Dispensations, Divisions, and The Kingdom of God I
I’m asking you, “Ever wanted to understand Lucifer better? In understanding Lucifer better, do you think you could possibly understand yourself better?”
“Lucifer,” you sputter in outrage back at me. “I’m nothing like Lucifer, that terrible creature. How could you ask such a thing?”
“Well…” I answer back a little hesitantly, not wanting to offend you. “This is something the Lord has been giving me over time, about the ‘DIVIDES’ of the ‘DISPENSATIONS’ and how it relates to us, the church, and who’s side are you on. So, would you like to know how these dispensations and divides halo the love and power of God, and how The Kingdom of God works?”
“You would?!” I exclaim, after you give me the nod to go on! “Well okay then, this might seem a little long but well worth it in the end! So let us begin by exploring the first of these dispensations and its divides, and what caused it. This first dispensation of time and it’s division was before earth and man, yet at the same time it leads to me, us–you and me, and every person ever created for life on planet earth.
“To understand this first dispensation of time and divide, we–you and me–have to get Biblical, go way back before the time-spin of the earth later on. We have to loosen our minds from the boundaries of our flesh and think spiritual since God is a spirit and so are His angels, neither of which are confined, have to bow down to, or are limited by our earth-bound minds.
“So now that we are thinking spiritual, seeing spiritual, let’s imagine that time of God and his angels. Everything was just as God created. Everybody was in their places, perfectly carrying out God’s plans by each and every angelic being for the betterment of his kingdom, The Kingdom of God. Then… what? God, for the first time, felt a schism in the kingdom. And He instantly knew where it was coming from as he felt that fracture, the beginnings of that first divide. ‘Lucifer,’ he thought, deep in his heart, ‘Lucifer, what are you doing? I created you in love, in beauty, in wisdom…what are you doing?’ But he knew, and it was breaking his heart. Lucifer had set himself against his father…God, and was sinning, committing crimes against God’s Kingdom.
“Yes, the first divide was created by…none other than…drum rolls…the archangel Lucifer, or ‘light bringer,’ which is what Lucifer means. In the Greek, ‘dawn bringer.’ Lucifer walked up and down among the fiery, precious stones; different Bible translations call them different names. So I will ‘loosely’ define them: red carnelian (sardius, or could be a ruby,) pale-green peridot (KJV topaz,) white moonstones (KJV diamonds,) emeralds, blue-green beryl, onyx, green jasper, blue lapis lazuli (KJV sapphire,) turquoise (KJV carbuncle.)
Ezekiel 28:13-15 (KJV)
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
“It appears he was beautiful, perfect in all his ways, until iniquity was found in him.”
“What iniquity…sin…crimes against The Kingdom of God did he do?” you ask.
Ezekiel 28:16-17 (KJV)
16: By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17: Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
“Can you explain Lucifer’s iniquity a little better?” you ask.
“Pride, he puffed himself up with pride that lead to a lust for power, not the power he had already been given by God, but to sit in power over the congregation of God. In other words, he wanted to replace God. But first, Lucifer divided himself.
“How could he do that?” you ask.
“Let’s explore that thought and I will try to explain it to you to the best of my ability.”
“Well, Lucifer apparently fell in love with himself and decided he should be God, instead of God. That’s what pride will do. All that God gave him: a position of authority, his light, his jewels, his ability to make music, and apparently a certain amount of wisdom began to not be enough for him, Lucifer. His wisdom began to be corrupted, or, as he began to admire himself, he lied to himself, and forgot who created him, and what he was created for. So, in keeping with the Biblical story here, his pride began to change his way of thinking about himself, and therefore began to divide his thoughts. It was a great division of thought on his, Lucifer’s part. So he, and one third of the angels who were following him, got kicked out of heaven. They became the first Luciferians, worshiping the Prince of Darkness.
“Remember what Jesus said about him:
John 8:44 (KJV) 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
NOTE: BE CAREFUL WHO YOU FOLLOW!!! MAKE SURE IT’S JESUS!! Lucifer was the first Judas, betrayer of God.
“This was the first ‘divide’ in the dispensation of God and his angelic hosts. Lucifer pretty much walked away from his position in God’s kingdom in admiration of himself and a lust for power. His wisdom concerning his life went askew causing a divide in God’s kingdom. In other words, he rebelled and God pretty much said, ‘Who’s own my side, stay in the light.’ And then, one third of the angels stayed with Lucifer in what became ‘His walk in darkness, and therefore Beelzebul or Beelzebub, Satan the adversary, Prince of Darkness’ became their god.
“Since God is light,” I continue, “and darkness being only the absence of light, and Lucifer now himself being absent of any of God’s light, he was cast out of heaven; he and his now dark angels.
“This was the first dispensation, or a system of order, government, or organization, community, etc., existing at this particular time. In other words, this dispensation is God’s way of doing things according to His word in His kingdom, The Kingdom of God.
“There are a couple of things I’d like to highlight, over all the obvious rabbit holes I could fall down here and talk about. But for a smooth line of thought, I’d like to point out that Lucifer’s first obvious mistake was to fall in love with himself and forget that he didn’t create himself, nor did he give himself all his beautiful attributes and talents.
“It all came from God, the Creator, Lucifer’s creator. Without God, Lucifer began to darken, die, and lose all sense of who he formerly was, much like a plant you hide in a closet. Without sunlight and water, it will lose it’s memory of what it was supposed to be, shrivel, die, and become dust of the earth again. Without God, his imagination, or wisdom, which is knowing how to use all his–you could put us, me and you, here–beauty, gifts, and talent for the glory of God became dark with his selfish, sinister thoughts. Now remember, Lucifer formerly walked in the light, the presence, and manifest glory of Almighty God. It is not as if he was separated from God’s presence, as we on earth are. His savior could have been his Father God, if he had been willing to come down from his puffed up pride-ride and told God he was sorry, truly repented, which means to turn from his wicked ways.
“Secondly, this point is about placement. Lucifer’s placement in God’s kingdom was set; he knew his place and job. When he stepped out of his place, his job, and tried to muscle his way into a position God did not create him for, he caused others to do so too. In doing so, he became the author of lies, which led to him also becoming the author of confusion. One third of the jobs became vacant. The kingdom began to not work like the well-oiled-machine God created it to be.
“Now the Bible says this:
1 Corinthians 14:33 (KJV) 33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
“In other words, Lucifer began to create chaos because he was out of God’s order. Not God. In a note here about us humans, you and I, how many of us can truly say we are not out of order, not creating chaos on the earth, in rebellion, in love with ourselves in some way, be it beauty, talent, or intelligence? Have you, as I have, asked yourself this question: Do you know what God created you, or me, for? Are one of our many giftings from God trying desperately to lead us, you and I, into it, our purpose, our true destiny in God?
“How can I know for sure?” you ask.
“Well, let’s get back to the Bible, the WORD for an answer, because all our answers are there.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
“I’m sure you know this verse. It is a well known verse these days. It’s been used by a lot of people to assure people that God is really for them, and their place in Him; their destiny, if you will. But, no one shares the important verses that come next. They tell you HOW TO FIND THAT HOPE AND FUTURE IN GOD. Just reciting verse 11 and 11 only leaves a lot of people whipping in the wind, unsure how to find that future, that destiny. Let’s read it:
Jeremiah 29:12-14 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.”
“Do you want to find that peace, hope, and future (purpose and destiny) in God?” I ask you.
“Yes, I would,” you answer.
“Well, there you have it. Begin to seek him with all your heart. Pray, fast, and read your Bible. All our futures rest in him, God, our Father and Creator, and in his WORD.
“I know this has been a longer article than I usually write, but please bear with me, I have one more point about Lucifer and his great division in God’s dispensation of time. Can you give me another few minutes?”
You nod, “Yes.”
“Well, according to Biblical records, the gemstone studded breastplate of the Levi priests in the old order was studded with 12 different gems. The same 12 gems are found in Revelations in the foundation of the new city of Jerusalem coming down from heaven. It’s a little ironic to me that some of these same gemstones were the ones Lucifer was wearing. But he only wore 9 out of the same 12. Why didn’t he have 12, instead of only the 9?
“Could it be that he may have rebelled a little to soon with his prideful rebellion? Had God not quite finished Lucifer? Did Lucifer have more growing to do? What would he have become if he had stayed in his place, in God’s order of things, kept working and being obedient with all his talents, gifts, and wisdom?”
“I never thought about it,” you answer.
“Well, the red hot question of the day concerning Lucifer is: Did Lucifer abort himself before God finished forming him in the presence of God’s glory?
“I believe we, you and I, could possible aim that same question at ourselves. Remember, Lucifer’s continued iniquity and rebellion caused his form to change from something beautiful, special, and worthy, to something dark, evil, and eventually dead. The meaning of “dead” being the word: separation! So did his angel followers. God basically said, ‘Whosoever is on my side, stay in my light.’ In other words, ‘Come on over!’
“Then there came a great divide in The Kingdom of God as angels made a forever choice. One third stayed with Lucifer, now Satan, the adversary. Two thirds stayed in God’s light, His glory.
Luke 10:18 And he said to them, I beheld Satan as lightning falling out of heaven.
“And God cast Lucifer, now Satan, out of heaven, dividing the rebellious sinners, lawbreakers, out of heaven, The Kingdom of God, thus the great divide in that dispensation of time.
COMING SOON: Dispensations, Divisions, and The Kingdom of God II. How many fools can you squeeze into an ark?
Our take-away last thought: Please don’t quit on God, no matter how tough it gets. Don’t abort your life in Him, in Jesus. Lean on Holy Spirit to get you through. Keep praying, keep going, one step, one day at a time. And remember what Jesus said.
Matthew 28:20 (KJV)
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
“Thank you for listening! I hope you enjoyed it and got a lot of good thoughts from it. I know it’s been a long blog and a lot of information, but you hung in there with me. But, we have 3 more dispensations and divisions to talk about, with a lot of good information that the Lord gave me about time: dispensations, divisions, and The Kingdom of God.”
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With Love and Prayers from Romance & the Homestead,
Della
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Author Della M Strickland 