The Rule Of The Heavens # 5

The Rule Of The Heavens # 5

Similarity Between Ends and Beginnings

1. The Word of God Despised

The next thing is that conditions at the beginning are particularly true of the end. Look at the beginning of this period, this age-period of the Gentile world powers as we have it in the Book of Daniel and in the other prophecies which circle around the beginning. You have Jehoiakim and his apostasy. We will have more to say about it, but remember that all that took place here in the Book of Daniel took place in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim. Who was he? He was a son of Josiah. That makes things exceedingly serious, for Josiah was one of those good kings of the latter days of Israel, through whom a very blessed revival took place in Israel; who recovered things for God, who was true to God in a day of terrible declension and idolatry, and one of the most glorious fragments of those latter years of Israel's history was under Josiah. And Jehoiakim was the son of Josiah. And Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, cut the Word of God to pieces and burnt it. He despised the Word of God. He knew that upon which God had set His blessing. His approval, he knew of days of Divine blessing and the ground upon which that blessing was given, he knew that of which God approved, history was before him in close relationships, he had a godly heritage,k but he apostatized, he despised the Word of God. He let go his godly heritage. That was the beginning. He did more than that. He had a brother and he had seen his brother captivated, the King of Egypt deposed his brother  and put him in his place and changed his name. He had seen the downfall of his brother because God was against the way that he was taking, and that ought to have been a warning to him. He had seen the blessing of God upon his father and the judgment of God upon his brother (2 Chron. 34; 35; 36; and Jeremiah 36.)

That is how it was at the beginning, and I have said that the conditions at the beginning are repeated very closely at the end of a dispensation. The Word of God is despised today. There is a godly heritage, there is a history, it is clear to all who want to see where the Lord's blessing rests and upon what it rests. We have not to look back upon our history very far to see where the Lord comes in, in blessing - faithfulness to the Word of God. Yet today that which officially represents Christendom as Jehoiakim officially represented Israel, in the main, despises the Word of God, sets it aside, ignores its history, takes no account of its godly heritage, and things are in a state of declension, largely apostasy, today. Yes, as it was then so it is now.

2. Mixture

A further feature was mixture in the things of God. Why, these prophecies pointing on to the captivity of Israel are just full of that, it is mountainous. You open Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the whole plaintive cry is about an awful mixture in the things of God. Take a chapter like Isaiah 66 "Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool: where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is the place of My rest? For all those things hath Mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word." But this is how things are: "He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations" (Isaiah 66: 1-3). What mixture! No discrimination, no spiritual discernment, no perception, sensitiveness about holy things, but mixed up, confused. Are we not truly able to say that in our day at the end of the age there is a terrible mixture in the things of God? Yes, indeed, in the things of God all sorts of things contrary to God have been brought in. Sometimes it is literally appalling. As you know, I travel through the country a good bit by road, and in the course of these many journeys we pass the doors of numerous places of worship - great blazing notices of whist-drives, concerts, concert parties by the most outrageously worldly names and titles. These are the programs of these "places of worship" (?) and as you take account of Christendom, you shudder sometimes and wonder where the testimony of the Lord is. Awful mixture; so that even honest and sincere people very often do not know their right hand from their left in spiritual matters; what is of God and what is not, and you find very often genuinely sincere Christian people find it possible to do things and go to places and engage in this and that without any conscience whatever as to what the Lord approves of; things are so mixed, the whole background of their life has become so confused that they have entered into an inheritance of mixture and they do not know: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). Mixture at the end as at the beginning, and much idolatry.

God Requires Ultimate Conformity To Original Light

One very brief word in this general outline again. Light is given at the beginning and light is recovered at the end, but with this extra emphasis, that light given at the beginning and recovered at the end is with the special object of that light being conformed to. I want you to get that, because these are abiding features of ages. The beginning of an age is marked by light always. The end of an age is always marked by that same light being brought into view, but an added emphasis of demand for conformity to the original light. Do you get that? In the Book of Daniel, isn't it marvelous, does it not strike you with great force, that the bringing in of Gentile world powers in a man like Nebuchadnezzar, what was he in himself? Not much as a man, and yet to that man the God of heaven gave the most remarkable and wonderful fullness of unveiling of world history, successive dominions of this world. Nebuchadnezzar searched out all his wise men, and his magicians to give him light, to help him in an hour when he was defeated, baffled, and not one of them could give a ray of light upon his perplexity, and he ordered them all to be destroyed. Daniel heard of it and said: "Why is the decree so hasty from the king?" (Daniel 2:15). Then Daniel went in to the king and desired that he would give him time and he would show the king the interpretation. "There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets" (Daniel 2:28). Every confidence in the Lord. And a season was appointed, the order of execution was stayed for a period, and Daniel called a prayer meeting, they went to the Lord. In a night vision the thing was revealed to Daniel and then Daniel praised the God of heaven and went in unto the king. By direct revelation 2,500 years of history were given to a Babylonian king when none of all the wise men of the earth could give him a ray of light. The God of heaven came in. Is that not impressive? Yes, light at the beginning. Light is always a feature of the beginning of dispensation, but as that dispensation closes that light is brought into view anew with God's double emphasis for conformity to the original light. that carries us a long way. If we are in the end, God is going to rise us a long way. If we are in the end, God is going to recover, and is seeking to recover for His saints the original light for His Church, but He is going to demand that the saints conform to that light, and if at an end time we come into touch with the true light, God is going to take great pains to see that we do not just handle this thing as so much truth and teaching,but He will deal with us in such a way as to bring us into living fellowship with the light.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 6)