God's Dealings With Man Through the Ages

Introduction:  As Dispensationalists we know that God has dealt with men differently in different ages.  God’s message to Adam was not to eat of the tree in the garden, His message to Noah was to build an ark and His message to Abraham was that he was going to have a seed.  None of these included in what God expects from us.  So it is obvious that God deals differently with people.  While studying this out we can find a most interesting picture of God’s dealing through the ages.

1. The Shadow The Law
1. Restrictions (A shadow is two dimensional)
1. Its Commandments
1. Pertaining to Murder (Exodus 21:12-14)
2. Pertaining to Adultery (Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 20:10)
3. Pertaining to Divorce  (Deuteronomy 24:1-4)
4. Pertaining to Swearing (Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 30:2-16)
5. Pertaining to Vengeance (Exodus 21:22-27)
6. Pertaining to Others (Leviticus 19:18; Exodus 17:14-16; Deuteronomy 25:17)
2. Its Sacrifices
1. Could not put away sins (Isaiah 1:11; Hosea 6:6; Hebrews 9:8-10; Hebrews 10:1-4, 11)
2. Had to be done every year (Hebrews 10:3, 11)
2. Purpose
1. As a shadow it was Temporary (1 Chronicles 29:15; Job 8:9; 14:2; Psalm 102:11; Psalm 109:23; Psalm 144:4)
2. It pointed to Something Else (Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 8:4-5; Hebrews 10:1)
3. To reveal sin in its total sinfulness (Romans 3:20; Romans 5:12-14; Romans 7:7, 12)
4. To condemn the sinner (Romans 3:19; Romans 4:15; Galatians 3:10, 21-22)
5. To prepare the heart of the Israelites for the faith of Christ (Galatians 3:23-26)
2. The Image The Man Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3)
1. His Restrictions
1. The Flesh
1. He got hungry (Luke 4:2; Matthew 21:18)
2. He thirsted (John 19:28)
3. He needed sleep (Mark 4:38)
4. He suffered pain (Acts 3:18)
5. He understood temptation (Hebrews 2:18)
2. He Gave up His Heavenly Glory (John 17:5)
3. He Gave up His Heavenly Reputation (Philippians 2:5-7)
4. He Gave up His Riches (2 Corinthians 8:9; Mark 13:32)
2. Better Representation (An image is three dimensional and gives a more fuller representation of the object it represents)
1. His Commandments
1. Pertaining to Murder (Matthew 5:21-22)
2. Pertaining to Adultery (Matthew 5:27-28)
3. Pertaining to Divorce (Matthew 5:31-32)
4. Pertaining to Swearing (Matthew 5:33-37)
5. Pertaining to Vengeance (Matthew 5:38-39)
6. Pertaining to Others (Matthew 5:43-47)
2. His Sacrifice
1. Conquered the sin problem (Hebrews 9:12; Hebrews 10:10)
2. Was done once for all (Hebrews 9:26; Hebrews 10:12)
3. His Purpose
1. An Image Gives us a Representation of Something We Cannot See as such Jesus Christ came to
1. Shew Us the Father (John 14:7, 9; John 15:24)
2. Reconcile men to the Father whom they cannot see (Colossians 1:15)
2. Humble Himself to Become a Faithful High Priest
1. God versus Images
1. God condemned images (Leviticus 26:1; Deuteronomy 4:23, 25; Romans 1:23)
2. He hates images (Deuteronomy 16:22)
2. He (Jesus Christ) hates Sin yet took on Himself the likeness of sinful flesh and then on the cross He bore our sins in His own body
3. The Sun The Glorified Christ Jesus
1. No Restrictions
1. As the Sun, He alone will be the source of light for the whole world (Isaiah 2:3)
2. When the Sun shows up all darkness must flee
3. As the Sun has both healing and damaging effects dependent upon what it shines upon, so will Jesus Christ rescue His own and judge the wicked
4. We shall see Christ in all of His strength and glory as the noonday Sun
2. His Purpose
1. Much like the going down of the sun in the scripture is a time of settlement of issues so will the coming down of the Sun of Righteousness settle the wrath of God