The Bible declares that God is working out a two-fold plan and purpose.

One aspect centres around the nation of Israel and the covenant God made with Abraham and his seed, from who that nation began. God’s plan and purpose with Israel concern this earth, and that purpose has been spoken of by “all his holy prophets since the world began.”

The other aspect centres around God’s “new creation,” the “one new man,” the church, the body of Christ, which He’s forming now, today, in this present dispensation of grace.

God’s purpose with the church pertains to the heavenly places and is something God kept “hid in Himself” in ages past. He first revealed it when He raised up Paul to be a brand new apostle. God’s program and His dealings with Israel and His program and dealings with the church, the body of Christ, are not the same. They’re two distinctly different programs. Because of this, God commands us to be “rightly dividing the word of truth” as we study it. In 2 Timothy 2:15-16, we’re told this,

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

We must rightly or correctly divide the word of truth into its two main divisions, the part that concerns God’s program with Israel and the part that concerns what God’s doing today in the dispensation of His grace. To fail to rightly divide the word is to get caught up in foolish, empty chatter that doesn’t honour God or help anyone, least of all ourselves.

This article is a very simple survey of the Bible, recognising its “right division.”

We’re using the timeline chart, which appears under this recording, to help trace and visualise this simple description of the Bible record. The progressive outworking of God’s plan and purpose is followed from Genesis to the book of Revelation and it illustrates the “right division” of God’s word showing God’s “Time Past” dealings in His program with Israel; His “But Now” program and dealings with us today in the dispensation of His grace; and the resumption and fulfillment of His program with Israel in the “ AgesTo Come.”

Let’s get our article underway, starting at the beginning with the book of beginnings, the book of Genesis.

Genesis

The word genesis means beginning, and the book of Genesis describes 5 specific beginnings.

1. The Beginning of the World (Genesis 1:1-1:25).
2. The Beginning of Man (Genesis 1:26-2:25).
3. The Beginning of Man’s Sin and Satan’s Dominion on the Earth (Genesis 3:1-3:24)
4. The Beginning of Man’s Fall Under Satan’s Plan of Evil (Genesis 4:1-11:32)
5.  The Beginning of the Nation of Israel (Genesis 12:1-50:26).

The majority of Genesis describes God’s work in creating and forming the nation of Israel. In light of all the events of Genesis chapters 1-11, God made a covenant with Abraham that sets in motion His plan and purpose for using a nation of His own creation to reconcile the earth back to Himself, destroying Satan’s domination of the earth that he seized from mankind through deception.

That promised destruction of Satan’s domination will come to pass through Abraham and his seed, being God’s “great nation” through which He will establish His kingdom on the earth.

The name “Israel” signifies that God’s rulership on earth will be accomplished through them.

With Jacob Abraham’s grandson, God revealed more details of His plan and purpose. Not only did He change Jacob’s name to Israel, but he also gave him a dream in which he saw the goal of the Abrahamic covenant.

Jacob saw that the land of Israel would be “the gate of heaven.” God would reside on the earth in Israel, and Heaven’s business would be conducted from the earth. God would set up His kingdom in Israel, and they would be the ones to carry out His rule on the earth.

Israel’s role concerns God’s plan for destroying Satan’s dominion on the earth, repossessing it and using it for its original intended purpose.

Israel’s covenanted kingdom, covenanted by God to Abraham and his descendants, is “the kingdom of heaven,” the “kingdom of God,” literally established on this earth.

With Jacob, God began multiplying the seed of Abraham into a nation. He also sent them down into Egypt, from where He would have them begin the actual repossession of the earth.

Exodus – Deuteronomy

The books of Exodus through to Deuteronomy tell the history of Israel’s triumphant departure from Egypt and the slavery they had fallen into there, fulfilling what God had said to Abraham in Genesis 15:13-16.

They also show the establishment of the Law covenant and Israel eventually preparing to enter the land to begin the repossession of the earth.

These are extremely important books to understand. There are at least 5 crucial issues revealed in those books that must be understood for the details of the outworking of God’s program with Israel to be known.

They are:

1. Israel’s Education in God’s “Jehovah-ness” and Grace, showing them He’s the God who acts for them, carries them, and keeps His promises. He used their troubles and His deliverances to teach them His grace. (Exodus 1-18:27)
2. The Five Courses of Punishment of the Law (Leviticus 26)
3. God’s Warning to Satan and the Gentiles (Numbers 22-25).
4. The Making of an Additional Covenant (Deuteronomy 29-30).
5. Moses’ Last Acts (Deuteronomy 31-34).

Of these five crucial issues, the Five Courses of Punishment are the most important to understand because Israel’s history can only be understood when the Five Courses of Punishment are understood. And, if we don’t understand Israel’s program, we’ll never properly understand our program today.

According to Leviticus 26, failing to comply with the Law contract would result in Israel receiving curses instead of blessings from God. Those curses come in step-by-step courses of punishment. There’re five courses in all, each building on the previous one and intensifying. The courses are:

1. Physical illness and affliction, including enemy raids, defeats in battle, and dominion over them by their border enemies. (Leviticus 26:14-17)
2. Internal government problems; cursing of the land and its environment. (Leviticus 26:18-20)
3. Increasingly severe land judgments, including affliction from wild beasts. (Leviticus 26:21-22)
4. Greater oppression by enemies, including occupation of their land, sieges and famine. (Leviticus 26:23-26)
5. National destruction and captivity, with removal from the land and captivity to the nations, and even, in some cases, cannibalism. (Leviticus 26:27-41)

Simply put, Israel’s history is its coming under these Five Courses of Punishment.

Each of these courses is highlighted on the timeline chart with a corresponding number.

Joshua

The book of Joshua tells how Israel finally stepped into the land and began to take it. God’s plan to take back the earth was going to start with Israel taking the land He promised to Abraham and his descendants.

The first nine verses of Joshua chapter one lay out the whole pattern of the book. God tells Joshua to do four things: bring Israel into the land, conquer it, divide it among the tribes, and keep the covenant while living in it. The book shows Joshua doing exactly those four things.

Joshua understood what God was doing with Israel, and he also understood Satan’s plan to fight against it. When Israel entered the land, Joshua reminded them who they were in God’s purpose and why the land mattered. But he also knew that God’s kingdom would not be set up at that time. Because of that, Joshua placed the memorial stones in the Jordan River. He put them right where the true “Joshua,” the Lord Jesus Christ, will one day cross Jordan when He comes to take the land and set up His kingdom.

The last part of the book gives the warnings and instructions Joshua gave Israel once they were settled in the land. He spoke this way because he saw early signs of rebellion starting to show among the people.

He reminded them that the curses of the Law were waiting for them if they turned away from the Lord. The Five Courses of Punishment in Leviticus 26 would begin to fall on them if they didn’t cling to God. Joshua uncovered what was already growing in their hearts by the way he spoke to them. He pressed it into their conscience when he told them to “choose this day” which path they were going to take.

By doing this, he helped them see that the seeds of rebellion were already planted among them, that those seeds were starting to take root, and that they would soon grow.

Joshua made a covenant with them so they would be responsible for pulling out the apostasy before it spread.

It’s important that the book ends this way because the rebellion Joshua feared came to life shortly after he died.

Judges – I Samuel 16

After Joshua died, the rebellion he warned about began to grow. The next generation turned away from the Lord, and because of that, Israel fell under the First Course of Punishment from Leviticus 26. The books of Judges, Ruth, and the first sixteen chapters of 1 Samuel tell the story of Israel living under that first level of discipline.

The book of Judges is named after the men God raised up during this time. These judges were leaders God used to correct Israel and guide them. God did this only because of His mercy and grace, as the Law did not require Him to send judges. Many times, Israel listened for a while, but Judges 2:19 says they always went back to their rebellion and sank deeper into corruption.

For about 450 years, Israel lived under the First Course of Punishment, but they didn’t change. So in Samuel’s day, God made it clear that they deserved the Second Course of Punishment, and He announced that it was coming.

God showed Israel just how far they’d fallen by allowing the ark of the LORD to be captured by the Philistines. The glory of God departed from Israel, and Eli’s sons were killed in judgment. All of this showed how low Israel had sunk.

Even though Israel deserved the Second Course, God again showed mercy and raised up another judge and prophet — Samuel. His mother’s name, Hannah, means grace, and that’s exactly what God gave Israel. Under Samuel, Israel was corrected. At first, they responded well, and God delivered them from the Philistines. Like Joshua before him, Samuel set up a memorial to remind Israel of God’s “Jehovah‑ness” — that their help and hope were only in the Lord.

But again, their change didn’t last. Israel soon rebelled worse than before. They wanted to be like the nations around them. By doing this, they prepared the way for the Second Course of Punishment to fall on them.

I Samuel 16 – I Kings 11

Samuel made it clear that Israel deserved the Second Course of Punishment. Their rebellion had gone far enough. But instead of letting that second level of discipline fall, God gave Israel a break — a time of glory, blessing, and prosperity under David and Solomon. This was not something the Law promised. In fact, Israel didn’t deserve it at all. From 1 Samuel 16 to 1 Kings 11, the Bible records this golden age when Israel reached its highest point.

God gave Israel this special time for a reason. During these years, He showed them every part of His “Jehovah‑ness” — everything His name “Jehovah” means He’ll do for them. He also showed them how He’d bring all of this to pass. God Himself, Adonai Jehovah, would become one of them. He would take on flesh in the family line of David and do for Israel what they could never do for themselves.

This is the heart of the Davidic Covenant.

While Israel was under the First Course of Punishment, God showed them that they needed five things:

a Redeemer, a Deliverer, an Avenger, a King, and a Blesser.

He also showed them that no man in Israel could ever be any of these things. Their only hope was for God Himself to become all five.

So God made a covenant with David. He promised to bring His “Jehovah‑ness” into action and fulfil all five roles. God Himself would become Israel’s Redeemer, Deliverer, Avenger, King, and Blesser.

Through both David and Solomon, God gave Israel early tastes of what those five mandates would look like when fully carried out. Their reigns were previews of the future kingdom.

There’s also a second record of this same period in 1 and 2 Chronicles. This parallel account highlights God’s faithfulness even while Israel continued to fall into apostasy. It also shows His special dealings with David’s family because of the Davidic Covenant.

I Kings 12-22

Solomon’s disobedience near the end of his reign pushed the nation back into deep apostasy. Because of this, Israel made itself worthy of the Second Course of Punishment. The First Course began again during Solomon’s final years, but for David’s sake, God said He’d not bring the Second Course on them yet. Instead, their “pride of power” would be broken, as Leviticus 26:19 warned, when the kingdom split through rebellion after Solomon died.

1 Kings 12–22 tells the story of Israel living under the heavier judgments of the Second Course. Breaking the pride of their power was only one part of this discipline. God also judged their weather and environment, just as He said He would in Leviticus 26:18–20. This began during the days of the wicked King Ahab. God used Elijah to show these Second Course chastisements. Elijah did this by stopping the rain for three and a half years. Other miracles Elijah performed also fit the Second Course and showed God’s hand of judgment.

The breaking of Israel’s pride was the biggest part of the Second Course. Because the Five Courses of Punishment build on each other, the division of the kingdom — and the breaking of Israel’s brotherhood — would stay with them all the way until the end of the Fifth Course. It also meant that the punishments of the later courses would not always fall on both kingdoms at the same time.

With only a few exceptions, the kings of Judah (the southern kingdom) and Israel (the northern kingdom) responded badly to the Second Course. As 1 Kings ends, it’s clear they’d not be reformed. Because of this, they earned the heavier judgments of the Third Course, which 2 Kings begins to describe.

II Kings 1 – 10:31

Instead of responding to the heavier discipline of the Second Course of Punishment, Israel kept walking in rebellion against God. The deep apostasy that took over during King Ahab’s reign continued under his son Ahaziah.

God strongly rebuked Ahaziah for rejecting the very meaning of Elijah’s name, but Ahaziah refused to listen. This angered God even more, and it opened the way for the Third Course of Punishment to begin.

2 Kings 1–10:31 tells the story of Israel under this Third Course. God showed how serious this new level of judgment would be by taking Elijah out of the land in the exact reverse order of how He first entered it back in Joshua’s day.

Then God came back into the land through Elisha, but this time He came ready to walk contrary to Israel and punish them seven times more for their sins as promised in Leviticus 26:18.

Elisha, carrying a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, was used by God to show the worsening judgments of the Third Course.

One of the first things Elisha did when he came back into the land was to pronounce a curse from the Lord at Beth‑el. This curse matched the plague described in Leviticus 26:21–22. Beth‑el was still the main center of Israel’s idolatry, just as it had been since Jeroboam’s day, Jeroboam being the main figure in the nation’s revolt and splitting in two.

When the children of Beth‑el mocked and insulted Elisha, he looked at them and cursed them in the name of the LORD. This was the curse of the Third Course. Right then, two she‑bears came out of the woods and tore forty‑two of those children. This is exactly what the Third Course warned about in Leviticus 26:22,

“I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children.”

More plagues of the Third Course also fell on Israel during this time. Their roads became empty and unsafe, as 2 Kings 6 shows, and the nation began to fall into poverty, but even in the middle of all this, the Lord still showed mercy and grace. But Israel’s rebellion continued and the Fourth Course of Punishment was now ready to arrive.

II Kings 10:32 – 16:20

The Fourth Course of Punishment greatly increased the damage Israel’s enemies could do to them. As God said in Leviticus 26:23–26, He would now begin to quote, “walk contrary” to Israel. He would send a sword against them to avenge the quarrel of, or the complaints against of His covenant. Their land would be invaded. Their walled cities would be surrounded and starved out. Their open countryside would be left empty and abandoned.

The Fourth Course was almost a complete handing over of the people and the land to their enemies.

When God began to “cut Israel short” in 2 Kings 10:32, the Fourth Course officially started. By cutting Israel short, God allowed their enemies to actually take parts of the land. Israel began shrinking — losing territory and losing people.

God repeatedly delivered them into the hands of their enemies as He continued to “walk contrary” to them.

A few times, Israel’s kings responded the right way and sought the Lord.

God, in His mercy, gave them short periods of relief. But these moments never lasted. The nation as a whole stayed rebellious and stubborn.

In 2 Kings 13:22–23, God’s mercy is mentioned while Israel suffered under Syria’s attacks. God showed mercy because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Because of that covenant, He would not cast Israel out of His presence, quote, ” as yet”. The possibility was there — Israel could have been removed from the land at this time — but God said the time for that was “not yet.” That final casting out would come under the Fifth Course of Punishment.

The Northern kingdom of Israel/Samaria reached the point of deserving the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Courses before the Southern kingdom of Judah did. Most of 2 Kings 10:32–16:20 deals with the Northern kingdom under the Fourth Course. But in 2 Kings 15:36–37, God announces that the Fourth Course has also begun for the Southern kingdom.

II Kings 17:1 – 25:30

Under the Fifth Course of Punishment, God would deal with Israel in fury. Their deep apostasy and stubborn refusal to listen made God’s soul abhor them.

We see a sample of how low the nation had fallen in 2 Kings 17:17, where it says:

“They caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire,”

It means child sacrifice.

Israel was copying the pagan nations around them — especially the worship of Molech — where parents burned their children alive as an offering to a false god. Sometimes the child was killed first and then burned; other times the child was burned alive. Either way, it was a horrific, literal sacrifice by fire. It was not symbolic.

All through these five courses we do not see an angry God punishing His people for no reason.

Because they didn’t respond to the Fourth Course, the Fifth Course came on the Northern kingdom of Israel/Samaria during the days of King Hoshea. It later came on the Southern kingdom of Judah after the days of King Josiah.

2 Kings 17:1–25:30 records the arrival of this Fifth Course.

The judgments of the Fifth Course are described in Leviticus 26:27 and onward.

God’s fury meant Israel would be removed from their land and forced to live in captivity. Their land would be torn apart, ruined, and emptied. Their sanctuaries — both their shrines to idols as well as the temple of the Lord — would be destroyed. They would be cast out of the Lord’s presence, become Satan’s lawful captive, and their enemies would take over their land.

Leviticus 26 shows that the Fifth Course would be a long and far‑reaching period of punishment. God explained just how long and how serious it would be through the prophets He raised up when the Fifth Course was about to begin.

The Fifth Course would itself have five installments.

These installments are depicted on our chart with the small numbers 1–5.

Each installment would have its own special feature and its own special trouble.

Because Israel was handed over to their enemies, the Fifth Course is called “the times of the Gentiles.”

A series of Gentile empires would rule over Israel, and the people would suffer many things under them.

The First Installment was the Assyrian/Babylonian captivity.

The Fifth Course will end with the fifth installment, when the Lord brings His day of wrath. In this “time of Jacob’s trouble,” the Lord will completely purge Israel of all apostasy and fully avenge His cause with Israel against the Gentile powers of Satan’s plan of evil.

Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther

The Second Installment of the Fifth Course of Punishment was explained to Daniel as the time when Jerusalem would be rebuilt, but rebuilt “in troublous times.” This rebuilding happened under the Medo‑Persian empire, the second Gentile power ruling over Israel during the Fifth Course.

The books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther record Israel’s history during this Second Installment.

Ezra focuses on rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. Ezra was a priest who obeyed the command to return to the land.

Nehemiah focuses on rebuilding the city and its walls.

Esther shows the “troublous times” Israel faced outside the land, as Satan fought against their return.

All three books show how hard things were for Israel. Satan opposed them from every side. Israel was still his “lawful captive,” and they faced trouble both inside the land and outside it.

At the end of the Second Installment, Israel entered a very unusual kind of punishment belonging to the Fifth Course.

During the Third Installment, God went silent toward Israel.

For about 400 years, God said nothing to them.  The ultimate silent treatment!

– No prophets spoke.

– No new revelation came.

– No sign was given that they were God’s people.

They lived through a “famine of hearing the words of the LORD.” as Amos 8:11 puts it.

The last prophets before this silence were Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, who ministered during the Second Installment. After Malachi, God stopped speaking.

The blank page between Malachi and Matthew in the Bible represents this Third Installment.

Because God was silent during this time, there is no confusion about the books called the Apocrypha that were written during this silence. Since God wasn’t speaking, those books are not the word of God and don’t belong in the Bible.

During the Third Installment, even though God was silent, Israel could still understand their situation. The Scriptures already gave them their history and the prophets had described the installments of the Fifth Course.

A special set of five books was designed to help Israel during this silent period:

Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

These books taught Israel:

– the truth about their condition,

– the hope of deliverance through the Christ,

– and how to live faithfully inside an apostate nation.

These five books give essential instruction to the faithful remnant, and will be especially important during the fifth and final Installment of the Fifth Course, The Day of Wrath.

Job shows Israel’s condition of being in Satanic captivity. God allowed Job to be taken by Satan to teach Israel what their own captivity was like.

Psalms celebrates the promises of the Davidic Covenant — Israel’s only hope of deliverance. Psalms is divided into five sections, each one highlighting one of the five mandates of the Davidic Covenant.

Proverbs teaches the faithful remnant how to live inside Israel’s corrupt and apostate system.

Ecclesiastes gives reproof or critisim about the emptiness of worldly wisdom and its ungodliness.

Song of Solomon teaches the faithful remnant to stay loyal and wait patiently for their deliverance, no matter how long it takes.

The full purpose of these five books will come into play during the final Installment of the Fifth Course of Punishment, that as of today, is yet to unfold.

Isaiah – Malachi

The books of the prophets make up a major part of Israel’s Scriptures.

Even though some of these prophets began their work during the Fourth Course of Punishment, all of them are really Fifth Course of Punishment prophets. Through their ministries, God explains the Fifth Course in detail, including its five installments.

Since there’s no sixth course, everything in God’s program with Israel reaches its climax in the Fifth Course. Because of this, much of Isaiah through to Malachi focuses on the last two installments of the Fifth Course — the days of the Messiah, which are the final and most important stages of God’s plan with Israel.

The huge amount of information in the prophets falls into seven major areas of doctrine:

1. Details about the five installments of the Fifth Course.
2. The doctrine of the Messiah.
3. Details about the new covenant of grace God would make.
4. Details about the Lord’s day of purging and avenging wrath.
5. Details about the cleansing God would give Israel.
6. Details about the time schedule for the Fifth Course.
7. Details about Israel’s future glory when the promised kingdom of heaven’s finally set up with them.

Of these seven, the time schedule of the Fifth Course is extremely important.

God gave Jeremiah the first part of the schedule — the 70 years needed for the land to enjoy its sabbaths during the First Installment.

The rest of the schedule — the timing for the remaining four installments — was given to Daniel. From Daniel’s timeline, Israel could follow the progress of the Fifth Course as each installment unfolded.

Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi were the final prophets God sent before He went silent during the Third Installment. Through their ministries, Israel was told to pay attention to everything the Fifth Course prophets had said, and to wait for the day when God would begin the climactic stages of His plan with them.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

The Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, record the arrival of the Fourth Installment of the Fifth Course of Punishment. With John the Baptist, God broke the 400‑year silence of the Third Installment, and the final, climactic stages of the Fifth Course began.

John preached the “gospel of the kingdom” to Israel. He began giving God’s cleansing prescription to those who responded. He also pointed Israel to Christ and prepared them for His ministry. Those who believed the gospel of the kingdom became part of the Lord’s generation and were no longer counted as part of apostate Israel.

The time schedule for the Fifth Course was almost finished, and the Fifth Installment was drawing near. Because of this, Israel was warned to “flee from the wrath to come.” Meanwhile, the Lord trained and equipped the believing remnant so they could make it through the coming tribulation. He taught them corrective doctrine to separate them from Israel’s corrupt religious system.

To prove that the kingdom of heaven was “at hand,” the Lord performed the signs and miracles the prophets had spoken about. He also gave this same kingdom power to the twelve apostles, who He chosen and commissioned to work with Him during this time.

The Lord also prepared the twelve to carry on after His rejection. They would later form the government of Israel in the kingdom, sitting on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

When Israel rejected Christ, the Fourth Installment was ready to end. But God, in His mercy, gave Israel an extension of grace because of Christ’s prayer for them on the cross.

After His resurrection, and after preparing His disciples for the Fifth and final Installment that was soon to begin, Christ returned to the Father and sat at His right hand “until his enemies be made his footstool” as estated in Hebrews 10:13.

The Acts of the Apostles

The first eight chapters of Acts record the “stumbling” and “fall” of Israel during the extra time of mercy and patience God gave them after they rejected Christ. During this period, God offered “repentance to Israel” before Christ would begin His day of wrath and make His enemies His footstool.

This stumbling and fall had already been prophesied, and it happened even though God increased the signs and wonders starting on the day of Pentecost, proving that Israel’s “last days” had arrived.

God gave Israel’s leaders three clear chances to repent. They refused every one of them. After the third rejection, Stephen was allowed to see that the extension of mercy was over and the Lord was ready to begin His day of wrath. The Fifth and final Installment of the Fifth Course of Punishment was ready to start.

But instead of beginning His day of wrath, the Lord did something completely unexpected — something never prophesied.

In Acts 9, the Lord Jesus Christ came back from heaven and raised up Paul as a brand‑new apostle. He sent Paul out with an astounding message:

– God was holding back the day of wrath.

– God was pausing His program with Israel.

– God was bringing in a new and different dispensation.

Because of this, the Lord’s day of wrath has not yet happened, and the kingdom of heaven has not yet been set up on the earth.

After raising up Paul, the book of Acts shows how God informed the twelve apostles about the change in His program. Acts also describes the “diminishing” of Israel, as God made sure that Jews living outside the land also heard about their rejection of Christ. In doing this, God left them without excuse, but He also provoked them to jealousy by His new program with the Gentiles.

So Acts records Israel’s stumbling, it’s fall, and it’s diminishing.

Romans – Philemon

The apostle Paul is the “apostle of the Gentiles.”

God gave him the “dispensation of the grace of God” for us Gentiles and revealed to him the “mystery of Christ.”

You and I today live in this dispensation of grace. Paul is our apostle, and Romans through to Philemon are the books where God explains what He’s doing with us right now.

During this time, Israel’s program is on hold. It won’t start again or be completed until this present dispensation ends.

Believers today are part of God’s “new creation,” the “one new man,” the church, the body of Christ.

As Paul teaches, God will use this new creation to reconcile the heavenly places back to Himself. God kept the “mystery of Christ” hidden in the past so He could catch Satan in his own craftiness. Now that the mystery’s revealed, God’s made known His plan to take back not only the earth, but also the heavenly places, from Satan’s stolen rule and there’s absolutley nothing Satan can do about it. He never saw it coming thanks to God’s incredible wisdom that kept the complete plan from him.

Paul’s Epistles are God’s plan for our instruction and guidance today.

God designed our spiritual growth to follow a doctrinal progression, or a step by step process which is outlined in fRomans to Philemon.

Romans lays the foundation. It teaches:

– who God’s made us to be in Christ,

– our justification,

– our sanctification,

– how to live in this new dispensation,

– and how God deals with us as sons.

1st Corinthians – Galatians build on Romans.

Paul shows how these truths work in real life, correcting problems and strengthening believers.

Ephesians adds deeper knowledge about God’s plan and purpose for us, especially our role in the heavenly places.

In Philippians & Colossians move us into deeper knowledge and Paul teaches how this deeper knowledge should shape our thinking, our choices, and our daily walk.

1st & 2nd Thessalonians are Paul’s letters that show the attitude and conduct of mature saints who understand God’s plan and live in light of Christ’s coming for the church.

The so called Pastoral Epistles of 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy, Titus and Philemon explain how a local church should function. God designed the local assembly to be the “pillar and ground of the truth” for godly edifying or instruction and knowledge in this dispensation.

This dispensation of Grace will end when the Lord raptures or chatches away off the earth the church, taking the body of Christ to be with Him in the heavenly places.

Hebrews through to The Revelation

When this present dispensation ends, God will restart and finish His program with Israel.

The Fifth Installment of the Fifth Course of Punishment will then take place. During that time, the Lord will carry out the remaining promises of the Davidic Covenant, and Israel will finally receive their promised kingdom. They will serve on earth as God’s “kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

After this, God will bring in the “new heavens and new earth,” a world where righteousness lives forever.

The books from Hebrews to Revelation deal especially with the Fifth Installment of the Fifth Course of Punishment, and the completion of God’s plan with Israel on the earth.

Because these events are still future, God placed these books after Paul’s epistles, which deal with our present dispensation. Their position in the Bible shows clearly which time period they belong to.

In these books, the Hebrew people, Israel, and God’s program with them become the main focus again. Their apostles write to them about the coming day of the Lord’s wrath.

The book of Revelation explains the details of how Daniel’s time schedule starts up again. It describes the Lord’s day of wrath,  Satan’s final plan of evil against Israel,  God avenging His cause with Israel against the nations, the Lord’s return with power and great glory at the end of the great tribulation, and the setting up of the kingdom of heaven in fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant.

In these books, the issue is Israel’s “fulness” — the fullness of everything God promised them — which is on hold during this present dispensation.

In the 66 books from Genises, the book of beginnings, to Revelation, the book of finalising, fulfilling and completing, the Bible sets out a perfectly organised and timed shecdule of God’s entire plan for this earth, the heavens and for manking, you and me and its one integrated message. To reject or fail to understand the Bible is to discard the only source of truth about us, you and me, and why we’re here and where we’re going.