Different Dispensations of Time
It has been quite a while since I blogged last. I have been really busy doing spring cleaning things (re-sanding and varnishing windows, painting ceilings, cleaning out closets etc.), so I haven't blogged, but that does not mean I have not been studying, and it does not mean I haven't wanted to blog. lol.
One thing I have been wanting to blog about, is the fact that there have been many "ages" or "dispensations" throughout human history. Understanding this helps us to "rightly divide" God's Word. This is what often confuses people and causes troubles when understanding God's will. I have learned that there are 7 "dispensations" (divisions in human history, each with its own conditions for stewardship and directions for having a relationship with God).
It is important to know that the "dispensation" of times that we live in today are unique. We do not need to follow the prescribed practices that were set forth in other dispensations. Those laws were for the people living in that time period. That is where we have gotten mixed up with misunderstanding which parts of the Old Testament are for us today. Do we tithe? Do we keep the Sabbath? Do we keep the dietary laws of eating God set out for the Israelites, such as, "You shall not seethe a seethe a kid in his mother's milk" (Ex.23:19, 34:26 and Deut. 14:21)? Many Bible teachers today are teaching that it is not good to eat pork because God told the Israelites that it is "unclean unto them". (Actually, this also includes shrimp and any seafood that does not have fins and scales - Deut. 14:9.)
I have learned that it is hugely important to read the Scriptures in their "context". Always ask yourself, "To whom was this written?" "What were the circumstances in which it was written?" Much error occurs when we read the Bible and interpret it with Western principles, when it was written to another culture. The values and the revelation of God in Scripture are timeless. The Holy Spirit can take any portion of the Scriptures and minister life to our spirits through them. But I believe we can get into error when we take Old Testament Scriptures and "spiritualize" them. In the Old Testament, tithes were always food. Teachers today have "spiritualized" it and declared tithes as money because we do not live in a mostly agricultural society.
The different "dispensations" of ages that I have learned about have been categorized in 7 dispensations.
1. The Age of Innocence -covers Adam and Eve in the garden, until the knowledge of good and evil enters in.
2. The Age of Conscience -the time period between the fall and Noah, when man's heart was his guide - apparently man's conscience was darkened and man grew increasingly wicked, bringing judgment in the flood.
3. The Age of Human Government -from the times of Noah to Abraham, when God scattered the people who were going to build a tower in a city that would make a name for themselves (man's government against God's).
4. The Age of Promise -the time when God found an upright man through whom He could do a work in the earth (Abraham), and God gives him a promise of inheritance and blessing.
5. The Age of Law - covers the times of Moses until Jesus when the way to have a relationship with God was through the keeping of His Laws (ceremonial, civil and moral laws) that He gave to the descendants of Abraham through Moses. The nation of Israel was established as a witness of God's holiness and power to the surrounding pagan nations. They witnessed of the one true God.
6. The Age of Grace -covers the times we live in today, from the time of Christ until the Church is raptured (the close of this age). Sin has been atoned for - God is not holding our sin against us and we are invited to come freely into intimate relationship with Him as our Father. None of the other people living in other dispensations had this available to them. God had not been revealed as "Father". The Gospel really is good news! God is not holding our sin against us, and each one of us can know Him intimately. All those living before us did not have this available to them! It was the mystery of the ages that Paul writes about: "The mystery of the ages which was hidden from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints." (Col 1:26)
7. The Age of Christ - the time period of the millennial reign of Christ on earth.
Read the words of our Covenant, the letters written to the Church, and notice the grace and love extended to us. When you read the Old Testament, there is a different flavor upon it, though there are glimpses of what we have received since it was prophesied in the Old Testament. But the words of our New Covenant are full of grace; words and phrases such as:
"Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27)
"You are complete in Him..." (Col 2:10)
"Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." (Phil. 1:11)
". . .to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3:19)
"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you be rooted and grounded in love and be able to comprehend the breadth, length, depth and height of Christ's love" (Eph. 3:17,18)
"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons and daughters of God." (John3:1)
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (IICor. 4:6)
"We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." (II Cor. 4:7)
"But we all, with open face beholding . . . the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord." (II Cor. 3:18)
Kenneth Hagin ( a Bible and faith teacher) recommended that a person read through the letters to the Church (you!) and circle or highlight all the phrases, "in Him, in Christ, and in Whom." Then confess these Scriptures to yourself. Faith comes by hearing and hearing. Hear yourself speaking God's Word to you and about you. As you speak it, it will become more real to you. Actually there are other Scriptures that tell you who you are in Christ as well, such as I Cor. 3:16, ". . .I am the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in me."
I made a list of Scriptures like this for myself years ago, and it blesses me to just read down the list every so often. I believe it is worth your time to put this into practice.
One thing I have been wanting to blog about, is the fact that there have been many "ages" or "dispensations" throughout human history. Understanding this helps us to "rightly divide" God's Word. This is what often confuses people and causes troubles when understanding God's will. I have learned that there are 7 "dispensations" (divisions in human history, each with its own conditions for stewardship and directions for having a relationship with God).
It is important to know that the "dispensation" of times that we live in today are unique. We do not need to follow the prescribed practices that were set forth in other dispensations. Those laws were for the people living in that time period. That is where we have gotten mixed up with misunderstanding which parts of the Old Testament are for us today. Do we tithe? Do we keep the Sabbath? Do we keep the dietary laws of eating God set out for the Israelites, such as, "You shall not seethe a seethe a kid in his mother's milk" (Ex.23:19, 34:26 and Deut. 14:21)? Many Bible teachers today are teaching that it is not good to eat pork because God told the Israelites that it is "unclean unto them". (Actually, this also includes shrimp and any seafood that does not have fins and scales - Deut. 14:9.)
I have learned that it is hugely important to read the Scriptures in their "context". Always ask yourself, "To whom was this written?" "What were the circumstances in which it was written?" Much error occurs when we read the Bible and interpret it with Western principles, when it was written to another culture. The values and the revelation of God in Scripture are timeless. The Holy Spirit can take any portion of the Scriptures and minister life to our spirits through them. But I believe we can get into error when we take Old Testament Scriptures and "spiritualize" them. In the Old Testament, tithes were always food. Teachers today have "spiritualized" it and declared tithes as money because we do not live in a mostly agricultural society.
The different "dispensations" of ages that I have learned about have been categorized in 7 dispensations.
1. The Age of Innocence -covers Adam and Eve in the garden, until the knowledge of good and evil enters in.
2. The Age of Conscience -the time period between the fall and Noah, when man's heart was his guide - apparently man's conscience was darkened and man grew increasingly wicked, bringing judgment in the flood.
3. The Age of Human Government -from the times of Noah to Abraham, when God scattered the people who were going to build a tower in a city that would make a name for themselves (man's government against God's).
4. The Age of Promise -the time when God found an upright man through whom He could do a work in the earth (Abraham), and God gives him a promise of inheritance and blessing.
5. The Age of Law - covers the times of Moses until Jesus when the way to have a relationship with God was through the keeping of His Laws (ceremonial, civil and moral laws) that He gave to the descendants of Abraham through Moses. The nation of Israel was established as a witness of God's holiness and power to the surrounding pagan nations. They witnessed of the one true God.
6. The Age of Grace -covers the times we live in today, from the time of Christ until the Church is raptured (the close of this age). Sin has been atoned for - God is not holding our sin against us and we are invited to come freely into intimate relationship with Him as our Father. None of the other people living in other dispensations had this available to them. God had not been revealed as "Father". The Gospel really is good news! God is not holding our sin against us, and each one of us can know Him intimately. All those living before us did not have this available to them! It was the mystery of the ages that Paul writes about: "The mystery of the ages which was hidden from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints." (Col 1:26)
7. The Age of Christ - the time period of the millennial reign of Christ on earth.
Read the words of our Covenant, the letters written to the Church, and notice the grace and love extended to us. When you read the Old Testament, there is a different flavor upon it, though there are glimpses of what we have received since it was prophesied in the Old Testament. But the words of our New Covenant are full of grace; words and phrases such as:
"Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27)
"You are complete in Him..." (Col 2:10)
"Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." (Phil. 1:11)
". . .to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3:19)
"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you be rooted and grounded in love and be able to comprehend the breadth, length, depth and height of Christ's love" (Eph. 3:17,18)
"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons and daughters of God." (John3:1)
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (IICor. 4:6)
"We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." (II Cor. 4:7)
"But we all, with open face beholding . . . the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord." (II Cor. 3:18)
Kenneth Hagin ( a Bible and faith teacher) recommended that a person read through the letters to the Church (you!) and circle or highlight all the phrases, "in Him, in Christ, and in Whom." Then confess these Scriptures to yourself. Faith comes by hearing and hearing. Hear yourself speaking God's Word to you and about you. As you speak it, it will become more real to you. Actually there are other Scriptures that tell you who you are in Christ as well, such as I Cor. 3:16, ". . .I am the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in me."
I made a list of Scriptures like this for myself years ago, and it blesses me to just read down the list every so often. I believe it is worth your time to put this into practice.
posted by Laurie T at
9:25 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home