My husband helped me write this post. He helped me articulate my thoughts into words...

I have read through the Bible several times before I heard or read any official teachings on the dispensations. I first read about them in a book by Jack Van Impe, and later from the Dake Bible.

I basically said "duh" to the whole thing, because that's just about exactly what I had picked up from reading the Bible through for myself. There are divisions in the Bible, and these divisions have been given the name "dispensations."

"That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him" -Ephesians 1:10

"If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward" -Ephesians 3:2

An understanding of the dispensations helps one properly divide the Scriptures:

"For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little" -Isaiah 28:10

As I mentioned earlier, I saw these divisions in the Word, before anyone ever "taught" me about them. A thorough reading straight through the Bible reveals this to anyone with an open mind to God's Word.

The First Dispensation - The Dispensation of Innocence

This dispensation stretches from Genesis 1:28-3:22.

The Second Dispensation - The Dispensation of Conscience

This dispensation stretches from Genesis 3:23-8:22.

The Third Dispensation - The Dispensation of Human Government Before "The Law" Given by Moses

This dispensation stretches from Genesis 9:1-11:9.

The Fourth Dispensation - The Dispensation of Promise

This dispensation stretches from Genesis 12:1-Exodus 9:2.

The Fifth Dispensation - The Dispensation of Law

This dispensation stretches from Exodus 19:3-Matthew 27:35 - ends at the cross.

The Sixth Dispensation - The Dispensation of Grace - "If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward" -Ephesians 3:2

This dispensation stretches from Acts 2 to the second coming of Christ.

The Seventh Dispensation - The Dispensation of The Kingdom

A dispensation is basically God changing the way that man relates to God, his fellow man, and his surroundings. An example of where one of these dispensations occurs in the Bible, is the Dispensation of Human Government in Genesis 9:1, where Noah gets off of the ark and receives a new set of rules from God.

Genesis 9
"2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.
6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."

Verse 2 - The animals will now have a fear of man which they did not have before. God changes animal instincts.
Verse 3 - Man will now eat animals instead of being a vegetarian, which is why God gave the animals a fear of man in verse 2.
Verse 4 - God gives man parameters on how to eat flesh.
Verse 5 - God requires the shedding of blood for the remission of sins, and allows animals to be sacrificed in place of people for the shedding of this blood.
Verse 6 - Before the flood, God dealt with murderers, after the flood, man had the responsibility of dealing with murderers through Government.

When moving from one dispensation to another, many things from the previous dispensation may carry over into the new dispensation. For example, we still eat meat today even though this was dispensed back in Genesis 9. Also, it is still a bad idea to marry your cousin if you want your children to be healthy, and this was dispensed by God through Moses in Exodus 19:3.

Talking about the dispensations is helpful for the purpose of determining and clarifying which of God's rules carry over from a previous dispensation, and which do not. Obviously, when God makes a change, some previous rules may no longer apply. For instance, when God said that man should eat meat in Genesis 9:1, the prohibition on eating meat had passed away.

In each dispensation, God was/is teaching us about Him, and His righteous nature. In the dispensation of Law man learned that he could not earn his way into heaven and needed a Saviour. We are now in the church age - the Dispensation of Grace. Grace is dispensed to all who claim it by believing the gospel of Jesus Christ. But if you do not get saved by faith in Jesus Christ, you are still under the Law. For those who are saved, the Dispensation of Law has passed away. Some of the old testament Law can still be used as a guide for those who are very unsure of themselves and their ability to be guided by the Holy Spirit, but born again regenerated saved Christians are not 'under the Law'.

The old testament/covenant Law has been abolished through Christ's death on the cross for all who get saved:

"But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." Galatians 3:22-25

"But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ." 2 Corinthians 3:14

"And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished" -2 Corinthians 3:13

"For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:" -Ephesians 2:14-16

Careful study of God's word is necessary in order to confirm whether you are being led by the Holy Spirit, or not, when considering how much if any Laws still apply.

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." -2 Timothy 2:15

Coming up, we shall see how the new testament gives us the information we need to know which rules have carried over for the Christian, and which have not.

Next in this series - "Born Again, in Relation to the Law"