Wholistic views of the Bible, taking the sweep of history down the ages, as from a distance.
TeleScopic Views
Go directly to contents below the pictures
The concept of this page
An astronomer’s telescope, not only makes distant planets and stars appear near, but it also enables us to view large “chunks” of the universe … galaxies, nebulae, stars, planets, moons.
Here’s a photograph taken through a telescope.
Here’s a telescope-revealed map of the sky with the horizon.
And here’s a “bar” just discovered at the center of the Milky Way (the spiral galaxy which is home to our solar system and planet Earth). The bar was discovered by University of Wisconsin astronomers and was reported by the University of Wisconsin on August 16, 2005..
In each case, although the telescope shows closer views than is possible with the naked eye (in the picture below, of Jupiter), we do not get all the detail that we would if we could travel on the surface of a planet with a tourist’s still or movie camera.
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The camera gives a great deal of detail of a relatively small scene. The telescope gives the “big picture” of a very broad scene, encompassing a moon, a planet, even a nebula, enabling us to see the target object much clearer than the naked eye permits
Telescopic views of the Bible enable us to see the “big picture” in the plans and purposes of God at one time. We don’t get all the details, which is why, in this website, the telescopic views are supplemented by multi-perspective closer views and even microscopic views. To change the metaphor, it’s like spiralling deeper and deeper into God’s Truth.
What I want to do with this page is illustrated in a page from Molecular Expressions, which starts by viewing the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth, and then moves through space towards the Earth in successive “orders of magnitude” until we reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, we are taken from the tree to a leaf (actual size) and then things seen only through microscopes, such as leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, the view zooms into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons until we are gazing on quarks, the ultimate building blocks of matter. Something like this is what I intend (God willing) to do with Bibloscope as indicated in a prophetic vision described in the Dedication Page.
To get a sense of the adventure that awaits you, click on Molecular Expressions: Secret Worlds – The Universe Within
In this webpage, I present two Telescopic Views of God’s purposes and His dealings with mankind, beginning with Eternity Past and proceeding down the ages to Eternity Future.
But first: I’d like you to read the brief story of a one-word sermon, a one-word poem, by Arthur Stace, a single word that has been engraved in immortal bronze and viewed by thousands around the world, on prime time! The word: ETERNITY. Click and enjoy.
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Telescopic View 1: The 7-Day View of the Bible
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Telescopic View 2: The 9-Dispensation View
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Comparison of the two Telescopic Views
The 7-Day View
In the 7-Day View,we take the 7 days of Creation Week (Genesis 1:3-31; 2:1-3), and relate them to entire stretches of time in which God dealt with mankind in different ways.
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Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created …
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Eternity has no beginning and no end. God created the heaven and the earth from His standpoint in Eternity, and this inaugurated Time as we know it. God’s act of creation was “the beginning”, the first moment of time.
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… the heaven and the earth.
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The long camera shot. In the next verse (Genesis 1:2), God’s “camera” zooms in from “the heaven and the earth” to “the earth” which will be the stage on which the rest of Bible history and prophecy will be enacted.
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Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void ; (Hebrew, “tohu ve bohu“) and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
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The word “was” (“haya” in Hebrew) can also be translated “became”. This is important because God says in Isaiah 45:18 “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain (Hebrew, “tohu”); he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.”
If, as Isaiah informs us, God did not create the earth “tohu”, then it became “tohu” and “bohu” in Genesis 1:2.
Therefore, we can infer that between Genesis chapter 1 verses 1 and 2, something happened, something catastrophic, which led to the earth becoming without form (shapeless, chaotic) and void (empty of physical furnishings and physical inhabitants),
We gather from elsewhere in the Bible, that the catastrophic event was the fall of some of the angels (a third of them, Revelation 12:3-4) led by Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12) who came to be known as Satan (Matthew 4:10, and many other references in the Old and the New Testaments) (The Greek word Satanas means Adversary).
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Genesis 1:3-5
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
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When the earth became without form and void, it had to be re-created. Genesis 1:3-5 was the first step in the re-creation of the earth from the chaotic state.
From here on, the description of creation typifies large periods (and one small period) that follow in the Old and New Testaments
The creation of light corresponds to a period in the history of mankind that can be designated the Age of Light.
In the Garden of Eden, there was the Light of God’s Presence.
After the world’s first sin, from the time Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden to the time of the Flood, mankind was governed by the Light of Conscience. There was also the Light of Primeval Revelation as God promised a Redeemer in Genesis 3:15. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
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Genesis 1:6-8
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
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The creation of the firmament typifies the Age of Human Government. The separation of the waters above and the waters below typifies the setting up of government above the general population. After the flood, God gave Noah the powers of governance, the authority to judge and to execute judgment, including capital punishment (Genesis 9:5-6).
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Genesis 1:9-13
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
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God bringing the earth out of the sea typifies His establishment of His earthly people, Israel (descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), from the sea of peoples around them. This day represents the Age of Promise (also known as the Age of the Patriarchs, dominated by the families and descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) … and the Age of the Law, dominated by the nation of Israel, which subsequently broke up into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The citizens of both Kingdoms later went into exile, but many of the Jews (so named for the tribe of Judah) returned to the Land, where they remained till 40 years after the death of the Messiah.
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Genesis 1:14-19 (click for full passage)
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
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God’s creation of the sun, moon and stars typifies His establishment of His Heavenly People. The sun is Christ (Matthew 17:2), the Head of the body (Colossians 1:18). The moon is the body of believers (1 Corinthians 12:27), that is the church, shining with the reflected light of the sun. The stars are the individual believers, illuminating the sky with their pinpoints of light. This fourth day represents the Church Age, also known as the Age of Grace.
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Genesis 1:20-23
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
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The Tribulation Age. This is a short age. Jesus said that “except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” (Matthew 24:22) This short age is ruled over by the beast that comes out of the sea, and the spirits of the powers of the air.
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Genesis 1:24-31
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
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God’s creation of sentient life, typifies the Millennial Kingdom, which is also designated as the Kingdom Age.
It will last a thousand years (Revelation 20:4, 6). It is the time when “the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” (Isaiah 11:6. See also Isaiah 65:25. In Revelation 5:5-6, Jesus is described as the Lion of Judah and the Lamb.)
The Millennial Kingdom will be ruled over by the Messiah (who is called the last Adam and the second Man, 1 Corinthians 15:45-47) … and His Bride the Church (Revelation 21:2, 9) , typified by the first man Adam and the first bride Eve.
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Genesis 2:1-3
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 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.
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Eternity Future. Notice that in describing the first six days of Creation Week, the Bible uses the phrase “evening and morning” to denote the beginning and end of the day. (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). For, on God’s timepiece, the day begins at sunset, and ends with the next sunset. However, in respect of the seventh day, the phrase “evening and morning” is absent. This is a picture of Eternity which has no beginning (in Eternity Past) and no end (in Eternity Future).
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The element that distinguishes the last four days (ages) from the first three, is the gospel. The Cross of Calvary was the last great event of the Age of Law (corresponding to the morning and afternoon of the Third Day). The descent of the Holy Spirit was the first great event of the Age of Grace (corresponding to the Fourth Day). Jesus’ death on Calvary, followed by His burial and resurrection, is the heart of the gospel message. The Holy Spirit was given so that the disciples (and those who believe through their testimony, ) will be able to preach the gospel with power and boldness and effectiveness.
If by this time you have not yet received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, this is a good time to do so. Go to Hot Focus View, read the three short points of the message, and do what it says to receive Jesus and begin your new life in Christ.
The 9-Dispensation View
This view takes us a little closer than the 7-day view. We distinguish 9 periods in Bible history (and prophecy), in each of which God dealt with man (dispensed His mercy and justice) somewhat differently, based on His sovereign purposes and man’s history up to that time. The meaning of the term “Dispensation” will become clearer as you go carefully through the following chart.
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The Dispensation of Innocence
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Enjoying God’s Presence in the Garden of Eden, God walking in the garden in the cool of the evening (Genesis 2:8-10; 3:8)
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The Dispensation of Conscience
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After the fall, God dealt with individuals (for instance, Cain). The issue of whether an action was righteous or not was a matter of the individual’s conscience. (Genesis 4 and 5).
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The Dispensation of Human Government
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After the Flood, God instituted human government, with authority to punish, including capital punishment (Genesis 9:6).
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The Dispensation of Promise,
also known as the Age of the Patriarchs.
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After Babel (Genesis 11), God chose one family through whom He would get for himself a nation which would serve as His people, and His example of how to live under His rule. (Genesis 12 onward.)
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The Dispensation of Law
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After Sinai (Exodus 20), God dealt with Israel under His Law. This way of dealing continued until the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, and the descent of the Holy Spirit on the early church.
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The Dispensation of Grace, also known as the Church Age
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After the Cross of Calvary, the Ascension of Jesus (Acts 1) and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2), God saved those who put their faith in Jesus and His death on the cross, dealing with them exclusively on the basis of grace (unmerited favor), received through faith, without the works of the Law. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
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The Dispensation of Judgment,
also known as the Great Tribulation
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This Dispensation will open with the 7-year treaty between a world ruler and Israel (and presumably the Arabs) guaranteeing peace in Israel. It lasts for the 7 years of the treaty. Although the world ruler will claim that his treaty will usher in an era of peace, the world will be far from peaceful. In fact, this will be the most troubled and violent period in man’s history. Jesus said that if this period isn’t shortened, there would be no survivors. (Matthew 24:22. Mark 13:20.) This terrible period will be cut short when Jesus returns to save Israel and the believers who have persevered to the end.
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The Dispensation of the Millennial Reign of Christ,
also known as the Age of the Kingdom, or the Millennium
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The Millennial Kingdom is established when the Lord Jesus returns to earth to vanquish the evil world ruler. The word “millennium” means a thousand years, and that will be the duration of the Kingdom.
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The Dispensation of the New Heavens and the New Earth
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After the thousand years of Jesus’ reign on earth, Heavenly Jerusalem will descend out of God and be juxtaposed above earthly Jerusalem. The existing heavens and earth will be destroyed by fire (great energies) and will be replaced by new heavens and a new earth. (2 Peter 3:12-13.)
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It is good to be able to study the Bible as one who has received the grace of God by having welcomed Jesus into his or her own life as their personal Savior. God’s grace is evident from the time of Adam’s sin to the entry of believers into the New Heavens and the New Earth. Yet the emphasis on grace commenses with the Dispensation of Grace, in which we now life. In this Dispensation, every one is given a choice (God has not created us as robots, but given us the power of choice), and we must choose to come under the covering of God’s grace … or stay out of it by rejecting God, or trusting in our own goodness and “meritorious” actions. It is easy to come under the covering of grace. It is as simple as ABC. Read the three short points of that message, and do what is said and you will receive Jesus and begin your new life in Christ.
Comparison between the 7-Day View and the 9-Dispensation View
This chart demonstrates that the 9-Dispensation View gives us a slightly closer look at Bible History (and Prophecy). We can see from the chart that, in the 9-Dispensation View, we distinguish two Dispensations each in the periods of Bible History represented by Day One and Day Three.
Day
(Type)
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Dispensation
(Typified)
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Day One
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Dispensation 1. Innocence
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Dispensation 2. Conscience
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Day Two
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Dispensation 3. Human Government
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Day Three
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Dispensation 4. Promise / Patriarchs
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Dispensation 5. Law / Israel as Nation
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Day Four
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Dispensation 6. Grace / Church
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Day Five
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Dispensation 7. Judgment / Tribulation
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Day Six
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Dispensation 8. The Millennial Reign of Christ
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Day Seven
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Dispensation 9. New Heavens and New Earth
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