1 Peter 1:12
12 Unto whom [hos] it was
revealed [apokalupto], that [hoti] not [ou] unto themselves [heautou], but [de] unto us [hemin] they did minister [diakoneo]
the things [autos], which [hos] are [anaggello] now [nun] reported [anaggello] unto
you [humin] by [dia] them that have preached the gospel [euaggelizo] unto you [humas] with [en] the Holy [hagios] Ghost [pneuma] sent down [apostello] from [apo] heaven [ouranos]; which
things [hos] the angels [aggelos] desire [epithumeo] to look [parakupto] into [eis]. KJV-Interlinear
12 It was revealed to them that
they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been
announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy
Spirit sent from heaven things into
which angels long to look. NASB
God revealed to those
of the Old Testament times, that many of the things they were searching out,
were not for them, but for future generations.
Just as we saw when
we studied Revelation, there are many things yet to come, which we know little
about.We have been given general
information, and we can guess as to many things yet to come, but only those
folks in future generations, and especially those folks who will actually live
in the Tribulation, or the Millennium, will be able to comprehend and
understand the doctrines that are specifically meant for them.
And yet, even though
many doctrines of old, would not be revealed, such as the specific identity of
Jesus, the specific date and circumstances of His sacrifice, and so forth, the
Old Testament folks, from Adam on, were still interested, intensely interested,
in Gods plan and its unfolding with respect to themselves as well as future generations.
Today we live in the
Church Age.Sometimes we call it the
dispensation of the Royal Family, or the dispensation of the Bride of
Christ.Our dispensation is one which
lacks specific prophecies.In fact, we
have but one prophecy, which is the Rapture, or the final event which will
conclude our dispensation.
Ours is a
dispensation of historical trends, and a time of the maneuvering of human
powers.In the first few centuries,
people knew of the coming of the Rapture, but they did not know when or of the
many centuries of folks that were still to live.
Today we have the privilege
of looking back on history and seeing the historical movements of peoples, of
the arranging of powers, of the world wars, of the restoration of a nation in Israel,
and so forth. And while God is
arranging peoples and nations in preparation for the next dispensation (the
last seven years of the last dispensation the Age of Israel), we can sort of
see how the big picture is going to play out, but we still lack the specific
dates of when it will all come together.
Not only are we
getting to see the arrangement of world powers, but we are also getting to see
how the world news media, the world celebrities, and the world masses of people
will have a tendency in moving toward anti-Christian beliefs.
And as liberal views
begin to prevail, then Christian views will diminish and future generations will
become less and less inclined toward Bible doctrine.
We can only guess as
to the timeline remaining in our dispensation, but we do know that God is
methodical, orderly, consistent, and meticulous in His overall plan for
humanity.And, that God will not allow
anything to interfere with the gospel and doctrine from getting to anyone who
is interested in the slightest, even those who have not yet been born.
So evil will not be
allowed to gain control of history, and shorten Gods already established
timeline.
Does this mean that
we will be protected from economic downturns or future wars? No.
In fact we could
still be in line for the greatest of world shake-ups yet to come. After all, this is the dispensation of the
Royal Family and when it ends, those remaining will enter into the Tribulation,
which will be by far, the worst of the worst periods in all of human history.
So, in order to make
certain that everyone who is going to believe in Christ, during this
dispensation, will have their chance, and to make certain that everyone who
will refuse to believe in Christ, will have no excuse, God could very well turn
this world into a huge mess.Because
once that Rapture occurs, then everyone remaining behind, will have no excuse
or complaint for having missed the Rapture.
Now, God gives us all
the information we need in order to be saved and to grow up spiritually. None of us has any excuse for not being
saved, and for not growing up in our spiritual life. And yet many billions of folks will disregard
God, Christ, doctrine, and their spiritual life and opportunities for their
very own destiny.
The Old Testament
prophets longed to see our day.And here
we see that even angels look down at our history, in order to learn for
themselves.
The phrase, the angels
desire to look into, means to take a lamp, to place more light on a thing such
that one can look intensely at it and study it thoroughly. Today we would say that the angels were
taking a magnifying glass and examining human history, as Gods plan unfolds.
Angels are not omniscient. Angels learn much the same as we do. But think about this for a second. In the
grand timeline, God existed first, then He created angels, then He created the
universe, and that must have been a phenomenal experience for the angels. We can only guess as to their response to
that event.
The angels have had
the opportunity to explore the universe, to live through the rebellion of
Satan, his trial and sentencing, and now we have human history, and despite all
of the universe that remains out there to be explored, the angels are right
here, on little planet earth, studying Gods plan for humanity. Why?Because
it is the most important sequence of events, ever.
The angels do not
have any participation in eternity.Not
like humanity does.And yet, they have
more interest in ourdestiny, than most people
do.And it is people who are the direct
recipients of Gods plan, not angels.One
would think that people would be drawn to God in droves, but that is not to
be.Indifference is the status quo,
unfortunately.
If ancient folks longed to see our day, if
angels long to understand our history and future, then wouldn t you think that
you, who are a direct beneficiary of all of past history, and having the
opportunity to understand even more of what is going on in history than anyone
who has lived before us, shouldn t you be even more interested in Bible doctrine
and how it applies to current events, than they?