What is a dispensation? Why study dispensations?
Before we define a dispensation
or discuss why we should understand dispensations, let us read the following
verses:
| Gen 1:29 | Gen 9:3 | Lev 11:2-4 | 1 Tim 4:4 |
| And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. | Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. | 2 Speak unto the children of Israel,
saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that
are on the earth. 3 Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat. 4 Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. |
For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: |
| Luke 9:3 | Luke 22:36 |
| And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. | Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. |
| Mt 10:5-6 | Mark 16:15 |
| 5 These twelve Jesus sent
forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and
into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. |
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. |
| Mt 7:7-8 | 2 Cor 12:8-9 |
| 7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek,
and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. |
8 For this thing I besought the
Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. |
What can we learn about the above
references?
Can we keep all of these
commandments without conflict?
How do we reconcile the
fact that in one verse God promises something but in another He seems to go
back on His word?
Now read 2 Tim 2:15.
Study to shew thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word
of truth.
What does it mean to "rightly divide the word"?
A dispensation is an administration or stewardship, a period in which God deals with man in a specific way (literally Household Management). A dispensation has the following characteristics:
1. God makes His will known.
He deals out the administration through a steward. eg Adam, Noah, Abraham,
Moses, Paul, etc)
2. A test or responsibility
(don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, obey the law, believe
on the Son of God, etc).
3. A failing of the test
(Adam and Eve ate, no-one could keep the law, some will not believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ, etc).
4. A judgment and redemption
(banishment from the garden and remition of sin by shedding of blood, the
flood and the ark, the tower of Babel, Christ crucified, Tribulation, etc).
Why study dispensations? Rightly dividing the Word of God is absolutely fundamental and crucial to a right understanding of it. Unless we understand the basics of dispensations, we will fall into the trap of many Christians who claim promises never made to them and who are confused by what seem like contradictions in the Word of God. It is true that God's word is all for us (2 Tim 3:16-17, Heb 4:12, 1 Cor 10:1-11, 2 Tim 2:15, etc), but it is not all to us. There are at least three distinct audiences, the Jew, the Gentile (other nations) and the Church (believing Jews and Gentiles) (1 Cor 10:32). In studying God's word we must ask the following questions:
1. To which dispensation does
this command/promise apply?
2. To whom was it written?
3. Has something changed
to override or add meaning to the original commandment/promise which changes
its meaning to us?
4. If this is not to me
directly, does its principle apply to me?
Though the word Trinity does not appear in the bible, we know that God is a triune God by how He is described. The word dispensation, however, does appear in the bible text and so we have even more evidence to support the study of dispensations (see I CORINTHIANS 9:17, EPHESIANS 1:10, 3:1-12, EPHESIANS 3:2, COLOSSIANS 1:25).
Why are dispensations not taught as basic doctrine to new Christians today? Good question. People won't endure sound doctrine (2 Tim 4:3), takes time and effort, scared.
Even if scholars do not agree on the number of dispensations, they do agree that the bible is divided at least into two, law and grace. We will look at 7:
1. Innocence
(creation to the fall of man)
2. Conscience (fall to the flood)
3. Human Government (flood to Tower of Babel)
4. Promise (call of Abram to bondage in Egypt)
5. Law (giving of law to death of Lord Jesus Christ)
6. Grace (Paul's gospel to Gentiles to great tribulation)
7. Kingdom (Lord's second coming to end of Millenium)
Over the next few weeks we will look at each of these dispensations in detail.
In conclusion, the bible is clearly divided into different administrations in which God deals differently with man and we must understand these divisions so we don't misappropriate scripture and fall into error.
J Stephen
October-November 1998
