1 © 2013 James P. Steel See printed material for permissions. Chapter 2 – The Rules of Context

Session 1 Review First, last, and always, Dispensationalism is about the knowledge of God. God Himself God is unlike Isaiah 40:18-25 God is unchanging Hebrews 1:10,12; James 1:17; Psalm 102:26-28 God is up close and personal John 3:16; Isaiah 55:6-7 His Word and Works God is self-revealing. He speaks… Through the “spoken” creation: 2 Peter 3:5-7; Romans 1:18-20 Through His written Word: 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:14-17 His Son: Hebrews 1:1-2, Acts 17:30-31 God is personally active. 2 Chronicles 16:9; Daniel 2:21; Psalm 139:14-16 God’s works are His witness to us. Psalm 105:1-5 His Way with Men It’s all about promises! God has only dealt with men on the basis of His promises. Biblical faith is always based upon the promises of God. His Will and His Program A Dispensationalist is simply one who takes the promises of God literally. We must now learn two important keys we need in order to properly understand the promises of God.

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. - 2 Peter 1:3-4 We invite you to visit us online and subscribe to our newsletter. Biblical Intensives is a ministry of Breadcrumbs Ministries INTENSIVES.com

Pay close attention as we reason our way from the character of God. We will expand and apply two truths we have already learned…. The First Truth About God: God is self- revealing. The Second Truth About God: He is unchanging. We then learned how God reveals Himself - through the creation, His Word, and His Son. We will now learn that God expects us to interpret His revelation through His Son. We then learned that He deals with men based on his unchanging promises. We will now learn how God has ordered or organized His promises.

The Basic Rule of Context: We pay attention to all that God is saying. Even children know we cannot mix and match statements in the Bible to suit our needs. Example: Judas…”hanged himself.” “Go and do thou likewise.” More advanced Bible students know just how important it is to read all the scriptures as they were intended to be read by the writers. Example: Romans 10:9-13 does not teach Lordship salvation. It teaches that Jesus is Jehovah. We know this because Paul is quoting directly from Joel 2. A good quote to rely on comes from John Wycliffe – a “morning star” of the Reformation: "It shall greatly help thee to understand scripture, if thou mark not only of what is spoken or written, but of whom, and to whom, with what words at what time, where, to what intent, with what circumstances; considering what goeth before and what followeth."

The Lost Rule of Context: Our Bible is about Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus taught the disciples how to properly interpret the scriptures during the time between His resurrection and His ascension. A key passage for helping us understand this is Luke 24. First notice how He taught the disciples on the road to Emmaus: Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)

The Lost Rule of Context: Our Bible is about Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus repeated this same approach when, after continuing to Jerusalem, they found the other disciples who puzzling over these same events. We read the account of what He did in verses 44-48: And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. (Luk 24:44-48)

The Lost Rule of Context: Our Bible is about Jesus Christ. Now, notice how the apostles learned this key and began applying it in their ministry! We see it in Paul’s witness to the rebelling Jews in Acts 13: Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. (Act 13:46-48 Do you see how the apostles applied the Lord’s teaching? They had learned the role of Christ as taught in the Old Testament… They had learned that they were now a part of His program. Through Christ, they were now serving as a light to the nations. By keeping Christ central in their Bible interpretation these disciples also learned where they fit in God’s program!

The First Truth About God: God is self- revealing. The Second Truth About God: He is unchanging. We then learned how God reveals Himself - through the creation, His Word, and His Son. We will now learn that God expects us to interpret His revelation through His Son. We then learned that He deals with men based on his unchanging promises. We will now learn how God has ordered or organized His promises. We now reason our way from the character of God as we expand and apply the second truth we learned earlier….

The Basic Rule of Covenants: The Covenants are God’s Super Promises How, do I know I am viewing the promises of God correctly? We begin by looking at the broad picture. God has set out some super promises in scripture. These super promises form the basis from which all other promises descend. By knowing the super promises, we understand how the rest of God’s promises come together. Soon we will see that these super promises, are super highways that connect to show us one great, unified plan of God! But first… Question : Answer: Super promises are like super highways leading us back to Christ.

The Basic Rule of Covenants: The Covenants are God’s Super Promises What makes super promises super and how do we recognize them? 1.These promises are specifically called covenants in the Bible. 2.These covenants have clear terms. Most are permanent and unconditional. God made them before His children even understood what He was doing. Note: One of these covenants was conditional and temporary. That was the Mosaic covenant. We’ll get to that later.

So then, what makes super promises super and how do we recognize them? 3.These covenants extend over long periods of time. Another way to say this is that they are made to one man in particular and to his seed (his household, his progeny). Covenants are made to men and their seed. Where you find one of these super promises in scripture you will find the word seed discussed right in the context. The great covenants of God are made to men and their seed. Did we repeat anything? Let’s follow some breadcrumbs along the “seed trail” of Bible history….

So then, what makes super promises super and how do we recognize them? The key promises of God made to men and their seed are called covenants. Please turn to these passages we follow the seed trail a short way into the Bible… The Seed model in creation. Genesis 1:11 – Day 3 The Seed promise initiated. Genesis 3:15 The seed promise extended. Seed promises are associated with each of the covenants. Some examples include Gen. 9:9; 15:18; 17:19. Later, we will understand the extreme importance of the seed doctrine.

So then, what makes super promises super and how do we recognize them? 1.These promises are specifically called covenants in the Bible. 2.These covenants have clear terms. 3.These covenants extend over long periods of time. 4.Some covenants require household administration. Because these covenants extend down through the generations some of them require a household administration, or priesthood. Initially, these priesthoods were patriarchal (Fathers were the spiritual heads). Under the Mosaic covenant, this household administration was carried out through the Levitical priesthood. While this truth may seem ever so unimportant at the moment, we will see how the book of Hebrews lays down the gauntlet regarding this very fact! Continuing…

So then, what makes super promises super and how do we recognize them? The Lost Rule of Covenants - Jesus Christ is the key to their continuity. Jesus Christ makes the covenants fit! All covenants are about Him. Many of our friends would like to think that we have broken history up into fragments by talking about the dispensations of God. They miss the fact that “dispensations” are merely place markers in the Bible. We see one place marker for each time God gave a new covenant. The covenants perform separate purposes, but are unified in their outcome. History is united in the Person, the plan, the passion, and the program of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the key to making sense out of the great covenants of God. Listed here are a few things we will soon learn about the covenants Listed here are a few things we will soon learn about the covenants!

I have learned that God expects me to interpret His truth through His Son. If I want to be an effective tool of the Holy Spirit, I want to use the scriptures the way the Lord and the apostles did. I have learned to identify these promises and their recipients. I want to learn about these covenants because I will always be confused in my Bible understanding until I do. I want to learn more about what covenant I am under and all the benefits it provides for me! So, what have I learned in this session ? Why is this important to me ? I have learned how the Lord Jesus taught His apostles to preach and teach. Only when I understand what Christ is doing can I understand what I should be doing. I have learned that there is a super highway of God’s promises throughout scripture. A reminder… Remember the principle of consequence. We can claim God’s promises and receive the blessing! We can “breach,” “profane,” or fail to claim God’s promises and experience the sad results. A teaser… A Question: (True or False.) Christmas is about family. In closing this session…

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. - 2 Peter 1:3-4 We invite you to visit us online and subscribe to our newsletter. Biblical Intensives is a ministry of Breadcrumbs Ministries INTENSIVES.com

Thank you for listening! We hope you’ll visit us soon at one of our sites: IsGodMad FiveThingsYouShouldKnow BiblicalDispensationalism BreadcrumbsMinistries BiblicalIntensives BiblicalMinute Thank you for listening! We hope you’ll visit us soon at one of our sites:

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. - 2 Peter 1:3-4 We invite you to visit us online and subscribe to our newsletter. Biblical Intensives is a ministry of Breadcrumbs Ministries BIBLICAL INTENSIVES