Dispensation of Conscience

Genesis 3:22-8:14

Steward:

Man is dealt with as a whole, no human government yet, no nations yet. No one steward as all men now have a conscience by which they are guided.
 
 

Test:

What will man do with his conscience, the knowledge of good and evil? (Gen 3:22, 4:7) will he acknowledge and worship his creator and obey the few commandments given or will he seek after things which appeal to his own desires?
 
 

Character of Environment:

  • Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Except the few original commandments given previously, there was as yet no written law.
  • Curse came into effect, eg man ruled over woman, thorns and thistles hindered the sowing of crops, etc.
  • Marriage continued but polygamy was introduced (Gen 4:19) Many, many children born, man lived for up to 969 years. There was intermarriage because this was not forbidden until after this dispensation.
  • At least two Murders within only a few generations (Gen 4:8, 4:23) Satan wanted to block the seed (Gen 3:15) hence the death of Abel. Seth is born though to replace Abel (Gen 4:25)
  • Two distinct lines from Adam are evident, via Cain (evil line, Gen 4) and via Seth (Godly line, Gen 5, much more detail). Both lines have a Lamech and an Enoch (Satan is a counterfeiter).

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    Cain's line Seth's line
    • Lamech introduces polygamy (Gen 4:19)
    • Jubal Invents music (for entertainment?) (Gen 4:21)
    • Tubal-Cain was an instructor in Iron and Brass (perhaps the beginning of building of idols?) (Gen 4:22)
    • Lamech murders (Gen 4:23)
    • Began to call upon the name of the Lord (Gen 4:26)
    • Enoch walked with God and was translated (picture of rapture) (Gen 5:18, 22-24, Heb 11:5) 
    • The other Lamech is born who is the father of Noah (Gen 5:25) 
    • Noah's testimony (Gen 6:8-9)

    The Failure of the Test:

    Gen 6:5-6, 11-12, Also note Gen 6:1-4 and compare with Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7). Some say that the sons of God in Gen 6:1-4 refer to Seth's line. If so, why were giants born? The answer is simple, these sons of God were angels hence the severe corruption of the human race and the need for total cleansing. One might argue that the Lord Jesus said that angels are not capable of sexuality. He was answering a question asked by the Jews posed to trick him. He did not state that angels cannot cohabit with humans, He simply stated "... as the angels which are in heaven", not just "... as the angels" (Mark 12:25, Matt 22:30). If angels cannot cohabit then why did Lot need to keep the angels from the homosexuals in Sodom and Gomorrah? (Gen 19:1-5) and who are the angels who kept not their first estate if not for these sons of God? (Jude 1:6). (Also, the term "sons of God" referring to believers is an NT Grace concept.)
     
     

    The Judgment:

    Gen 6:7, 7:23

    (Noah went into the ark on the seventeenth day of the second month of his six hundredth year of his life (Gen 7:11) and came out of the ark on the twenty-seventh day of the second month of his six hundred and first year (Gen 8:14) He, his family and the animals were in the ark over one whole year!)
     
     

    Grace and Salvation:

    Noah is commanded to build the ark (Gen 6:14)

    The ark is an excellent example of how predestination and freewill are both taught in the Word of God. Why was the ark only so big? Did God deliberately only allow it to be built to house the animals and the 8 persons? Or did God know who would not believe Noah's testimony? (Heb 11:7, 1 Peter 3:20, 2 Peter 2:5). The answer is that God gave all men the opportunity to repent through Noah's preaching perhaps for over 100 years as he built the ark when there had not been such thing as rain upon the earth as yet (2 Pet 2:5) but knew beforehand that only Noah and his family would be saved. This does not support the Calvinistic view nor does it support Arminianism. It simply says that though Noah preached and God was willing for others to repent, He knew they would not and thus instructed that the ark be built just big enough to save those who would be saved.
     
     

    What can we learn from this dispensation?

    If given no rule book but just our conscience (knowledge of good and evil), we will choose evil. We learn that God's love and righteousness still provide salvation for those who do choose good. How does God judge tribes who have never heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? (I am not talking about the western world who have had the gospel for nearly two millenia and who have access to a million bibles). God is just. I believe the scriptures teach us by this dispensation that God will judge them by what they do with their knowledge of good and evil. Do they acknowledge a creator? Do they love God as they know Him? (Rom 1:20, 2:11-15) This is no excuse for us not to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. For once the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ has been imparted, they must then be judged according to this (Grace) dispensation's test. Progressive revelation is how the will of God has been revealed to man over the course of time through the scriptures. God's last revelation to man was by the Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles. (Heb 1:2). We see this in Acts 17:23-31 where after seeing an altar to "the unknown god", Paul preaches the gospel. Before that preaching, they would have been judged according to their conscience but after Paul reveals who their unknown God is, they would be judged by how they accepted the gospel. Most did not accept Paul's doctrine, some mocked and others were curious and wanted to hear more later but not convicted, while a few were converted. (Acts 17:33-34).

    J Stephen
    8/11/98

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