The dispensation of the new order

1. A dispensation is a period of human history expressed in terms of divine revelation. Dispensations are both the divine outline of history as well as the time categories of history. At the same time the dispensations are the divine interpretation of history and therefore God’s plan for man related to time. The believer’s orientation to time in history is vitally necessary for understanding God’s plan and God’s purpose for his life. In every dispensation God administers His plan through specific agencies or stewards. That means that each dispensation must be understood by the believers in that dispensation.

2. The Greek vocabulary regarding dispensations. We have four words. The first is chronos which simply means time as a succession of events. It is used to portray the chronology of the history of Israel, for example. And it is used to portray the chronology in the Age of the Gentiles. The second word is chairos. It takes the successive events of time and breaks them up into time unites called dispensations. The third is aion, which simply speaks of dispensations as a major period of time or a divine category of human history, as in Ephesians 3:2 and Colossians 1:25. Then the fourth and last is oikonomia, which means stewardship or administration. This is the word most translated “dispensation” by the ancient translators.

3. The first dispensation was the Age of the Gentiles. It covers the period of Genesis chapters 1-11. By outline it has three periods. The period of positive volition or man in innocence, the period of negative volition or conscience, and the period of divine establishment, the establishment of human government. It is characterised by one language, one race [Gentiles], the angelic attack upon the principles of establishment, the attack upon freedom and free will [Genesis 3], the attack upon marriage and family [Genesis 6], the attack upon nationalism [Genesis 11:1-9]. It goes from Adam to the tower of Babel, the first united nations building which God personally destroyed. It also is a period of no written canon of scripture of any kind, no missionary agency, salvation by faith in Christ.

4. The second dispensation is the Age of Israel, the age of the Jews. It covers all of the Old Testament minus Millennial passages, from the time of Abraham to the second advent of Christ, minus the Church Age. It is divided into three parts: patriarchs, law, and the Tribulation. It is a broken up dispensation in the sense that it is interrupted by the Church Age and then continues to its conclusion at the second advent. The period of the patriarchs goes from Adam to Moses. The period of the law goes from Moses to Christ. The period of the Tribulation goes from the Rapture to the second advent. It is characterised by many languages spoken on the earth, many races on the earth, the development of Israel from a race to a nation, Israel becomes the custodian of the written canon and the custodian of special covenants. its security came from the unconditional covenants — Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic and New covenants to Israel. It had also the Mosaic law. It had a principle for national security, prosperity, and blessing which came through the Mosaic law. There was a national system of discipline, the five cycles of discipline of Leviticus 26. There have been two administrations of the fifth cycle of discipline to Judah and one to the northern kingdom. The two to Judah were 586 BC and 70 AD. Salvation was by faith in Christ and spirituality was the faith-rest technique.

5. The doctrine of intercalation. Intercalation means insertion. It is the concept that the Age of Israel runs from Abraham to the second advent and there is inserted something which interrupts it. That, of course, is the Church Age, the calling out of the royal family. A new dispensation called the Church Age is inserted; this demands an interruption of the Jewish Age. Intercalation is the intensified stage of the angelic conflict. The Church Age was a mystery as well as an intercalation and it was not known to the Old Testament writers — Romans 16:25,26; Ephesians 3:1-6; Colossians 1:25,26 teach the principle of the mystery. The mystery refers to royal family doctrine not revealed until there was a royal family. This is also a problem in the Old Testament because whenever the Church Age would come up chronologically the passage always skipped over it. So we have what is known as “the great parenthesis” passages, passages which come right up in the teaching of prophecy to the point when the Church Age began — like the Day of Pentecost, and before that the death of Christ is taught, His resurrection, ascension and session. These are all prophesied. Then there is suddenly a blank, a parenthesis, and all the prophesies skip right over to the Tribulation, the second advent, and Millennium. Never once was the Church Age taught in the Old Testament. These parenthetical passages include Daniel 2:40, 41; 7:23,24; 8:22,23; 11:35,36; Hosea 3:4,5; 5:15-6:1; Psalm 22:22,23; Isaiah 61, the middle of verse 2.

6. The Church Age, the dispensation in our verse. It is not taught in the Gospels, except John chapters 14-17. The outline is very simple since it is a continuous dispensation. We have the pre-canon period from 30 AD to 96, during which time the canon was in the process of formation. Then we have the post-canon period from 96 AD until the Rapture. The characteristics of the Church Age will be considered later.

7. The fourth dispensation is the Millennium which is the Age of Christ. It is taught in passage like Isaiah chapters 11, 35, 62, 65; Psalm 72; Revelation 20.

When the dispensation of the new order interrupted the Jewish Age the Mosaic law was abrogated, the shadows were abrogated, everything connected with the Levitical priesthood and the tabernacle and the sacrifices were abrogated.