Understanding "dispensations.”

[H. Richard]

There has been some who say the teachings of Dispensationalists is all wrong. But their knowledge of it is all wrong.

Most dispensationalist agree upon 7 Dispensations. However, there are no set amount of dispensations that can be arrived at in the Bible. Paul in Ephesians 2, lists 3 dispensations. 1. "Times Past" vss 11.13. 2. "But Now" vs 13. 3. "Ages to Come" vs 7.

The following is taken from a chart that was produced by the Berean Bible Society. It is based upon the "Dispensation of Grace" starting with the raising up of the Apostle Paul after the stoning of Stephen. I might add that all dispensationalists will agree with this chart precisely.

GOD'S PLAN FOR THE AGES*
*(Each dispensation is defined by four characteristics.)
A. All what God dispenses to, requires of, promises to, and commands men.
B. Man's responsibility to God.
C. Then man's failure.
D. God's judgment for man's failure and disobedience.

1. DISPENSATION OF INNOCENCE:

A. God created man in His image and therefore God dealt with man in his innocence (Gen 1:26,27). Adam and Eve were placed into a perfect environment and were vegetarians (Gen 2:5,8,9).

B. Man was responsible to dress the garden and keep it (Gen 2:15) and to abstain from partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:17).

C. Mans failure came when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden fruit (Gen 3:6).

D. Judgment came upon them as they were expelled from the garden and the perfect environment in which they had lived was cursed. Thus sin, sorrow and death entered the world (Gen 3:16-19, 23,24; Rm 5:12-14).

2. DISPENSATION OF CONSCIENCE:

A. God dispensed conscience to Adam and Eve who, when they disobeyed Him, realized that they were naked, thus manifesting that they had to come to a knowledge of good and evil (Gen 3:7-10).

B. Now that conscience was to govern man, he was responsible "...to know good and evil..." (Gen 3:22).

God commanded Cain and Able to bring a blood sacrifice to be accepted by Him (Gen 4:1-4) to be offered by faith (Heb 11:4).

C. Cain disobeyed God in failing to bring an acceptable sacrifice, and in a jealous rage killed his brother Abel (Gen 4:5-15).

Man became polygamous (Gen 4:19). As men refused to heed their conscience, through them the earth became corrupt and was filled with violence (Gen 6:11-13).

D. God's judgment upon the corrupt and violent world came with the universal flood in the days of Noah (Gen 6:17).

3. DISPENSATION OF HUMAN GOVERNMENT;

A. God revealed that man was now to govern, thus strongly implying the rise of nations and the need for the establishment of human government (Gen 9:5,6).

B. Man was responsible to establish laws that were in accordance with God's righteous standards. He was responsible to "be ye fruitful, and multiply: bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein" (Gen 11:4).

In defiance of the Holy One of heaven, they erected the so-called Tower of Babel to pay homage to the astrological signs of heaven (Gen 11:3,4; Rm 1:22,23).

C. Man failed when they disobeyed God's command to bring forth abundantly and, in uniting together, failed to multiply in the earth (Gen 11:4).

D. Judgment came swiftly as the Lord confounded their language and scattered them abroad upon the face of all the earth (Gen 11:7-9).

continued

 

[H. Richard]

4. DISPENSATION OF PROMISE:

A. God dispensed a promise to Abram: "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:...and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Gen 12:2,3). God also promised that he would "...multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore..." (Gen 22:17), and unto them would be given a land called Canaan (Gen 15:18).

B. Although the covenant that God established with Abraham was unconditional, Abraham and his descendants were responsible to trust God to fulfill His promise (Gen 26:1-4; 28:10-15).

C. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob failed to trust God completely. Instead of going to the land of Canaan from Ur of the Chaldees, Abraham came to Haran and dwelt there until his father died (Acts 7:4).

When the famine came upon the land, Isaac reluctantly obeyed God by not going into Egypt, however, he moved to Gerar, as close to Egypt as possible (Gen 26:1-6).

Jacob stole the birthright from his brother Esau (Gen 25:24-34) and later he forsook the land of his forefathers and, under the permissive will of God, moved to Egypt (Gen 41:54-57; cf Gen 46:26).

D. God's judgment came upon Israel when she remained in Egypt for 400 years in severe bondage to the Egyptians.

5. DISPENSATION OF LAW:

A. God dispensed the Law to Moses. The purpose of the Law was to give Israel the knowledge of sin (Rm 3:20). The Law had the following characteristics.

1)MORAL: The ten commandments were given to govern the moral life of Israel (Ex 20).
2)CIVIL: The judgments were given to govern the individual Israelites in his dealings with the others (Ex 21).
3)CEREMONIAL: Provisions were formulated by which an atonement for sins could be made (Lev 16).

B. Since the Covenant of Law, or Mosaic Covenant, was conditional, those who were placed under it were responsible to keep all the 613 Commandments; thus Israel could only realize the blessings of God when she obeyed His voice (Ex 19:3-7).

C. Although Israel agreed to do "...all that the Lord hath spoken..." (Ex 19:8), the promise to obey soon proved to be a yoke about her neck (Acts 15:10), and Israel's failure under the Dispensation of the Law are too numerous to list; however, some of the more notable were:

1)Idol worship (Ex 32:1-6)
2)Unbelief (Num 13:26-33)
3)Murmuring (Num 16:1-8)
4)Fornication (Num 25:1-3)
5)Rejection of Messiah (John 19:15,16)

D. God's judgment came upon Israel many time during the approximately 1500 years that the nation was under the Dispensation of the Law. Among the more devastation calamities that befell here were:

1)The Assyrian Captivities (2Kings 17:4-6; 15:18)
2)The Babylonian Captivities (2Chron 36:11-21)
3)The setting aside of Israel in unbelief after the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7).

(The death of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary did not bring to an end the Dispensation of Promise and the Law, nor did it initiate the Dispensation of Grace. Beginning with the stoning of Stephen and subsequent conversion of Saul of Tarsus, the temporary setting aside of God's earthly people, Israel, gradually took place. At the same time, God gradually began to make known to the new apostle, Paul, "the revelation of the mystery.")

This program of His heavenly people is called "...the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest...made known to all nations for obedience of faith:" (Rm 16:25,26).

Concurrently with the steady declension of God's Prophetic Program for His earthly people, with the final, yet temporary setting aside of Israel, was the steady ascension of His Heavenly program, the Mystery. There was, therefore, an overlapping of the two programs and dispensations, a transition period. God's Prophetic program will not resume until the beginning of the tribulation in the Kingdom Age.


Notice that in Acts 3:21 Peter is proclaiming things made known by the prophets since the world began. In contrast, in the book of Romans, 16:25, Paul is proclaiming things kept secret since the world began. Something made known cannot be a secret and something kept secret has not been made known. Clearly, Peter and Paul proclaimed two different messages.

6. DISPENSATION OF GRACE:

A. God dispenses grace to a lost and dying world (Eph 2:5, 3:2).

In the Dispensation of Grace a new creation has been brought into existence (2Cor5:17) which is called "...the Church, which is his Body..." (Eph 2:14-17).

Christ is the Head of the Body (Col 1:18) and holds an exalted position as He carries out His heavenly ministry (Phil 2:9: Eph 1:20-23).

B. Men and women are responsible to receive the written Word of God by faith and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved (Acts 16:31). Salvation is obtained by grace through faith, not of works (Eph 2:8,9).

Members of the Body of Christ are responsible to preach Jesus according to the revelation of the Mystery (Rm 16:25; 1Cor 9:16-18) and "to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery" (Eph 3:9) by doing the work of an evangelist (2Tim 4:5).

C. To a great degree men and women have failed to trust God; to believe His work, and to receive His Son, Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

D. The Dispensation of Grace will close when "the fullness of the Gentiles be come in" Rm 11:25). All members of the Church which is His Body, living and dead, will then "...be caught up together..." in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air..." (1Thes 4:17; 2Cor10:11; Eph 3:9; Col 1:27).

Those unsaved living after the close of this Dispensation will go into the seven year tribulation. The dieing unsaved during this Dispensation will join with other unsaved dead of all ages at the Great White Throne to be cast into the lake of fire (Rev 10:11-15).

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[H. Richard]

7. THE DAY OF THE LORD;

A. God will dispense both wrath and justice upon the world which has rejected his Son (Psa 2:1-12).

God's Prophetic Program, which was temporarily interrupted when the Dispensation of Grace began, will resume at the "time of Jacob's trouble" (Jer 30:7). Thus Israel will once again be in view as the world endures seven years of tribulation (Rev 7:1-8).

The great tribulation is a prelude to the coming Millennial Kingdom and has as its purpose the overthrowing of the Kingdoms of the world and the establishment "of Kingdoms of our Lord, and His Christ" (Rev 11:15), and will close at the Second Coming of Christ (Jer 30:7; Isa 2224:1, Mat 224:29,30).

The Second Coming of Christ will initiate His reign as King for a period of 1,000 years (Rev 20:4,5,7). During His reign the Throne of David will be established (2Sam 7:16; Mat 19:28; Acts 2:30). Justice will fill the earth (Jer 23:5,6); peace will prevail (Isa:9:6,7), and the Abrahamic, Davidic and Palestinian Covenants will be fulfilled.

B. It will be Israel's responsibility to declare that Christ is indeed the Messiah of Israel.

Repentance and baptism will again be preached (Mar 16:15,16; Acts 2:38; cf Rev 9:21) and certain aspects of the Law, such as the Sabbath, must again be observed (Mat 24:20).

C. In the face of almost unbelievable judgment, men will blaspheme God during the tribulation (Rev 16:11,21) and in the Millennial Kingdom will continue to sin against God (Isa 65:20). Although the Lord Jesus Chris rules in righteousness for 1,000 years, there will be those who rebel at the end of the Millennium and challenge His authority (Rev 20:7-9).

D. With the Church, the Body of Christ, seated with Him in the heavenlies, the Kingdom Age will be the consummation of all the previous ages and there will be a number of judgments. The establishment of the " Kingdoms of the Lord, and His Christ" will be accomplished by the judging and chastening of Israel (Mat 25:14-30), and the punishing of the nations (Mat 25:31-46).

At the end of the Millennial Kingdom, all of the unsaved of all ages will stand before the Great White Throne of God and be condemned to spend eternity in the lake of fire (Rev 20:11-15).

The Great Day of the Lord will close when the heavens and the earth are consumed with fire as God prepares to execute His Eternal Purpose (2Pet 3:10: Eph 1:10).

8. DISPENSATION OF THE FULLNESS OF TIME: (There are some that do not consider this a dispensation.)

A. God's ultimate purpose of His creation is that "He might gather together all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth: even in Him (Eph 1:19).

The renovation of the heavens and the earth will return then to their pristine beauty (Psa 104:5; Isa 65:17; 2Pet 3:11; Rev 21:1).

The Body of Christ will reign with Christ in the heavenlies (Eph 2:6,7), and Israel and those redeemed under God's prophetic Program will reign with Christ from the New Jerusalem on the renovated earth (Rev 21:9-27).

All saints will live through eternity in perfect harmony with one another, and since all things have been gathered together in Christ, it seems likely that the heaven and the earth will be open to all the redeemed of all ages. God will be all in all (1Cor 5:9).

B. All will serve Him with gladness (2Cor5:9).

C. There will be no more failures.

D. There will be no more judgment.

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (Rev 21:4).

Hope this is helpful.

God Bless.

Live Well, Laugh Often and Love the Lord!

 

[H. Richard]

I made this post so that all those intellectuals out there that think they know all about what Dispensationalist believe can be informed of the truth.


I have heard many on these forums attack, character assassinate, and harass people that teach Dispensational doctrines, and they call them, and what they teach, heretical and a cult.


It is easier for most to just go along with this than to actually research it for yourself. Just as many politicians make false claims against their opponents because they know that many will just accept them instead of really tying to find out.