Lesson for July 7, 2024

Hermeneutics 101

Lesson 5

Eschatological Dispensations

The Dispensation of the Tribulation

(Revelation 5 – 20)

(Dates unknown)

Characteristics:

1. From the Rapture to the Second Coming of Christ
2. A period of seven years continued from the Dispensation of Israel
3. Holy Spirit removed (all restraint of sin is gone temporarily)
4. Satan attempts to set up his own millennium and fails
5. It is a time of great persecution of the Jews
6. Ends with the Battle of Armageddon
7. Satan is bound for a thousand years

This dispensation is the last seven years of the Dispensation of Israel, which was delayed until after the Church Age. The Church will be taken out of the world prior to this dispensation by the Rapture. Many who remain will believe in Christ during this period. It is during this dispensation that we see the Antichrist, the False Prophet, and the Mark of the Beast. It will be a time of great persecution for believers, especially the Jews. This dispensation will culminate with the Second Coming of Christ and the Battle of Armageddon. The Antichrist, the False Prophet, and unbelievers who are living at that time will be destroyed at this battle. Therefore, only believers will remain alive and go into the Millennium.

God’s Will – to obey His commands under the ruling factor of the Mosaic Law, which will be reinstituted since this is the continuation of the Dispensation of Israel. One new commandment will be to not take the Mark of the Beast.

Mankind’s Failure – taking the Mark of the Beast, which is the rejection of Christ as Savior. Upon rejection of Christ, much of the human race will worship and serve the Antichrist as god.

Divine Judgment – many will be killed during the period of the last half of the Tribulation, as violence becomes the method of the Antichrist to control the world. The final judgment in this age will be the coming of Jesus Christ with His army to destroy the Antichrist, the False Prophet, and all who have been opposing God. Satan will also be bound at this time for a thousand years. This is the Battle of Armageddon.

The Dispensation of the Millennium

(Revelation 21-22)

(Dates unknown)

Characteristics:

1. From the Second Coming of Christ to the Great White Throne Judgment
2. Jesus Christ will be the Great High Priest
3. Jesus Christ will rule on earth
4. Resurrected believers will reign with Christ
5. Universal peace will exist
6. Universal prosperity will abound
7. Longevity of life will be common
8. Perfect environment will be a reality
9. All the covenants to Israel will be fulfilled
10. There will be universal knowledge of God

During this age, the ruling factor will be the personal rule of Jesus Christ. This dispensation is the time in which peace will be restored to the animal kingdom. It will be a time of universal peace on earth, as all crime will be dealt with swiftly and severely under the rule of capital punishment. The nations that refuse to worship Christ will be punished. (Isaiah 11:3-4; 29:20-21; Zechariah 14:16-19)

God’s Will – believe in Christ, obey His righteous rule, live at peace, worship and serve God.

Man’s Failure – many who are born during this dispensation will reject Christ as Savior and outwardly refuse to obey His rulership. Others will inwardly do the same and many of both groups will join Satan in the final battle against God, which occurs at the end of this period. This should be an excellent lesson for us, that a perfect environment and peace on earth cannot solve the problem of mankind’s sin nature. This is the Battle of Gog and Magog

Divine Judgment – God, and His army of believers, will destroy Satan’s army, and Satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire for all eternity. This will be the final proof to Satan and the fallen angels that God was fair in sentencing them to the Lake of Fire for all eternity. The Angelic Conflict will be resolved forever. (Isaiah 11:3-4; Jeremiah 21:29-30; Revelation 20:9-10)

The Gog and Magog Revolution will terminate the perfect environment of the Millennium. (Revelation 20:7-10). Satan will be released from prison after one thousand years and immediately he will start a revolution to overthrow Christ’s reign. This will be his final attempt to overthrow God. The revolution will be unsuccessful, as Satan and his followers will be defeated and cast into the Lake of Fire for all eternity. Then the universe will be destroyed, and new heavens and a new earth will be created.

There will also be a new Jerusalem, which comes down from Heaven. When John wrote the Book of Revelation, the city of Jerusalem had laid in ruins for more than twenty-five years (destroyed by Titus in 70 A.D.). Therefore, he must have been excited to see the new Jerusalem and realize that it would be restored for all eternity. The city itself will be the dwelling place of Jesus Christ, therefore there be no need for a Temple or for the sun or the moon. God’s glory will be the light and there will be no night. (II Peter 3:7-13; Revelation 21:1-27)

The New Jerusalem will be a satellite city suspended above the new earth. The first thing that we see is the glory of God. That means the presence of the Shekinah glory, the Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation 21:11, Her brilliance was like a very valuable stone, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper refers to a very unusual stone. We must remember that the Bible must be interpreted in the time in which it was written. It is not a reference to the modern jasper, which is not a crystal-clear, translucent precious stone. The jasper which will exist in the eternal state will be similar to a diamond. It is fitting that the foundation should represent in some way the glory of the presence of Jesus Christ as the Shekinah glory.

Revelation 21:12, ^“It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.” The wall of the city will be 200 feet high with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates. There are three gates on each side. On the east side the gates will be named Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. On the north side, they will be named Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. On the south side, they will be named Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. On the west side, they will be named Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin. 

Revelation 21:14, “And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” So, on these stones would be the names of Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddaeus, Simon and Paul. Paul is the twelfth apostle, according to 1 Corinthians 15:7-10. All of these inscriptions are permanent; therefore they have spiritual connotations for all eternity.

Revelation 21:16, “The city is laid out as a square [actually, in a cube], and its length is as great as its width: and he measured the city with the measuring rod, fourteen hundred miles, fourteen hundred miles wide, fourteen hundred miles high.” In other words, it was a cube. Revelation 21:17, “Then he measured the walls, two hundred feet by man’s measurement which the angel was using.” God always stays with our concepts of measuring in communicating measurements. While the angel did the measuring, he used a human standard of measure. This passage is for mankind, therefore human standards and human measurements are used so that we can get the picture of this marvelous city of the eternal state.