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Summary
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Audio clip from Icthys
These six periods divide history from a secular point of view, listing in order the significant divisions of human history chronologically rather than categorizing them on the basis of any spiritual significance (which is the basis for the five categorizations that precede and the one which follows). If, as many exegetes throughout the history of the Church have claimed, “six” is the number of Man, six periods of history from the human as opposed to the divine perspective are all the more understandable. For one thing, six periods are certainly one short of the one number which most clearly has symbolic significance in the Bible: i.e., “seven” (see II.7 immediately below). However that may be, for our purposes it is enough to note that history, divided into the six periods listed below, is significant not for any divine trend or characteristic, but for the different emphases of satanic attack manifest in each one. These six periods, therefore, present history largely from the devil’s point of view. Specifically, they highlight the major objects of his attacks on mankind from the fall to the end of history:
a) The Antediluvian Period: From the fall to the flood. Primary satanic target: true humanity.
b) The Postdiluvian Gentile Period: From the flood to Abraham. Primary satanic target: freedom and law.
c) The Jewish Period: From Abraham to Christ. Primary satanic target: the people and the nation of Israel.
d) The Church Period: From Christ to the beginning of the Tribulation. Primary satanic target: the truth of the Word of God.
e) The Tribulational Period: The seven years preceding the return of Christ. Primary satanic target: all of the above (humanity, freedom and law, Israel, truth) along with a particular emphasis on eradicating believers from the earth, as the devil employs any and all means available to him in the short time he has remaining.
f) The Millennial Period: The thousand years following the return of Christ. Primary satanic target: the rule of Christ (attacked after Satan is released at the end of the period).
Satan’s counter-strategy (against God’s plan), therefore, forms the basis for the six periods listed above. This strategy (and its implementation within human history) is the subject of section III below and will therefore be reserved for detailed discussion. It should be noted here, however, that from the human point of view, history is a dark, unpleasant progression, characterized only by the successive attacks of the devil upon all that is righteous and truly worthwhile. Only through God’s divine control of history are we delivered from the adversary and blessed in this his evil world.
Summary points
Unlike the divisions of history we have previously examined (one through five) and the one that will follow (seven)—all of which divide history by various spiritually-significant criteria—the sixfold division of history we are putting forward here is actually mostly focused on looking at history absent the divine point of view. That is why the divisions outlined here are dealing with targets of Satan’s attack on God’s plan: since we are here looking at things not from God’s point of view, it makes sense to examine that angle. (At least in part as a foil to God’s purposes).
In table form, the six chronological periods of human history:
| Name | Time bounds | Primary satanic target |
|---|---|---|
| The Antediluvian Period | From the fall to the flood | True humanity |
| The Postdiluvian Period | From the flood to Abraham | Freedom and law |
| The Jewish Period | From Abraham to Christ | The people and the nation of Israel |
| The Church Period | From Christ to the beginning of the Tribulation | The truth of the Word of God |
| The Tribulational Period | The seven years preceding the return of Christ | All of the above (humanity, freedom and law, Israel, truth) along with a particular emphasis on eradicating believers from the earth |
| The Millennial Period | The thousand years following the return of Christ | The rule of Christ (attacked after Satan is released at the end of the period) |
From the human point of view, history is a dark, unpleasant progression, characterized only by the successive attacks of the devil upon all that is righteous and truly worthwhile. Only through God’s divine control of history are we delivered from the adversary and blessed in this his evil world.
Follow-on topics
We will discuss the specifics of Satan’s counter-strategy in a great deal more depth later in this study, but I want us to think upfront for a moment about how Satan’s plans are different from God’s plans in one very important way: they are necessarily reactive in nature.
On the surface, it can seem like God changed His mind as human history played out. For example, for some period of time humans lived without the Mosaic Law, for some period of time people in Israel operated under the Law, and then Jesus came and we were freed from the shackles of the Law. Is that not God “changing His mind” as events played out?
Properly understood, it really isn’t. God’s entire plan was set in stone from the beginning; it was always intended to play out exactly how it did, down to the smallest detail. So God is not “reacting” in any actions He takes, in the sense that He changes His plans based on feedback from observing material creation. Instead, all of His plans were foreordained from eternity past.
But as we will see, the same cannot be said for Satan’s plans. How can we know this? Because the pattern of events we see recorded in history clearly shows Satan switching approaches over and over again as his plans repeatedly come to naught. For example, Satan first tries to pollute true humanity’s bloodline through angelic interbreeding with human women, as discussed in Genesis 6. When God subsequently kills all the Nephilim while delivering Noah and His family from the flood (and imprisoned the angels responsible: cf. 2 Peter 2:4-10a; Jude 1:6), Satan’s tactics change. In the post-flood world, he switches to trying to build a one world state to make top-down repression of human freedom possible. But then God foiled that too in the Tower of Babel. Rinse, repeat.
In this, we can see that Satan is constrained by limitations not unlike our own: as a mere created creature, he cannot accurately predict the future, and can only change his plans based upon feedback he gets as events play out. He can only dance in the palm of God’s hand, insofar as God allows Him to in order to test human hearts. The supposed “contest” between Good and Evil is in truth nothing of the sort; there is no contest, because Satan cannot compare to God in the least.
Another thing to discuss is how grim human history is if you take away the divine, spiritual dimension. In essence, if you remove the spiritual point of view, human history is nothing more than escalating Satanic attacks upon humanity.
Humanity as a species (if you want to think of us in this way) is facing a foe far more powerful and intelligent than we. In truth, were it not for God’s restraint, Satan would have long succeeded in wiping humanity from the face of the Earth. The only reason why he hasn’t succeeded is because God is seriously limiting what attacks he is allowed to make upon humanity.
You can imagine how frustrating this must be for Satan. At every turn he is blocked from doing what he truly wants, and every time he is actually allowed to do something, it inevitably only ever plays right into God’s hands. This would be frustrating enough if it happened even once, but consider that this has happened over and over for thousands of years.
And so it is that when Satan is cast out from heaven (as Revelation 12 describes), he will pour out his stored-up wrath upon the Earth. His rage will be terrible—like that of a cornered beast—not only because everything he has worked for from the beginning will have utterly failed, but also because he will know at this point that final judgment will soon come upon him, that the clock will be indefatigably ticking a countdown to his certain doom.
And the truly terrifying thing is that God will remove the largest part of His restrictions on Satan during this period. So not only will Satan be seething with fury like never before, but he will also for the first time in human history be allowed to actually vent that fury in a manner even close to approaching what he truly desires.
Thus it is that Satan’s attacks upon humanity during the Tribulation will put all of Satan’s previous efforts completely in the shade, to a degree we can scarcely imagine. Understanding that, we’d better square our shoulders and throw ourselves into serious spiritual growth as much as possible… so that we will be able to face these things with faith and hope rather than utter despair. If we don’t, we may well find ourselves crumbling under the pressure that will be more intense than in any other time in human history.