have found it by now. That the Bible does not teach such a false theory of 2,520 years as the whole length of “the times of the Gentiles” is clear from the following points:

(1) The expression “seven times” is used twenty-three times in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word for “times” is paham, meaning “a stroke.” It does not, in any one place, mean a set period of time as does the Hebrew word Iddawn used in Dan. 2:21; 4:16, 23, 25; 7:25; 12:7. Even if this latter word was used in Lev. 26 there would be no foundation for this theory.

(2) If the word “time” means a period of 360 days it cannot also mean 360 years. There is no authority for anyone to change a day to a year in any passage as he pleases. God knows the difference between the words “day” and “year,” and if he said days in a certain Scripture He meant days, and if He said years He meant years. Just because God commanded Israel to wander in the wilderness forty years according to the number of days the spies were in Canaan Numbers 14:33-34 and because God appointed years according to the same number of days in the case of Ezekiel Ezekiel 4:5-6, we need not conclude that in every place in prophecy days mean years and years mean days. In these passages days meant days and years meant years for the spies were in Canaan forty days, not forty years, and so it will always be with these words in the Bible just as it is with the same words when used outside the Bible. If it is biblical to make days and times mean “years” whenever we please just to prove some human theory, then let us be consistent and do this with all passages where these words are found.

If “seven times” means 2,520 years in one passage, it certainly means it in all passages unless it is stated otherwise. If we did this with some Scriptures we would have Jacob bowing down to Esau for 2,520 years Genesis 33:3, the Jews sprinkling blood of their sacrifices 2,520 years during each day Leviticus 4:6, 17Leviticus 8:11, the cleansing of each leper for 2,520 years Leviticus 14:7, 16, Israel marching around Jericho 2,520 years on the seventh day Joshua 6:4, 15, Elijah’s servant looking for rain for 2,520 years 1 Kings 18:43, and the resurrected child sneezing for 2,520 years 2 Kings 4:35.

It may be objected that these are historical facts and we are not to give “seven times” a meaning of 2,520 years except in prophetic passages. But we answer that this is just as ridiculous, for we would have Naaman dipping himself in Jordan for 2,520 years, for the prophecy was that if he should do this seven times he would be clean 2 Kings 5:10-14, and Nebuchadnezzar being a maniac for 2,520 years, for the prophecy was that he would be one for seven times Daniel 4:16, 23. Try this with other prophetic “times” Daniel 7:25Daniel 12:7Revelation 12:14.

(3) The expression “seven times” is used in Lev. 26 four times, and if one “seven times” means 2,520 years, then the other three also mean the same length of time. Four times “seven times” would mean 10,080 years Israel was to be punished for each “seven times” was additional to the others. For example, in Lev. 26:14-17 God said that He would send eight different plagues upon Israel if they broke His covenant. These were to be before the first “seven times,” and it would naturally take some time for these eight plagues, so “the times of the Gentiles” must be longer than 2,520 years even if the first “seven times” means this length of time.

After promising these eight plagues God said, “If ye will not yet for all this [the first eight plagues] hearken unto me, then [after the period consumed by these plagues] I will punish you seven times more for your sins . . . If ye walk contrary unto me [After the first eight plagues and the first 2,520 years] . . . I will bring seven times [a second 2,520 years] MORE plagues upon you . . . If ye will not be reformed by these things [the first eight plagues and the first two, seven times or 5,040 years], but will walk contrary unto me; then will I . . . punish you seven times [a third 2,520 years] for your sins . . . If ye will not for all this [after the first eight plagues and 7,560 years] hearken unto me . . . then I will . . . chastise you seven times [a fourth 2,520 years] for your sins” Leviticus 26:14-31.

It is clear from Lev. 26:27-39 that the whole four, seven-times punishment was to be before Israel was to be scattered among the nations, and anyone knows that 10,080 years did not go by before this. Thus it is clear that the 2,520 year theory of the whole length of “the times of the Gentiles” based upon one of the four “seven times” of Lev. 26 is a false one and proves nothing as to the length of the dispensation of the Gentiles.

Could not the phrase “seven times” express severity of punishment instead of meaning 2,520 years? This certainly would make better sense, and it would be more scriptural. When we hear parents say to children, “I will whip you seven times harder than I did yesterday,” we certainly do not believe any parent would beat a child for 2,520 years. Such a statement is merely a figure of speech expressing severity of punishment, and that is all God intended to express in Lev. 26. He wanted Israel to know that if one punishment would not correct them and bring them to repentance, He would bring more severe punishments upon them until He would have to abandon them to captivity among the nations.

Just because there has been about 2,500 to 2,600 years from Daniel to our day is no proof that “the times of the Gentiles” are 2,520 years long. Neither does the fact that Daniel pictured Gentile oppression of Israel from his day to the second advent of Christ prove that he saw all the length of “the times of the Gentiles” and that these times started in his day. Daniel merely predicted the oppressions of the Gentiles from his day on. He did not live back in Egypt to predict the whole length of “the times of the Gentiles.” He could not have foretold what was already history concerning Gentile oppression of Israel before his day.

John, in Rev. 17:8-18, predicts events concerning the beast, or the eighth and last kingdom that will oppress Israel in “the times of the Gentiles.” He explains that the seven heads on the beast are seven kingdoms that precede the eighth and last kingdom that will fight against Christ at His second advent. He said that five of these kingdoms had already passed away before his day, that one was in his day (the sixth, or old Roman Empire), that the seventh was yet to come between the sixth and the eighth Revelation 13:1-8Revelation 17:8-17, and that the eighth would be the last kingdom on Earth before Christ comes to the Earth. The five that had passed away before John’s day were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. They are the only empires that oppressed Israel before John’s day that could be referred to, as we shall see in Lesson Forty-seven.

(4) We know that the Gentiles oppressed Israel in Egypt a much longer period than did Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon for when Moses was born Israel was being oppressed, and the law was to kill all the male children. He was eighty years old when he led Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Israel was in Babylon only seventy years Jeremiah 25:11. What would this oppression of Israel be called if not “the times of the Gentiles”? Then after this kingdom oppressed Israel off and on for hundreds of years, the Assyrian Empire oppressed Israel and took the ten tribes captive. This was 133 years before Babylon took the two tribes captive. What was this but “the times of the Gentiles”? It is, therefore, a human theory that “the times of the Gentiles” began with Nebuchadnezzar. The fact is, they had already been going on for about 1,200 years by the time of Nebuchadnezzar.

(5) If the whole length of “the times of the Gentiles” were to be 2,520 years, then they have ended long ago. For 2,520 years of 360 days each, as a year is supposed to be by this theory, make 907,200 days. From 606 b.c., when Judah was taken to Babylon, at which time, according to most prophetic scholars, “the times of the Gentiles” started, to 1948 a.d. there have already been 2,554 years of 365 ¼ days, which is a much longer period than 2,520 years of 360 days each. This makes 23,748 days difference between the two periods. Reduce the 2,546 years of 365 ¼ days to years of 360 days each and we have about seventy more years of 360 days each over the 2,520 years, so that the 2,520 years of 360 days each ended in 1878 a.d. or about seventy years ago. This is long before any modern prophetic student has “the times of the Gentiles” coming to an end.

Thus it is clear that “the times of the Gentiles” began with the first oppression of Israel by the Gentiles and that they have continued as the Gentiles have oppressed the Jews off and on for over 3,700 years up to 1948 a.d. The Jews are still being oppressed by the Gentiles, and Jerusalem will again be trodden down by them and will be until the second coming of Christ except for a short period that Israel will again have control of the city before Antichrist breaks his seven-year covenant with them in the future Daniel 9:27Revelation 11:1-2. The Scriptures are very clear that Christ will deliver the Jews from the Gentiles at His second advent Zechariah 14:1-21Luke 21:24Romans 11:25Daniel 2:44-45Daniel 7:13-14, 18Daniel 8:20-25Revelation 11:1-2, 15Revelation 19:11-21. Because Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles during the last forty-two months of this age, it is certain that “the times of the Gentiles” will continue until then Revelation 11:1-2Daniel 9:27Daniel 11:45-12. How many more years there will be before Daniel’s Seventieth Week begins and the Antichrist comes to make this seven-years covenant with the Jews is not stated in Scripture, and all speculation is valueless. “The times of the Gentiles” have already continued through six world empires—the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, Roman, and it will continue through two more world Empires in the near future—the Revised Roman made up of ten kingdoms, and the Revived Grecian made up of the same ten kingdoms but headed by the Antichrist who will be defeated by Christ at His second advent Daniel 7:23-24Revelation 13:1-8Revelation 17:8-17.

The judgment upon Israel that started in Egypt, ending the Dispensation of Promise, was sent because of the backslidings of Israel, and all the oppressions of the Jews by the Gentiles since have been for the same reason. God has used the Gentiles as a rod of chastening upon Israel to bring them to repentance and keep them somewhat in line with the program of God so that God could fulfill His promises and covenants made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and others of the chosen race.

1. 1 THE JUDGMENT UPON EGYPT Exodus 7:1–12. God sent ten plagues upon Egypt and also destroyed the Egyptian army because of their stubborn refusal to obey God and let Israel go back to Canaan to fulfill prophecy Genesis 15:13-16. As is always true in God’s dealings with man, He gave Pharaoh free choice to escape judgment before it came. Pharaoh, not God, was responsible for the judgments upon Egypt. God was forced to act when stubborn man refused freely to choose the right thing. All that God required of Pharaoh was to let Israel go, but he was a self-willed and stubborn king who had been brought up to have his own way.

Pharaoh had not been in the habit of being dictated to by God or man and he had never had to obey either, so why should he change and obey God now, and permit the hated Jews to leave his land? They were too useful as slaves to let them go so freely at the mere suggestion of a God that Moses represented. God knew this Assyrian king to be stubborn and self-willed even from his youth, and He knew that he was of the particular type who would resist His will to carry out His plan in Egypt for the deliverance of His chosen people. God permitted him not only to war against Egypt and overthrow the Egyptian Empire but to ascend the throne of Egypt and resist His will so that He could make His power known. This Pharaoh who knew not Joseph is called the Assyrian in Isa. 52:4.

God said of him, “I will harden his heart, that he will not let the people go” Exodus 4:21. The expression, “I will harden” is from a Hebrew idiom for suffering or permitting a thing to be done. It is just as one would say in English, I will let him have as much rope as he will take before I take action.” God never forced Pharaoh to do one thing that he did not freely choose to do. Pharaoh finally became willing to do what God wanted him to do, but only after much sufferings. Pharaoh had the choice to obey God or receive judgment. He chose judgment and that is what he got.

The principle upon which God worked was that of giving man the free choice to accept or reject His will and Word. Paul expressed it as follows: “We are made a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are a savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life” 2 Corinthians 2:14-17. In other words, as it is today, every gospel message either causes men to reject or to accept God. Those who freely reject the gospel kill and condemn themselves to death. But those who accept and obey the gospel freely, it frees and saves their souls from death. All are free to accept and can freely do so if they will, and all can reject if they choose. The same sun that hardens the clay softens the wax. The opposite results are not caused by the sun, but by the difference in the materials. God gave the command; Pharaoh resisted it. God knew just how much it would take to break his stubborn will, so He planned accordingly. These facts will help the student to understand Rom. 9:8-24, concerning God’s dealings with two kinds of free moral agents—stubborn and yielded wills.

The Ten Plagues Upon Egypt

(1) BLOOD Exodus 7:14-25. The first plague was directed against the Nile, an object of worship to the Egyptians of that day.

(2) FROGS Exodus 8:1-15. This plague also was against the gods of Egypt, for frogs were honored and worshipped as a symbol of fruitfulness.

(3) LICE Exodus 8:16-19. This was a plague of mosquito-gnats for the purpose of manifesting the limited power of the magicians. They had demonstrated the same power as Moses in the first two plagues, but here they had to recognize the hand of a God.

(4) FLIES Exodus 8:20-32. This plague was a severe blow to all the idolatrous worshippers in Egypt. Cleanliness was imperative in the worship of the Egyptians. Thus, the plague was directed against Beelzebub, the god of flies, to produce hatred against him and to manifest his impotence in controlling flies.

(5) MURRAIN Exodus 9:1-7. This plague was aimed against all animal worship in Egypt. The animals worshipped by the Egyptians were made so diseased that the people abhorred them.

(6) BOILS Exodus 9:8-12 The ashes used to cause this plague were from the very altar from which human sacrifices were offered to keep away plagues. Hence, the very ashes of the sacrifices that were supposed to ward off plagues were used to bring a plague.

(7) HAIL Exodus 9:13-35. This plague was directed against vegetation, the beasts of the field, and the gods of Egypt, Isis and Osiris, who were supposed to control the elements and turn away any storms from Egypt.

(8) LOCUSTS Exodus 10:1-20. This was directed against the Egyptian god Serapis, who supposedly protected the land from locusts. But locusts came and were then driven out at the command of Moses, showing the impotence of this idol god.

(9) DARKNESS Exodus 10:21-27. This plague further demonstrated the great power of the great God of the Hebrews in contrast to the gods of Egypt, who were powerless to do the bidding of the Egyptians.

(10) DEATH OF THE FIRST-BORN Exodus 11:1–12. This plague was directed against the pride and best manhood of Egypt. The first-born of man and of the beasts of the field were destroyed. Nothing could have been more disastrous to Egypt to show the powerlessness of their gods, who were special deities to protect their households from all harm Exodus 12:12. These gods proved utterly helpless before the Living God of the Hebrews. All these judgments were directed against the gods of Egypt Numbers 33:3

IX. God’s Provision of Redemption

God redeemed the chosen nation from bondage and brought it back to a revival of faith in Him by the means of blood and power; these are the only powerful means of redemption in every age.

1. 1 BLOOD (Exod. 12). God told Israel to take the blood of lambs and put it over the door and on both sides of it. There was to be no leaven (typifying evil) in all their dwellings; they were to roast a lamb and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs and were to let nothing remain of it in the morning. That which could not be eaten was to be burned with fire. They were to be prepared to leave Egypt at once. At this time God instituted the great Feast of the Passover and Unleavened Bread, which was to be observed by Israel and her converts forever.

The blood was a token to Jehovah of their faith in the sacrifice of the coming Redeemer, whose blood was to atone for the sins of all men. It was not faith alone, but faith in the shedding of His blood. Faith today consists in believing that God is faithful to keep His Word. When God saw the blood in a house (not the feelings of the people inside) He passed over that house, thereby confirming the fact that feelings are useless apart from faith.

Thus the redemption which was provided the Israelites at the end of this age, as at the end of all other ages, demonstrated again the oft repeated fact that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.” This fact was just one more circumstance pointing to the coming of the seed of the woman, who would make one perfect sacrifice once and forever to redeem the race and restore man’s dominion.

1. 1 POWER

   Not only was blood necessary to be preserved from death, but it also took power to bring Israel out of Egypt and cause them to be reconciled to God. It was through power that God made Pharaoh and his servants willing to let Israel go. It was power that made the Red Sea congeal into ice on both sides of Israel as they passed through on dry ground into the wilderness country. It was power that caused the mountains of ice to again become water, which destroyed the army of Egypt. It was power that protected Israel all through the Exodus from Egypt.