Comprehending the End from the Beginning
The first time we encounter the word “rest” in Scripture is in Genesis 2 when, having expressed total satisfaction (Gen 1:31), God “rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made” (Gen 2:2-3).1 The second time this Hebrew word is used (the only other time in Genesis) is in the context of Noah, who, embarking upon a new world, offered sacrifices to God, who in turn promised never to repeat the judgment of the flood. Any student of Scripture would immediately recognise that the parallel between the first two usages of this word is that both scenes foreshadow the millennial reign of Christ. It is therefore both necessary and delightfully intriguing to see how that long before Israel ever existed as a nation, God, who knew exactly what would take place in this world, promised that there would come a distinct period of rest, designated “the dispensation of the fulness of times” (Eph 1:10). Yes, long before Abraham or Israel, Job wrote of that “latter day” when with his own eyes he would witness his redeemer standing upon the earth (Job 19:25-27), undoubtedly a reference to millennial glory. As we rise above and view time from this divine perspective, let us appreciate how that even in the creation week, God was painting for us a delightful picture of His wisdom in the plan of the ages, culminating in a millennium of rest.
Viewing, then, those first six days of creation through New Testament glasses, it’s too conspicuous not to acknowledge that amid the details of that creation week, our omniscient God was tantalisingly portraying for us His great dispensational framework. As we lay those opening seven days alongside the seven distinct dispensations of time, let us appreciate some direct correlation between them, noting how they all point forward to the grand climax of millennial tranquillity.
First, the creation of light and its subsequent separation from darkness can surely be recognised within the dispensation of Innocence. Our human parents came into the knowledge of good (light) and evil (darkness), before being separated from the garden of God into a world where men would love darkness rather than light (Joh 3:19). With fresh hope, we look to the promise of an age when the glory of God and the Lamb will be the light (Rev 21:23).
Day two, the only one that God makes no reference to being “good,” was the separation of the waters, a great body reserved above the expanse undoubtedly for coming judgment. In this we detect the dispensation of Human Conscience. When Cain murdered Abel, he didn’t need the Mosaic Law to teach him it was wrong. He had the law of God written in his heart, his conscience bearing witness (Rom 2:12-15). Unsurprisingly, the dispensation ended with God’s unleashing those mighty waters upon an ungodly world. Inside that ark (Christ), Noah and his family (Jewish remnant) and the animals (multitude of Gentiles – see Gen 7:14; Act 10:12ff.) would be brought safely through to a cleansed world.
Day three contained the gathering of the waters, revealing a total land mass and God’s desire that reproductive life flourish across the globe. Viewing the third dispensation, we see Noah leave the ark with God’s instruction to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Gen 9:1). The mass of humanity is seen moving across the singular land mass until its dispersion across the earth. We perceive a parallel as we see the flourishing of humanity during millennial days (Eze 36:37-38).
Day four saw the creation of the sun, moon and stars, God stating that they would be as lights and for signs and seasons. In the fourth dispensation, beginning with Abraham, God called out the patriarchs through whom He would bring the “Sun of righteousness” (Mal 4:2). This was the dispensation in which Joseph would receive dreams concerning the sun, moon and stars making obeisance to him (Gen 37:9). Considering Zechariah 14:16, the link is striking: “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.”
Day five witnessed the creation of fish below the earth and fowls above the earth. It would be in the fifth dispensation that heights of heaven and depths of earth would be joined together. The One who came from above the earth would descend “into the lower parts of the earth” (Eph 4:9). He who is likened to the dove, eagle, sparrow, pelican and hen is the same who would plumb the ultimate depths in the belly of the great fish (Jon 2). Israel (and the world) shall never forget this inestimable sacrifice as they keep the Millennial Passover (Eze 45:21).
Day six capstones all of God’s handiwork. The creation of a man and the formation of a bride from his wounded side, joined in marriage to have dominion over the earth, is without doubt a picture of Christ and the Church. The door opens in this sixth dispensation to reveal the eternal secret of God’s heart (Eph 3:5; Col 1:26-27). Selected by God the Father (Eph 1:3-4), secured by the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13), sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 5:25-27), the Church shall take the highest station in the universe, alongside Christ. Even angelic beings shall be subservient (1Co 6:1-3).
Finally, we arrive at day seven. Surveying the scene, noting it was “very good” (Gen 1:31), we see how God “rested” in total satisfaction with all He had accomplished (Gen 2:2). This final day points us to the promised millennial rest of the seventh and final dispensation.
As we draw these parallels, the writer to the Hebrews confirms that it was Christ who both masterminded and fitted together the dispensations. God has “in these last days spoken unto us by [in] his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds” [ages] (Heb 1:2). The dealings of God are never random, reckless or reactional. Others have well said, His first thoughts are His last thoughts for God has no second thoughts.
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (11:1). “Through faith we understand that the worlds [ages] were framed by the word of God” (v3). It’s this that will strengthen our faith and stabilize us as we traverse the murky waters of “last days,” looking forward to the concluding dealings of God with this world and the long-awaited manifestation of our Lord Jesus in resplendent glory.
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
