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Dispensationalism II - Lesson 6

  1. THE DISPENSATION OF HUMAN GOVERNMENT (Genesis 8:15-22) (Continued)
    1. This ends the first 2,000 years of history where God’s focus is on the Gentiles as a whole.  The next 2,000 years will focus on the Jewish people and nation.
  2. THE DISPENSATION OF PROMISE (Genesis 12:1-3)
    1. Content
      1. From Abram’s Call to the Exodus From Egypt
      2. Genesis 12 to Exodus 19
      3. Duration: about 600 years
      4. Called the dispensation of promise because of its connection to the promise given to Abraham.  Also called the dispensation of the patriarchs because of its emphasis on family (patriarchal) rule.
    2. Condition
      1. Gentiles
        1. Continue to be dealt with under conscience (Romans 2:12-15)
        2. As such, they experience God’s longsuffering (Acts 14:16-17; Acts 17:29-30)
      2. Patriarchs
        1. God works through the singular family line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 3:6).  They, along with the twelve sons of Jacob, are known as the patriarchs – the fathers (Acts 7:8-9)
        2. Chosen to be God’s special people (Genesis 12:1-3); the people through whom God will do His special works
        3. Set up as a family rule (Genesis 18:17-19; Genesis 31:11-18).  Although they are promised to be a nation, they are not called a nation until they are removed from the land of Egypt (Deuteronomy 4:34; Exodus 33:13)
    3. Covenant – the Abrahamic Covenant
      1. Scripture References
        1. Given to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3, 6-7; Genesis 13:14-17; Genesis 15:1-21; Genesis 17:1-14; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 22:15-18)
        2. Confirmed to Isaac (Genesis 26:1-5, 24)
        3. Confirmed to Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15; Genesis 35:1-15)
      2. Provisions of the covenant
        1. Promise of a land (Genesis 12:1; Genesis 13:14-17; Genesis 15:18-21)
        2. Promise of a great nation (Genesis 12:2; Genesis 18:18)
        3. Promise of many nations (Genesis 17:4-6, 20)
        4. Promise of blessing (Genesis 12:2; Genesis 22:17)
        5. Promise of a great name (Genesis 12:2; Genesis 17:5)
        6. Promise of a multiplied seed (Genesis 13:16; Genesis 22:17)
        7. Promise to be a blessing to all families and nations (Genesis 12:2-3; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 22:18)
        8. Promise of a seed (Genesis 3:15; Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:16)
      3. Kind of covenant – unconditional
        1. Made by God alone (Genesis 15:7-21; Jeremiah 34:18)
        2. Made to be everlasting (Genesis 17:7-8, 13, 19)
      4. Token of the covenant – circumcision (Genesis 17:9-14)
    4. Commission
      1. To Abraham
        1. Leave country and kindred (Genesis 12:1)
        2. Walk through the land (Genesis 13:17; Hebrews 11:8-10)
        3. Believe in God’s promise of a son (Genesis 15:1-6; Romans 4:17-22)
        4. Give your son Isaac (Genesis 22:1-2, 18; Hebrews 11:17-19)
      2. To Abraham’s seed
        1. Receive the token of circumcision (Genesis 17:9-13)
          1. As “an everlasting covenant” (Genesis 17:13)
          2. Failure to get circumcised does not destroy the covenant but it does take that individual out of the covenant (Genesis 17:14) – “that soul shall be cut off from his people”
        2. Look for the fulfillment of the promises (Hebrews 11:13-16; Genesis 48:21; Genesis 50:24-25; Exodus 2:23-25)
    5. Crisis
      1. Sojourn in Egypt (Genesis 45:16-20; Genesis 50:26)
      2. Destruction by Egypt (Exodus 1:7-22)
      3. Absorption by Egypt (Exodus 14:10-12; Exodus 16:3; Leviticus 18:3; cp. Exodus 32:1)
    6. Condemnation
      1. They lost their freedom (Exodus 1:7-12)
      2. Their burdens were made heavy (Exodus 1:13-14)
      3. Their sons were to be killed (Exodus 1:15-22)
      4. They cried by reason of their bondage (Exodus 2:23)
    7. Compassion
      1. The disobedient midwives saved many of their children (Exodus 1:17-21)
      2. God heard their cries and groaning (Exodus 2:23-25)
      3. God called Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt (Exodus 3:7-10)
      4. God brings them out of Egypt with a might hand (Exodus 20:2; Deuteronomy 4:20; Deuteronomy 7:6-8); NOTE: This is a defining point in Israel’s history and is referred to numerous times as a description of the greatness of God.  Jeremiah 23:5-8 tells of a time when this frame of reference will be changed.
    8. Change – Transitional Man: Moses
      1. Born in Egypt under the sentence of death (Exodus 2:1-3)
      2. Raised in the palace as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:10)
      3. Choose his people over the advantages of royalty (Hebrews 11:24-26)
      4. Rejected by his own people as deliverer (Acts 7:22-25)
      5. Spent the “prime of his life” isolated on the backside of the desert (Exodus 3:1; Acts 7:29)
      6. Did his best to excuse himself from God’s call to deliver Israel (Exodus 3:11-14; Exodus 4:10-15)
      7. Used to deliver Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 12:28-39)
      8. Used to give God’s law to Israel (Exodus 19:1-9)
      9. Led Israel for forty years in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 29:5)
      10. Refused entrance into the promised land (Deuteronomy 3:23-26)
David Reagan

Daily Proverb

Proverbs 18:2

A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.