God’s Administrations for Humanity
In order to “rightly divide the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15), Bible doctrine must be understood within the framework of God’s timetable for humanity. The Bible reveals that the history of man has been divided into various timeframes, which reflect the administration of God’s plan for man, and are often called “dispensations” or “ages.” These dispensations (ages) are named by Clarence Larkin in his comprehensive work, The Greatest Book on Dispensational Truth in the World. His list of seven dispensations (ages) follow:
Another suggested division of human history, which this writer believes may be more appropriate, is proffered by Robert B. Thieme, Jr., pastor of the Berachah Church in Houston, Texas, who also is the originator of www.rbthieme.org, and who is one of the most proficient theologians of today. Very few, if any, who have studied and taught God’s Word are as accomplished in doing so in as great an isagogical (interpreting according to the historical or prophetical environment), exegetical (word-by-word, verse-by-verse, grammatical, syntactical, etymological, and contextual analysis of Scripture from the original autographs in the original languages of the Bible—Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek), and categorical manner. His list of six dispensations follows:
1. Age of the Gentiles—from Creation of Adam to Moses and the Exodus from Egypt.
2. Age of Israel—from Moses and the Exodus to the birth of Christ.
3. Age of the Hypostatic (God and human) Union—from the birth of Christ to the Day of Pentecost on A.D. 30.
4. Age of the Church—pre-canon from A.D. 30 to death of the Apostle John in A.D. 96 and post-canon from A.D. 96 to the Rapture.
5. Age of the Tribulation—from the Rapture until the second advent of Christ.
6. Age of the Millennium—from the Second Advent of Christ until the last judgment.
More on these dispensations later, but first it is important to understand that in every dispensation (age) God conducts His administration regarding the salvation of man in accordance with grace. Salvation is always received in the same way, by faith alone in Christ alone. Prior to Christ upon earth and during the dispensations of the Old Testament, the object of faith was the prophesied Messiah. During the life of Christ, the dispensation of the hypostatic union, the object of faith was the incarnate Messiah. During the Church Age, the Tribulation and the Millennium, the object of faith is the resurrected Messiah. Likewise, restoration of fellowship between the believer and God is the same in every dispensation—the private naming of (taking responsibility for) sins to God the Father (Psalm 32:5; 1 John 1:9). Age of the Gentiles
This dispensation began with Adam and terminated with Moses. From the creation of Adam and up to the worldwide flood through which Noah and his ark survived, civilization was characterized by one race and one language. God revealed Himself and His plan through dreams, visions, angelic appearance and theophanies (a personal appearance of God—Christ—in a human form). After the “flood,” man proliferated upon the earth as he veered off from God’s grace into a works-religion. Instead of following God’s will and spreading out into the entire world (Genesis 9:1), man wanted to be “master of his own destiny,” to be self-sufficient apart from God (Genesis 11:4-6). The descendants of Noah, with the convenience of a universal language, quickly formed a coalition and decided to “follow their own way” by unifying and building a magnificent tower that would declare their vain attitude. Their coalition became the hub of defiance of God.
But God scattered them and changed their common language into multiple dialects, which frustrated their efforts at unification. This multiplicity of languages required a different method in spreading God’s Word among the nations. For this purpose, God selected a Gentile named Abram (later renamed Abraham), a member of the aristocracy from the city of Ur. Abram, with some lapses, essentially followed God’s direction and crossed the Euphrates River and entered Canaan, a land that God unconditionally promised to him and his descendants forever (Genesis 13:14-16). God made several other promises during this same timeframe, such as, God would make Abram’s progeny a great nation from which all the families of earth would be blessed (a forecast of Abram’s Seed, Jesus Christ) and more, all such promises comprising the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3).
Abram chose to live as a transient in anticipation of the fulfillment of God’s promise. As such, he spread God’s Word while he became the father of a new racial species—the Jews—for which God renamed him Abraham. It is at this time that God chose Abraham’s lineage through Isaac to produce the coming Messiah and the regenerate of this lineage (in line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) to be God’s chosen people (Genesis 21:12; Deuteronomy 7:6; Romans 9:6-8; Hebrews 11:18). The Jews grew into a one-of-a-kind client nation, a theocracy (dependant upon God’s administration).
This “Age of the Gentiles” should not be confused with the New Testament terms, “riches of the Gentiles,” “fullness of the Gentiles,” and “times of the Gentiles.”
The NT distinguishes between the riches of the Gentiles, the fullness of the Gentiles, and the times of the Gentiles.
(Believer’s Bible Commentary by William MacDonald, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995)
[Note: The Babylonian Captivity actually began in 607-606 B.C. and expired in 537-536 B.C.] Age of Israel
This dispensation began with the Exodus from Egypt under Moses and lasted until the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Even though Israel was a small nation compared to other nations (Deuteronomy 7:7), it was destined to have a world-wide impact. God’s purpose for them was two-fold, (1) to serve as custodian of divine revelation (Romans 3:1, 2), and (2) to spread the Gospel—God’s good news of salvation—to all other nations (Isaiah 43:10, 21). Israel failed God repeatedly in these two mandates and, as a result, suffered divine discipline.
Age of the Hypostatic Union
This dispensation began with the virgin birth of Jesus Christ and lasted until the Day of Pentecost. It is a transitional dispensation between that of the Jew and that of the Church of the redeemed in Christ. It was during this brief age that Israel experienced its ultimate failure before God, which was their rejection of the Messiah—Jesus Christ—“God and humanity combined”—at His first advent.
Even though there were many predictions of the coming Messiah in the Jewish Bible (Old Testament), even though their oral traditions depicted His coming and even though their sacrificial system was a typology of His substitution-sacrifice on the cross; the Jews refused to recognize Jesus Christ. This resulted in God shifting His administration for humanity from the Jew to born again Gentiles and Jews, the composition of the Body of Christ, known collectively as the Church—but only for a specified period of time.
Age of the Church
This dispensation began at the Day of Pentecost and will last until Christ Jesus returns in the clouds to receive His Church unto Himself, otherwise known as the Rapture—the resurrection of all Church Age believers, living and dead, from the earth to meet the Lord in the air and receive their resurrection bodies (1 Corinthians 15:51-54; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). This age may be broken down into two periods, (1) pre-canon—from the birth of Christ to the death of the Apostle John and the completion of the book of Revelation, when God completed His written canon, the Bible, and (2) post-canon—from the death of the Apostle John to the Rapture. God now reveals His plan of history and purpose for man only through His completed written Word.
Any valid study of the Bible will reveal the distinction between the Age of Israel and the Church Age. The theme is prevalent throughout the New Testament (Acts 10:45; Romans 11:25; Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 2:11-22; Hebrews 3:5, 6), and it is the foundation stone of dispensational theology. Because the Jews rejected the Messiah, God temporarily set Israel aside until the completion of the Church Age.
Now in the Church Age, God’s official representatives on earth are all the Gentiles and Jews who by faith alone in Christ alone have become spiritually united (in union) with Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:26; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20)—called the Body of Christ (Romans 12:4, 5; 1 Corinthians 12:12, 27).
This age is the unique dispensation. No other age is more demanding or rewarding and in no other dispensation have believers been given more spiritual assets. Believers in the Church Age are universally indwelt and initially filled by God the Holy Spirit, a privilege never given to any previous dispensation. The “indwelling” of the Holy Spirit is a permanent relationship acquired at the moment of regeneration in which the body of every believer is transformed into a temple for the indwelling of Christ as the Shekinah Glory (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:16). The “filling” of the Spirit is the initial entrance into fellowship with God at salvation and is maintained through naming sins privately to God the Father (1 John 1:9). This filling of the Spirit is the provision of divine power to execute the unique spiritual life of the Church Age (Eph. 5:18). For the first time in human history every believer is in union with Christ—a member of the royal family of God. We are royal priests, ambassadors for the absent Christ, and responsible to God to witness for our Lord. Moreover, there exists for the Church Age believer the completed canon of Scripture, the Bible. The entire realm of doctrine is readily available to every believer for advance to the high ground of spiritual maturity. In the entire economy of God, no dispensation other than the age in which we live presents so great a challenge to put Bible doctrine to the test. (Tongues by Robert B. Thieme, Jr., R.B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries, 2000)
Age of the Tribulation
This dispensation begins at the Rapture and lasts until the Second Advent (descent to the earth) of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 34:1-6; Jeremiah 30:4-8; Ezekiel 38-39; Daniel 9:24-27; 11:40-45; Revelation 6-19). It is at this time that the Age of Israel resumes. With the Holy Spirit’s restraining influence through the Church (body of believers during the Church Age) removed, the Tribulation will be the most horrendous period of human history. This will be a time when Satan will reign supreme in utter chaos upon the earth (2 Thessalonians 2:6-12). It is during this time that Satan will unleash all his power in an attempt to destroy the Jews and all regenerate persons on earth, only to fail in face of the Second Advent of Jesus Christ—referred to as the Second Coming of Christ.
Age of the Millennium
This dispensation will begin at the Second Advent of Christ or soon thereafter and last until the last judgment of Christ upon humanity (Psalm 72; Isaiah 11, 35, 62, 65; Zechariah 14:4-9; Revelation 20). It is during this age that the Messiah—Jesus Christ—will reign, along with the saints of the Church Age, over the earth for a literal one thousand years in a controlled and perfect environment; meanwhile, Satan and his demons will be incarcerated in the Abyss (Revelation 20:7). The Jews will once again be preeminent among the nations of the earth as God’s restored client nation, and they will then receive all that God promised in the Old Testament covenants.
At the expiration of one thousand years, Satan will be released from the Abyss and will once again attempt to overthrow Jesus Christ—all to no avail, for fire will come down out of heaven and devour all Satan’s followers, and Satan will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever more. Then Christ, at the Great White Throne Judgment, will try every person who has refused His sacrifice and opted to depend on self-sufficient works in order to appease and achieve the approbation of God. All will come short of God’s standard, and they too will be cast into the lake of fire.
From this point on, Christians may be assured that they will exist in a heavenly state in the new heaven and the new earth and the New Jerusalem for evermore (Revelation 21, 22). |