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"The Seven Times Or Dispensations"
We shall find that there are a least seven distinct Administrations each having its own beginning and ending clearly revealed, and marked off.
These seven are, in turn, characterized by the principles of God`s Administration, which mark all that He said and did during each special and distinct period.
We have for instance, the Theocratic Administration suited to the time of Innocence before the Fall (Genesis 1:2
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.).We have the Patriarchal Administration suited to mankind after the Fall, but before the Law was given (Genesis the 4th chapter to Exodus the 20th chapter).
We have the Legal Administration suited only to Israel under the Law.
We have the present Administration of Grace which is for Jew and Gentile alike, i.e., for individuals out of both, without distinction previously made.
After this will come the Judicial Administration preparatory to the restoration of all things which were spoken before by the prophets.
Then will follow the Millennial Dispensation: ending with the Administration of Glory in the Eternal State.
Let us look at them in order:-
(1). The Eden Dispensation. It is clear that the period beginning with (Genesis 1:26
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.), and going down to the end of Genesis the 2nd chapter is perfectly unique. There is nothing like it until we come to the, or seventh, Dispensation, which is the Eternal state. In these two there is only the innocence of man: and both are characterized by the absence of sin and the presence of God. God came down and communed with Adam, revealing Himself to him: and the mark of the Eternal state is given in the words, “The Tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them” (Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.).Adam was directly under the Divine administration and tuition of God Himself. God was his Teacher, revealing Himself and His wonderful works to Adam. He visited Adam at certain definite times, with audible sounds by, which His coming
was known (Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.). He came for the definite purpose of teaching man. He brought the animals to Adam to instruct him (Genesis 2:19-20 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.): He gave him a companion (Genesis 2:21-22 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.): and we know not what else He did, and would have done, had not all this Divine communion been suddenly snapped and suspended by the Fall. Such direct communion of man with God has, since that moment, been suspended, and will continue to be so until the curse shall have been removed, and the Eden state of Bliss find more than its counterpart in the Eternal state of Glory.In this first Administration Adam was dealt with as innocent: and man can never be dealt with in a corresponding manner during all the succeeding Dispensations, until the curse and all its effects shall have been done away.
Man was then, what is called “under probation.” This marks off that Administration sharply and absolutely: for man is not now under probation. To suppose that he is so, is a popular fallacy which strikes at the root of the doctrines of Grace. Man has been tried and tested, and has been proved to be a ruin. Ever since that moment man has been dealt with as lost, guilty, ruin, helpless, unclean, and undone: and all this because of what he is, and not merely from what he has done. That is to say, he is not only a ruined sinner, but a ruin creature.
Man failed, just as Satan and the Angels before him had failed under their trial. Man showed the same result, and proved that, apart from the Creator, no created being could stand. By Christ, the Creator, all things not only exist: but in Him only can they consist (Colossians 1:16-17
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist).The one test was The Word Of God. God had spoken: and the question was: Will man believe God or Satan?
This was the one simple test. It was not what man whittles down by his tradition to the “eating of an apple:” but in Genesis
the 3rd chapter, the first crucial words are, “Hath God said?” (Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtlef than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?).Satan is introduced to us as using these words, and as substituting two lies for what God had said: (1). “Ye shall be as God”: (2). “Ye shall not surely die.”
These two lies are the foundation of Satan`s old religion and man`s “New Theology,” and are the hall marks of coming Apostasy, under the Beast of Revelation the 13th chapter.
Our first parents believed Satan`s lies, and their descendants have followed in their steps. Part of them believe neither God nor the Old Serpent: the bulk of them believe only Satan.
The teaching of demons is today embraced by the strictest of Evangelicals and Protestants, as well as by the Heathen, by Romanists, and Spirits: and they all unite in endorsing these two great lies of the Old Serpent. They all believe and hold (1). That man has within the Divine (“Ye shall be as God”): (2) that “There is no death” (“Ye shall not surely die”).
Man was under probation, and he failed in the proving. Never again in any succeeding Dispensation has he been, or can he be thus tried.
Popular theology still teach that “man is under probation.” It is false! Man has been tried, and declared to be, in consequence, utterly ruined, and “at enmity with God:” he is not “subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,” and “has no good thing” in him.
Man needs no further probation to verify this solemn fact.
But we must return to our special point, which is this: All that was said and done by God in that first Administration, the Eden State, was peculiar to, and appropriate only to that state, and to no other. It can never be characteristic of any other dispensation.
God was man`s teacher, God was His own Revealer. He gave man his trial and his test, and after these had done their work God pronounced His sentence on man, and his doom on the Old Serpent.
(2). The Patriarchal Dispensation. In the second Administration, the one great principle on which mankind was treated was as a whole, and having completely failed under the probation in which man had been placed. Having lost the Divine teaching, the Dispensation is characterized as the “Times of Ignorance” (Acts 17:30
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:).Mankind fails collectively, as man had failed individually: and furnishes another example of the fact that, no created being or beings can stand, apart from the upholding power of the Creator (Colossians 1:16-17
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.).All the words and actions of God were appropriate to this second Administration.
The “times of ignorance” are contrasted in (Acts 17:30) with later times, which are distinguished by the words, “But now.”
In those times God “overlooked” that which He could not overlook after He had given the Law: those things which, before the Law, were “sins,” became afterward “transgressions.”
The principles which governed God`s Administration in those “times of ignorance,” could not be appropriate for the times when He revealed His Law by Moses, and made known His will to the sons of men.
It is clear therefore, that those Dispensations must be rightly divided: for even the future judgment of mankind is based on the distinction which we must make between these two periods, “without law” and “under law.” (Romans 2:12
For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;).It is evident that these two principles belong to the two different Dispensations (before and after the Law) respectively. They teach us that the same principles must prevail when the final judgment of those who have lived in both Dispensations shall come.
We may well believe also that the same principles will be acted on in the future judgment of those who are living in this present Dispensation: for there are, today, those who sin without having heard the Gospel, and there are those who have heard it and have not obeyed it (2 Thessalonians 1:8
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:).If we rightly divide these, and their judgments also, as announced in (Romans 2:10-12
But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;), we shall have the key to a problem which has perplexed many a child of God.These then are the great principles which govern God`s dealings with mankind: those that were “without law,” and those who were “under law”: those that are without the Gospel, and those who are under the Gospel.
It was not merely, or only, that one dispensation was “without law” and another “under law,” but that there were those in each who knew the law and those who did not: those who obeyed and those who obeyed not.
And God dealt with mankind on this principle of judgment in all subsequent dispensations: for all were under His administration as to government.
The second Dispensation, that which succeeded the Fall, was governed by Patriarchal Law, as the following one governed by Mosaic Law. Both laws were given by God.
It is often supposed that before the Mosaic Law mankind was left to themselves. (There are at least forty-four unwritten laws, before the written law was given: which governed mankind). But such was not the case. Man kind as a whole was in a sense “under law,” but it was “unwritten law”: while Israel was under written law, “written by the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18
And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.).No sooner had our first parents been driven out from their first abode and passed from God`s administration which corresponded with and marked their state of innocence, then the different character of His new administration was seen.
His first act was to point out The Way Back to Himself and to peace with God. Immediately after the Fall, and the loss of God`s presence and teaching, the way back to His favor was opened by Himself.
(a). It is evident that the way back was declared to be by sacrifice, by substitution, and by blood. Those who believed God obeyed the commands which He must have given and made known.
It was “by faith” that Abel brought his substitute, the Sacrificial Lamb, to suffer in his stead. But “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.). Abel, therefore, with the rest of mankind, must have heard and known God`s command. Abel obeyed it. It was “by faith”: otherwise it would have been by fancy. Hence, Abel “obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of His gifts” (Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.).God testified of Abel`s offering by consuming it with “fire from heaven.” For only by such fire God “accepted” sacrifice (Psalm 20:3
Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Leviticus 9:24 And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces. Judges 6:21 Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. 1 Kings 18:38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 1 Chronicles 21:26 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. 2 Chronicles 7:1 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.): not by any fire emanating from or kindled on this earth. Only by such formal acceptance with “fire from heaven,” did God “testify” of and have respect to Abel`s gifts. Only by such acceptance did Abel “obtain witness that he was righteous.” Only by such witness did God show, and Cain know, that He” had not respect” to the offering that Cain brought unto the Lord.The fire fell upon Abel`s lamb, instead of upon Abel: upon the substitute, instead of upon the sinner.
But it fell not on Cain`s offering, for God did not accept it. It was the “fruit of the ground” (Genesis 4:2-3
And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.), the fruit of that which God had only just declared, “Cursed be the ground” (Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;).Thus was the way back to God opened and made clear: and thus was man`s disobedience manifested. There was God`s way, which Abel took: and there was man`s way, which Cain invented. There have been but those two ways back to God from that day to this. One was God`s, and the other was man`s. One was by faith, the other by works. One was Christ, the other was Religion. One was by God`s grace, the other was by human merit. There never have been but these two ways. This is God`s way now, by faith through Grace, faith in Christ, the Savior whom God has provided, which is summed up in the words,
Nothing in my hand I bring.”All other ways are one: for however they may differ, they are all alike in saying, “Something” in my hand I bring. They differ only in what that “something” is to be: and those who differ from them, as Abel did, are ever in great danger of getting killed, as Abel was. For nothing is so cruel as “Religion.”
Thus the first act in God`s changed administration after the Fall was to open the way back to Himself: and it is placed unmistakably on the forefront of revelation.
But there are many other marks as to the character of God`s administration. It we will search for its principles we shall find various words, expressions, and hints, casually dropped, which gives us some insight into the principles which characterized that administration: for there is no attempt to give a detailed description of them. We are left to note and mark them for ourselves.
(b). It is evident that there was a Place of worship, a place set apart where access to the Lord was to be had. At the moment of the Fall, when man was driven out, the Lord God “placed (as in a tabernacle), at the east of the Garden of Eden, Cherubim” (Genesis 3:24
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.). The word “placed” in the Hebrew is (shakan), to place, station or dwell in a tabernacle. Hence it is used of God`s dwelling place among His people.Hither Abel and Cain brought their offering (Genesis 4:3-4
And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:): compare (Leviticus 1:3 If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.). Thither Cain “went out from the presence of the Lord” (Genesis 4:16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.). At its “door” lay the sin offering which Cain might have brought as well as Abel (Genesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.).Thither Rebekah went to “inquire of the Lord” (Genesis 25:22
And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD.). Hence, the statement that certain things were done “before the Lord” expressed a great reality (Genesis 13:13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly. Genesis 18:22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. Genesis 19:27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:), compare (Exodus 15:6 And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings. Exodus 16:33 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations. Exodus 23:17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD. Exodus 33:7 And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.).(c). Certain persons evidently had official position. Shem was one who probably had charge of this tent or tents (Genesis 9:26-27
And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.).Melchizedek was “a priest of the Most High God” (Genesis 14:18
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.). Heads of families so acted (Genesis 8:20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Genesis 12:8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. Genesis 35:7 And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.).Tithes were already paid (Hebrews 7:9
And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.). The first born evidently had certain privileges, among them the duty of offering sacrifices. Who else can “the young men” be whom we find so acting in (Exodus 24:5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.), before the consecration of Aaron and his sons under Law, as priests of the nation as such?If there were priests, so were there preachers also (2 Peter 2:5
And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;), and prophets (Genesis 20:7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine. Jude 1:14-15 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.).(d). Certain official garments appeared to have been worn by those who thus officiated. What was the “goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau,” which Rebekah stored so carefully, but clothes or garments afterward used by the priests under the Law? Compare (Leviticus 21:10
And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes; Exodus 35:19 The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office. Leviticus 10:6 And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled. The word “goodly” is also used (though not exclusively) of sacred things in connection with the Temple (2 Chronicles 36:10 And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah 64:11 Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Lamentations 1:10 The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.).If this be so, we can understand why Esau was “profane” when he despised his birthright (Hebrews 12:16
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.).Joseph`s “coat of many colors,” instead of being (according to some) a peculiar coat “gaudy patchwork,” or, according to others, an ordinary “long tunic” in general wear, seems to have been a special garment by which Jacob designated him for one, at least, of the three parts of the birthright which Reuben had forfeited. At any rate, the word rendered colors in the Hebrew is (passim) is always used of colors and never of pieces: and though Aaron`s coat is not actually so called, it was so in fact, as wee see from (Exodus 39:1
And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as the LORD commanded Moses. Exodus 28:4 And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. Exodus 28:39 And thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the mitre of fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of needlework.), where it is said to be embroidered. The word rendered “coat,” in the Hebrew is (Kthoneth), is also associated with the coats of the priests, or with those of royalty (2 Samuel 13:18-19 And she had a garment of divers colours upon her: for with such robes were the king’s daughters that were virgins apparelled. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her. And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of divers colours that was on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went on crying.).(e). Again, certain forms and ceremonies are also incidentally mentioned, which gives us still further insight into the nature of the administration of that dispensation. Thus we have anointing or consecration with oil (Genesis 28:18
And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. Genesis 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.), building of altars (Genesis 8:20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Genesis 12:7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. Genesis 35:1-3 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.), pouring out drink offering (Genesis 35:14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.): the making of a covenant by sacrifice (Genesis 15:9-18 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:): the keeping of the Sabbath, before the actual proclamation of the Law (Exodus 16:23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. Compare (Exodus 15:25 And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,). And, (Deuteronomy 5:12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.): the offering of “seven ewe Lambs” (Genesis 21:31 Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.): the distinction between “clean” and “unclean” (Genesis 7:2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Genesis 8:20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.): the prohibition of blood as food (Genesis 9:4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.): the execution of the murderer (Genesis 9:6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. Genesis 42:22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.): the prohibition of adultery (Genesis 12:18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Genesis 26:10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. Genesis 34:9 And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. Genesis 49:4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.): the blinding nature of oaths (Genesis 26:28 And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; ): the obligation of vows (Genesis 28:20-22 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. Genesis 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.): the sin of fornication (Genesis 34:7 And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter; which thing ought not to be done.): marriage with the uncircumcised (Genesis 34:14 And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us: Compare Exodus 34:16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.): honoring of parents (Genesis 9:25-26 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. ): purification, or ceremonial cleansing for worship (Genesis 35:2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: ): the birthright of the firstborn (Genesis 25:31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. Compare, (Exodus 22:29 Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.). and, (Deuteronomy 21:17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.) and the marrying of the brother`s widow (Genesis 38:8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.).What are all these but so many hints and glimpses which reveal the existence of an orderly administration, which must have been Divinely made known, and exactly suited for that dispensation? All was not confusion as the unobservant reader might suppose. Men were not left to themselves during that Patriarchal Dispensation.
But to bring the laws of that administration into another dispensation, either for the purpose of limitation or supplement, is to mix up together things which are perfectly distinct, and to introduce confusion where otherwise in perfect order.
(3). The Israelite Dispensation “under Law.” In the third Administration we have a totally different principle involved. All is changed by the giving of the Law. This third Dispensation stands out in contrast with the previous one, which was “without Law”: as it does from this present Dispensation, which is characterized by Grace.
The communications of God, and His dealings with Israel, were appropriate to, and in harmony with, the principles of His administration “under law.”
If we read all that into this present Dispensation, and interpret it of ourselves, we at once place ourselves under a covenant of works, and practically deny our standing in grace.
Unless we rightly the Word of truth in this matter we shall be filled with confusion.
It was true, in that Dispensation of Works, to say: “When the wicked man turn away from his wickedness and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save himself (In the Hebrew, his soul) alive (Ezekiel 18:27
Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.. But to interpret that of ourselves, now, is contrary to fact: and to do so is to flatly deny our true church standing which declares, that we are not saved by works, but by grace (Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.).The Ceremonial Law was given to Israel: not to Assyria or Egypt, or any other nation. Any precepts, of course, that maybe of universal application will be wisely applied. The commands as to the food to be used or avoided were neither meaningless nor arbitrary, but were given according to the infinite knowledge of God. It will be our wisdom, therefore, if we are guided by them for our health`s sake: but in no sense as being “under law.”
The Ceremonial Law continued down to the destruction of Jerusalem, and the burning of the Temple, when it ceased absolutely, as it had already ceased relatively, by the death and sacrifice of Christ, which fulfilled the law (Colossians 2:14
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;).The four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles do not belong to this present Gospel Dispensation of Grace, but they rather close up the Dispensation of the Law, (the Acts of the Apostles being transitional).
Christ did not come “to found a church” as those assert who do not heed the different between the various Dispensations. That is man`s and Rome`s, constant assertion. But God`s revelation tells us that “Jesus Christ was a Minister Of The Circumcision, for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the Fathers, and that the Gentiles (after Israel`s salvation) might glorify God for His mercy,” (Romans 15:8-9
Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.).Christ`s coming had reference to the Jew and Gentile, not to the founding of a church. The Jews rejected the Kingdom and crucified their King. And the Gentiles (as such) have not yet glorified God for His mercy.
The subsequent offer was afterward made by Peter, to whom “the keys of the kingdom” were given (not of the Church, but of the Kingdom). The Kingdom was again proclaimed in the Acts, and the promise of Christ`s return on their national repentance (Acts 3:19-21
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.), Revised Version.But the command to repent was unheeded by the nation and its rulers: and so, in the Acts of the Apostles, we see the gradual transition taking place, until the final pronouncement of God`s rejection of the nation is formally made by Paul in (Acts 28:24-28
And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.).(4). The Ecclesia: the Dispensation of Grace. In this the fourth Dispensation neither Jews nor Gentiles are dealt with as such: but, individuals, both “transgressors” of the Jews and “sinners of the Gentiles,” are called out, and made into a new body, a third People, called “the Church of God,” in which now “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, but all are one in Christ Jesus”: being baptized into the Body of Christ, not with the old material element of water, but with the new spirit medium or element of pneuma hagion (the Holy Spirit), (Galatians 3:27-28
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.).All this had been kept secret until it was revealed to Paul and made known by the prophets and apostles in “prophetic writings’ (Romans 16:25-26
Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and 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, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:).Had it been made the subject of prophecy the Jew, today, could reply against God and say that He was obliged to fulfill prophecy. It was therefore “hid in God” (Ephesians 3:9
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:). God kept the secret to Himself. What He would have done had the nation of Israel obeyed the command to repent, in (Acts 3:19-20 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:), none can tell. God is sovereign, and we may be perfectly sure that the Scripture would have been fulfilled. Nothing was un-foreknown, or unforeseen: for the members of the Church of God were “chosen in Christ Before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:). All we can say is that “the secret things belong unto God,” (Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.).One of these secrets, the “Great” one (1 Timothy 3:16
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Ephesians 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.), has been revealed: and we now rejoice in its revelation.This Dispensation of “the Church of God,” of “the grace of God,” and of the “Spirit of God,” commenced outwardly by the ministry of Paul, in the Dispensation or administration committed formally to him: and inwardly by the revelation of the mystery as further set forth in its fullness in those epistles which he wrote from his prison in Rome: Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians.
This Dispensation will end by the members of Christ`s body, the Church of the living God, being “received up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.): “caught up to meet the Lord in the air, so to be ever with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Philippians 3:20-21 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.). This is called in (2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,), “our gathering together unto Him”: and this glorious gathering will close this fourth Dispensation. The one object, therefore, of this Dispensation is not, as popularly supposed, the conversion of the world; still less its social improvement: but the formation of the one spiritual Body of Christ by calling out those who were chosen in Him “before the foundation of the world.”To that end, and that alone, is this good news made known today in all the world. In no former Dispensation was such a Gospel ever preached: and in no subsequent one will the good news of such free grace be proclaimed.
Before this Dispensation, and after it, all is connected with man, and what he is, and what he is to do. But in this Dispensation it is a question of what Christ is, and what He has done.
This Dispensation of grace will followed by:
(5) The Dispensation of Judgment. In the fifth Dispensation, which is characterized by judgment, Israel becomes once again the central object.
When the Church, the mystical body of Christ, has been “received up in glory” the day of grace will be over. And Israel will once more be dealt with, not again under law, but under judgment.
The present Dispensation is (apart from God`s purpose in the election of grace) called “Man`s Day” (1 Corinthians 4:3
But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. ), because it is during this present period that man is judging. But, the next Dispensation is called “the Lord`s Day” (Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,), because that will be the time when He will judge. Man`s day of judging will closed and the Lord`s day of judging will begin.Hence “the day of the Lord” is the day of Lord`s judging and ruling: and the first occurrence of the expression gives us its essential meaning: and the object and aim of that judgment. It will be the day when (Isaiah 2:11-12
The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: Isaiah 2:17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.).Whatever maybe the dealings of God with men, and whatever maybe His judgments, this is the end and aim and object of them all” The abasement of Man and The exaltation of God. The whole of that dispensation is called “the Day of the Lord.” It is the day which has to do with “times and seasons”: with Israel and the Gentiles. But which has nothing to do with “the Church of God.”
This is clear from (1 Thessalonians 5:1-5
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.). That day cannot overtake the Church of God “as a thief,” because the Church has nothing to do with “times and seasons.” That day has to do with those whom it will thus “overtake.”All that is said and done in that coming dispensation is appropriate to, and in harmony with, the great principle which will characterize God`s administration in that day.
It will then be right for Israel to rejoice over the judgments inflicted on all their enemies. Then, the “Imprecatory Psalms” will be in their appropriate place.
That dispensation of judgment will have its own peculiar characteristics: and the language is therefore used of it which could never have been used in any former dispensation.
Israel will not again be under law: but it will be under a “new covenant,” when the stony or hard heart of flesh will be taken away, and a new heart implanted within them, and a new spirit imparted to them (Jeremiah 31:31-34
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Ezekiel 36:24-38 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.), making Israel, then, the only indefectible nation that the world has ever seen.This belongs, with the Dispensation which follows it, to “the times of the restitution of all things which God hath spoke by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21
Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.).So that, here again, we have certain definite times spoken of. These “times of restitution” include the succeeding, or
(6). The Millennial or Theocratic Dispensation.
The Sixth Dispensation, in which mankind will again be dealt with as a whole. It will began with the binding of Satan (Revelation 20:1-2 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,), and will end with the great white throne and the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.). A thousand years will be the period of its duration.The principle of God`s dealings with men during these Millennial days will be neither Law, nor Grace, nor Judgment: but Righteousness, Power, and Glory. It will be the administration of Righteousness in all its purity. The prayer for the coming kingdom will then, at length, find its abundant answer: the kingdom of God will have come at last: and His will will then be done on earth as it is done in heaven.
That dispensation is characterized by the binding of Satan. It is clear, therefore, that language peculiar to that time would not be appropriate to any other preceding Dispensation, in which Satan is not bound. It stands alone, unique: and its issues in the last of the seventh Dispensation, which corresponds with the first, Eden state, and maybe called,
(7). The Eternal State. Very little is said about this last. In this respect it is like the first. It begins at (Revelation 21:1
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.), with “the new Heavens and the new Earth,” and nothing is said about its end.Beyond this therefore, we cannot go. In these last two chapters of Revelation we have all that can be known.
These, then, are the seven Times and Dispensations: each of which has its own defined beginning and ending: and its own special characteristics. It is necessary for us to rightly divide them, and rightly divide the Word of truth which tells us of them.
The Special Characteristics of the Dispensations.
It may help us if we summarize these, by connecting each with a definite characteristic word of thought.
(a). As to man`s condition in each, it is, in the, (1st). Innocence. (2nd). Without Law. (3rd). Under Law. (4th). Under Grace. (5th). Under Judgment. (6th). Millennial. (7th). Glory.
(b). As to the Crisis, or Judgment, in which each ends: (1st). The Eden state ended in the expulsion from Eden. (2nd). The Period without Law ended with the Flood and the Judgment on Babel. (3rd). The period under Law ended in the Rejection of Israel. (4th). The Dispensation of Grace will end in the gathering of the Church, and “the Day of the Lord.” (5th). The Dispensation of Judgment will end in the Destruction of Antichrist. (6th). The Millennium will end in the Destruction of Satan, and the Judgment of the Great White Throne. (7th). Will have “no end.”
It must be evident that, in all these seven Dispensations, we have a variety of different characteristics which demand the utmost care and attention which was are able to give them.
There are, however, two further matters on which to speak: for beside these distinct landmarks by which these dispensations are known, there are larger “times” which embrace or overlap more than one of these divisions.
“The Times of the Gentiles.” We have “the times of the Gentiles,” which not only embrace this present Church Dispensation, but stand specially in contrast with the Jews. They commence with the Jews. They commence with Jerusalem falling under the power of Babylon: they continue during the whole period while Jerusalem is “trodden down of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24
And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.), and they will end only when the Gentiles shall cease thus to tread down Jerusalem, and its streets shall be again trodden by its rightful owners, the people of Israel. Then those “times of the Gentiles will changed for the “times of the Jews.”Those times therefore are not coterminous with any of the seven dispensations mentioned above, but overlap. They begin before the present Church period, and do not close until after it has ended.
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