END OF THE DAYS
[Page
II]
“And from the
time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to
the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
But go thou thy way till the
end be: for thou shalt rest, and
stand in thy lot at the end of the days” (Dan. 12: 11-13; cf. Dan. 4: 34; 7: 28; 8: 19; 11: 27, 35, 36, 40, 45; 12: 1, 4).
[Page
III]
End of the Days
GOD ACTS AT THE END
OF SET, ESTABLISHED TIMES
by
Arlen L. Chitwood
[Page
IV]
By the Same Author -
HAD YE BELIEVED MOSES
COMING IN HIS KINGDOM
WE ARE ALMOST THERE
THE MOST HIGH RULETH
FROM ACTS TO THE EPISTLES
IN THE LORD’S DAY
FROM
LET US GO ON
REDEEMED FOR A PURPOSE
JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST
PROPHECY ON
MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM
THE BRIDE IN GENESIS
SEARCH FOR THE BRIDE
SEVEN, TEN GENERATIONS
THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE
THE TIME OF THE END
DISTANT HOOFBEATS
MYSTERY OF THE WOMAN
“NEVER AGAIN!” OR
“YES, AGAIN!”
MIDDLE EAST PEACE - HOW? WHEN?
SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH
SALVATION OF THE SOUL
SO GREAT SALVATION
THE SPIRITUAL WARFARE
BROUGHT FORTH FROM ABOVE
THE STUDY OF SCRIPTURE
SIGNS IN JOHN’S GOSPEL
MOSES AND JOHN
RUN TO WIN
GOD’S FIRSTBORN SONS
BY FAITH
JUDE
RUTH
ESTHER
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[Page
V]
CONTENTS
FOREWORD [Page vii]
I
ON THE THIRD DAY, SEVENTH DAY [Page 1]
ATRIUNE, SEPTENARY STRUCTURE PERVADING ALL SCRIPTURE
II. AFTER SIX DAYS, ON THE SEVENTH
DAY [Page 7]
A SEPTENARY STRUCTURE BEGINNING THE O.T., N.T.
III.
AFTER 400 YEARS, 430 YEARS [Page 23]
A DEPARTURE FOR THE LAND AFTER 400 YEARS, 430 YEARS
IV.
AFTER 70 YEARS, 490 YEARS) [Page 29]
A RESTORATION TO THE LAND AFTER 70 YEARS ' 490 YEARS
APPENDIXES, I,
II, III, IV [Pages 45 - 92]]
THE INTERPRETATION OF GENESIS 1:
2
THE SIGN OF THE SABBATH IN EXODUS 31: 13-17
THE COMPLETE PANORAMA OF SALVATION, GEN.
1:
1 - 2:
3
THE PREACHING OF THE CROSS, GEN. 1: 1 - 2: 3
SCRIPTURE INDEX [Page 93 not included]
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[Page
VI is blank / Page
VII]
FOREWORD
God acts
at the end of set, established times; and this book has to do with these times,
particularly with a final time referred to throughout the Prophets as “In that day.” And “that day” is the time toward which everything
in Scripture ultimately moves, beginning in the opening thirty-four verses of Genesis.
Taking one through the Scriptures in this respect is what this
book is about - moving from a past day through the present
day to a coming day, referred to as “that day.”
Note Amos 9: 11-15, relating that ultimately awaiting
the Jewish people in this respect:
“In that day I will raise
up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and
close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise
up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days
of old.
That they may possess the remnant of
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the
plowman shall overtake the reaper,
and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed, and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
And I will bring again the captivity of my people of
And I will
plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their
land which I have given them, saith the Lord God.”
The expression, “In that day” (Amos 9: 11), is used numerous times throughout
both the major and minor Prophets. And,
it would go without saying, “that day” could only reference a future day set in contrast to the day in which the Prophet wrote and used
this expression.
But what future day, or possibly what
different future days, did the prophets have in mind through the use of this
expression? And that, of course, is ALWAYS to be
determined by the context each time that the expression is used.
[Page VIII]
However, observing the context each time, one will find, more
often than not, a particular, singular
usage.
In this respect, one will find that this expression is usually seen peculiarly related to ONLY ONE THING AND ONE TIME,
not many different things and times. The Prophets, continually, used this
expression to reference events pertaining to
And this can easily be shown numerous
places in the Prophets, beginning with Isaiah,
where this expression appears far more times than in any other book.
Man’s Day, The Lord’s Day
Certain distinctions between Man’s Day and the Lord’s Day (the
Day of the Lord) need to be established to properly understand what day and / or time is being referenced by the expression, “in that day.” And one of
the best ways to do this is to deal with the septenary structure of Scripture.
God has an affinity for numbers, and He established and set forth a septenary structure for
His Word at the beginning - in the first thirty-four verses of Genesis (1:
1 - 2: 3).
Accordingly, this septenary structure forms a foundational base for everything which God revealed from that point forward,
throughout all of the Old Testament.
And the New Testament, in complete
conformity to the Old Testament, forming commentary on the Old Testament,
begins exactly the same way (provided one
recognizes that the Gospel of John should begin the New Testament, not Matthew’s
gospel). John’s gospel not only begins the same way Genesis begins, showing a septenary structure but it also parallels Genesis throughout (the types in Genesis paralleling the signs in John).
In the preceding respect, the same
septenary structure opening Genesis
(1: 1 - 2: 3) is seen opening John (1:
1-2: 11).
(For more information on the
preceding, refer to the author’s book, Moses and John.)
[Page IX]
Attention has been called to this
septenary structure beginning both Testaments in order to show the foundational basis for the length
of both Man’s Day and the Lord’s Day. And this, in
turn, as previously alluded to, will form a foundational basis to properly understand and deal with
the expression, “In that day,” as seen
throughout the Prophets.
“Six”
is man’s number, and “seven” is God’s
number. Exactly as foreshadowed in the
foundational framework in the opening thirty-four verses of Genesis (“six” having to do with events during Man’s
Day, “seven” having to do with events during the Lord’s Day), or the parallel section in John’s gospel (dealing
with that foreshadowed in Genesis),
God is again taking the same numerical time for the same completed purpose - the restoration of
a subsequent ruined creation, ruined man, followed by a day of rest.
The ruined creation in Genesis was restored for man over six days time (man’s number), with God resting on the seventh day (God’s
number). Then, the preceding restoration, set perfect in the beginning,
foreshadowed how God would subsequently restore ruined man, a subsequent ruined
creation. And this was / is all carried out through an established, unchangeable pattern concerning how God restores a ruined creation,
set
forth in this manner at a time preceding man’s creation and ruin.
Then, the opening two chapters of John’s gospel, dealing more
specifically with ruined man (e.g., John 1: 29,
36), cover the same septenary structure and end at the same place - with man, on the seventh day, restored and
realizing the purpose for his creation, six days earlier, 6,000 years earlier.
Thus, each day in the restoration of the material creation in Genesis, followed by a day of rest,
foreshadows 1,000-year days in the
restoration of man (six days, 6,000 years, forming Man’s Day), followed by a
1,000-year day of rest (the Lord’s Day, the Messianic Era).
The whole of Scripture, accordingly, is built on this
framework - Man’s Day lasting for six days, 6,000 years, and the Lord’s Day
lasting for one day, 1,000 years (cf. 2 Peter 3: 3-8). And, exactly as seen in the foundational type
in Genesis, the two NEVER,
NEVER, overlap one
another in Scripture - i.e., Man’s
Day NEVER continues into any part of the Lord’s Day; NOR is
the Lord’s Day EVER dealt with back in any part of Man’s Day.
[Page X]
The six and seven days ARE NOT dealt with that way in the opening verses of Genesis, the opening verses of John, or any place else in Scripture.
Events occurring on the sixth day have no part in events about to occur on the
seventh day; nor do events occurring on the seventh day have any part in events which previously occurred on the sixth day.
ALL THINGS foreshadowed by the foundational type MUST be in
complete keeping with ALL THINGS previously established in the foundational type.
In this respect, contrary to much
popular thought among Bible teachers - teaching that the Lord’s Day (which, as
will be shown, is the time referenced by “that day” in numerous texts) begins at a time during the last seven
years of Man’s Day (Daniel’s Seventieth Week, the Tribulation), continuing from
that point throughout the Tribulation and the ensuing Millennium - the Lord’s Day DOES NOT, IT CANNOT,
begin until after Man’s Day has run its course.
The Lord’s Day can begin ONLY AFTER six days, ONLY AFTER 6,000 years, ONLY AFTER the Tribulation.
This is the way matters are set forth anyplace in
Scripture where the subject is dealt with.
The Prophets - “In That Day”
A great deal of
error in Biblical studies can be avoided if one knows
and understands the simple basics set forth in the first part of this study. And this would be even more so the case when studying how
different Prophets use the expression, “in that day.” In the Prophets, this expression, when used relative to a
future end-time having to do with
Note a scattering of references pertaining to “that day”:
One would normally begin with [Divine writings by God’s prophet] Isaiah in this respect, but before going to Isaiah and working forward through a number of the Prophets, note a
few things out of the small three-chapter Book of Zephaniah.
In this small book, there are twenty-two references to this
future [Page XI] time. As well, in this book, “in that day” is consistently used as a reference
to “the day of
the Lord” (cf.
Zeph. 1: 9-14; 2: 2, 3; 3: 11, 16-20).
With this connection between “that day” and “the Lord’s Day,” note a number of corresponding references in Isaiah.
Isaiah 2: 1-4 references the
millennial Kingdom, beyond Man’s Day, in the Lord’s Day. And
three subsequent verses in this chapter (vv. 11, 17, 20) use the expression, “in that day,” referring back to the time depicted
in these opening four verses.
Then note the subsequent usage of this
same expression a number of places throughout Isaiah, all, contextually, referring to conditions immediately
preceding or during the millennial kingdom, in the Lord’s Day, exactly as in
chapter two (Isa. 4: 1, 2; 11: 10, 11; 12: 1, 4; 19: 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24; 24: 21; 25: 9; 27: 1, 2, 12, 13; 28: 5; 29: 18; 31: 7; 52: 6).
Then note the same thing seen in a number of the other
Prophets (Jer. 30: 8; Ezek. 38: 14, 18; 39: 8, 11; Hosea 2: 16, 18, 21; Joel 3: 18; Amos 9: 11; Zech. 2: 11; 3: 10).
“That day” in the
preceding passages, references a time beyond Man’s Day, in “the Lord's Day,” during which concluding events and
judgments surrounding
The latter follows the former, but the former, of necessity,
must occur first.
Christians - “In That Day”
Numerous Bible teachers today, it seems, are quick to look at
current events and attempt to relate them to Biblical prophecy, particularly events pertaining to
Israel and the nations emanating out of Israeli statehood almost seventy years
ago, May 14, 1948.
They view events pertaining to
[Page XII]
These verses from Amos tell of a time (“in that day” [v. 11]) when God will regather His people back to their land, NEVER to be uprooted again. But to relate
these verses, or really any other verses dealing with
The Jews in the land today (some 6,000,000, about two-fifths
of world Jewry) have sought to emancipate themselves apart from their Messiah, leaving an unhealed people in an unhealed
land (a house left “desolate”[cf. Dan. 9: 27; Matt. 12:
43-45; 23: 37-39]), in unbelief,
before repentance. And, according to the clear teaching
of Scripture, these
Jews will be uprooted from their land in the middle of the Tribulation, their cities destroyed, and
they will either be slain or driven back out among the nations where God will
then deal with them, along with the remainder of world Jewry, relative
to repentance (cf. Lev. 26: 31-33; Isa. 6: 11-13; Dan. 9: 26; Matt. 24: 15ff; Luke 21: 20ff; Rev. 12: 6, 14).
Beyond that, all of this has happened and will happen BEFORE “that day,” seen in Amos 9: 11-15 or any other place in Scripture where
the subject is dealt with.
In God’s septenary arrangement of His Word, established
perfect in the beginning, a person simply CANNOT place events of one day in those of another day.
* *
*
[Page 1]
CHAPTER 1
ON THE THIRD DAY, SEVENTH DAY
AFTER TWO DAYS, ON THE THIRD DAY
AFTER SIX DAYS, ON THE SEVENTH DAY
“He that toucheth the dead body of any
man shall be unclean seven days.
He shall purify himself with it on the third day [with the ashes of an unblemished red
heifer placed in running water [vv. 2-9, 17)] and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he
purify not himself on the third day, the seventh
day he shall not be clean” (Num. 19: 11, 12).
“Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will
heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
After two days will he revive us: in the third
day he will raise us up, and we shall live in
his sight” (Hosea
6: 1, 2).
The Word
of God has been established in a septenary structure, set
forth in the opening thirty-four verses of Genesis and seen throughout Scripture. As well,
within this septenary structure there is a triune structure, also set forth in
these opening thirty-four verses, also seen throughout Scripture.
Then, not only does the Old Testament begin
and continue in this manner, but the New Testament begins and continues in this
same manner as well.
And to ignore or not understand this
God-established structure beginning both Testaments is to ignore or not
understand the foundation upon which the whole of God’s revelation rests.
[Page 2]
(For
information on the overall septenary manner in which God structured His Word,
refer to Chapter
2 in this book, “After Six Days, on the
Seventh Day.”
Then, in line with this septenary structure, John’s gospel
should begin the N.T., not Matthew’s. John’s gospel is
the only one of the four which parallels Genesis, not only in
the septenary manner in which the gospel begins but in structure throughout
as well.
For
information on this subject, refer to Chapter 5,
“Genesis and John,” in the author’s book, Signs
in John’s Gospel.)
The referenced verses opening this part of the appendix in Numbers chapter nineteen and Hosea chapter six, dealing with events on both a
third day and a seventh day, have to do with Israel in relation to a day yet future.
Events seen in both of these accounts on both of these days,
in reality, foreshadow the same events occurring on the same day -
A septenary structure, along with a triune structure within
the septenary structure, can clearly be seen beginning
both Genesis and John. And within this structure,
The entire seven days together - the overall septenary
structure presents a picture of the restoration, salvation, of a ruined creation during the six days
for a purpose to be realized on the seventh day.
A passing from death unto life is seen
on day one, with a continuing aspect to restoration, salvation, seen during
days two through six. And, again, this is with a view
to events on the seventh day.
When the three days within the seven days are in view, the
whole of the matter is somewhat reversed. A passing from death unto life occurs
at the end of the period (after two days, on the third day)
rather than at the beginning, with the first two days encompassing events used to bring
matters to the place seen on the third day. And all is with a view to events on
the third day,
which, within [Page 3] this triune structure, is the same as events on the seventh day within
the overall septenary structure.
Note how the preceding - a septenary structure and a triune
structure within the septenary - con be seen beginning
both Genesis and John:
1) In Genesis
The opening sequence of events beginning the restoration of a
ruined creation on day one in Genesis (vv. 2b-5) - viewing the overall septenary structure - had to do with the Spirit of
God moving, God speaking, and light coming into existence. This opening sequence
of events, occurring prior to anything else, was absolutely necessary for
events in any of the remaining five days to occur - something which can be
better understood by referencing the parallel passage in John’s gospel, the
restoration of ruined man (ref. next
section [Section 21, “In John”).
Then, the triune structure within this septenary arrangement can be seen by viewing the first three days together. On the
third day, with water still covering the entire earth (vv. 2b,
6, 7), God said, “Let the dry
land appear” (v. 9). And, through the raising of land masses out
of the water on this day (Ps. 104: 6-9,
ASV, NASB), resurrection is seen for the first time in Scripture,
establishing an unchangeable first-mention principle regarding resurrection (e.g., Christ was raised
on the third day; all three of God’s firstborn
Sons [Christ, Israel, and the Church [‘of the firstborn’] (following the adoption)] are to be
raised up on the third day to live in
His sight).
Or, both the triune structure and the larger
septenary structure can be seen in the sequence of the three dispensations
during Man’s 6,000-year Day, each covering two days, 2,000 years.
The first dispensation occurs during time covering the first
ten and one-half chapters of Genesis
(1 - 11a) - the 2,000 years from Adam to the
birth of Abraham. The introduction of Abraham, in this respect, takes one into
the third day, the third 1,000-year period. And the
opening record of Abraham’s life on this third day has God calling him out of a
Gentile land to dwell in another land, a land which would later be given to him
and his seed through an everlasting covenant.
[Page 4]
This foreshadows God removing
And the subsequent destruction of Gentile
world power is seen in both the type and the antitype (Gen. 14: 17-24; 19: 24-28; Joel 3: 1-21).
Then the same thing is once again seen
following the Jewish dispensation covering the third and fourth days, the third
and fourth 1,000-year periods. God, so to speak, stopped the clock seven years
short of this dispensation being fulfilled to deal
with a separate and distinct group - the Church, the one new man “in Christ” - for two more days, for two more 1,000-year periods.
And, once God completes His dealings with
this new man,
with [regenerate] Christians, He will turn back
to
2) In John
John begins exactly the same way Genesis begins - “In the beginning...” Then, both Genesis and John
provide certain details not seen in the other (e.g., the Spirit moving in Genesis
is not seen in John,
and John provides details about God not seen
in Genesis).
But though the [Holy] Spirit moving is not seen in John, matters have to be exactly the same as set
forth in Genesis. God, beginning His Word in Genesis, forever established how He restores
a ruined creation. And, accordingly, no change can ever occur.
Thus, since the [Holy] Spirit was instrumental in the light shining out of darkness in Genesis, exactly the same thing must be seen in John (cf. Gen. 1: 3-5; John 1: 5-9; 2 Cor. 4: 6). And, whether in Genesis
or John, this is with a view to events
occurring on the seventh day (cf. John 1: 29, 35, 43; 2: 1ff).
Then, the triune structure within this septenary arrangement can be seen by viewing the first three days together, as in Genesis. [Page 5] After two days, on the third day,
John looked upon Jesus, calling attention to Him as “the Lamb of God” a second time (cf. vv. 29,
36).
But, looking upon Jesus on the third day (v. 36) - unlike the previous time (where
the regular Greek word for “look” [blepo] appears [v. 29]) - John used an intensified form of this word
for “look” (emblepo,
meaning that John fixed his gaze upon Him, in a very intense manner). And the only other time emblepo
is used in John’s gospel is on that same day when Jesus looked, in the same
manner, upon a disciple who had recognized Him as the Messiah (vv. 42, 43).
And this can only have to do with a reciprocal action in that
coming third day, seventh day, when the Jewish people not only look upon their
Messiah in this intense manner but He, in turn, looks upon them in this same
intense manner.
Events occurring on the seventh day in John 2: 1-11 comprise the first of eight signs in John’s gospel, all having to do
with
This first sign - a wedding festival in Cana of Galilee -
foreshadows God restoring
Then the third day following the two-day, 2,000-year,
dispensation in which God deals with the Church can be seen
in exactly the same light. Following the [Holy] Spirit procuring a bride for God’s Son during the present 2,000-year
dispensation, the bride will be removed, presented to
the Son, and a marriage will occur on the third 1,000-year period, which will
be the seventh 1,000-year period, leading into the Messianic Era.
And as in
And then Christ, God’s firstborn Son, will
rule both in the midst of His people,
Thus, a triad of firstborn Sons will reign over the earth in
this manner in that coming day.
[Page
6]
Back to
The third and seventh days in Num. 19: 11, 12, 16, 19, contextually, have to do with cleansing for an Israelite who became
unclean through contact with a dead body, a man’s bone (skeleton), or a
grave. And the complete account foreshadows the manner in which God will cleanse
The entire account has to do with an unblemished red heifer
which was slain, its blood sprinkled before the tabernacle (before God in the
tabernacle), then burned, the ashes kept in a vessel, and then mixed with
running water used to effect cleansing. Hyssop was dipped
into the water and then the water was sprinkled upon certain specified places, with cleaning from defilement
occurring in connection with the third and seventh days.
In this respect, note Ezek. 36: 24, 25ff:
“For I will take you from among the
heathen [the
Gentiles], and
gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye
shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and
from all your idols, will I cleanse you...”
Or, as In Hosea 6: 2:
“After two days will he
revive us: in the third day he will
raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.”
* *
*
CHAPTER 2
AFTER SIX DAYS, ON THE SEVENTH DAY
A SEPTENARY STRUCTURE
BEGINNING THE O.T., N.T.
“In the
beginning God created the heaven [lit., ‘the heavens’] and the earth” (Gen.
1: 1).
“In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without
him was not anything made that was made [lit., ‘All things came into
existence through Him, and apart from Him
nothing came into existence which came into existence’]” (John 1:
1-3).
Moses began Genesis after a
particular fashion; and John, 1,500 years later, began his gospel in exactly
the same manner. Both began with creation, and
both continued with a septenary arrangement of events - each from a different perspective - which carries
the reader through six days, into a seventh day.
In Genesis,
this sets the stage for that seen throughout the remainder of and beyond Genesis - a book built upon this septenary structure, setting the stage for all which follows, the
whole of the Old Testament, also built upon this structure.
This septenary structure is seen in
the numerous types forming Genesis.
And this can only be the case, for the unchangeable pattern for all which
would follow was
introduced and established in this manner in the opening two chapters of this book.
And, viewing this same structure in
the opening two chapters of John’s gospel, exactly as it had previously been set forth in the opening two
chapters of Genesis (Gen. 1: 1 - 2: 3; John 1: 1 - 2: 11), the stage is again set for that which follows - a book (the New Testament as [Page
8] a whole) built upon
this same septenary structure, a structure which, of necessity (because of the
foundation set forth at the beginning), had pervaded the Old Testament.
Beginning in this manner in John’s gospel, this septenary
structure is then seen in each of the eight signs, whether
referencing days leading into the Sabbath, referencing the Sabbath itself, or
relating a sequence of events which lead into the Sabbath. Seven of the eight
signs are structured in the former manner (referencing particular days, in
connection with events); and the remaining sign, the fifth sign, is structured
in the latter manner (referencing events, in connection with particular days).
In this respect, the gospel of John is built
around eight signs;
and the whole of the book rests upon a septenary structure, established
at the beginning of the book, with this septenary arrangement of events leading
into the first sign.
(In the preceding respect, as Genesis begins the O.T. through
a sequence of events dealt with in a septenary structure, relating the subject
matter of the O.T., the Gospel of John is seen
beginning the N.T. exactly the same way. John’s
gospel is the only one of the four gospels containing this feature - a
septenary structure, set at the beginning, exactly as seen at the beginning of
Genesis, relating the subject matter of the N.T. [which is exactly
the same as the subject matter of the O.T.].
Thus, John’s gospel should occupy a different place among the
four gospels - first, instead of last - for John’s gospel opens the N.T.,
exactly as Genesis opens the O.T.
And it should go without saying, had man seen and understood
this God-designed feature and parallel, placing John’s gospel in its proper
place in printed editions of the N.T., it may have gone a long way in
preventing that which can be seen throughout the Churches of the land today -
almost total ignorance about the subject under discussion.)
The Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis begins with the creation of the heavens
and the earth (1: 1). Then the book immediately relates the ruin of the creation (1: 2a). And this,
in turn, is immediately followed by revelation surrounding the restoration of the ruined
creation over [Page 9] six days time. This restoration is
then followed by the creation of man, for the creation had been restored
for man (1: 2b-31; cf.
Isa. 45:
18b). And a seventh-day rest followed (2: 1-3).
This forms the introduction to not only Genesis but to Scripture as a whole. The
complete story of Scripture is told in the opening
thirty-four verses of Genesis.
And the remainder of Scripture is simply commentary, providing all the sinews
(tendons), flesh, and skin to fully clothe the skeletal framework set forth at
the beginning (cf. Ezek. 37:
1-10).
To illustrate, note the complete sequence following creation: A ruined creation
existed, God restored this ruined
creation over six days time, and He then rested on the seventh day. And any
subsequent ruined creation - if restoration were to occur through Divine
intervention - would, of necessity, have to be restored in exact accordance
with the pattern which God Himself had previously established, at the beginning
of His Word.
(Note that God does not, He cannot,
change His revealed works in previously established patterns. God is
immutable; God is
unchangeable. Once He has
established a pattern, as seen in the opening thirty-four verses of Scripture, perfection
exists within that pattern, and it can never change.
“For I am the Lord, I change not...” [Mal. 3: 6a].
There is only one revealed way in
which God restores a ruined creation - the one way which He Himself established and
revealed at the beginning of His Word - which leaves only one way in which He can [remaining true to His
Word] restore ruined man, a subsequent ruined creation.
In this respect, the basics concerning man’s restoration following his
ruin [i.e., the basics concerning his salvation following his fall]
have been set forth in the opening chapter of Genesis,
forming Biblical truths relative to soteriology [the doctrine of salvation], which
can never change.
The restoration of ruined man MUST be understood from the
standpoint of how God had previously set matters forth in the prior restoration
of a ruined creation. The matter MUST be carried back to this point.
Thus, in order to have a correct foundation upon which to
build, teachings surrounding soteriology MUST be carried back to and [Page 10] understood correctly at their
beginning point, the point where God began this restorative work. There is NO alternate way,
NO alternate foundational beginning
point.)
Man was created on the sixth day,
immediately following God’s restoration of the ruined material creation (1: 26-28; 2: 7, 21-23). Then, through Satanic intervention, man was
reduced to a ruin (3:
1-7). Satan, through seeking to exalt his
throne, had previously brought about the ruin of the material creation (Isa. 14: 12-17); and Satan, through deceiving the
woman, causing her to eat of the forbidden fruit, now brought about man’s ruin.
Once man’s ruin had occurred, once Adam as the federal head had
eaten of the forbidden fruit, if man was to be restored, it had already been
revealed how God would accomplish this task and that which He would do after
man had been restored. In complete accord with that
revealed in the opening thirty-four verses of Scripture, God would work six days to perform and
complete man’s
restoration; and He would then rest the seventh day.
And that is exactly what began to occur in Gen. 3: 21, in complete keeping with God’s preceding promise in verse fifteen:
“And I will put enmity between thee
and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed;
it shall bruise thy head [‘He shall
crush thy head’], and thou shalt bruise His heel”
(v. 15).
“Unto Adam also and to his wife did
the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed
them” (v. 21).
Shortly after man’s fall, God began a work of restoring the
ruined creation. This would continue for six days, six thousand years; and God
would then rest the seventh day, the seventh one-thousand-year period.
This septenary structure in God’s work of restoration and rest
is something which can be seen pervading all
subsequent Scripture.
For example, God later gave the Sabbath to His people,
Israel, for a “sign” that He was
performing a present six-day work and would rest the seventh day, following the
completion of His work (Ex. 31: 13-17). And though the Sabbath was given to Israel alone, God relates in the
Book of Hebrews that a Sabbath rest awaits the [Page
11] people of God,
which sets the whole of that which the Sabbath foreshadows before Christians as
well (Heb. 4:
9).
Then note something about the references to the Sabbath in
both Exodus and Hebrews. In each instance, reference is made
back to God’s work of restoration in Gen. 1: 2b-25, with God then resting on the seventh
day (Gen. 2:
1-3; cf. Ex. 31: 15-17; Heb. 4: 3, 4). Attention is called in each
instance to the established pattern, providing a parallel between God’s past
work of restoration and His present work of restoration which no one should miss.
Some call attention to the Apostle Peter’s statement in his
second epistle (3: 8), drawing from the ruin and restoration in Genesis, along with the events on the Mount of Transfiguration
(1: 15-18; 3: 3-7), in an effort to show that each day
in the latter restoration and rest is 1,000 years in length. However, this is
like referring to the [six-times-] mention of 1,000 years six times in Rev. 20: 2-7 to show the length of the coming Sabbath rest.
Both Peter in his second epistle and John in the Book of Revelation provide climactic material, material
forming apexes on the subject, material which had
previously been dealt with extensively throughout portions of the Old and New
Testaments, beginning with the opening chapters of Genesis.
(For additional information on the Sabbath in the preceding
respect, refer to Appendix II in this book, “The Sign of the Sabbath.”
For additional information pertaining to man’s salvation,
restoration, drawn from the opening two chapters of both Genesis and John,
refer to Appendixes
III, IV in this book - “The Complete Panorama of Salvation” and “The Preaching of the Cross.”)
1) Comparing Scripture with Scripture
God’s work during the six days in the opening chapter of Genesis is usually understood and taught as
creation alone (i.e., verses
describing God’s creation of the heavens and the earth, from verse one, over a
six-day period of time). Then, what could only be part and parcel with this
type thought, individuals invariably see little to no significance in the
septenary structure of these six days when combined with the following seventh
day of rest (cf. [Page 12] 2 Peter 1: 15-18; 3: 2-8).
However, if Scripture is compared with Scripture, and the
whole of subsequent Scripture is viewed in the light of that seen beginning in Gen. 1: 2, the preceding couldn’t possibly be understood as
the correct way to view this opening section.
For example, the Hebrew words translated “without form
and void” (tohu wavohu) in Gen. 1: 2a are used together only two other places throughout all
of the Old Testament - in Isa. 34: 11 and Jer. 4: 23. And both of these passages present a ruin of
that previously seen existing in an orderly state.
In Isa. 34: 11,
And in Jer. 4:
23-28, there is a comparison of that which
had previously occurred relative to the earth in Gen. 1: 2a to that which was about to occur relative to the
The
And, in complete keeping with this type understanding of the
use of tohu wavohu in
Isa. 34: 11 and Jer. 4:
23, Isa. 45: 18 (where the Hebrew word tohu is used) clearly states that God did not
create the earth (in Gen. 1: 1) in the
manner described in Gen. 1: 2a. Isaiah 45: 18 clearly states that God “created it [the earth] not in vain [not tohu].”
In this respect, if Gen. 1: 2a is to be understood in the light of related Scripture bearing on the
subject, there can be only one possible interpretation - the ruin of a prior existing creation (from v. 1),
because of sin. And the ruin seen in Gen. 1:
2a, Isa. 34: 11, and Jer. 4: 23 - ruined for a purpose - is with a view to eventual restoration.
A restoration of the ruin seen in Gen. 1: 2a is depicted in the continuing text in the chapter, and a
restoration of the ruin seen [Page 13] in both Isa. 34:
11 and Jer. 4: 23 is depicted
in revelation numerous places throughout the Old Testament (Israel restored,
with the nations both restored and placed in subjection to Israel [e.g., note Isa. 35: 1ff;
60: 1ff; Jer. 4: 27]).
Then, the whole of subsequent Scripture is perfectly in line
with this type understanding of the opening section of Scripture. The whole of
subsequent Scripture is built on a septenary
structure, with the foundation established and set in an unchangeable fashion
at the beginning, in Gen. 1: 1-13.
That is to say:
The heavens and the earth were created,
there was a ruin of the material creation (because of sin), God took six
days to restore the ruined
creation, and He rested the seventh day.
Man was created on the sixth day, man fell into a
state of ruin (because of
sin), God is presently taking six days (6,000 years) to restore man, and God
will rest the seventh day
(the seventh 1,000-year period [cf. 2 Peter 1: 15-18; 3: 3-8]).
And the latter, patterned after the
former, is what the whole of Scripture is about. The whole of Scripture is
about the same thing initially introduced and established in an unchangeable fashion in the opening
thirty-four verses of Genesis
(1: 1 - 2: 3).
The whole of Scripture is about the
creation of man (for a purpose), his ruin, his restoration over a six-day
period (over a 6,000-year period), followed by a seventh day of rest (a seventh
1,000-year period - the Sabbath rest awaiting the people of God [Heb. 4:
9; cf. vv.
3, 4], the Messianic Era, wherein man will
realize the purpose for his creation in the beginning).
Man would have been expected to understand this opening
section of Scripture, at least in a general respect, after the preceding
fashion at the time it was written; and subsequent Scripture simply verifies
the correctness of the way man would have been expected to understand it (apart
from other revelation at the time Genesis was written).
2) Only One Possible Conclusion
Through comparing Scripture with Scripture, and in the light [Page
14] of Scripture as a
whole - i.e., in the light of the
soteriological nature of the whole of Scripture following man’s fall, which is
set in a septenary structure - there is only one possible way to interpret and understand Gen. 1: 1 - 2: 3. These verses, solely from the standpoint of an interpretation and
understanding from Scripture, can be understood only as a ruin following creation, a restoration of the ruined creation over a
six-day period, and a day of rest following.
Seeking to understand these opening verses after any other
fashion is out of line with the way
Scripture itself handles the matter - something which could only form a beginning basis for
unsound Biblical study. The latter is true simply because any person beginning Genesis after a fashion other than the manner in which God
clearly reveals that He began His revelation to man would be laying an incorrect foundation upon which to
build as the person moves on into and seeks to understand subsequent Scripture.
(For information on the Hebrew text of Gen. 1: 2, and Genesis chapter one in general, refer to
Appendix I in this book, “Was or Became?”)
The Gospel of John
And, as previously stated, this
septenary, soteriological structure of Scripture is true not only relative to
the manner in which the Book of Genesis begins but relative to the manner in which the Gospel of John begins as well. The manner in which
the Gospel of John begins (in chs. 1, 2a) forms an exact parallel to the manner in which the Book of Genesis begins (in chs. 1, 2a).
In John’s gospel, as in Genesis, there is a creation, a ruin of the creation, a restoration of the ruined
creation over six days time, and a day of rest following the restoration. And this opening part of
John’s gospel, drawing from and calling attention to the opening verses of Genesis, again clearly shows the only way in which Gen. 1: 1 - 2: 3, from
a Biblical standpoint, can possibly be understood.
Creation is seen in John 1: 1-3; the ruin of the creation is dealt with in connection with a restoration of the ruined creation in John 1: 4,
5; restoration is seen occurring over six days time (cf. 1: 29, 35, 43; 2: 1), and events on the day of rest,
the Sabbath, are seen occurring [Page 15] immediately following
the restoration (John 2: 1-11).
1) Creation
Creation in the opening chapter of Genesis begins with the material creation.
This is what was both ruined and restored in Genesis, with man created on the sixth day, preceding
the day of rest.
John, in his gospel, presents matters surrounding God’s
creative activity from a different perspective. John brings everything together
(the material creation, angels, animals, man) in one all-encompassing
statement:
“All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was
made [lit., ‘All
things came into existence through Him, and
apart from Him nothing came into existence which came into existence’].”
In this respect, the first three verses of John’s gospel form
commentary for Scripture dealing with any part of God’s creative activity,
whether past, present, or future (cf. Gen. 1: 1, 21, 27; 2: 3, 4; Isa. 43: 1; 65: 17; Ezek. 28: 14, 15; 2 Cor. 5: 17). Nothing within God’s creative activity has ever occurred or will ever
occur apart from the Son.
“For by him [‘For in
connection with Him’] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible
and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him [‘created through Him, and with respect to Him’]:
And he is before all things, and by him
all things consist [‘and in connection with Him all things have been brought together’]” (Col. 1: 16, 17).
In verse seventeen, the
word “is” is a translation of the Greek word eimi (a verb of being). This word, as in John 1: 1, 2, 4, is used in a timeless sense - a sense with respect to an
existence without a beginning or an end. And, in keeping with
the use of eimi
in this respect, the verb translated “consist”
in the same verse (or, [Page 16] perhaps better
translated as shown in the preceding translation of Col.
1: 17: “have been brought together”) is in the perfect tense
in the Greek text, pointing to a work occurring during past time which exists
during present time in a finished state.
Thus, viewing Col. 1: 16, 17 and John
1: 3 together, all things were created in connection with, through, and with respect to Christ. And, in
connection with Him (in connection with the One existing apart from a beginning
or an end), these things have been brought together in past time and continue
that way during present time.
2) Ruin of the Creation
The ruin in Genesis chapter one had to do with the material creation. In John chapter one, though an allusion is made back to the ruin of the material
creation in Genesis (v. 5; cf. Gen. 1: 3-5; 2 Cor. 4: 6),
the ruin has to do with man (seen throughout the chapter in man’s need of a
Saviour). In this respect, Genesis sets
forth the type and John the antitype. Genesis foreshadows that seen in John.
Man, created on the sixth day immediately following the
restoration of the material creation (Gen. 1: 26-28), fell. Through Satanic intervention,
man was reduced to a ruin (Gen. 3:
1ff). John, in his gospel, picks up at the point of the ruin
having occurred and calls attention to light shining out of darkness, connecting this light with God’s Son, the
Word made flesh, the Lamb of God (1: 4-14, 29-36).
In the preceding respect, man’s ruin is seen
indirectly at the beginning of John’s gospel two different ways:
a) It is seen through light shining
out of darkness (an allusion back to Gen. 1: 2-5, drawing from light shining out of a
ruin in God’s original restoration of a ruined creation, forming an
unchangeable pattern concerning how God restores a ruined creation).
b) It is seen in the appearance and
introduction of a Deliverer, a Saviour (Whose appearance and introduction would
be unnecessary if man’s ruin had not previously occurred).
[Page 17]
Thus, John, beginning at and drawing from the restoration in Gen. 1: 2b, connects the light shining out of darkness with the Deliverer,
the Saviour, the Lamb of God (John 1: 14, 29, 35). And from how the Spirit of God handles the matter in the opening chapter
of John (when He moved John to pen his
gospel), one can know exactly
what the Spirit of God was foreshadowing through His order of events during the
six days of Genesis chapter one
(which He, almost fifteen hundred years earlier, had moved Moses to pen).
3) Restoration over Six Days
Again, numerically, John deals with the antitype of that seen
in Genesis. He moves
through six days, into the seventh; and, from that seen occurring on the
seventh day, the six days could only be thought of as connected with restoration (in keeping with light shining out of darkness, the appearance and
introduction of a Saviour inseparably associated with this light, and in
keeping with the fact that the original pattern in Genesis
is structured in this manner [i.e., six days of restorative work preceding a
day of rest]).
John 1: 29 moves events from the first to the
second day (“The
next day...”); verse thirty-five moves events into the third day
(“Again the
next day...”); verse forty-three moves events into the fourth day
(“The day
following...”); and John 2: 1 moves events into the seventh day (“And the third day...”).
In this respect, the numerical structure of John 1, 2a would not only be in complete keeping
with the numerical structure of Gen. 1, 2a but
with the whole of Scripture as well.
Within this septenary framework, Scripture begins at two numerical points to move into the
seventh day - one beginning at the time of man’s creation, the other beginning
at the time of Christ’s first coming, more
specifically at the time of events surrounding His crucifixion:
a) The complete six days, followed by a seventh day, as seen in Genesis chapters one and two
(cf.
Matt. 17: 1ff).
b) The last two days,
followed by a third day, as seen in sections of
Scripture such as Hosea 5: 15 - 6: 2 and John
11: 6, 7.
[Page
18]
(For information on the preceding,
refer back to Chapter
1 in this book, “On the Third Day, Seventh
Day.”)
Then, both would be seen together in
a section of Scripture such as Num. 19: 11-22.
And the latter is exactly what John does
at the beginning of his gospel. He moves through all six days, into the seventh;
but he specifically singles out the last two (taking one into the third, which
is the seventh [depending on where the count begins]), showing exactly what is
seen in other parallel Scriptures (cf. Hosea 6: 2; Matt. 17: 1; Luke 24: 7, 21, 46; 1 Cor. 15: 4).
4) Rest on the Seventh Day
On the third day, the seventh day, all of God’s firstborn
Sons will be raised up to live in His sight:
Jesus (God’s only begotten firstborn Son).
The Church (following the adoption
- [of some regenerate members] - into a firstborn
status).
Jesus was raised from
the dead - [literally, ‘out of dead ones’
(Acts 4: 2,
Greek)] - on
the third day, pointing to His [select resurrection,] elevation and exaltation in that coming day - to the third
one-thousand-year period dating from the crucifixion.
The Church, “in Christ” and in one respect presently
occupying the some position occupied by Christ during His two days in the tomb
- with future life emanating out of
present
death (cf. Phil. 3: 10, 11; Col. 2: 12; 3: 1-4) - will, following the adoption, be
raised up with Christ on the third one-thousand-year period dating from the
inception of the Church.
And on the third day, or on the seventh
day, the events foreshadowed by the first sign in John’s gospel will occur.
These signs have to do with
And that is exactly what is seen in the first
sign, pointing to [Page 19] events which will occur on the third or the seventh day when the nation has been
raised up to live in God’s sight.
(Note that in the restoration occurring over six days, seen in
both Genesis and John,
one book does not concern itself
any more with events foreshadowed by those occurring on the first day [events
relating to salvation by grace through faith] than does the other book. Both
begin at this point and have to do with a complete restoration seen through
continuing events occurring during the remaining five days as well, with
a view to the seventh day, the Sabbath.
And this is exactly what one finds in
either book - the types in Genesis, the
signs in John [among other related
things in both books].
As well, this is perfectly in line
with the
stated purpose for John's gospel [20: 30, 31], which,
through
the signs [paralleling the
types in Genesis], moves
beyond events foreshadowed by those on day one into events foreshadowed by
those on days two through six, with a view to events foreshadowed by those on
the seventh day, the earth’s coming Sabbath.)
5) The Signs in John’s Gospel
The Gospel of John is built around
eight signs; and, as in the sign of the Sabbath, the signs in this gospel point
to things beyond the signs themselves.
It is the Jew who requires a sign (1 Cor. 1: 22); and these signs, taken from numerous signs which Jesus
performed during His earthly ministry, are directed (as was His ministry in
that day) to the Jewish people.
Jesus performed signs of this nature for one central purpose:
“... that ye [the Jewish people] might believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God; and that
believing ye might have life through
his name [‘life’ having to do with the subject at hand, the
proffered [Messianic and Millennial] kingdom, not eternal life]”
(John 20: 30, 31; cf. John
2: 11; 5:
46, 47; 6: 14, 21; 11: 45).
Seven of the eight signs in John’s gospel were
performed in connection with particular days, all in perfect keeping with
one another, all in perfect keeping with the sign of the Sabbath, and all in
perfect keeping with the septenary arrangement of Scripture. And
all of the signs refer, after different fashions, to the same thing. They all
refer to things surrounding
Israel’s
coming salvation [Page 20] and restoration, which will occur after six days (after 6, 000 years), in the seventh day (in
the seventh 1, 000-year period).
The first sign, in 2: 1-11, has to do with Jesus turning the water in six waterpots to wine (“six,” man’s
number; the waterpots made from the earth, as
man; filled with water [the Word]; and through Divine intervention a change
ensues).
This sign, foreshadowing the future salvation and restoration
of
The second sign, in 4: 40-54, has to do with the healing of a
nobleman’s son.
This sign occurred after Jesus had spent two days with the
Samaritans, on the third day (vv. 40, 43). It will be after two days visiting “the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name,”
on the third day, that Jesus will return to the Jewish
people to effect healing for the nation (cf. Hosea 5: 15 - 6: 2; Acts 15: 14-18).
The third sign, in 5: 1-9, also had to do with healing, with a man being healed
at a particular time. This healing occurred after thirty-eight years, on the Sabbath (vv.
5, 9).
The reference (drawn from an O.T. type) would be to the
healing of the nation through the second generation of Israelites being allowed
to enter the land under Joshua, after thirty-eight years (dating from the [apostasy and] overthrow at Kadesh-Barnea).
And both the sign and type would
foreshadow the same future event. They would both point to that future time
when the nation will be healed and will be allowed to enter the land under
Jesus, as the Israelites in the Old Testament were allowed to enter under
Joshua (the Hebrew name meaning “Jesus,” “Salvation”) - an event which will occur on the seventh day, the Sabbath.
The fourth sign, in 6: 1-14, has to do with bread being provided for the
multitudes; and this sign occurred in connection with the Passover (v.
4).
Jesus is that “bread of life” which will be provided for the nation yet future (v. 35), and the Passover is the festival
in [Page 21] Lev. 23 which has to do with the future
salvation of
The Passover, the first of seven Jewish festivals outlining a
prophetic calendar and sequence of events in relation to
(For additional information on the preceding, refer to
Appendix III, “The Prophetic Calendar of Israel,”
in the author’s book, “Never Again!”
or “Yes, Again!”)
The fifth sign, in 6: 15-21, has to do with Christ’s departure, a storm, His return, the disciples’
attitude toward Him at this time, and the geographical location in which they
subsequently found themselves.
This sign foreshadows Christ’s departure from
The sixth sign, in 9: 1-41, has to do with the healing of a blind man, on the Sabbath day (v. 14).
This sign foreshadows
The seventh sign, in 11: 1-44, has to do with the resurrection of
Lazarus. This resurrection occurred after Jesus had been out of the land of
Judea two days, on the third day (vv.
6, 7), after Lazarus had lain in the grave
four days (v. 17).
[Page
22]
This sign foreshadows Israel’s future resurrection /
restoration (Ezek. 37: 12-14; Dan. 12: 2) after two days, on the third day; and at this time Israel
will have been in the place of death four days, dating four
millenniums back to Abraham.
The eighth sign, in 20: 1-29, has to do with Christ’s resurrection, after two days, on the third day.
This sign foreshadows that coming third day, dating from the
crucifixion, when not only Israel but all of God’s firstborn Sons (Christ, Israel, and the Church [following
the adoption]) will be raised up to live in His sight, which will be after two days, on the third day.
And all of this, in another frame of
reference, will be after six days,
on the seventh day.
* *
*
[Page 23]
Chapter 3
AFTER 400YEARS, 430YEARS
A DEPARTURE FOR THE LAND AFTER 400 YEARS, 430 YEARS
“Now the sojourning of the children of
And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred
and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of
Egypt” (Ex. 12:
40, 41).
God works with set times which He has pre-established. Until these set times arrive, matters
may appear exactly as they appeared to the Israelites and Egyptians alike
throughout the years when the Israelites were in Egyptian bondage. Aside from
conditions deteriorating, little to no change occurred throughout this time.
But when Moses appeared to the Jewish
people a second time, things began to change rapidly.
A Set Time During Moses’
Day
According to Ex. 12:
40, 41, the Exodus from
But how can this possibly be the case? Following
Biblical chronology back in time, four hundred thirty years would take one to
the days of Abraham while he was still in
Thus, “the children of
Then, there is a four‑hundred‑year period seen back in Genesis in connection with the
Exodus (Gen. 15: 13, 14; cf. Acts 7: 6). Abraham’s seed through whom the nations were to ultimately be blessed,
[Page 24] would sojourn “in a land that is not theirs” for four hundred years. And it was only at the end of this period
of time that the Exodus under Moses would occur.
Thus, there are both four-hundred and four-hundred-thirty-year periods in
connection with the Exodus from
1) Strangers and Pilgrims
It was the seed of Abraham
which was to sojourn in a strange land for four hundred years. That seed was born when Abraham was one hundred years old, which is when the sojourn began relative to his
seed in Gen. 15: 13, 14.
Then the four-hundred-thirty-year sojourn seen in Ex. 12:
40, 41,
also in connection with the Exodus, can only date back to a time thirty years prior to the birth of Abraham’s
seed. And,
according to these two verses in Exodus, the children of
Thus, the complete sojourn of the
Israelites - existing four hundred thirty years prior to the Exodus, in the
loins of Abraham - is seen going back thirty years
behind the actual birth of Abraham’s seed, from whom the nation descended. And, as can easily be shown, this time goes back to the very
beginning, to the promise given to Abraham thirty years earlier, as seen in Gen. 12:
1-3:
“Now the Lord
had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and
from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will
shew thee:
And I will make of thee a great
nation, and I will bless thee, and
make thy name great; and thou shalt be a
blessing:
And I will bless them that
bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
[Page
25]
Note how the preceding is clearly stated
in Gal. 3:
17, 18:
“And this I say, that the covenant, that was
confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it
should make the promise of none effect.
For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no
more of promise, but God gave it to Abraham by
promise.”
The Law, the Magna Charta for the kingdom, was
given through Moses at Sinai during the first year following the
departure of the Israelites from
2) Viewing the Time Correctly
Individuals often come up with the erroneous idea, from a
misreading of Gen. 15: 14, that the Israelites spent four
hundred years in Egyptian bondage. But that can’t be
true. Galatians
3: 17 alone would show the fallacy of this type thinking.
Note in this verse that only four hundred thirty years existed
between the promise given to Abraham while still in
Thus, Abraham’s seed (Isaac and his descendants) sojourned in
a land not theirs for four hundred years; and an additional thirty-year sojourn
is seen immediately preceding this time, going back to
the promise given to Abraham in
“And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his
father was a stranger, in the
“And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the
Lord.
[Page
26]
And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac,
and unto Jacob...
And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them
the
“By faith, Abraham, when he was called to
go out into a place which he should
after receive” - [after his resurrection (Acts 7: 5ff. cf.
2 Tim. 2:
16-18, R.V.)] - “for an inheritance, obeyed; and
he went out, not knowing whether he went.
By faith he
sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in
tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the
heirs with him of the same promise...
These all died in faith, not having received the
promises, but having seen them afar off,
and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth”
(Heb. 11: 8, 9, 13).
Thus, the Israelites are seen in
Scripture as strangers and pilgrims
throughout this time, whether in
From the birth of Isaac, the seed of Abraham spent one hundred
ninety years in the
This time of bondage could not
possibly have been more than about one hundred forty years and may have been
considerably less (times derived from Joseph’s age when the 210 years began
[about 40], his age at the time of his death [1101, and the fact that the
persecution of the Israelites in Egypt began only at a time following Joseph’s
death [Gen. 41: 46ff; 50: 26]).
This persecution began following the ascension of “a new king over
[Page 27]
Since the persecution existed at the time of Moses’ birth,
with Moses being eighty years old at the time of the Exodus, we can only say
that the persecution began sometime between about one hundred forty and eighty
years preceding the Exodus. There is nothing in Scripture
which would allow the time when the persecution began to be determined
any closer than this.
The Present and Future Day
The departure of the Israelites from
And all the details seen in the type will occur in the antitype - from Moses
dealings with the Israelites (“signs”)
and the Assyrian (“Let my people go!”),
the death of the firstborn (future conversion of the nation), the restoration
of the Jewish people to their land, the destruction of Gentile world power, and
the restoration of the theocracy to the Jewish people under a new covenant.
(Details on the preceding can be found in different books and articles which the author has written over the years. Note
particularly the author’s books, The Time of the End, Coming in His Kingdom, and
For additional information on the loins of Abraham in
connection with the 400 and 430 years, refer Appendix I, “Salvation Is of the Jews” [with a section titled, “In the Loins of Abraham,” in the author’s book, “Never Again!”
or “Yes, Again!”)
And, relative to time,
these things can only occur in the antitype exactly as seen in the type - to the very day, within a time which God has previously set. It can be no other way.
In Scripture, God is seen working
after only one fashion throughout Man’s Day. In the opening verses of
Scripture, He is seen working for six days,
foreshadowing 6,000 years. And [Page
28] throughout this
time He is seen working with three groups of people during set times in three
dispensations.
And, as evident from the timing of the Exodus
in relation to four hundred and four hundred thirty years of time (to the very
day at the end of the latter period,
and evidently the former as well), all of God’s
activities are undoubtedly set in a perfect timing of this nature.
Man’s Day itself is not only set
within a predetermined time (6,000 years, no more, no less), but time occurring
during the three dispensations are set with the same predetermined precision
(each lasting 2,000 years, completing the full 6,000).
(For information on these three
dispensations, followed by a fourth, refer to Chapter V, “Ages and Dispensations,” in the author’s book, The Study of Scripture.)
God is seen
intervening within man’s affairs at the exact end of each dispensation, and He
is also seen acting at times during the dispensations with the same precision,
having to do with pre-determined times (e.g.,
timing of events seen in Daniel’s Seventy-Week prophecy, particularly
between the sixty-ninth and seventieth
weeks; also note when the kingdom is established - not before, but at the full
end of the prophecy; at the end of the full seventy weeks, at the end of the
full four hundred ninety years).
Individuals, prefacing or following a
particular statement, sometimes say, “If the Lord
tarries...” But
the Lord is not going to
tarry. The Lord works with set times, and
when these set times arrive, He acts.
The matter is exactly as stated in Heb. 10: 37:
“For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”
The present dispensation can only last for a set time, which is a
preset 2,000 years. The removal of
the Church at the end of the dispensation will occur at a set time; God’s
dealings with
This is simply the manner in which God does things, which must be recognized.
* *
*
[Page 29]
Chapter 4
AFTER 70 YEARS, 490 YEARS
A RESTORATION TO THE LAND AFTER 70 YEARS, 490 YEARS
“And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an
astonishment; and these nations [the southern kingdom,
And it shall come to pass when
seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of
For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy
years be accomplished at
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the
Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you
an expected end.
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall
go and pray unto me, and I will harken unto you.
And ye shall seek me and find
me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
And I will be found of you, saith the
Lord: and I will turn away your captivity,
and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will
bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive”
(Jer. 25: 11, 12; 29: 10-14).
Because of the continual
disobedience - “continuous” in many
instances - of the Jewish people over centuries of time, God, true to His Word
(Lev. 26:
14ff; Deut. 28: 15ff), eventually uprooted His people
from their land and drove them out among the nations.
[Page
30]
And God acted after this fashion for one central purpose - to effect repentance* on the part of His people. Through
persecution at the hands of the Gentile nations, repentance, - [after the Great Tribulation under the
coming Antichrist ] - resulting in restoration, would ultimately be effected.
[* NOTE: It’s remarkable how many regenerate
Christians today, appear to believe “repentance”
is not
required of them! It makes one wonder where in the Bible they find their
teachings: and what “spirit” God has given them during
their reading of His inspired Word! See 2 Chron. 18: 20-22; cf. Acts
20: 29-32;
1 Cor. 6: 5-9; 1 Tim. 4: 1; 2 Pet. 2: 1, R.V.]
The northern ten tribes were uprooted from their land first
and carried away captive into Assyria, beginning about 722 B.C.; and the
southern two tribes were subsequently uprooted from their land and carried away
captive into Babylon, beginning about 605 B.C.
And with the Babylonians having previously conquered the Assyrian
Empire (with both kingdoms bordering one another, lying east and northeast of
Israel), the carrying away of the southern two tribes into Babylon essentially
left all twelve tribes together, as captives estranged from their land,
residing in the same part of the Gentile world.
The Seventy Years
Dating from the beginning of the Babylonian captivity, God
promised that after seventy years had passed, He would do two things:
1) “Punish the
king of
2) “Visit you [the Jewish people in
That is to say, after seven years had elapsed - but ONLY AFTER, NOT BEFORE - the kingdom of Babylon would be dealt with,
and God would remember His numerous promises to His people pertaining to
restoration (a healed people restored to a healed land).
This is what Daniel had read about and
understood at this time in Dan. 9: 1, 2. Daniel had read about and understood these things through the writings of Jeremiah the prophet (translate “books” [v.
21 as “writings” [ref. NIV]). And, as
seen through his [Page 31] actions at this time, Daniel evidently had also read
about and understood from other writings (Moses and other Prophets) that repentance on the part of the Jewish
people must precede God visiting his people and restoring them to their land (e.g., Lev. 26:
40-42; 2 Chron. 6: 24-27; 7: 12-14).
Daniel, knowing that the seventy years
had run their course (along with the Babylonian kingdom having fallen to the
Medes and the Persians), set about to seek the Lord’s face “by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes”
(Dan. 9: 3).
Daniel then began to confess his own sins and those of the
people, detailed throughout the next sixteen verses (vv. 4-19).
Thus, one thing which was necessary for the Jewish people to be restored to their
land had occurred (the end of the seventy years); and Daniel, as an
individual, was bringing to pass the only remaining thing necessary (repentance, confessing his
own sins and those of the Jewish people).
How far repentance of this nature extended beyond Daniel is unrevealed.
Nonetheless, God opened the door at this time for a return of the Jewish people
from
Most of the Jewish people, over time, had seemingly settled
down in the world and chosen to remain where they resided - in the Babylonian
kingdom, now ruled by the Medes and the Persians.
The Four Hundred and Ninety Years
Toward the end of Daniel’s prayer and supplication, while he
was still praying, the angel Gabriel interrupted him. Gabriel had been sent at
the beginning of his prayer and supplication in order to reveal to Daniel a
period of time subsequent to the seventy years - a longer period of time
involving the Jewish people, having to do with the same thing as the seventy
years (Dan. 9:
20-23).
This latter period was seven times as
long as the period which [Page 32] had just elapsed - four hundred and ninety years
rather than seventy years (Dan. 9: 24-27); and it would only be at the
end of this subsequent, longer period that all of the Jewish people scattered throughout the Gentile
nations would be brought to the place of repentance and restored to their land.
And, according to the Prophets, as these four hundred and
ninety years were brought to a close - exactly as at the close of the seventy
years - there would be a latter worldwide kingdom of Babylon, with the Jewish people scattered throughout
this kingdom.
(Four hundred and eighty-three of the full four hundred and
ninety years are now past, leading to the events surrounding
And the [Holy] Spirit’s work in this respect, in the
antitype of that seen in Gen. 24 [between the time of the death of Abraham’s
wife (Israel set aside; ch.
23) and Abraham again taking a wife (Israel
restored; ch. 25)], would be performed among those forming a new
creation brought into
existence at this time, the one new man “in Christ.”
Then, as seen in the type, at the end of the [Holy] Spirit’s work in the preceding
respect, God would remove this new man and resume His dealings with
And it will be during and at the end of
these last seven years that the Jewish people will once again reside in and be
restored back to their land from a Babylonian kingdom [in complete keeping with the types].
For additional information on the preceding, refer to Ch. XII,
“Daniel’s Seventy Weeks,” in the author’s book,
The Time of the End; also see the author’s book, Search for the
Bride.)
And exactly the some promises and the
same thing seen at the end of the seventy years in Jeremiah
and Daniel will occur at the end of
the four hundred and ninety years in Daniel.
1) The king of
[Page
33]
2) God, through His Son, will “visit” His people, perform His “good Work” toward them (fulfil His promises),
causing a healed people to return to a healed land.
That is to say, AFTER
a full four hundred and ninety years have
elapsed - but ONLY AFTER, NOT
BEFORE - the kingdom
of Babylon will be dealt with, destroyed; and God will, at that time, remember
His numerous promises to His people pertaining to restoration, both the people and the land.
“In That Day,”
NOT the Present Day
(Refer to the foreword in this book for an understanding of
how the Prophets used the expression, “in that day.”)
As there was a return of a remnant of Jews from the Babylonian
captivity in history, there has been a return of a remnant of Jews from a
worldwide dispersion during modern times - occurring since May 14, 1948, when
The restoration of a remnant in history was under God’s direction, at His command.
The restoration of a remnant today has been the result of a Zionistic movement, under man’s direction and command.
God simply will not allow the Jewish people to return from
their present dispersion among the Gentiles, under His direction and command, UNTIL the full time covered by the four hundred and
ninety years has run its course. To state otherwise would have God acting contrary
to His revealed Word, an impossibility.
A rather strange situation though exists in the world today. Most of the Bible students and Bible teachers studying about or
giving [Page 34] any thought to Israel’s place in God’s
economy, both present and future, attempt to see and teach that God is presently dealing with Israel relative to a
restoration to the land, with
many also seeing the land presently being healed (through reclaimed land for
agriculture, etc.), at a time BEFORE the
end of the four hundred and ninety years, BEFORE the Jewish people [as a nation] are brought to the place of repentance.
But God’s dealings with the Jewish people
after this fashion DIDN’T
occur during the seventy years in Jeremiah, and God’s dealings with the Jewish people
after this fashion ARE NOT GOING TO occur during the four hundred and ninety years in Daniel either.
God’s requirements both places con
only be seen to be
the same.
Both could / can occur ONLY following the full time in view (seventy years, four
hundred and ninety years), and both could / can occur ONLY following [their national] repentance.
Then, aside from the preceding, attempting to see and
understand that which has been occurring in the
God is not,
He cannot be,
dealing with
(Note in the type - antitype structure
of Gen. 23-25,
And, throughout this time,
And EXACTLY the same thing is
seen in the type-antitype structure of Gen.
37-45, covering
the same period as Gen. 23-25, seen in
the life and times of Joseph and his brethren.
[Page 35]
The type extends from events foreshadowing
In the type in Gen. 37ff, Joseph’s brethren are not
seen between two times. They are not seen between the events
foreshadowing
These two accounts show the way matters occurred in the types,
and they can ONLY occur in the
antitype EXACTLY THE SAME WAY.)
And of course numerous other things as
well are out of line with popular thought today, both among Christians in the world and among Jews both in
1) The house of
He (Antichrist) will appear only when time covering the last
seven years of Daniel’s prophecy resumes, and he will bring the desolation in view to an
apex toward the end of this time, during the closing days of Daniel’s prophecy.
(For information on the preceding, refer to Chapters 1, 2,
“Your House Left Desolate” [Parts I, III, in the
author's book, Middle East Peace - How? When?
Also see the author’s book, “Never Again!”
or “Yes, Again!”)
2) Healing for
the Jewish people and their land will occur ONLY AFTER two days, on the third day. It will be ONLY AFTER two days, on the third day (AFTER 2,000 years, IN the third 1,000-year period), that all three of God’s firstborn Sons -
Christ, Israel, and the Church (following the adoption) - will be raised up to
live in His sight.
[Page
36]
That occurring in the
3)
The time for this cleansing is seen
in a two-fold manner in Num. 19. This cleansing can occur ONLY
on the third or seventh day
(three days dating back to the crucifixion, or seven days dating back to
Adam), and it can occur ONLY
following the death of the high priest (which can only be a reference to Christ’s completion of His
present priestly ministry in the sanctuary, preceding that time when He comes
forth as the great King-Priest after the order of Melchizedek.
(Numbers 35 alone would
destroy all of the false teaching concerning God presently restoring the Jewish
people to their land, with many erroneously seeing the land progressively being healed as well. And it wouldn’t matter what form this
teaching might take, for Israel’s future cleansing, seen in this chapter,
occurs not only following Israel’s national conversion but in connection with
Israel’s restoration to a healed land [Ezek.
36: 24-32; 37: 1ff].
Thus, to see the Jewish people being restored to the land
today, AFTER ANY FASHION -
even in their unbelief, to later be dealt with by God [as some see matters
having occurred since May 14,1948] - is AN IMPOSSIBILITY on the basis of this one chapter in Numbers
alone. Such would have God acting completely contrary to His revealed Word.
According to any Scriptures dealing with the subject,
This, for example, is seen in the
type during Moses’ day, or in the order of the fulfilment of the seven festivals in Lev.
23.
Israel’s national conversion
[fulfilling the first Jewish festival, the Passover] will occur while the Jewish
people are still scattered among the nations; the cleansing, which many often confuse with [Page 37] the former, occurs subsequent to Israel’s
national conversion, in connection with the Jewish people being
restored to their land [having to do with activities occurring on the
second and sixth of the Jewish festivals - the festivals of Unleavened Bread
and Atonement. For
information on a type-antitype structure of Num.
35, refer to Chapters VII,VIII,
“Time of Israel’s Restoration,” in the author’s
book,
4) The Jewish people cannot
be restored UNTIL they have acquired ALL the wealth
possessed by the Gentiles.
Jacob, in the type (Gen. 28: 15 - 31: 3), as the Jewish people today, tried
to return to the land before he had acquired all of Laban’s wealth (Gen. 30:
25ff). But he couldn’t. The heavens
remained closed, and God did not speak to Jacob during the entire time of his
exile, not until he had acquired ALL of Laban’s wealth and not until it was TIME for him to
return.
THEN... And ONLY THEN... (Gen. 31: 1-3).
The Jewish people today have returned to the land through MAN’S EFFORTS in
a Zionistic movement, DURING their time of exile, BEFORE acquiring ALL of the
Gentile’s wealth, BEFORE THE TIME God speaks to them in this respect.
When God restores His people to the land, it will occur DURING HIS TIME,
not during their time. And they will be restored
through Divine power, not man’s power, never to be uprooted again (Amos 9: 11-15).
The remnant presently in the land has been restored BEFORE the time
through other than Divine power; and they, having been restored in this means,
will, of necessity, be uprooted from their land once again (Matt. 24:
15ff; Luke 21:
20ff; Rev. 12: 6, 14ff.
5)
6) The seven Jewish festivals in Lev. 23 form what could be
called, “The Prophetic Calendar of Israel,”
and none of these festivals has been fulfilled insofar as
And they must be fulfilled in a
sequential order, following [Page 38] Christ’s return (e.g.,
the first festival is the Passover;
(For information on the typology seen
in Jacob’s experiences in Gen. 28: 15 - 31: 3, refer to Chapter VIII, “Time of Israel’s Restoration,” in the author’s book, “Never Again!”
or “Yes, Again!”)
Or, for information on the seven Jewish
festivals in Lev. 23, refer to Appendix III,
“The Prophetic Calendar of Israel,” in the same
book.)
As previously stated, prevalent
thought in Christian circles today relative to the restoration of the Jewish
people to the land in the Abrahamic
covenant has to do with a false teaching concerning that
which has been occurring in the
To date, some 6,000,000 Jews have returned, and large parts of
the land have been reclaimed for agricultural
purposes.
Also as previously
stated, most Christians involving themselves in the matter today - many
referring to themselves as “Christian Zionists” - erroneously look upon that which
has been occurring since the spring of 1948
as God progressively restoring the
Jewish people to their land, with many seeing a progressive
restoration of this land as well, in accordance with His numerous promises in
the Old Testament to one day do so.
In this respect, the whole of the
matter is rather amazing - though not relative to the Jewish people returning
to the land in the Abrahamic
covenant, for a remnant (which, as we know today, will have resulted from
Zionism) must be in the land when Antichrist appears on the scene. Rather, the amazing part has to do with
the vast numbers of [regenerate] Christians who should know better, completely
misunderstanding what is happening and, resultingly, making a mistake of this
magnitude, one with far-reaching, negative ramifications.
It is amazing that ANY Christian with an open Bible would
make this mistake - bringing events of “that day” over into the present day and time - though
understandable because of the working of the leaven in Christendom over two
millenniums of time, resulting in few
Christians today studying Scripture after the after the [Page
39] manner in which it has been written and structured (Matt. 13: 33).
But what can perhaps be seen as even
more amazing than the preceding is the fact that MOST of the Christians involving themselves in this facet of Biblical studies are
making this mistake, though again somewhat understandable for the reason
previously given.
And this is not something minor in
Biblical studies. Rather, this is something MAJOR,
VERY MAJOR! This is something which can only have a dire, negative impact upon a Christian’s
outlook and understanding of the present and future place which the Jewish
people occupy in God’s economy.
Then, part and parcel with the preceding are the numerous pastors and Bible teachers caught up in this false
ideology who are misleading the masses. It’s
not a pretty picture when one begins looking at what’s presently happening in
this respect in Christendom, but that’s how matters exist nonetheless.
Until “That Day...”
To provide a current, up-to-date example
of what is really happening in the Middle East relative to Israel and the
nations, showing how Scripture handles and reflects on the matter rather than
how all too many of those who should know better are trying to handle the
matter, note that which has been and continues to occur in that part of the
world today.
The Middle East, for sometime, has been unravelling, so to
speak; and that can be seen even more so with events of each passing day, with
this unravelling, this coming apart, spilling over into and affecting Europe in
a negative manner. And, as well, it is also affecting
the world at large in the same negative manner.
Islamic militant, terrorist groups (ISIS, AI Qaeda, etc.) with
their continuing reign of terror, now have existing cells scattered over a good
part of the war-torn Middle East fostering persecution (often ending in death)
and economic hardship. Then there is a six-year old civil war in
[Page
40]
Then there is the Iranian nuclear
problem, with different opposing and often warring segments of the Moslem
religion (mainly Sunnis and Shiites) thrown into the mix.
Then, of course, there is
All is seemingly quite uncertain in one respect. Though, in another respect, there is ONE THING that can be know for certain.
One can know for certain that THE WHOLE OF THE MATTER is only
going to get worse, far worse.
Why?
It is very simple and can be answered in two very concise, short, to-the-point
statements:
1)
2)
The Prophets,
those through whom God spoke in time past (Heb. 1: 1)!
And, the Prophets have spoken, with their
words being FINAL!
The present existence of a Jewish
nation in the Middle East (which is made up largely of humanists, atheists, and
agnostics), BEFORE the full end of
the four hundred and ninety years, is nothing more or
nothing less than the Jewish people rising up and seeking to emancipate themselves from exile, apart from their Messiah,
establishing a Jewish nation themselves, entirely through natural means, in
the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The Jewish people have sought to do this BEFORE the time by re-entering a
desolated house, seeking to effect a healing of the Jewish people and their
land themselves, through natural means.
Then, not only is the preceding true, but, by doing this, the
Jewish people have not only opened the door for but guaranteed that God’s judgment upon the nation, to
ultimately bring about repentance, would be intensified seven-fold (Matt. 12:
43-45; cf. Lev. 26: 18ff).
And God uses the Gentile nations to bring
about judgment of this nature upon His people. In this respect, the turmoil
existing [Page 41] among the nations in the
It all has to do with God’s
plans and purposes for
And God is going to allow matters to
increasingly go to the extremes that it will ultimately take in order to
bring this to pass.
God is going to allow the destruction of the present Israeli
nation (following the Jewish people rebuilding their Temple on the Temple
Mount), the death of a tenth of those in the land, the remainder driven back
out among the nations, and then followed by the attempted annihilation of the
Jewish people worldwide.
This is what lies in store for the 6,000,000 Jewish people
presently in the land - NOT at some far off time, in some distant day, BUT
IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE - completely destroying any Messianic hope that any of
the Jewish people will possess at that time (with a rebuilt Temple, with Temple
worship occurring). And this will then be followed by
that which will befall the remainder of the Jews worldwide (another eight to
nine million).
Exactly as in Moses’ day and continuing down through the
centuries to the present time, relative to the matter at hand, exactly the same
disobedient, “stiffnecked” people reside both in and out of the
land today (cf. Ex. 32: 9; 33: 3; Deut. 9: 6; Jer. 17: 23).
It took the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions and captivities
to get the people’s attention in past time. And, after
2,600 years of Gentile dominance and persecution, dating back to the days of
the Babylonian invasion and captivity, God is going to use something even more
horrific.
God, in a final and lasting work, to once
and for all get the Jewish people’s attention, is going to bring about conditions so horrific
that no precedent exists at any past time throughout Man’s 6,000-year history.
The God of the Jews is about to pull out all stops to, at long last, bring His people to the place of repentance.
[Page 42]
(For information on the preceding, refer to the different
chapters in the author’s book, “Never Again!” or “Yes, Again!”)
1) The Biblical Picture
The Biblical picture of that currently occurring in the Middle
East con be seen in the opening verses of the Book of Jonah (though this account would have to do
with Israel during the coming Tribulation, the some thing con be seen today,
leading into the Tribulation).
An unrepentant Jonah, out of the Lord’s will and seeking to
distance himself from the presence of the Lord, booked passage on board a ship
headed in the opposite direction from where the Lord had told him to go. And
Jonah, in this condition, was asleep down in the hold of the ship when God
caused the sea to become so tumultuous that the very ship itself, with all
those on board the ship, was about to be destroyed (Jonah 1: 1-5).
This storm arose for one multifaceted reason and purpose alone.
It arose because of Jonah. God’s
prophet was out of place, and the storm arose in order to rectify the
situation (1: 6-12).
Jonah must be dealt with and brought to the place
of repentance, bringing Jonah to the place where he would then do as God had
commanded. And bringing about repentance was
something which could happen only
(“The sea” in Scripture is used
as a metaphor for the nations [also, the
place of death]; and “the ship” could only be seen as a reference to the
land of Israel, for that is
the only place on earth where one could reside and be seen as other than out
among the nations, other than in the sea.)
The preceding is the type. Now note the antitype -
A disobedient and unrepentant nation, following
in Jonah’s footsteps, resides in the land - on the ship - today. And exactly the same thing is occurring among the nations, particularly those nations surrounding
[Page
43]
The sea raged in the type, because of Jonah; and the sea is raging today in the antitype, because of
And whether type or antitype, the reason
for the tumultuous condition was / is the same - a disobedient and unrepentant Jonah running from the presence
of the Lord, and
a disobedient and unrepentant Jewish nation following suit in the land today.
2) The Biblical Solution
Do you want to know what’s about to
happen? The type will relate the complete story. And if you think it’s bad now, just wait!
As previously seen, it can ONLY BECOME WORSE with time, with no one being able to do a thing about
the matter (Hosea 5:
14). The type relates this, and the antitype MUST follow the type
in exact detail.
Again, the whole of what is presently occurring and will yet
occur in the
As long as a disobedient and unrepentant Jonah was on board
the ship, out
of the Lord’s will, the sea raged. And the
sea raged to the extent that the ship was about to be destroyed.
And matters can be NO DIFFERENT in the antitype.
As long as an unbelieving and unrepentant Jewish nation is in
the land,
TURMOIL CAN ONLY EXIST among the Gentile nations, particularly those nations
surrounding
And this turmoil, as the raging sea
during Jonah’s day, can ultimately be no ordinary turmoil. It can ultimately
only be the some type turmoil seen in the tumultuous sea during Jonah’s day,
described - one about to destroy the ship and all those on the ship.
Note Matt. 24: 22, describing those coming days:
“And except those days should be shortened [days during the coming Tribulation just out ahead,
the last seven years of the full four hundred and ninety years], there should no flesh be
saved: but for the elect’s sake [for
[Page
44]
God, exactly as in the type, is about
to go to the extent that it will take in order to bring His plans and purposes
for mankind to pass, plans and purposes to be effected through Israel.
In the type, bringing about His plans and purposes had to do
with a Jewish prophet,
ultimately bringing to pass salvation and blessings for the Gentile city of
And in the antitype, bringing about His
plans and purposes has to do with the nation of
(For additional information on the
typology of Jonah, refer to Chapters V, VI, “The
Turbulent Middle East,” in the author’s book,
Also, note something which some
individuals would see as a problem with respect to all of this.
As Jonah in the type had to be removed
from the ship and cast into the sea,
The seeming problem would emanate from God having dealt with
But note a major difference between the
nation both times in history and the nation today. The nation in the land both
times in history found itself under Gentile dominion and control;
the nation in the land today is not under Gentile dominion and control.
Thus, the nation presently in the land is
left without recourse. This nation either has to be brought under
Gentile dominion and control or be uprooted and driven back out among the
nations; and Scripture states that the latter will occur [Matt.
24: 15ff; Luke 21: 20ff; Rev. 12: 6, 14ff].
Then, out among the nations, God will deal with
* *
*
[Page 45]
Appendix I
THE INTERPRETATION OF GEN.
1:
2
TEXTUAL, CONTEXTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE
VERSE
It would
go without saying that there has been a great deal of
controversy over the years among theologians and Christians in general
concerning exactly how the opening two chapters of Genesis
should be understood. And it would also go without
saying that, resultingly, confusion has reigned supreme in Christian circles
concerning not only these chapters but the general tenor of the remainder of
Scripture as well.
Confusion begets confusion; and in this case, confusion at the
outset, in the opening two chapters of Genesis, has resulted in confusion in that which follows - Scripture
as a whole.
To provide an example, note the doctrine of soteriology
(salvation). The opening thirty-four verses of Scripture provide the complete
panorama of God’s way of salvation at the outset, along with God’s purpose for
salvation. The complete matter is succinctly set forth in these opening verses
in a God-designed, pristine form.
(For information on the preceding, refer to Appendixes III, IV
in this book, “The Complete Panorama of Salvation”
and “The Preaching of the Cross.”)
And, if a Christian begins understanding
the subject at the place God first began setting it forth, understanding the
God-designed basics, he will have the proper foundation on the subject for all
which follows. But if a Christian doesn’t begin here,
doesn’t understand the God-designed basics at this foundational point...
[Page 46]
But who does this?
Who believes this?
Who understands this?
Numerous Bible students, probably most, know so little about
the way Scripture is structured at the outset that they can’t
possibly begin at this point, even on the basics of the salvation message.
Then, those who do believe and understand the way Scripture is structured at the outset invariably begin at places in
Scripture other than at the beginning when dealing with salvation, among other
subjects. And, an individual only has to look around
at the resulting confusion pertaining to this one doctrine alone to see what
has resulted from man ignoring the God-designed basics, the God-designed
foundation, at the outset.
The Opening Two Chapters of Genesis
There are actually two major schools of thought surrounding
the interpretation of these opening two chapters, though there are a number of
variations within that held by those in each school.
Those in one school (probably the position held by the
majority today) view the six days in the first chapter as time revealing and
describing God’s creative activity introduced in verse one.
And those in the other school view these
six days as time revealing God’s restoration of a ruined creation (creation seen in v. 1, a ruin of this creation seen in v. 2a, and God’s restoration of the ruined creation seen in vv. 2b ff).
Then, there is a variation of the second school
which is held by quite a few individuals and could be looked upon as a
third school of thought. Those holding to this view see Gen. 1:
1 as other than an absolute beginning. They see this verse as
an opening statement dealing with restoration, not creation.
That is, they see the verse dealing,
not with God’s creation of the heavens and the earth in an absolute sense (as
most view the verse), but with the beginning of God’s restoration (reforming,
remoulding, refashioning) of a previously perfect creation which had been
reduced to a ruin (with the creation of the heavens and the earth per se not
seen in these opening verses).
[Page
47]
“Was” or “Became”
Much of the controversy surrounding these different views is
centered in the linguistics of verse two
(though, as will be shown later, this really doesn’t
need to be the case). Grammarians go back to the Hebrew text and deal mainly
with two areas, and good Hebrew grammarians reach different conclusions in both
realms:
1) The relationship of the three
circumstantial clauses which form the second verse to that
stated in the first verse.
2) The meaning and use of the Hebrew
word hayah in verse two (translated “was”).
1) The Three Circumstantial Clauses
The three circumstantial clauses in Gen. 1:
2 are simply the three clauses which
form the verse:
1) “And the earth was without form, and void,”
2) “And darkness was upon the face of the deep,”
3) “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters.”
In the Hebrew text there is what is
called a “waw” beginning verse two (a conjunctive or disjunctive particle
[actually, a letter in the Hebrew alphabet, the waw, prefixed to a word], usually
translated “and” in most English texts). Some
grammarians view this particle prefixed to the word beginning verse two in a conjunctive sense (showing a connection between v. 1 and v. 2 [“and”]), and other grammarians view it in
a disjunctive sense (showing a
separation between v. 1 and v. 2 [“but”]).
(The other two circumstantial clauses in verse two begin with “waws” prefixed to words as well, which will be
discussed later.
The Hebrew text of the Old Testament uses the “waw” more frequently in a conjunctive [“and”] rather than a disjunctive [“but”] sense. Of the approximately 28,000 usages of
this particle, some 25,000 appear to be conjunctive and some 3,000 disjunctive.
Normally the context determines how the particle is to be
understood.)
[Page 48]
2) In a Conjunctive Sense
Those viewing the “waw”
prefixed to the word beginning Gen. 1: 2 in a conjunctive sense would usually see the three circumstantial clauses as inseparably
connected with verse one; and those viewing
this “waw” in a disjunctive sense would, instead,
see a separation between these two verses.
If there is an inseparable connection
of the clauses in verse two with verse one (the waw used in a conjunctive sense), and verse
one describes an absolute beginning in relation to the heavens and the
earth (God’s actual creation of the heavens and the earth in the beginning),
then verse two would have to describe how God created the earth in the beginning
(i.e., “without form, and void”).
Thus, understanding the structure of the Hebrew text after
this fashion would necessitate viewing that which is described at the beginning
of verse two as the condition of the earth at the conclusion of the action
described in verse one. That is to say, God would have initially created the
earth (v. 1) in the condition described in verse two. Then the six subsequent days would have
to be looked upon as time in which God, step by step, performed and completed
His creative work introduced in verse one.
The preceding view of the structure of the Hebrew text is the
main reason for the position held by some that Gen. 1: 1 describes the beginning of God’s restorative work rather than an absolute
beginning. Those holding this view see the three circumstantial clauses in verse two as inseparably connected with verse one. But they also see
that Scripture teaches a subsequent ruin of the earth following God’s creation
of the heavens and the earth in the beginning (e.g., cf. Gen.
1: 2
and Isa. 45: 18 [the
Hebrew word tohu, translated “without form”
in Gen. 1: 2 is translated “in
vain” in Isa.
45: 18; and this verse in Isaiah specifically
states that God did not create the earth tohu, i.e., after the fashion in which it is
seen in Gen. 1: 2]).
Thus, those who see God’s perfect creation undergoing a
subsequent ruin but also view the three circumstantial clauses in verse two (is inseparably connected with verse one (in a conjunctive sense) are, in a
respect, forced into a particular position concerning the interpretation of the
opening verses of Genesis.
[Page 49] They
are forced into the position of seeing the actual creation of the heavens and
the earth, and also the ruin of the heavens and the
earth, as occurring at a time prior to Gen. 1: 1, events
which they would see as not being dealt with per se in the opening verses of
Scripture at all.
3) In a Disjunctive Sense
Then there are those grammarians who see the “waw” prefixed to
the word beginning verse two as disjunctive. These
grammarians would understand this Hebrew “waw” in a similar sense to the way in
which the Greek word de is used in
the New Testament (normally disjunctive), as opposed to the Greek word kai (the word
usually used to show a conjunctive sense).
In this respect, the translators of the Septuagint (Greek
translation of the Old Testament) used de to translate the first “waw” in what was apparently
meant to be a disjunctive sense beginning Gen. 1: 2 (with
the conjunctive kai used to translate the remaining two “waws” prefixed to the words beginning the other two
circumstantial clauses in the verse).
Using the KIV text to illustrate, the translators of the
Septuagint used de and kai to translate
the three Hebrew “waws” in this manner:
“And [De, lit., ‘But’] the earth was without form, and void;
and [kai] darkness was upon the face of the
deep. And [Kai] the Spirit of God moved upon the
face of the waters.”
And, viewing the verse beginning in a
disjunctive sense of the preceding nature, there would be no connection between
the first two verses of Genesis.
Rather, a separation would exist instead. Within this view, one would normally
see verse one revealing an absolute beginning, with verse two (along with the
verses following) revealing events occurring at later points in time.
(Most holding this
linguistic view see verse two as a
description of God’s perfect creation [from verse
one] being brought into a ruined state, separated from verse one by an unrevealed period of time. And they would, accordingly, see God’s activity during the
six days as activity surrounding the restoration of this ruined creation.
[Page 50]
Some holding this linguistic view though still see the six
days as time revealing God’s creative activity. They view verse one as describing a “grand summary declaration that God created the universe in the beginning.”
Then, apart from seeing a connection between v.
1 and v. 2, they view
God’s activity during the six days as a revelation concerning how God
accomplished that which He had previously stated in verse
one.)
4) The Hebrew Word “Hoyah”
Hayah is the Hebrew
word translated “was” in most English
versions of Gen. 1: 2 (“And the earth was…”). The word is found twenty-seven times
throughout chapter one
and about 3,570 times in the entire
Old Testament.
The etymology of the word is somewhat questionable (most look
at the probable, primary meaning of hayah as “falling” or “to fall”). Hebrew scholars though see the word used over and over in the Old Testament in the sense of “to be,” “to become,”
or “to come to pass.”
And through attempts to trace the
etymology of the word, comparing Hebrew with Arabic (a related Semitic
language), and seeing how the word is used in the Old Testament, many scholars
have come to look upon the word in the sense of a verb of “being” (“to be”).
But scholars also recognize that it is not completely
accurate to equate the word with the English verb of being after this fashion.
The word is translated different ways in English versions - e.g., “was” or “were” (Gen. 1: 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, etc.), “be” (Gen. 1: 3, 6, 14, 29,
etc.), “became [or, ‘to become’]” (Gen. 2: 7, 10; 3: 22, etc.). But that’s in English versions. In the Latin Vulgate there are thirteen instances where hayah has been
translated in the sense of “become”
in Genesis
chapter one alone; and in
the Septuagint there are twenty-two
such instances in this one chapter (out of the twenty-seven times hayah appears in chapter one).
The first use of hayah in Scripture is in Gen. 1: 2 - the verse being
discussed. But going beyond this verse for a
moment, note how the word is used elsewhere in chapter one.
Hayah appears twice in verse three, translated
“be” and “was.” And translating, “Let light be [or ‘become’]: and light became,” would
actually best convey the thought of that which occurred.
[Page 51]
Then note verses 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31. The word hayah appears two
times in the latter part of each verse (both translated in a combined sense in
the English text by one word - “were”). Translating literally from the Hebrew, using “was” in the translation, the text would
read, “...And there was evening, and there was morning, [comprising] the first day ... the second day ... the third
day,” etc.
Actually though, “became” would really better convey the thought surrounding that
which occurred, for evening and morning came to pass, “became,” comprising each of the six
different days.
(Leupold, a Hebrew grammarian from
past years, in his commentary on Genesis,
appears to capture the overall thought of hayah to mark beginning and / or
ending points in each day quite well by translating, “...Then came evening, then came
morning - the first day ... the second day ... the third
day,” etc.)
Then note the words, “... and it was so,” at the end
of verses 7, 9,
11, 15, 24, 30. “Was” in each reference is a translation of the word hayah, and it is easy to see that “became” rather than “was” would really provide a better
description of that which occurred in each instance, translating, “…and it became so” (cf. “Let there be [a translation of hayah]...” [vv. 3, 6, 14]).
Though hayah has been translated “was,” “were,” or “be” throughout the first chapter of Genesis, the word is actually used mainly
throughout this chapter in the sense of “be,” “became,” or “had become.”
Attention is called to this fact because numerous individuals
look at translating hayah “became [or ‘had become’]” as so rare in the Old
Testament that serious consideration should not be given to the thought of
translating Gen. 1: 2, “And [or ‘But’] the earth became [or ‘had
become’]...” But the rarity is in the English
translations, not in a literal Hebrew rendering or in certain other translations
(e.g., in the KIV there are only 17 instances in all of Genesis where hayah has
been translated “became [or, ‘became [or ‘become’]” [2: 7, 10; 3: 22; 9: 15; 18: 18; 19: 26; 20: 12; 21: 20; 24: 67; 32: 10; 34: 16; 37: 20; 47: 20, 26; 48: 19]; but in the Septuagint
there are at least 146 instances [and
some 1,500 instances in the entire
O.T.]).
[Page
52]
The Hebrew Text Alone
Can linguistic questions surrounding the first two verses of Genesis be resolved from the Hebrew text
alone? Can one determine from the Hebrew text alone whether the “waw” beginning verse
two should be understood as conjunctive or
disjunctive? Or, can one determine from the Hebrew
text alone how the word hayah should
be translated in verse two? Or, can one determine from the Hebrew structure of verse two alone how the remainder of the first
chapter should be understood in an overall sense?
Some Hebrew scholars would answer in the affirmative. But, because of the different ways in which a number of
Hebrew scholars view the matter at hand, using the Hebrew text alone, the issue
could only be resolved within their minds and possibly within the minds of
others who would follow their same line of reasoning.
And note that the issue would be resolved
by different scholars after entirely different fashions, all based on their
understanding of the grammatical structure of the Hebrew text.
Another Way
However, there is another way to approach the
matter; and that other way is to see how the whole of Scripture deals with the issue at hand. If the whole of
Scripture can be shown to support one view alone - which it can - then the correct linguistic under standing of Gen. 1: 2 and the corresponding correct interpretation of chapter one can easily and unquestionably be demonstrated.
This is not to say that Gen. 1:
2 or the first chapter of Genesis
as a whole cannot be understood correctly apart
from first going to the remainder of Scripture, for that cannot be the case.
God would not have begun His revelation to man after a
fashion which man could not have understood apart from subsequent revelation
(requiring approx. 1,500 years to
complete).
But this is to say
that the correct linguistic position for Gen. 1: 2 and the correct corresponding interpretation of the
entire chapter - which can be shown by going to the remainder of Scripture - is
[Page 53] a position which God would have expected man to see as evident when he
began reading at this point in Genesis,
though man many times has not done so (post) and does not do so (present).
Thus, in this respect, a knowledge of
the way in which the Hebrew text is structured is really not going to resolve
the issue at hand. And time has been spent on the
Hebrew construction of Gen. 1: 2 and other related passages, not in an
attempt to resolve the issue, but to demonstrate two basic things:
1) There are good, reputable Hebrew scholars who hold varying
views on the opening verses of Genesis,
which are many times based strictly on their understanding
of the structure of the Hebrew text, apart from contextual considerations.
2) Though the linguistics of the Hebrew text
(within the different ways scholars understand the linguistics of the text)
will support any one of these views, all but one are out of line with the
remainder of Scripture and are, consequently, wrong.
That is to say, though it may be possible to support different
views from the structure of the Hebrew text alone (the
way different scholars understand the syntax of the Hebrew text), different
views cannot be supported when the remainder of
Scripture is taken into consideration - with or without the Hebrew text.
Scripture will support only one view, and that one view is the position alluded
to in the opening portion of this chapter.
Scripture will support:
1) “Creation” (an absolute creation [v. 1]).
2) “Ruin” of the creation (which means that the “waw”
prefixed to the word beginning v. 2 must be understood in a disjunctive sense [“But”], and the Hebrew word hayah must be understood in the sense of “became [or ‘had become’]” [v. 2a]).
3) “Restoration” of the ruined creation
(vv. 2b-25).
4) “Rest,” following six days of restorative work (1: 2b
- 2: 3).
And to illustrate this is not difficult
at all. In fact, the opposite is true. It is a very simple matter to illustrate, from other Scripture, exactly how the
opening verses of Genesis must
be understood.
[Page
54]
Tohu Wavohu
In this respect, first note the words tohu wavohu from the Hebrew
text of Gen. 1:
2.
The words tohu wavohu are translated “without form and void” in the KIV English text (“formless and void,” NASB; “formless and empty,” NIV; “waste and void,” ASV). These two Hebrew words are used together only two other places
throughout all of the Old Testament - in Isa. 34: 11 and Jer. 4: 23. And both of these passages present a ruin
of that previously seen existing in an orderly state.
In Isa. 34: 11, “
And in Jer. 4: 23-28, there is a comparison of that which
had previously occurred relative to the earth in Gen. 1: 2a to that which was about to occur relative to the
The
And the reason for both of these actions
- that which God had done to the earth, and that which He was about to do to
the
And, in complete keeping with this type understanding of the
use of tohu wavohu in Isa. 34:
11 and Jer. 4: 23, Isaiah 45: 18 (where the Hebrew word tohu is used,
translated “in
vain”) clearly states
that God did not create the earth (in Gen. 1: 1) in the manner described in Gen. 1: 2a. Isaiah 45: 18 states that God “created it [the earth] not in vain [not ‘tohu,’ not ‘without form’].”
Thus, if Gen. 1: 2a is to be understood in the light of
related Scripture bearing on the subject (which it must be [cf. Ps. 12: 6; Isa. 8: 20; 28: 10; 1
Cor. 2: 13]), there can be only one
possible interpreta-tion - the ruin of a prior
existing creation (from
v. 1),
because of sin. The earth from verse one “became”
tohu
wavohu.
[Page
55]
The ruin seen in both Gen. 1: 2a and Jer. 4: 23, for a purpose, is with a view to
eventual restoration. And the restoration seen in the continuing text of Gen. 1:
2 (vv. 2b-25) and in the overall passage of Jer. 4:
23ff (v. 27b), as well as in related Scripture (e.g., Isa. 35: 1ff), is also for a purpose.
Subsequent Scripture
Then, the whole of subsequent Scripture is perfectly in line
with this type understanding of the opening section of Scripture. The whole of
subsequent Scripture is built on a septenary structure, with the foundation established and set in
an unchangeable fashion at the beginning, in Gen. 1: 1 - 2: 3.
That is to say:
The heavens and the earth were created, there was a ruin of the material
creation (because of sin), God took six days to restore
the ruined creation, and He rested
the seventh day.
Man was created on the sixth day, man fell into a state of
ruin (because of sin), God is presently taking six days (6,000 years) to
restore man, and God will rest the seventh day (the seventh 1,000-year period [cf.
2 Peter 1: 15-18; 3: 3-8]).
(For information on the preceding, refer to Chapters 1,
2
in this book, “On the Third Day, Seventh Day”
and “After Six Days, on the Seventh Day.”)
And the latter restoration, patterned
after the former restoration, is what the whole of Scripture is about.
The whole of Scripture is about the same thing initially
introduced and established in an unchangeable fashion in the opening
thirty-four verses of Genesis (1: 1 - 2: 3).
The whole of Scripture
is about the creation of man, his ruin, his restoration over a six-day period
(over a 6,000-year period), followed
by a seventh day of rest (a seventh 1,000-year
period - the Sabbath rest awaiting the people of God [Heb. 4: 9; cf. vv. 3, 4], the Messianic [and Millennial] Era).
[Page 56]
As previously stated, man would have been expected to understand
this opening section of Scripture after the preceding fashion at the time it
was written. And subsequent Scripture simply verifies
the correctness of the way man would have been expected to understand it at
that time, apart from other revelation.
(Note one thing about the restoration in Gen. 1: 2b-25
which should be understood. This restoration could only have been a complete restoration. No
trace of “the world that then was” [the world
preceding the ruin seen in Gen. 1: 2a], or the
subsequent ruined earth [in Gen. 1: 2a], can be
seen “in the heavens and the earth, which are now” [2 Peter 3:
5-8].
A complete restoration would have removed all traces of
anything having to do with “the world that then was”
or with that world during that time when it lay in a ruined state.
That is to say, man today, through science, cannot show evidence of any type pre-existing
creation or a ruin of that
pre-existing creation, for a complete restoration - the only type restoration possible
through the Divine work seen in Genesis chapter one
- would have removed all traces of a pre-existing creation and
ruin.
And, accordingly, man’s different
recognized dating methods, often showing the earth to be much, much older than
6,000 years, can reveal nothing to change the preceding.
The Noachian Flood, 1,656 years beyond the restoration, left
things quite skewed in this respect anyway. All dating methods are based on conditions remaining uniform throughout all
time. And conditions changed considerably at the time of the
Flood. They
are not at all the same today as they were before the Flood, destroying the foundation
upon which dating methods rest.
Then, did God restore the earth with apparent age? After all,
God created man with apparent age. What is a restored tree or a restored rock
like, etc? Would they show age if subjected to man’s
dating methods?
In this respect, all that exists in the present secular world
of history and science - e.g., the complete fossil record, the
dinosaurs, topographical formations such as the
In short, one MUST look to the Scriptures for
answers to the numerous questions which could be raised in the preceding
respect, not to man’s wisdom or to a realm where man cannot go [to a world
lying in ruins in Gen. 1: 2a, or to a
world existing prior to that time].)
* *
*
[Page 57]
Appendix II
THE SIGN OF THE SABBATH
HISTORICAL BASIS IN GENESIS, ESTABLISHED AS A SIGN IN EXODUS
“Speak thou also unto the children of
Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is
holy unto you. Everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that
soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Six days may work be done; but in the
seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord:
whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
Wherefore the
children of
It is a sign
between me and the children of
The
Sabbath was given to
When giving the Sabbath to
[Page 58]
There is a latter work of restoration, followed by rest,
which is based on a former work of restoration,
followed by rest; and the Sabbath was given to the Jewish
people to keep this thought ever before them throughout their generations.
That is, though the sign of the Sabbath concerned a present work and future rest, it was based on a past work and rest. God worked
six days to restore a ruined creation in the opening chapter of Genesis; and on the sixth day, along with the
completion of His work of restoration, He brought man into existence to rule
over the restored material creation (Gen. 1: 26-28). Then God rested on the seventh day.
But a ruin ensued once again. Man, an
entirely new creation in the universe, fell; and, as a result, the restored
material creation was brought under a curse (Gen. 3:
17), leaving God with two ruined creations: man,
and the material creation.
With that in mind, how did God, in the Genesis account, set about to restore these two ruined
creations? The answer is not only clearly revealed but
it is also very simple.
According to Scripture, God set about to restore the
subsequent ruined creations in exactly the same manner which He had used to
restore the former ruined creation in the opening chapter of Genesis. God set about to restore the two
subsequent ruined creations over a six-day period (in keeping with Gen. 1:
2b-25);
and, in keeping with Gen. 2: 2, 3, following His restorative work, God would then rest on the seventh day.
The latter restoration MUST occur in complete keeping with the
former restoration.
A Divinely-designed pattern had been set in the former
restoration - a pattern set perfect in the beginning,
which, accordingly, COULD NEVER CHANGE.
Thus, the latter restoration MUST occur over a six-day period. And this
six-day period of restorative work MUST, as
the former, be followed b a day of rest.
From a Biblical standpoint, it is NOT POSSIBLE for the matter
to occur in any other manner. And the Sabbath, following six days of
work, was given to Israel to keep the thought ever before the Jewish people
that, in accord with the opening verses of Genesis,
God was going to once again rest for one day following six days [Page
59] of work to effect the restoration of that which is presently in
a ruined state (both man and the material creation).
The Sabbath was a “sign,” and a sign in Scripture,
having to do with the Jewish people (Matt. 12: 38-40; 1 Cor. 1: 22),
points to something beyond itself. This “sign,” the Sabbath, points to a seventh-day rest which God will enter into with His people (“the people of God” in Heb. 4: 9) following six previous days of restorative
work.
Each day in the former restoration and rest was twenty-four
hours in length, but each day in the latter restoration and rest is revealed to
be one thousand years in length (1 Peter 1: 16-18; 3: 3-8; cf. Matt.
16: 28-17: 5).
Based on the pattern set
forth in Genesis chapters one and two, God is going to work for six thousand years
during the present restoration and then rest the seventh one- thousand-year
period.
(God has given the Sabbath to
God made the covenant with the Jewish people, not only with
the generation during Moses’ day but with all
generations, before that day and after that day; and God will keep His covenant
with His people.
ALL things portended by the sign of the
Sabbath will, because of God’s unconditional covenant, ultimately be realized by the
Jewish people.)
Scripture begins by laying the foundational basis for this
septenary arrangement of time in the opening verses (Gen. 1:
1 - 2: 3). Then, accordingly, this is
something seen or alluded to throughout Scripture (Ex. 31: 13-17; Num. 19: 12; Hosea 5: 15 - 6: 2; Jonah 1: 17; Matt. 17: 1; Luke 24: 21; John 1: 29, 35, 43; 2: 1; 5: 9; 9: 14; 11: 6, 7; Heb. 4: 1, 4, 9). And the matter is then brought to a
conclusion in Revelation chapter twenty, where the 1,000-year Messianic Era is mentioned six times (vv. 2-7), immediately
prior to the eternal ages which are seen to follow (chs. 21, 22).
Scripture deals with “time,” 7,000 years of time - time extending from the restoration of the earth and the creation of man to the end of the Messianic Kingdom.
Scripture has very little to say about that which occurred prior to these 7,000 years, and it also has very little to say
about that which will occur following these 7,000 years. Scripture is built on this septenary arrangement [Page
60] of time, which is
based on the opening two chapters of Genesis;
and this is an evident fact
which must be recognized if one would correctly understand God’s redemptive plans and purposes which He has
revealed in His Word.
* *
*
[Page
61]
Appendix III
THE COMPLETE PANORAMA OF SALVATION
As Seen in Genesis
1: 1
- 2: 3
The Bible
is a book of redemption; and basic, unchangeable teachings surrounding
redemption are set forth in Scripture, at the very beginning, revealing a
purpose in view.
In the first chapter of Genesis,
God sets forth the unchangeable manner in which He, in His infinite knowledge and wisdom,
restores a ruined creation.
There is a restorative work which
follows a specific pattern, and the matter is accomplished entirely through
Divine intervention. And within this unchangeable
pattern set forth at the very beginning, God reveals how any subsequent ruined
creation would, of necessity, have to be restored. It would have to be restored after a certain order, entirely through Divine
intervention, over cl six-day (six-thousand-year)
period.
Thus, to establish correct thinking relative to the
fundamentals of salvation, one MUST begin in Genesis. If all those
holding erroneous views had begun in Genesis chapter
one and understood and adhered to that which
God set forth at the very beginning concerning how a ruined creation is to be
restored, not a single erroneous
view concerning salvation would exist today. Such couldn’t exist.
And, going to more specific thoughts
concerning salvation, the preceding would equally apply not only to the salvation which we presently
possess (the salvation of the spirit) but
to the continuing aspect of salvation as well (the salvation of the soul).
Within the structure of this
foundational framework, the [eternal] salvation which we presently possess is
realized at the very beginning of the six days; but the continuing aspect of [that initial] salvation (a salvation to be realized at the end
of one’s faith, or as the goal of one’s faith [1
Peter 1: 5, 9]) is
an on-going process, to be brought
to pass during that foreshadowed by God’s continued activity during the remaining five days of restorative work
but realized only at the end of the full six days, on the seventh day.
[Page
62]
In this respect, the unchangeable basics pertaining to redemption in relation to the whole of that which,
in reality, is the man himself (both spirit and soul) have been set forth at
the very beginning of Scripture, in Gen. 1: 1 - 2: 3. And if a person would understand salvation within
its correct perspective, avoiding all error, he MUST begin here.
Here - and ONLY here - can a person see the unchangeable
foundation, setting forth the unchangeable basics, laid down at the very beginning.
Salvation of the Spirit
Hebrews 4: 12 reveals a division brought to pass
between man’s soul and spirit. And this is a teaching
drawn from the very opening verses of Genesis
(as seen earlier in this same section in Hebrews
relative to the “rest” set before “the people of God” [vv. 4, 9]). The Spirit of God moves in Gen. 1: 2b, and God speaks in Gen. 1:
3. In relation to man’s salvation, it is at this point (in what would be referred to as the foundational type)
that a division is made between man’s soul and spirit (in what would be
referred to as the antitype).
In the type, the Spirit of God moved, God spoke, and light
came into existence. Genesis 1: 2b, 3 records the initial act of the Triune
Godhead in bringing about the restoration of the ruined material creation, an
act in which the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit each, of necessity,
participated - the Spirit moved, God spoke, and then note that nothing can come
into existence apart from the Son (John 8: 12).
In the antitype, within the framework of man’s salvation
experience, the matter is identical. There must be an act of the Triune Godhead, for this is
how God worked to restore a ruined creation in the Genesis
account, establishing an unchangeable pattern for a later work. Thus, as in the type, so in the
antitype - the Spirit of God moves, God speaks, and light comes into existence.
And the light is inseparably associated with God’s Son
(John 8: 12), Who is God (John 1: 1,
2, 14), for apart from Him there is no [eternal] salvation (Acts 4: 12).
[Page
63]
Everything is
based on the
Son’s finished work at
When the Son cried out from the Cross,
“It is finished [lit.,
‘It has been finished’]” (John 19: 30; cf. Luke 23: 46), He meant exactly what He had said. And when the Word of God reveals that we have a salvation of
Divine origin, based entirely on the Son’s finished work, the Word of God means
exactly that.
When man sinned in the garden, he died spiritually;
and when unregenerate man, “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph.
2: 1), is made alive today, he is made
alive spiritually. The movement of
the [Holy] Spirit (Gen.
1: 2b)
and God speaking (Gen. 1: 3) in order to restore the ruined
creation are simultaneous events.
It is the [Holy] Spirit using the God-breathed word to effectually
perform a supernatural work in unredeemed man. It is at this point -
through the in-breathing of God - that life is
imported to that which previously had no life. God breathes into dead man (the
Spirit using the God‑breathed Word, based on the finished work of the
Son), and man is “quickened [‘made alive’]”
(Eph. 2: 1, 5).
At this point, light shines “out of darkness” (2
Cor. 4: 6), a division is made between the light and the darkness
(Gen. 1: 4), and the darkness has no apprehension or comprehension of that which is
light (John
1: 5; cf. 1 Cor. 2: 14).
It is at this point in man’s salvation that the spirit is separated from the soul. The “spirit” in unsaved man is dead. It is a part of
the totally depraved man, with his “body of
... death,” in which there dwells “no good thing” (Rom. 7: 18, 24). With the movement of the [Holy] Spirit, using the God-breathed Word,
man’s spirit is made alive and, at the same time, separated from his soul.
The “soul”
remains within the sphere of darkness, which is why “the natural [Gk., psuchikos, ‘soulical’]
man” cannot understand “the things of
the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2: 14). That which remains in the sphere of
darkness can have no apprehension or comprehension of that which has shined out
of darkness. There is a God-established division between the two which cannot
be crossed over (cf. Luke 16: 26).
[Page
64]
Salvation of the Soul
The preceding process is the manner which God uses to deliver the spirit from its fallen
state, resulting from Adam’s sin. And because the spirit has been delivered,
there can once again be communion with God. Man can now comprehend spiritual things, and
there can now be a progressive, continued work by the Spirit of God within man
so that he can ultimately be delivered to the place which God has decreed that
he occupy at the end of six days, at the end of six thousand years.
Within the framework of the type in Genesis chapter one, this is the very first thing
which is foreshadowed. This had to be set forth first, for man has to first be made alive - he has to
first pass “from
death unto life” - before
anything else in the restorative process
can occur.
Thus, this is foreshadowed at the very
beginning of the six days which God, in accordance with the established
pattern, would use to bring about man’s complete restoration - spirit, soul,
and body (cf. 1 Thess. 5:
23).
To briefly illustrate how God’s complete
restoration of ruined man is patterned after God’s complete restoration of the
ruined material creation in Genesis chapter one, note two things:
1) That which
occurred on each of the six days of restoration.
2) Where the whole of
the restorative process was leading - a seventh day of rest.
Within a type-antitype framework -
pertaining to man’s salvation in the antitype - that which occurred in the type
on day one foreshadows God’s work as it
pertains to the salvation of man’s spirit, and that which occurred in the type on
days two through six foreshadows God’s work as it pertains to the salvation of man’s soul.
The salvation of the spirit is an instantaneous event where one passes
“from death
unto life,” but not so
with the salvation of the soul.
It is a progressive event. It is an event which begins at the point one is made alive spiritually, [i.e.
eternally saved by God’s grace] - and it will not be completed and
realized until the end of that foreshadowed by the six days - [i.e. at the time of “the First
Resurrection” (Rev. 20: 6ff. cf.
Luke 16: 23-31; Acts 2: 27, 34; 2 Tim. 2: 16-19, R.V.)] - of restorative work - 6,000 years [Page
65] of restorative
work.
(The issues of the judgment seat
of Christ - [before the time of resurrection (Heb. 9: 27, 28, cf. Luke
20: 35; Phil.
3: 11,
R.V.)] - at the end of the present dispensation - which will occur at the end of the six days, at the end of the 6,000 years - will have to do with issues surrounding the [future (1 Pet. 1: 5] - salvation [or loss] of the soul / life. It will be at the judgment seat - not
before - that man will realize [or fail to realize] the salvation of his
soul / life.)
Since the salvation of the spirit cannot occur apart from an exact duplication in the antitype
of that which occurred in the type during day one of the restoration in Genesis, it should be evident that the salvation of the soul and its
relationship to that which occurred on days two through six must be looked upon the same way. The latter must follow
the pattern to the some degree as the former. There can be no difference in this
respect.
And since this can only be the case, note
that which occurred on days two through six in the restoration of the ruined
material creation in Genesis. Then, to see
the overall picture of that which must be done to
bring about the salvation of redeemed man’s soul, these same events can be
viewed in relation to God’s present continuing restoration of man, a subsequent
ruined creation.
Events on days two and three (as events on the first day) have
to do with divisions. On the second
day God established a division between the waters (vv. 6-8), and on the third day He
established a division between the dry land (with its vegetation) and the
waters (vv. 9-13).
Then events on days four through six belong together as
another unit, depicting things beyond the divisions previously established. On the fourth day
God placed lights in the heavens to give light upon the earth (vv. 14-19), on the fifth day He created birds that could soar above the earth and
marine life that could move throughout the depths of the sea (vv. 20-23), and on the sixth day He created the land animals, which included great
creatures capable of roaming the earth (vv. 24, 25).
And, as previously noted, the whole of God’s restorative work relative to the material
creation in Genesis foreshadows the whole of God’s
restorative work relative to man today. After man has “passed from death unto life,” wherein the spirit is separated [Page
66] from the soul -
wrought entirely through Divine intervention - redeemed man finds himself in a
position and condition where a continued
Divine work not only can occur but MUST occur. And only through this continued Divine work can the whole of God’s
restorative work, as it pertains to man, be realized.
(Man, as the material creation, must
be completely passive in
relation to the [initial] salvation of the spirit [he is dead, rendering him incapable of acting]; and man, as the material
creation [“And the earth brought forth...”] must
be active in relation to the
salvation of the soul [he now has spiritual life, allowing him to act in the spiritual realm]. But, as in the restoration of the
material creation, the entire salvation process
[spirit and soul, and ultimately the body] is a Divine work. “Salvation is of the Lord” [Jonah
2: 9].)
Events occurring during the first
three days in Genesis chapter one would
point to elementary things or the basics in one’s spiritual life and growth.
Events occurring during day one would point to a division between the soul and
the spirit, having to do with the importation of life. Then events occurring
during days two and three would point to divisions and distinctions as one
begins to progressively grow within the framework of
the new life brought into existence on the first day. One would learn to
distinguish between the soulical and spiritual, spiritual and carnal (fleshly),
Jew, Gentile, and Christian, the dispensations, etc.
Only when one learns the divisions and
distinctions depicted by that which was brought to pass on days two and three
is he in a position to move on into the things depicted by that
which was brought to pass on days four through six. On these three days,
light was restored to the sun
and moon (day four, vv. 14-19); sea life and the birds of the air
were created (day five, vv. 20-23); and then God created all the living
creatures that roam the earth, followed by His creation of man (day six, vv. 24-27).
That depicted by the work of the
Triune Godhead during these three days points to things beyond elementary
truths in the anti type. After
one has passed “from death unto life”
and has been instructed in the elementary truths (days one through three) -
after [Page 67] he has been “born from above” and
has grown to a degree in his Christian life - he can then begin to view with
understanding deeper spiritual truths of the Word. He can then begin to view
with understanding those things in the Word depicted by events on days four
through six of Genesis chapter one.
An individual in this position can begin to sink deep shafts
into the Word and mine its treasures. He can look into the Word and understand
that depicted by the lights in the heavens. He can, in the
true sense of the Word, “mount up with wings as eagles... run,
and not be weary ... walk,
and not faint” (Isa. 40:
31), as he scales the heights; or he
can scale the depths of the Word, as the sea creatures plunge to the depths of
the sea; or he can roam through the Word, as the land creatures roam the earth.
Christian maturity and spiritual victory - bringing to pass the salvation of the soul - go
hand-in-hand. And the entire process of God’s
restoration work throughout the six days is with a view to that which lies
beyond, on the seventh day. It is with a view to the Sabbath rest awaiting the people of God.
(For continuing, related material, refer to Appendix IV
in this book, “The Preaching of the Cross,”
which, as the opening thirty-four verses of Genesis,
relates to both the saved and the unsaved.)
* *
*
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Appendix IV
THE PREACHING OF THE CROSS
Messages for Both the Saved and the
Unsaved
(Material in this part of the appendix is inherent within and
commentary on the salvation message initially introduced and unchangeably
established in Gen. 1:
1 - 2: 3.)
Part 1
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish [lit., ‘that
are perishing’] foolishness; but unto us which are saved [lit., ‘which are being saved’] it is
the power of God...
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of
wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus
Christ and him crucified...
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of
men, but in the power of God.
Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the
wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
But we speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which
God ordained before the world unto our glory:
Which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord
of glory” (1
Cor. 1: 18; 2: 1, 2, 5-8).
In
Scripture, there is a preaching of the cross to the saved, and there is a
preaching of the cross to the unsaved. And the former
is dealt with far more extensively in Scripture than the latter.
Salvation by grace
through faith, having to do with the preaching of the cross to the unsaved, as seen for example in Eph. 2: 8, 9, is NOT the main message of Scripture:
[Page 70]
“For by grace are ye saved [lit., ‘you
have been saved’] through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man
should boast” (vv. 8, 9).
Rather, the main message of Scripture is
seen in what salvation by
grace through faith allows and where it takes an individual. Salvation by grace
through faith, as seen in Eph. 2: 8, 9 - a passing “from death unto life” (John
5: 24; Eph.
2: 1, 5) - takes an individual to that seen in Eph. 2: 10,
which is another way of expressing the preaching of the cross to the saved:
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them”
(v. 10).
Twofold Nature of the
Preaching of the Cross
No single book in Scripture deals
principally with salvation by grace through faith, NOT John’s gospel (as thought by many), NOT any of the Pauline epistles, Hebrews, the general epistles, or any other book
in Scripture, both Old and New Testaments.
Again, salvation by grace through faith, though usually dealt
with extensively by man, is simply NOT the main
message of Scripture.
ALL Scripture, after one fashion or another,
deals principally with the
preaching of the cross to the saved, not to the unsaved. ALL Scripture is in line with the manner
in which the matter was originally set forth in the opening thirty-four verses
of Genesis (1:
1 - 2: 3) - showing the manner and time which God uses to restore a ruined creation (six days time, with a view to a subsequent seventh day
rest, foreshadowing 6,000 years of restorative work,
followed by 1, 000 years of rest).
The first day’s restorative work can only foreshadow God’s beginning restorative
activity for ruined man (salvation by grace through faith). And
God’s continued
restorative work during the subsequent five days can only
foreshadow a continued restorative activity for man (things beyond salvation by
grace through faith). And ALL is with a view to a seventh-day rest.
[Page 71]
The preceding is not to undermine, in any way, the importance
of the preaching of the cross to the unsaved, for a person can’t get to the
preaching of the cross to the saved apart from beginning with the preaching of
the cross to the unsaved. Rather, attention is simply being
called to the manner in which God has structured His Word relative to
these two aspects of the preaching of the cross.
To illustrate from Genesis chapters
one and two, it is to say that a person CAN’T begin with activity foreshadowed by
day two in Genesis chapter one. He has to FIRST go through that foreshadowed by activity on day one. This
is where he MUST begin, but he is NOT to remain in that foreshadowed by
activity on day one. Rather, he is to
Note relative to the preceding that Jude sought to write an
epistle dealing with salvation by grace through faith - “the common salvation” (v. 3a). But the [Holy] Spirit of God would not allow him to
write an epistle of this nature. Rather Jude was moved
to write on things beyond
salvation by grace through faith. Jude was moved
to write an epistle exhorting [regenerate] believers
to “earnestly contend for the faith” (v. 3b). And “the
faith” is an expression peculiarly
related to the Word of the Kingdom, part and parcel with the preaching of the cross to the saved (1 Tim. 5: 11-16; 2 Tim. 4: 7, 8).
And this same thing can be seen in any
other New Testament epistle, or any book throughout both Testaments. The
message of salvation by grace through faith can be found
in practically any epistle or book, but it is NEVER seen as the main message.
The Preaching in View in 1 Corinthians 1: 18; 2: 1-8
1 Corinthians 1: 18 refers to the preaching of the cross
in relation to two classes of individuals - those who are perishing, and those
who are being saved (see textual translation changes in brackets at the
beginning of this part of the appendix).
The writer, Paul, places himself among those presently being saved. He, and those referenced with him, had been
saved (past [Gen. 1: 2b-5; Eph. 2: 8, 9]), they were being saved (present [Gen. [Page 72] 1: 6ff; Eph. 2: 10]),
and this was with a view to salvation, a seventh day rest (future [Gen. 2:
1-3; Heb. 4: 4-9]).
They had been saved through the
simple preaching of the gospel of grace; they were now being saved through the preaching of the gospel of glory. And
both have to do with the preaching of the cross, with a view to salvation being realized on the seventh
day, in the Messianic Era.
Contextually, those perishing in the first part of the verse CANNOT possibly be a reference to unsaved
individuals. The subject at hand is the preaching of the cross to the saved,
NOT to the unsaved. Those perishing can only refer to [regenerate] Christians who are not moving beyond
that foreshadowed by activity on day one in Genesis
chapter one into that foreshadowed by activity on days two through six, or
beyond that seen in Eph. 2: 8, 9 into
that seen in Eph. 2:
10.
Then that seen in 1 Cor. 2:
1ff simply continues from chapter one, though from the wording
and a statement in 1 Cor.
15: 3, 4, a broader coverage of the preaching of the
gospel is evidently now seen.
“For I delivered unto you first of all
that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the
third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15: 3, 4).
When Paul first went to
Then 1 Cor. 15: 4 carries matters beyond that seen in verse
three,
moving into a continued preaching of the cross, a preaching of the cross to the saved, to those having “passed from death unto life” through the previous preaching of the
cross to the unsaved.
Note the basic, overall type beginning in Exodus chapter twelve and ending at the conclusion
of the book, in chapter forty, or, in
another respect, continuing to and ending in the Book of Joshua.
[Page
73]
Death and shed blood occurred while the Israelites were still
in
This foreshadows Christ’s death and shed blood at
This would be one aspect of that seen in 1 Cor. 2: 3, the initial part of the
preaching of the cross. But, as seen from verse
eighteen in the previous chapter, or from the initial framework set forth at
the beginning of Scripture, or in numerous places in Scripture which could be
referenced, an individual is NOT to remain
at this initial point. And this is succinctly stated
in the continuing verse in 1 Cor.
15: 4,
pointing to burial, then [when our Lord returns, subsequent] resurrection.
Note the type once again in Exodus,
moving beyond the thought of death, shed blood, and a proper application of the
blood while still in
All of this is fraught with typical significance and meaning.
In one respect it has to do with the unsaved during present
time, and with Christians during both present and future time, taking [resurrected] Christians into the Messianic Era.
In another respect, it has to do with
Whether for the saved or the unsaved, matters begin at the
cross, with crucifixion and death.
For the unsaved, activity surrounding the cross is the only thing in view. There is a
vicarious death, allowing the unsaved person, once saved, to be seen in two
respects - as both “dead” and
as having “passed from death unto life" (Eph. 2: 5-7; Col. 2: 20; 3: 1-10).
And from the preceding point, with the
person now a Christian and seen as dead (vicariously), a burial is to occur. And this burial is with a view to resurrection, both during the present time and on [Page 74] the
third day, the third 1,000-year period, yet future.
Note the type in Exodus. A vicarious death occurred while in
At this point they were out of
The theocracy can be seen brought
into existence at the end of the Book of Exodus;
and the Israelites’ entrance into the land, in possession of the theocracy, can
be seen realized in the Book of Joshua.
ALL of this, typical of
And ALL of this, exactly as in the type, is with a view to a removal from the
world, walking in newness of life, and a [promised millennial] kingdom out ahead to be realized in
another land (a heavenly - [sphere of the
kingdom and] - land*
rather than [only] an earthly land, as with
[unresurrected]
[* See Luke
20: 35, 36. I read of no
mention in Scripture of “a heavenly land”! - a description suggesting “another land” in
heaven! Those “accounted worthy to attain to that world [age], and the resurrection from the dead” … are equal unto angels!” That is, they will then
occupy both “heavenly”
and earthly spheres of the Messiah’s promised Kingdom. (See Ps. 2: 8. cf. Rev. 2: 25-37, R.V.)]
ALL of this has to do with the preaching of the cross. And one con
easily see that matters DON’T
move very far in Scripture if this preaching DOESN’T move beyond a preaching of the
cross to the unsaved.
[Page
75]
Part II
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish [lit., ‘that
are perishing’] foolishness; but unto us which are saved [lit., ‘which are being saved’] it is the power of God...
And I, brethren,
when I came to you, came
not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God.
For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus
Christ and him crucified...
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of
men, but in the power of God.
Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect:
yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes
of this world, that come to nought:
But we speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which
God ordained before the world unto our glory:
Which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord
of glory” (1 Cor. 1: 18; 2: 1, 2, 5-8).
Commentators invariably associate that seen in 1 Cor. 2:
1-8 with the preaching of the gospel of grace to the unsaved. And,
undoubtedly, the main thing facilitating this type understanding of these
verses is a failure to see any continuing aspect to the gospel message, i.e., a preaching of the cross to the saved as well.
Among most Christians today (years past as well), if the
gospel message is mentioned - proclaiming the gospel - only one message invariably comes to mind,
which has to do with a message proclaimed to the unsaved, not to the saved.
But, the manner in which the word “gospel” is used throughout the New Testament
is quite different. Referencing all usages of this word in the New Testament
(the Greek word euaggelion, “gospel,”
“good news,” appears about eighty times), a person will find that over
four-fifths (closer to nine-tenths) of the different times that [Page
76] this word
appears, contextually, the word refers
to “good news” OTHER THAN the gospel of grace.
But, despite this, Christians continue to
see the usage of this word only one way in Scripture, having to do with only one message - a message to the unsaved.
Individuals seeing and understanding things in the preceding manner
can only have major problems with the text from 1 Cor. 2:
1-8, particularly the last four verses (vv. 5-8), for NOTHING in any one of
these last four verses can have anything to do with the preaching of the gospel
message to the unsaved.
ONLY material pertaining to the saved can be in view
throughout, which can
only present major problems when trying to relate these verses to the gospel of
grace.
And, this is no small thing, for
individuals improperly understanding this passage, attempting to proclaim the
simple gospel of grace from these verses, can only corrupt one facet of the gospel message and destroy
the other.
With the preceding in mind, note a number of different things
about 1 Cor. 2: 5-8:
A Mystery (v. 7)
That in view in these verses is referred
to as “a
mystery,” having to do
with God’s “power” and “wisdom,” seen in verses five
through seven: “the power of God” and “wisdom among them that are perfect [‘mature’].”
And understanding how the word “mystery” is used in the New Testament will
form a base for a correct understanding of this passage.
1) Usage of “Mystery” in
the New Testament
The word “mystery”
is used twenty-seven times in the New Testament.
It is used one time in each of the three synoptic gospels, for
the some event - the mysteries of the kingdom (Matt. 13: 11; Mark 4: 11; Luke 8: 10).
It is used twenty times in the
Pauline epistles.
Paul used the word numerous times to reference the gospel [Page 77] which he had been called to proclaim throughout
the Gentile world (Rom. 16:
25; Eph. 3: 3, 4, 9; 6: 19; Col. 1: 26-28).
He used the word to reference
And, among several other usages, Paul
used the word to reference the coming resurrection of Christians and the corresponding removal of the
living at the end of the present dispensation (1 Cor. 15: 51ff).
The word is not used in Hebrews or the general epistles, but it is used
four times in the Book of Revelation. It is
used of the seven stars (1: 20), of God (10:
7), and of the Woman and the Beast (17:
5, 7).
2) Definition of “a Mystery”
“A mystery” in the New
Testament does not have to do with something completely new, something not
dealt with at all or unknown in the Old Testament (a common misconception which is often taught concerning the meaning of the word).
This, of course, couldn’t be true, for there can be NOTHING in the New that
cannot be found after some form in the Old.
If there were something in the New that could not be found
after some fashion in the Old, note what this would do relative to perfection in the Word made flesh (John 1: 1,
2, 14) before a single word of the New had
been penned.
Rather, “a mystery” in the New Testament has to do with an opening up and unveiling of something previously introduced
and dealt with in the Old Testament. “A mystery” has to do with additional
revelation, commentary, on
that already existing in the Old Testament, allowing the Old Testament
revelation to be fully opened up and revealed (e.g., note that a full revelation of the Son in the Book of Revelation, which is the announced subject
matter of the book in the opening verse [1: 11, allows
the “mystery of
God” [Rev. 10:
7] to be correspondingly fully opened up as well, for Christ is
God manifested in the flesh).
3) Paul’s Gospel
Note in the preceding definition and coverage of the word “mystery” in the New Testament that the word
is used in connection with Paul’s gospel a number of times. And, comparing [Page
78] Scripture with
Scripture, it is clear that the gospel which Paul had been called to proclaim
had to do with the preaching of the cross to the saved,
not to the unsaved (cf. Rom. 2: 16; 16: 25; 2 Cor. 4: 3, 4; Eph. 3: 1-6).
The word “mystery,”
associated with Paul’s gospel, is NEVER used in the New Testament in connection with the gospel of grace, only with the gospel of glory.
Also, in this respect, note “unto our glory,” and “the Lord of glory” in 1 Con 2: 7, 8.
The Princes of this World (vv. 6, 8)
A great deal of controversy exists
among commentators over the identity of “the princes” referenced in 1 Cor.
2: 6, 8. The Greek word translated “princes” in the passage is archon, used of both men on earth and angels in Satan’s kingdom (Matt. 9:
23, 34; John 3: 1; Eph. 2: 2). This same word
was used by the Septuagint translators (Greek O.T.) in Dan. 10: 13, 20, 21, verses referring to ruling angels in the heavens.
Then there is the related Greek word arche, meaning “beginning” (e.g.,
John 1: 1), but sometimes used in the same
sense as archon. Both words mean
“beginning,” and both words are used relative to “rulers,” “principalities,” with archon used more so than arche in this respect.
The way arche is used in both the Books of Ephesians and Colossians
though would be an exception to the preceding. The word is used in Eph. 1: 21; 3: 10; 6: 12 and in
But, how is archon used in 1 Cor. 2: 6, 8?
Does the word refer to rulers among men here on earth? Or, does it refer to rulers in Satan’s kingdom
in the heavens?
Understanding two things - the subject at hand and what these rulers were failing to see in 1 Cor. 2: 5-8 - forms the crux of the matter; and, to properly understand
the passage, these two things MUST be
understood.
[Page 79]
As previously seen, the subject at hand has to do with different things surrounding the
preaching of the cross to the saved, not to the unsaved; and these
rulers had failed to see and understand the full ramifications of Christ’s
crucifixion.
That is to say, they saw no more than most Christians see
today - nothing beyond a simple preaching of the gospel of grace, the preaching
of the cross to the unsaved. Had they seen what lay beyond the preceding - the preaching of the cross to the
saved,
along with the ramifications of this preaching - they would have done
everything in their power to prevent the crucifixion (1 Cor. 2:
8).
Why? The answer is not only very simple
but the answer will also identify “the princes of this world” in verses
six and eight.
Earthly rulers COULDN’T
POSSIBLY be in view, for they have absolutely NOTHING to do with
the subject matter at hand. But Satan and his angels
have EVERYTHING to do with it.
Results of the simple gospel of grace are of no danger to
Satan and his angels. An unsaved person being saved through the preaching of
the cross DOES NOT place that person
in a position to one day replace one of the angels ruling under Satan. And these ruling angels would have known, from Old Testament
Scripture, the ramifications of Christ’s finished work at
The text (v. 8) clearly indicates that the preceding was not something
which they tried to prevent. In fact, from events which transpired,
Satan’s angels, ruling through the Roman rulers of that day (Dan. 10: 12-21), evidently either caused or looked
favourably on the crucifixion being carried out by the Romans on behalf of the
Jews.
(Angels act under fixed laws in God’s kingdom, with their actions becoming the Lord’s
actions [e.g., actions of
angels and the Lord in Gen. 18, 19].
And, within Satan’s kingdom, “angels” form the gods of the nations [cf. 2
Chron. 32: 13-15; Ps. 96: 5], with rulers in the Gentile nations conducting
affairs under them [under their gods]. And it is
evident from 1 Cor.
2: 8 that
a
form of this same fixed-law government exists in Satan’s kingdom
between angelic rulers in the heavens and human rulers on the earth.
PAGE 80
The manner in which the government of the earth has been
established - patterned after God’s government of the universe - would leave both
heavenly and earthly rulers EQUALLY RESPONSIBLE for the actions of earthly
rulers, occupying positions of power under the heavenly rulers, as
seen in 1 Cor. 2: 8.)
What Satan and his angels didn’t see and understand, which they would have tried to prevent
at all costs had they known, was the same thing which angels outside of Satan’s kingdom
also didn’t know, inquiring about the matter as seen in 1 Peter 1: 12 (the - [yet future! (v.
5)] - saving of the soul [vv. 9-12]).
What they didn’t know had to do with
a present and future salvation,
having to do with the preaching of the cross to the saved. This present aspect of salvation had
to do with bringing man into a position where he could replace angels ruling under
Satan, and the future salvation
had to do with this present [and future] salvation being realized - [at the time of “the first resurrection”
(Rev. 20:
4-6).]*
[* See
also Acts 2: 27,
34. Compare with 1 Sam. 13: 14: “…but now thy [i.e.
Saul’s] kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath
chosen him a man [David] after his own heart,
and the LORD
hath appointed him to be prince over his
people, because thou [Saul] hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.”
Again, after Saul and David’s death. the LORD through
His prophet Ezekiel declared: “I will set up one shepherd
over them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall
be their shepherd. And the LORD will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause
evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell securely in
the wilderness, and sheep in the woods. And I will make them and the places
round about my hill [See ‘Exalted Zion’(Isa. 2: 2, R.V.)] a blessing. …” (Ezek.
34: 23-26a, R.V.).]
And it is plain to see how this would
affect these angels and why they would have done everything within their power to
prevent Christ’s
crucifixion had they known these things.
The opening up of these things from the Old Testament, to both
men and angels (Eph. 3: 1-11), awaited the Apostle Paul, with this revelation given through him. And it was this message that he carried throughout the Gentile world (Col. 1: 20-23).
[Page
81]
Part III
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his
life [‘soul’] shall lose it: and
whosoever will lose his life
[‘soul’] for my sake shall find it.
For what is a man profited, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a
man give in exchange for his soul?”
(Matt. 16: 24-26).
In the
preceding verses, the word “life”
appears twice in verse twenty-five and the word “soul” appears twice in verse twenty-six. Both words are translations of the Greek word psuche,
meaning either “soul” or “life.” But, to
avoid confusion, psuche should be translated and understood in a consistent manner in both verses, as either “soul” or “life.”
Within man’s
triune being (body, soul, and spirit [1 Thess. 5: 23]),
the eternal salvation which he either
already has or can have through faith in Christ has to do, during present time,
with his “spirit”
alone, not with his “soul” or “body” (John 3: 6).
Salvation in Scripture is seen inseparably associated with the complete gospel message, the complete preaching of the cross, the complete man (spirit, soul, and body) comprising
past, present, and future aspects of all.
We have been saved (past, having to do with “the spirit”), we are being saved (present, having to do with “the soul”), and we are about to be saved (future, having to do with the
realization of the salvation of “the soul,” along with “the body”).
(For additional information on this subject, refer to the
author’s book. “Salvation of the
Soul.”)
Note that the text (Matt. 16: 24-26)
can only be dealing with saved individuals. The unsaved CANNOT possibly be in view. Spiritual values are involved, and
spiritually the unsaved are dead [Page 82] (Eph. 2: 1, 5). “Life” MUST first be
imparted. They MUST first pass “from death unto life” (John 5: 24).
No unsaved person could ever be told to deny
himself, take up his cross, and follow Christ.
He could do the first part (deny self), though doing this could only have to do with the natural
man, the
man of flesh, and could NEVER result in spiritual values, his
salvation, etc. But he couldn’t possibly do the second
part (take up his cross), for he has no cross to take up. He, apart from
Christ, is alienated from the cross. And he
couldn’t do the third part either (follow Christ), for the spiritual part of the man is dead,
separated from Christ.
On the other hand, this verse relates EXACTLY what a saved person is supposed to do - MUST DO, IF... - with the next two verses providing
commentary on the matter.
He is to deny himself, which has to do with the soul
(the seat of the person’s emotions, feelings, desires). He is to deny the
fleshly impulses of the soul, keep them in check, in
subjection to the man of spirit (cf. Gen. 16: 9; 21: 9, 10; Gal. 4: 22-31; 5: 17-21).
Then he is to take up his cross. Saved man, unlike unsaved man, has a cross, for he has
been “crucified
with Christ.” The cross is the instrument of death,
and saved man taking up his cross can only be seen as synonymous with dying to self, then living unto God in resurrection power (pertaining to the third day, the third
thousandth year) as he follows Christ (Gal. 2: 20; 5: 24).
And, relative to the preceding, the
Christian can only go in ONE OF TWO DIRECTIONS, as seen in verse twenty-five. He can do as commanded in verse twenty-four and realize present and future aspects of the salvation of his soul;
or, he can fail to do as commanded in verse twenty-four and fail to realize present and future aspects of the salvation of his soul.
There is NO MIDDLE GROUND on the preceding, and there are NO EXCEPTIONS. ALL CHRISTIANS are included; NONE are excluded.
Now, note the context on both sides of Matt. 16: 24-26 to see how the whole of the matter has to do with
not only the preaching of the cross to the saved but where this takes
Christians in the end who follow or do not follow the Lord’s instructions.
Context, Preceding Matthew
16: 24-26
“He [Jesus] saith unto them [His disciples], But whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said
unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed
it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven...
From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his
disciples, how that he must go unto
Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him,
saying, Be it far from thee,
Lord: this shall not be
unto thee.
But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan:
thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matt. 16: 15-17, 21-23).
There are two contrasting scenes in the preceding verses, both
having to do with Peter.
In the first (vv. 15-17), Peter, responding to the Lord’s
question, was blessed, with his response associated with information received from the Father in
heaven.
In the second (vv. 21-23),
exactly the opposite occurred. Peter’s response was associated with Satanic activity here
on earth. And, because it was so far removed from God’s plans and
purposes for man, Jesus told Peter, “Get thee behind me, Satan” (lit., “Get opposite me, Satan,” i.e.,
“Get away from me, for your opposition to the work
that I am about to perform is of Satan, not of the Father” [cf.
John 8: 28-47]).
1) Blessed Art Thou, Simon Barjona
When Jesus and His disciples came into the coasts of Caesarea
Philippi, Jesus asked them, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” (Matt. 16: 13). They responded with different
names and thoughts, ranging from the ancient Prophets to John the Baptist (v. 14). Then Jesus,
re-asking the question, made it very personal: “But whom
say ye that I am?” (v.
15).
[Page 84]
Then Simon Peter spoke up and gave the best response possible:
“Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God”
(v. 16). And Jesus
acknowledged the veracity and completeness of Peter’s response by saying, “Blessed art thou Simon
Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (v. 17).
Simon Peter, with that succinct statement, spoke volumes. Everything was there
regarding the proper identity of both Jesus on earth and the Father in heaven.
Jesus was declared to be “the Christ,” the One Who would rule and reign, “the Son
of the living God.”
Only “Sons”
can rule in God’s kingdom. But Jesus was declared to
be a particular, specific Son. He was declared
to be “the Son” of the One true and “living God,” completely separate from sonship and
/ or rulership associated with “the gods of the [Gentile] nations” (2 Chron.
32: 13-15; Ps. 96: 5).
Matthew 16: 15-17 presents the positive side of the matter, and seeing why, of course, is evident.
Now, note the negative side of the matter in
the continuing verses in Matthew’s gospel.
2) Get Thee Behind
Me,
Satan
Following Peter’s statement concerning Jesus’ true identity
and Jesus’ response regarding this statement, Peter, evidently because of the
nature of that which he had stated about Jesus’ identity’ remained foremost among
the disciples when Jesus called attention to building His “Church” and “the keys of the kingdom of the
heavens” (vv. 18, 19).
(For information on Matt. 16: 19, refer
to the author’s pamphlet, “Keys of the Kingdom.”)
Then, Jesus seemingly moved in a direction away from Peter’s previous statement
by charging His disciples “that they should tell no man that he was Jesus
the Christ” (v. 20). But this
charge was not directing them away from that which Peter had just stated at all.
Rather, this charge had to do with directing their attention to that which He must now do in order to fully achieve the goal seen in Peter's previous
statement (v. 21).
[Page 85]
Though the offer of the kingdom of the heavens remained open
to Israel, as previously seen regarding something similar (Matt. 12, 13), matters moved centrally away from this
offer to statements concerning Calvary and the Church. And the events
of
Note that far more exists concerning the events of
This is why, according to Heb. 12:
2, that Christ, “for the joy that was set before him [the day when He would rule and reign (Matt. 25: 21, 23)]
endured the cross, despising the shame,” which is EXACTLY what Christians MUST DO as well if they are
to have a part with Christ in that coming day (cf. John 12: 24; 2 Tim. 2: 4-12).
This is what Peter, opposing Christ’s impending work at
Context, Following Matthew
16: 24-26
“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father,
with his angels,
and then he shall
reward every man according to his works.
Verily I say unto you. There be
some standing here, which shall not taste of
death, till they see the Son of man coming in
his kingdom.
And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and
bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
And was transfigured before them...” (Matt. 16: 27-17: 2a).
Then, following Matt. 16:
24-26,
the direction toward
which all things in Scripture move is dealt with. The continuing text takes one to the time
of Christ’s return. And, for Christians, “rewards” will
be forthcoming at this time, something which will have previously been
determined at the judgment seat (v. 27).
(The Greek word translated “reward” is misthos, and translating this word as “reward” could leave a wrong understanding of what is
in view. Misthos has to do with payment or wages for services rendered, [Page 86] one completely commensurate with the other.
Thus, there could be both positive and negative
ramifications to the matter - much
work, much payment; little work, little payment; no work, no payment.)
And, continuing with the text, “rewards,” payment for services rendered, is then
seen to have to do with the coming [Messianic and Millennial] kingdom.
Jesus declared that some of the individuals present, listening
to Him, would not die until they had seen “the Son
of man coming in his kingdom” (v. 28). And this is EXACTLY what three of them saw six days later,
foreshadowing 6,000 years, when Jesus
took Peter, James, and John “up into an high mountain
apart, and was transfigured before them...”
(Matt. 17: 1 ff).
They didn’t see something like the
Son of man coming in His kingdom (i.e., a
foreview of that coming [millennial (Ps. 2: 8 & 72. cf.
Rev. 2: 25-27; 3: 21, R.V.)] day). They were moved ahead in time, 2,000 years,
and saw EXACTLY what the
text states.
As well, note that Moses and Elijah appeared [will appear]
with Christ in His “glory,” talking with Him,
speaking of “his
decease which he should accomplish [or future, ‘did accomplish’] at
(For additional information on Moses and Elijah accompanying
Christ at the time of His return, - with his mighty angels - [2 Thess. 1: 7], refer to
the author’s book, “Coming in His Kingdom.”)
And that’s what the dual aspect of the
preaching of the cross is about, necessitating Christ’s finished work at
The initial part of the message has to do with “the unsaved,” bringing a person into a position where he can realize that which lies beyond.
And the continuing part of the message, having to do
with “the saved,” has to do with man ultimately
realizing the reason, purpose for his salvation.
And ALL has to do with the coming [of God’s Messianic and Millennial] kingdom.
Part IV
[Page 87]
“So, as
much as in me is, I am ready to preach the
gospel to you that are at
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to
the Jew first, and also to the Greek [i.e., ‘Gentile,’ cf.
vv. 13, 14].
For therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from
faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by
faith [Hab. 2: 4]” (Rom. 1:
15-17).
“For the preaching of the cross is to
them that perish [lit. ‘that are perishing’]
foolishness; but unto us
which are saved
[lit., ‘which are being saved’] it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1: 18).
The gospel which Paul desired to proclaim to the [regenerate] Christians in
“The gospel - [or ‘good news’] of Christ” in this passage is a reference to the
same message Paul called “my gospel” (Rom. 2: 16; 16: 25), which he had been called to proclaim
to [regenerate] Christians throughout the Gentile
world (Eph. 3: 1-6; Col. 1: 20-23).
And calling attention to this message, regardless of the terminology used,
is simply another way of referring to “the preaching of the cross” in 1 Cor. 1:
18.
Two Types of Christians in Romans
The first chapter of Romans divides itself into two fairly equal parts, dealing with two types of [regenerate] Christians, in relation
to one central subject.
The first half of the chapter (vv. 1-17) has
to do with faithful Christians in
relation to the gospel message, the good news - though not
that facet of the good news pertaining to the grace of God, but that facet of
the good news pertaining to the coming Glory of Christ.
[Page 88]
And the last half of the chapter (vv. 18-32) has
to do with unfaithful Christians in
relation to the same gospel message, the same good news.
1) The Type [regenerate] Christians Seen in Verses 1- 17
The Christians described in the
opening part of the chapter are, as Paul described himself, “not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ”; or, using an
explanation of that being referenced in the words “gospel” and “Christ” in the verse, a person could say
that Christians of this nature are “not ashamed of the good news of the One Who will rule and
reign.”
There is really nothing about salvation by grace through faith
in these first seventeen verses. The verses, among related issues, have to
do with “the seed of
David” (v. 3), declared to be “the Son of God with power [‘sonship’
has to do with rulership]” (v. 4), with “obedience
to the
faith [‘the faith,’ an expression peculiarly related to ‘the Word of the Kingdom’]” (v.
5), with the faith of Christians in
Rome being “spoken of
throughout the whole world” (v. 8), and with Paul’s expressed desire to go
to and proclaim this good news to the Christians in Rome, for a stated purpose - “that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other
Gentiles” (vv. 10, 13; cf. vv.
15, 16).
2) The Type [regenerate] Christians Seen in Verses 18-32
Then, with verse seventeen as a closing statement for the opening part of the chapter, the
other type Christians are presented. And the type Christians presented in this section, rather
than exercising faith and looking forward to the [future] salvation in view
in verse
sixteen, had, instead, through their unfaithfulness, been led into
various types of disobedience and will suffer “the wrath of God.”
Exactly the opposite of that seen in the previous section is seen in this section. And that
becomes increasingly evident as one continues studying this section.
First of all, note the subject matter at hand. The gospel of grace (having to do with
the unsaved and one’s
eternal salvation) is not the message Paul called attention to various
ways in the opening seventeen verses. This has already been shown but will become more evident through the
remainder of this material.
Then, to further illustrate that [regenerate] Christians alone can be in view
throughout chapter one, note the words “knowledge” and “knowing”
in verses
twenty-eight and thirty-two.
Both of these words are translations of the Greek word epignosis (the verb form
of this word is used in v. 32 [epiginosko], meaning the same as the noun form in v. 28).
In the Greek text there is the regular word for knowledge (gnosis); and there is an intensified form of
gnosis, formed through
the preposition epi (meaning, “upon”) being
prefixed to the word (epi-gnosis, which has to do with a knowledge of something beyond a
regular knowledge, i.e., some facet
of a mature
knowledge concerning the matter at hand).
And, according to 1 Cor. 2:
4, the natural man
(which is all that the unsaved - [or unregenerate] - person possesses) can’t even come
into possession of a type knowledge described by gnosis (the Greek word used in this verse). The reason, of
course, is because he is spiritually dead. He simply
cannot understand spiritual things.
But the individuals in the latter part of
Romans
chapter one came into
possession of a knowledge of that in view described by epignosis. How did they do
this if unsaved? They didn’t, for, according to 1 Cor. 2:
14, if unsaved, they
couldn’t have even come into possession of a type knowledge of that in view
described by the word gnosis, much less epignosis.
And, aside from the preceding, it
wouldn’t make any sense whatsoever to see the first seventeen verses correctly
(a message [vv. 15, 16] having to do with faith [vv.
8, 16, 17], in relation to fruit-bearing [v. 13]), and then attempt to see the latter part of the chapter (vv.
18-32) dealing with the
unsaved. Scripture is simply not structured in such a
fashion.
(Note that not every unfaithful
Christian would fit into the category of those committing the sins mentioned in
vv. 18-32, though many would [an ever-increasing number
in the world today].
The division between these two types of Christians is on the basis of an exercise of faith. One exercises faith, the
other does not.
[Page 90]
And, there is no middle ground in this realm. Christians either
find themselves among those described in the first part of the chapter
or among those described in the latter part of the chapter, regardless of
whether or not they are guilty of the sins named in the chapter.
(“He that is not with me is against me;
and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad”
[Matt. 12: 30; cf. Luke
11: 23])
The Power of God unto Salvation
“The gospel of Christ” in Rom. 1: 16 and “the preaching of the cross” in 1 Cor. 1:
18 - again, two ways of saying the same thing - are associated
with GOD’S POWER in relation to salvation. As clearly stated in both verses, quoting from Rom. 1:
16, this message is “the power of God unto salvation to
everyone that believeth.”
Apart from “the gospel of Christ,” “the preaching of the cross,” NOTHING ELSE has anything to
do with, or can effect in any way, salvation for fallen man. Christ’s
finished work on the cross ALONE allows
God to exercise His power in this respect.
And this exercise of power could only extend to any facet of the
overall gospel message, connected with any part of God’s work regarding man’s
salvation, initially foreshadowed in Scripture by His restorative work
throughout all six days in Genesis chapter one.
In Matt. 28: 18-20, prefacing a command to go into
all the world and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing and teaching
them (vv. 19,
20), Christ stated, “All power is given unto me in heaven
and in earth” (v. 18).
The complete statement (vv. 18-20), contrary to the manner in which it is usually handled, has to do with
the some message seen in Rom. 1: 16 and 1 Cor. 1: 18. And this would be in complete keeping with the manner in
which the overall salvation message is presented throughout Scripture.
(As previously seen in this material,
the overall salvation message presented throughout Scripture is centrally a
message to the saved rather than to the unsaved [ref. Part II, with the
preaching of the cross covering both [messages to both the saved and the
unsaved], though the emphasis in Scripture ALWAYS centers on the preaching of
the cross as it relates to the saved rather than to the unsaved.)
[Page 91]
“ALL POWER” given to Christ
in Matt. 28: 18 can only have to do with a proclamation of THE COMPLETE GOSPEL MESSAGE surrounding “the cross,” messages to both the saved and the
unsaved. Christ is the Saviour, the One through Whom God effects salvation,
regardless of where a person begins with the message,
whether to the saved or to the unsaved.
Christ is the One Who performed a finished work on the cross,
a work having to do with both the saved and the unsaved. He is the One in
possession of “all power,” seen in
connection with the preaching of the cross to the saved in Matt. 28: 18-20, which could only, as well, be seen
in a broader respect - a prior preaching of the cross to the unsaved, effecting a passing “from death unto life,” allowing a continued preaching of the cross.
There is simply NO SUCH THING as salvation being effected at any point in ruined
man’s restoration - whether to the saved or to the unsaved - apart from the
finished work of the Son on the cross and the power which He possesses,
associated with this finished work.
This is seen as “the power of God” in Rom. 1: 16 and 1 Cor. 1: 18, but note the identity of the Son in
relation to God. The Son is God manifested in the flesh. Thus, the Son’s power
and His finished work on the cross is, as well, God’s power and His finished
work on the cross.
One simply cannot be separated from
the Other, as the written Word cannot be separated from the Word made flesh, or from God (John 1: 1,
2, 14).
God’s actions are ALWAYS in connection with His power, which are ALWAYS incomplete
accord with His revealed Word. God simply WILL NOT act, exercise His power, in a manner contrary to that which He has
revealed in His Word.
The Spirit of God, performing a restorative work in ruined man
- whether saved or unsaved man - does this work ON ONE BASIS ALONE THROUGH ONE POWER ALONE. The Spirit of God
does this work on the basis of Christ’s
finished work on the cross, the One in possession of “all power.”
This is the why of verses such as Acts 4: 12:
[Page 92]
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name
under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved.”
There is NO SALVATION outside of Christ, for there is NO WORK of the cross OR POWER outside of Christ. ANY AND ALL work regarding salvation CAN ONLY have to do with
Christ, His finished
work on the cross,
and His power.
And the Spirit of God, effecting a work in man
regarding salvation - whether saved or unsaved man - does that work SOLELY in connection with the finished
work of God's Son on the cross, exercising the Son’s power.
If an unsaved person thinks that he can circumnavigate
Christ’s finished work and His power regarding - [one’s initial and eternal] salvation, that person had better
think again.
Or, if a saved person thinks that he can
circumnavigate Christ’s finished work and His power regarding an on-going work of - [a
future aspect of their initial] -
salvation, that person had better think again as well.
* *
* * *
* *
THE COMING WORK
OF THE HOLY GHOST
By D. M.
PANTON, B.A.
It is an inexplicable omission over the whole range of
prophetic study that there is an almost
total unawareness of the colossal coming work of the Holy Ghost. Throughout
the Prophets no prediction of the Spirit’s action is
more precise, more positive, more lucid, more comprehensive than Joel’s
forecast of a double Pentecost - the Christian dispensation clasped at both
ends, like a jewel, in a bracelet of miracle. Like the imminent Advent, this
coming downpour- whether after rapture or before - is a star ahead that never
wanes; an electric flare in the blackest midnight that earth will ever see; a
revival so sure that prayer for it is an ease and a delight an output of the
mercy of God second only to Calvary.
ALL FLESH
The first great fact that God Himself emphasizes is the
universality of the effusion. “And it shall come to pass
afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit” - not distil, but pour forth in great
abundance (Calvin); not in driblets, but in floods; not in isolated prophets,
but in miraculous assemblies: as Paul says, “the Holy Ghost which He poured
out upon us abundantly” (Titus 3:
6) “upon ALL FLESH” (Joel 2: 28) - that is, all without distinction, not
all without exception. Since ‘flesh,’ in Scripture,
is the antithesis, not of race to
race, but of mankind to God and to the spirit-world, what is foretold is a
world-wide effusion: “all flesh” - all mankind, as the Hebrew
expression denotes (Prof. J. J. Given, D.D.) - a description never used in any smaller application than to
the whole of humanity (Campbell Morgan, D.D.).* All races, Jew and Gentile; both
sexes, sons and daughters; all ages, young
and old; all classes, bond and free:- God exhausts Himself (I had almost said)
by giving first His Son, and then His [Holy] Spirit, to the whole human race.
* “‘All flesh’ is the name for all mankind. The words ‘all flesh’
are in the Pentateuch, and in one place
in Daniel,
used in a yet wider sense, of everything
which has life; but, in no one case, in any narrower sense. It does not include every individual in the race, but it includes the whole race, and
individuals throughout it” (Pusey).
A FUTURE DOWNPOUR
Now we know, on the authority of the [Holy] Spirit Himself, that at Pentecost, and
in the miracle-gifted assemblies of the Apostolic Church, this vast prophecy
found an initial fulfilment: “THIS,” says Peter, “IS THAT” (Acts 2: 16): and so it is applied both by Peter (here) and Paul (Rom. 10:
13) to the ‘last days’ in the sense (Heb. 1:
2) of the Gospel Age. But the
context of Joel, as well as
Peter’s own quotation, makes it certain that both ends of the Christian Age
receive the effusion. “It is not the first coming of
Christ,” says Dean Alford, “which interpretation
would run counter to the whole tenour of the Apostle’s application of the
prophecy: - but clearly, His second coming.” For (1) Joel’s immediately
succeeding verse (3: 1) fastens down the date to the Second
Advent:- “for behold, in those days, and in that time” - the epoch of the effusion - “I shall bring
again the captivity of
* Verse 28 of Joel 2, in our Bible,
is verse 1 of chapter
3, in the Hebrew Bible. “The
notice as to the time in 3: 1, 2, points back to the ‘afterward’ in 2: 28: ‘in those days,’ namely, the days of the outpouring of the Spirit of God”
(Keil and Delitzsch).
** “When Peter says, ‘This is that’, he indeed
maintains that the prophecy is fulfilled on the present occasion; yet not that
it has here exclusively and in all points completely received its fulfilment,
or that the fulfilment is limited to the present time”(Lange).
MIRACLE
Now one feature of the effusion - namely miraculous
inspiration - marks it off sharply from all other secret and age-long
activities of the [Holy] Spirit.
“Your sons and your
daughters” - [Jews [and the Holy Spirit ‘filled’
believers (Acts 6: 5b)] - “shall PROPHESY” - the word means, not
simply to predict future events, but to announce the revelations of God (Lange):
they had just heard the ‘tongues’
that proved the [Holy] Spirit’s
illapse - “your old men
shall dream dreams, your young men shall see
visions : and also” - as an unprecedented thing, for there
is no instance throughout the Old Testament of the [Holy]
Spirit ever falling on a slave - “upon the servants and the
handmaids [Gentiles]”- ‘my servants and my handmaidens,’ Peter substitutes, to show that they are
mainly, if not altogether, converted Gentiles - “in those days will I pour out my Spirit”, - a
repeated prediction, that the tremendous fact may soak into our minds.
Jehovah Himself has given this triple definition of miraculous seizure:- “If there be a PROPHET
among you, I, the
Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, I will speak with him in a dream” (Num. 12: 6). This is strictly cognate with other prophecies of restored miracle:- immediate
inspiration, without forethought (Mark 13: 2); miracle-gifted
overthrowers of demonic miracle (2 Tim. 3: 9); gigantic judgment-miracles yet to
be (Rev. 11: 6); together with a
general in-break of a miraculous order.*
* So Jas.
5: 7. The
habitual failure of prophecies - except such trivial predictions as are based
on supernatural knowledge of data on which to base inferences - is one of the
many proofs, which it shares with Montanism and Irvingism, that the Tongues
Movement is not what it claims to be - the Latter Rain. There has been no ‘wonder’ in these movements which
is not a commonplace of the Spiritualistic séance.
THE OUTPOURING AND THE JUDGMENTS
Both the Prophet and the Apostle so intertwine and interlock the
effusion and the Second Advent judgments as to put beyond all doubt that Pentecost did not exhaust the prediction,* and also to
reveal, to a limit almost incredible, the mercy of God. “And I
will show wonders in the
heavens” - to challenge thought, and rouse fear - “and in the earth” - to sting into -
[genuine repentance and holy] - action - “blood and fire and pillars of
smoke: the sun shall he turned into darkness and
the moon into blood before” - therefore
this is the series of violent convulsions that precede the Great Tribulation (Rev. 6: 12), not the series
that close it (Matt. 24: 29) - “the great and terrible” - the [Holy] Spirit here changes ‘terrible’ into ‘manifest,’
world-wide; the visible ‘epiphany’ of the Lord - “day of the Lord come”; “and whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord,” Joel adds,
“shall be delivered.” Great terrors
will mingle with mighty salvations: the terrors create the salvations: in the
earlier phases of the last judgments, judgment and redemption go hand in hand:
not until the last section of the fearful catastrophes does judgment abandon
hope of salvation. “When thy judgments
are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness” (Isa. 26: 9). For it is to a world’s wreck,
shuddering and foundering, and as it actually takes its final plunge, that God’s
lifeboat draws its closest and picks up great masses of sinking humanity. In
the old [fallen and sinful] world’s
last hours, and up to the very brink of Hell, “mercy” rejoiceth against judgment (Jas. 2: 13).**
* “Peter includes in his quotation this
element of the prophecy, because its realization, conditioned by the outpouring
of the Spirit which necessarily preceded it, presented itself likewise as
belonging to the allotted portion of the last days” (H. A. W. Meyer).
** For two-thirds of the Apocalyptic
judgments are meant to be remedial,
for they are punctuated with the refrain - “and they repented
not” (Rev. 9: 20, 16: 9): it is only during the final third,
from which this refrain disappears, that the judgments, like hell, become
purely punitive.
SALVATION
Finally, the glorious results of this climax
of salvation in the history of the universe is revealed in Joel’s
ultimate verse (3: 1), as expounded and expanded by our
Lord. “Before Him shall be gathered all the nations: and He shall separate them” - them (masculine) as individuals,
not as nations (neuter) - “as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats”
(Matt. 25:
32); massed nations, in colossal multitudes, assembled to right
and to left. Behold the post-Church work of the Holy Ghost! The
whole world’s population is gathered before the Lord: on his right, some
hundreds of millions, if the separated masses are at all balanced and
commensurate;* saved, for the Judge pronounces them ‘blest,’ and
subject-nations of Millennial rule, and regenerate, because our Lord’s rebuke
to Nicodemus (John 3: 10)
implies that there has never been, and never will be, - [a future (1
Pet. 1: 5,
9; 2: 1, 2, R.V.)]
salvation without regeneration; but not saved by the Gospel, and therefore the
fruit of the work of the Holy Ghost after rapture,
for they are judged with a highly peculiar judgment of their own; multitudes,
we know, enormous enough to stock the
Millennial earth at the opening of the Kingdom**:- it is a work of the Holy
Ghost totally unparalleled for any single generation in the history of the
world.***
* How such vast numbers survive
Antichrist’s reign of terror is one of the most difficult problems of the
Apocalypse; but of the fact our Lord’s statement is final proof.
** Besides these, (1) Israel’s 144,000 in
the Wilderness, out of the reach of Antichrist (Rev.
7: 4);
(2) The Jewish ‘least brethren’ throughout all lands, the criterion of Gentile judgment (Matt.
25: 40);
(3) such martyrs under Antichrist as are not, as unrapt Christians, survivors
from an earlier age (Rev. 20: 4):- all these
are further fruits of the outpoured [Holy] Spirit, in His last and mightiest work of world-redemption.
*** One point of surpassing interest - the exact date of the
downpour - does not seem to be revealed. Since rain is used
as an analogy, and the first shower fell at Pentecost, must not the second
shower follow and not precede the reforming of the cloud in the heavenlies? or (to drop the metaphor) the Holy Ghost is now on earth,
and His first descent was at Pentecost: must not His second descent follow and
not precede His removal with the first rapt (2 Thess. 2: 7)? Can He be said to ‘descend’
(as a downpour) while He is still on
the earth? Certain is it that it is after the judgment Throne
is set (Rev. 4: 1), or the removal of the Throne of Grace, that the Holy Ghost is
described as “the Seven Spirits sent forth
into all the earth” (Rev. 5: 6). Yet it
is also explicitly stated (Joel 2: 31) to be “before the great and terrible day of the Lord,” or the Great Tribulation, which is the
closing three and half years of a judgment epoch of unknown duration.
* *
* * *
* *
THE
[* A selected
portion of the author’s complete writing.]
These were trying terms; terms calculated
to make a man pause. And it was the seeming hardship
of the requirement that made the Jews refuse to purchase. The Jew fancied
himself rich in good works; the owner of many pearls.
He would not consent, therefore, to give up these and all he had. But the righteousness of God is such, that we cannot retain
at once both that and our own. If we keep our own righteousness, we must resign his: if we would have his righteousness, we must surrender our own. But the
merchant, as a child of the kingdom, values the pearl at the valuation which
God sets upon it, and he is content to come to his terms, surrendering all that
he might have thought himself possessed of through obedience to the law, in
order to obtain it. But of his countrymen in general,
Paul writes, that they sought righteousness indeed, but obtained it not,
because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.
They thought highly of their own pearls, and proportionably despised the one
pearl of God.
This the Lord shewed in a figure in
the example of the rich young man, to whom he gave the command that he should
sell all that he had and come and follow him. He went away sorrowful, for he
had great possessions. But then, on the other hand, we
have the direct example given us of one merchantman who so valued the pearl of
God, that he went and sold all that he had in order to purchase it. He once
imagined himself rich; but when he saw the standard of God’s judgment concerning
works, and the glory of the righteousness of Christ, he surrendered all with
joy. “Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, If any man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in
the flesh, I more: Circumciscd the eighth
day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an
Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law,
a Pharisee; concerning
zeal, persecuting the church: touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” (But now comes his exchange and
purchase.) “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ, Yea doubtless and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ, and be found in
him; not having mine own righteousness which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith”:
Phil. 3: 4-9. And the eleventh verse shews the connexion of the righteousness of God with the
[* Literally: “…if
possibly I may attain to the
resurrection out of the dead ones:” verse
11.]
VII. Such a purchase as the merchantman
here makes, is one of faith. None would put himself to such inconvenience,
loss, and self-denial, as to sell all he had, except he were deeply enamoured
of the pearl and fully satisfied of its immense value, and of the certainty
that it would one day enrich its possessor. This is the prospect of the - [enlightened,
and Holy Spirit taught, regenerate] - Christian. Hence with faith are joined love and assurance of hope.
And thus it is said of the justified believer, “we through
the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith”: Gal. 5: 5. That is, as I judge, the hope of the righteous is the glory to be revealed, and we through the [Holy] Spirit, in faith wait for it. The
selling of all that he had,
is the merchant’s faith shewn by his works; and by works is his faith made perfect.
The consequence of the buying of the pearl is that the
merchant ceases from his former search for pearls. When he has bought this one
he is satisfied, and looks for no more. He ceases from his work, as God did
from his work of creation when it was complete, on the seventh day. Such is
declared to be the position of faith now. “He that is
entered into his rest he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his: Heb.
4: 10. Nor has he anything wherewith to purchase
more pearls. He is a beggar, except that he has the
pearl. He has nothing to boast of, except of the pearl that he has
found. This also is the place of one justified by faith.
“Where
is
boasting, then? It is
excluded. By what law
- of works? Nay, but by the law of faith”:
Rom. 3: 27. He is put to
much present inconvenience, but he is satisfied, for the
end of his search is attained: for “Christ IS THE END OF THE LAW FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS to every one that believeth”:
Rom. 10: 1.
VIII. And now a
word or two in conclusion concerning the mystery of the parable. The great
foundation of it is, the question which was asked as long ago as the days of Job
- “How shall man be just (or righteous)
with God?” The law provided no way but that of perfect obedience to every
jot and tittle of its commands. But it found none
such. Yet the [promised (Ps.
2: 8)] kingdom of glory must be the kingdom of the saints (as Daniel saw) and therefore
of the justified. The Saviour, then, in a parable, unfolded the mystery of the
believer’s righteousness through faith in him. The
righteousness of the Lord Jesus imputed to him and made over to him is his
title to the kingdom. But this was not openly
taught by the Redeemer. It was a mystery- a secret which the [Holy] Spirit who was to come should fully
shew. The pearl during Christ’s life was hid in the shell. After his death
and [a select]* resurrection it was to be the riches and glory of the believer.
But it is worthy of observation, that though, the parable has an evident application
to Christians in general, since all who are righteous must be so through the
imputed merits of Christ Jesus, yet the terms of the parable are not satisfied by explaining it
of Christians generally. No Gentile can be the merchantman; for none now could be accounted in God’s sight as
possessed of any judgment, who should be seeking
by acts of righteousness
to enter the kingdom. Nor did God recognise any acts of the Gentile as
pleasing in His sight, or to be accounted righteousness
before him. The Jew was wise, in seeking to do good works as acceptable
to God up till the time when Jesus came, and the
gospel was preached. But for any one now to be
treading that ground, is to prove himself, not the wise merchant, but the
foolish builder, rejecting the only corner-stone appointed by God.
[* See Luke
20: 35; John
3: 13; Acts
2: 31-34;
7: 4b-5; Phil. 3: 11; 2 Tim. 2: 16-18; Heb.
11: 35b; Rev. 20: 4, 5, 13, R.V.)]
Even now the
teaching of the parable is a mystery to many. Faith strips itself of all its
good works to purchase the pearl, and with it is content. Unbelief is satisfied
with its own pearls, and will not accept or does not acknowledge God’s pearl,
and his terms of purchase. That we are to become rich by confessing
our poverty and abandoning all, is still a difficulty to the natural man.
That we are to be righteous in God’s sight, not by our
own merits, but by the righteousness of Christ Jesus made ours by faith’s self-surrender;
this, unbelief stumbles at still, and it remains a mystery.
Another mystery of the parable is that the merchant of the
And at this point the parable abruptly
breaks off. This is according to the wisdom of God; for it deals with mystery;
and the mystery lasts during the time while the kingdom is in mystery. During
that period the merchants of earth are rich, because
their wares being of the earth, fetch an instant price and find a ready sale in
the kingdoms of the earth. But these same merchants
are seen wailing in dust and ashes when the
The mystery is the pearl bought - The buying impoverishes. But the clearing up of the mystery is the
pearl’s value given,
and this enriches. The mystery
lasts while Christ’s kingdom is unseen, and existing only in its principles; the opening of the mystery occurs when the kingdom is manifested: and when
its children shine like the sun. But this is not touched
on, for the parable relates only to the mysteries of the kingdom. But it is
promised that every sacrifice made in this [evil and apostate] age for the kingdom of God’s sake
shall be rewarded a hundred fold, and he
that makes the sacrifice shall inherit eternal
- [Gk. ‘aionios’
= age-lasting]* - life.
[*
NOTE: The context here must determine the meaning of the ‘inheritance’ which, in itself, is not
eternal! See Eph. 5: 1-6; 2 Thess. 1: 3-8; cf.
Heb. 12: 14-17, R.V.)]
In conclusion, how can this tract be
better closed than by the expressive words of the prophet describing the
glorious period of Christ’s coming kingdom? “The work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and
assurance for ever”: Isaiah. 32: 17.
THE END