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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 our destiny, 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?
