#3. The Purpose of the Ages.
The Underlying Correspondence of All Scripture.


In our preceding article, we saw that the whole purpose of the ages is set out in the Scriptures as related to a creation that has passed away, a creation that is present, and a creation which is yet to come. The past and the future are, as it were, pivoted upon the present, and it is the purpose of redemption, which covers the whole of the present creation, to rectify the chaos which sin introduced into it, and so bring all back to balance and equipoise.

While any human attempt to set out this great purpose must of necessity be exceedingly limited both in scope and vision, and marked with errors and serious omissions, yet, if ever he is going to comprehend in the barest outline the purpose of the ages, the mind of the believer must make some attempt at the task. In this, however, there is no room for license. What God doeth “from the beginning to the end” is wisely hid from man’s eyes (Eccles. iii. 11); no one is permitted to “find out God unto perfection” (Job xi. 7). But it does not require great knowledge or profound scholarship to attempt a comparison of Genesis with Revelation, even though the surface of these great books be merely scratched, and their full hidden wealth remain unknown. The following parallel has been taken from Appendix 3 of the Companion Bible. Doubtless other lists can be, and have been, compiled, but this is sufficient for our present purpose.


The balance of the scriptural record of the outworking of the purpose of the ages is not only seen in the wonderful correspondence of Genesis and Revelation, but also in the equally wonderful balancing steps that intervene. Let us attempt to show something of the way in which this mighty subject is unfolded in the Word.

The opening words of Gen. i. strike a note that is never quite silenced throughout the ages, but awaits its full harmony at the end;

“In the beginning God . . . . .” (Gen. i. 1).
“Then cometh the end . . . . . that God might be all in all” (I Cor. xv. 24, 28).

From what we understand of the nature of God, He is entirely self-sufficient. He needs nothing that anything external to Himself could supply. But God is love, and love demands objects that will be both recipients of love and lovers in return. And so we realize the purpose of the ages, with its “valley of the shadow”; with its moral creatures that can say NO, when God is longing that they should say YES; with its bitter cross, triumphant resurrection, glorious coming, and blessed “end”.

There are three great corresponding truths revealed at the beginning and at the end of this purpose. Christ is set forth as the Firstborn of all creation; Satan is seen as the Anointed Cherub, and this opening period of the purpose ends with the overthrow of the world. At the other end, in perfect balance, Christ is set forth as the Head of all things. Satan is destroyed, and the Church is found in heavenly places, whilst the reconciliation of all things round off the overthrow of the world.

Immediately following this three-fold beginning of the purpose of the ages is a section which we denominate: “THE AGES BEGIN: PARADISE LOST.” This section is divided into four by the sub-headings: Earth; Man; Usurper; Hope. The Earth is made for man and blessed. Man is created in the image of God, and made, for a little, lower than the angels, with dominion over the work of God’s hands. The Usurper (the Serpent), by a false hope of immortality, robs man of his life and peace, and the only Hope left is in the promised “Seed”.

The corresponding section is denominated: “THE CONSUMMATION OF THE AGES: PARADISE RESTORED.” This, too, has four sub-headings: Earth; Man; True Heir; Hope. Earth is restored and blessed (Hos. ii. 18-23). The curse removed (Isa. lv. 13). The man, Christ Jesus, the last Adam, the express Image of God, has dominion in heaven and earth (Matt. xxviii.). He is the Heir of all things, and the Hope of Creation itself; the Seed of the woman, of Abraham, and of David.

We retrace our steps to see the way this great purpose is unfolded, and must be satisfied with the exhibition of the succeeding pairs in the Structure which are ranged on either side of the central number, the “MYSTERY”.

The days of Noah. The nations just before the call of Abraham
As it was in the days of Noah. The nations before Israel are saved.
Promises made to Abraham, Moses and David.
Promises fulfilled that were made to these Patriarchs.
Christ comes as King of the Jews. Rejected.
Christ comes the second time as King. In power and great glory.

The complete Structure of “The Purpose of the Ages” is set out in detail on pages 248 and 249 of Dispensational Truth, a Volume known and possessed by many of our readers, and is still obtainable. To appreciate this attempt to indicate the element of balance in the outworking of this purpose, the reader is urged to consult that Volume and go over the Structure line by line.

We believe such an examination will justify fully the claim that the Scriptures are an organic whole; that God has a sublime purpose; that each succeeding dispensation unfolds further and fuller details of that purpose; that the dispensation of the Mystery is the pivot on which this purpose revolves, and that at the close of this dispensation the inverse correspondence commences, placing in the second scale the fulfillment of what is predicated at the opening of the Word.

If the reader can look, not merely at this outline but investigate its details, comparing feature with feature as they are given in its corresponding members, he will be in possession of a view of the whole of the Word, which, if deficient in the matter of detail, will be sufficient to encourage the fullest search and study, and, taken together with Peter’s analysis studied in the preceding paper, should prove to be no small equipment in true, scriptural service.

The reader who consults Dispensational Truth will perceive that, without Christ, this outline has no connecting ties, but that with Him, in His various offices, the purpose of the ages is carried forward from glory to glory.

The central figure, the Mystery, has been given the same denominating letter, A*, as the beginning and the end, in order that it may be as apparent to the eye as to the understanding; that the Mystery, purposed before the ages and concealed for so long, is the pivot upon which the balance of this purpose depends.

(* - “H” in the Fourth ‘revised’ Edition, page 240, 241).

A friend and reader who had recently been attacked by reason of his faith in the inspiration of Scripture, secured a hearing, and extracted a reluctant acknowledgment from his opponents that he had grounds for his faith, by presenting them with another, but somewhat similar, outline to the one printed in Dispensational Truth.

Apart from divine inspiration, it is difficult to explain the presence of such a perfect plan in the long series of books, written by different men, over a period of more than a thousand years, some in Hebrew and some in Greek, which constitute the Bible, and it is difficult for the believer to appreciate any but the most superficial of its doctrines, except he be persuaded that such doctrines constitute part of a connected, intelligible, whole.

The lesson we learn from the balance of the teaching of the three Creations is expanded and supplemented by perceiving the equally important balance of subject-matter which forms the skeleton framework upon which the whole revelation is woven.

When we come to details and smaller features in subsequent studies, we hope to show that this same principle is involved, and, throughout the series, may we be continually impressed with the need for balance in our thinking, in our manner of life, in our witness, and in all our ways.

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(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 33, page 222).

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