7/30/78

DOCTRINE OF ELAPSE OF TIME

A. The Principle of Intercalation.

1. Intercalation means interruption and insertion.

2. The Jewish Age was interrupted by the introduction of the Church Age ten days after the ascension of Christ. At His session, Jesus Christ received a battlefield royal warrant, but He was without a royal family. Therefore, the Church Age was inserted into history to call out a royal family. The Church Age becomes the time of the intensification of the angelic conflict.

3. The Church Age is terminated at the Rapture. Then the Age of Israel continues until the Second Advent. There were four promises made to Israel during the Jewish Age that are yet to be fulfilled.

B. Covenants to Israel.

1. There are two kinds of covenants which God made to Israel.

a. The conditional covenant requires some human function for the covenant to be operative.

b. The unconditional covenants require nothing of man. They depend entirely upon the attributes of God.

2. The Mosaic Law is the only conditional covenant to Israel.

a. Codex one is the freedom heritage. It describes freedom in terms of the laws of divine establishment, defining freedom, privacy, property, and authority.

b. Codex two is the spiritual heritage which teaches a complete Christology and soteriology, presenting everything necessary to believe in Christ.

c. Codex three is the establishment code. It teaches concepts of authority in the husband, parents, government, and the military, as well as rules for health, law, trial, punishments, sanitation, etc.

3. The unconditional covenant is a gracious bestowal by one party on behalf of another. There are four unconditional covenants to Israel.

a. In the Abrahamic Covenant, God promised a new race called the Jews and a new nation called Israel, Gen 12:1-3, 13:15; Rev 21:2,10; Heb 11:8-10. This covenant applies to the progeny of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. This covenant was the basis for the deliverance of the Jews and the beginning of the new nation, Ex 6:2-8. This covenant has not been fulfilled yet. It is fulfilled when the Jewish race and nation is perpetuated forever as a source of blessing.

b. In the Palestinian Covenant, God promised the Jews that they would inherit the entire Middle East, Gen 15:18; Num 34:1-12; Deut 30:1-9; Josh 1:3-

4. During the Millennium, the land of Israel will extend from Turkey to Syria in the north, west to the Med Sea, south to East Africa, include all of Saudi Arabia, and east to the Euphrates River.

c. In the Davidic Covenant, God promised David that he would have a son who would rule forever, 2 Sam 7; Ps 89:20-37.

d. The New Covenant, Jer 31:31-34, confirms the fact that the unconditional covenants already given would be fulfilled.

C. The Postponement of the Age of Israel. The Age of Israel was sequential until the ascension of Christ. It has been postponed until the royal family is completed and the Church Age is terminated.

D. The Principle of Levels of Measurement. There are four levels of measurement.

1. Nominal: yes or no. 2. Ordinal: greater than.

3. Interval: artificial zero.

4. Ratio: absolute zero.

E. Variables related to Artificial and Absolute zeros.

1. There are three primary variables using the ratio level of measurement or absolute zero: temperature, length, and mass.

2. Secondary variables, such as time, use an artificial zero.

a. Theologically, time has an absolute zero which begins at the fall of man. This elapse is unknown. But from the standpoint of the function of time, there is an artificial zero.

b. Time is regarded as a gift from God as a part of logistical grace.

c. Your artificial zero is the moment of your salvation. You are alloted all the time necessary to advance to spiritual maturity.

F. Two concepts of time as a secondary variable exist.

1. Sequential time. There is no break in time as far as the plan of God is concerned. God has a plan for your life from birth to death. Therefore, you are given one day at a time to advance.

2. Interrupted time. Unconditional covenants were promised in sequential time, but will be fulfilled through interrupted time. Therefore we have the concept of the artificial zero.

3. The time for the fulfillment of the covenants begins at the Second Advent and Millennium.

4. God is not slow with regard to His promises. All divine promises are always fulfilled. God can begin time at any point He wishes. God’s apparent slowness in fulfilling His promise to Israel is based on the fact that the Age of Israel has been interrupted and an artificial zero in the interval level of measurement has been created, i.e., the Second Advent of Christ. Therefore, Christ is still the minister to Israel, Rom 15:8.

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