We have been considering at some length the church period the dispensation of the day of grace. It ends, as do the other dispensations, in man’s complete failure in his responsibility toward God. Christendom, already marked by the spirit of apostasy, thus ends in a scene of ruin, failure and corruption. The ruin of the professing church that which was most excellent proves to be the worst of corruptions.
After the Day of Grace
Concluding our meditations on the dispensations of God, we come to that period of time immediately after the church has been taken out of the world. We refer to that short interval of judgment, cleansing the world of all things that offend and of them which do iniquity. It is preparatory to the setting up of the kingdom. In Jeremiah 30:77Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. (Jeremiah 30:7) it is called, “The time of Jacob’s trouble.” In Revelation 3:1010Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10) it is referred to as “the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”
Scripture gives testimony (1) that there are promises of restoration to Israel after their failure and in view of it as well as unconditional promises made to the fathers, (2) that Israel would be set aside for a long, timeless period, known only to God, and then again taken up to be restored, and (3) that when this timeless period shall have run out, the nation will be restored by judgment, which delivers a remnant.
This judgment falls not only on them, but also on the nations of the world, and it introduces God’s kingdom in Zion, the millennial period when the earth shall be full of the glory of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:1414For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14)).
Satan is loosed for a little season (Rev. 20:33And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. (Revelation 20:3)) and goes out to the four corners of the earth. The unrenewed-numbering as the sand of the sea fall into his control and go up against the camp of the saints on earth (Rev. 20:7-107And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:7‑10)). They are destroyed there, and Satan is cast into the lake of fire.
Then follows the eternal state, the new heavens and the new earth wherein righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3), for all things will have been brought into full order and subjection, so that blessing flows forth unhindered from God.
In this state of supreme blessedness we find that the Bride referred to as the New Jerusalem has her own peculiar place, for she is the tabernacle of God among men (Rev. 21:33And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3)). Thus begins that blessed eternal state when the Lamb’s mediatorial kingdom has passed away, God is all in all, and there begins the endless age of eternal blessing.
Conclusion
We trust that these meditations have led us into some understanding of the greater features of the dispensational dealings of God. This is vital, for without an understanding of dispensation truth, the soul is unsteady in its testimony.
The soul established in dispensational truth learns how to respond to God’s way and how to walk before Him in accordance with His mind and will, even when the dispensation has fallen into ruins.
The Christian thus understands that the pathway of a godly Jew in an earthly nation and under the law cannot be that of a Christian in a dispensation where his calling is one out of and above the world altogether. Moreover, he understands that the experience of a godly Israelite in his dispensation is not such, even in its best state, as is suited to a member of the body of a glorified Christ.
The Lord Jesus appealed to the Jews in His day to discern the signs of the times (Luke 12:54-5754And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. 55And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass. 56Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time? 57Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? (Luke 12:54‑57)) and to judge what was right. That solemn word ought to have its proper moral effect in the hearts of believers now (Eph. 5:1414Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. (Ephesians 5:14)).
The actions, plans and sojourn here of the believer are to be arranged in view of the coming of the Lord. The Christian serves in the conscious sense that he does so in the last days of this dispensation.
The Christian is to be watching during the moral darkness of this world till the dawn, and just as the darkness is deepest before the beams of the “Sun of righteousness” appear (the character in which the Lord Jesus will come with “healing in His wings” in blessing to His earthly people), the believer’s hope is rewarded in seeing the “Morning Star” (Rev. 22:1616I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. (Revelation 22:16)) coming to take His people to Himself.
May He, who alone can give blessing, abundantly bless this meditation and give that hope its own sanctifying power in our souls!
F. G. Patterson (adapted)