Vivid Christianity
Teaching Christians how to live a "vivid" Christian life.



Covenants, Dispensations, and the Ten Commandments - Part Two of Three



by Dave Root, VividChristianity.com, last modified on 07/06/2024.


Introduction

A "dispensation" is the way in which God administers or dispenses His authority during a particular time period, and we'll examine all of them in Part Two. It's important to understand the various dispensations because God's commands during one dispensation don't always apply during other dispensations. As we'll see, properly distinguishing between the various dispensations can help us understand some of the difficult passages in the Bible.

Each dispensation is distinguished by several key features (Come and See Offsite Link):
  • In each dispensation there's one person who receives the revelation of how the new dispensation will operate.
  • In each dispensation, people have a certain responsibility of obedience.
  • In each dispensation there are one or more tests.
  • In each dispensation there are one or more judgments for failing the tests.
  • In each dispensation there's a display of God's grace.

Every dispensation tends to begin with a new covenant between God and people, but every covenant between God and people does not necessarily begin a new dispensation.

Update on 07/06/2024: If everything at my website (VividChristianity.com) says what God wants it to say then He will confirm that for you by doing a miracle (if you're a Christian). When you see the miracle, it means that He wants you to believe everything in all of the articles at my website (including this article) and in my book. See my home page for the details.


The Dispensations

Here are all of the dispensations, using the names that pastors and Bible teachers tend to give these dispensations:
  1. The Dispensation of Innocence

    This dispensation began with the introduction of the Edenic Covenant in Genesis 1:28 (which we examined in Part One), and it covers the period until the Fall (when Adam and Eve sinned) in Genesis 3:6-13:
    "God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground - everything that has the breath of life in it - I give every green plant for food." And it was so." (Genesis 1:28-30)

    "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman you put here with me - she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."" (Genesis 3:6-13)
    Christians sometimes assume that when we receive salvation then we're restored to the pre-Fall state that Adam and Eve enjoyed before they sinned. However, that's not the case. Recall that after Adam and Eve sinned, they (and all of Creation) were cursed by God:
    "So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." To the woman he said, "I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat from it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."" (Genesis 3:14-19)
    Notice that after receiving salvation, we still sweat and toil and have pain in childbearing and return to dust and so on because we're still under the above curses. Therefore, we're not restored to Adam and Eve's pre-Fall state when we receive salvation.

    Here's an interesting point about Adam and Eve. First, notice that righteousness comes through faith:
    "He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars - if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness." (Genesis 15:5-6)

    "Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness." (Romans 4:4-5)

    "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead - since he was about a hundred years old - and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness - for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead." (Romans 4:18-24)

    "By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead." (Hebrews 11:4)

    "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith." (Hebrews 11:7)
    When we pass the test of faith by receiving salvation (see my article called How to Receive Salvation) then we're credited with righteousness (Romans 4:24, above), just as other people were credited with righteousness when they passed tests of faith in the above passages.

    But when Adam and Eve were in their original state of innocence before the Fall, it's interesting that they were neither righteous nor sinful because they had neither passed nor failed any test of faith. They were innocent of sin, but they were also innocent of righteousness.

    God provided a test of faith to determine whether or not they would obey the simplest of commands, and He promised that they would die if they failed the test. We don't know how much Adam and Eve understood about death, but they were given a test of faith and a promise of negative consequences for disobedience. When the devil tempted Eve, he specifically said that God's promise was false, and he claimed that God had other motives for commanding them not to eat the fruit:
    "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:15-17)

    "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it." (Genesis 3:1-6)
    Adam and Eve failed the test when they were swayed by what the devil told them and disobeyed God's command.

    When Adam and Eve sinned, there were several consequences. They were not allowed to live forever physically (their bodies began the process of slowly dying), and they were banished from the Garden of Eden, and curses were placed on them and on all of Creation:
    "And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die [literally, "dying you shall die," according to the Literal Translation of the Holy Bible]."" (Genesis 2:16-17)

    "And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." (Genesis 3:22)

    "So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken." (Genesis 3:23)

    "So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." To the woman he said, "I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat from it,' Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."" (Genesis 3:14-19)
    In addition to the above judgments, God displayed His grace in Genesis 3:15 (above) by promising that the offspring of the woman (prophetically referring to Jesus) will crush our enemy (the devil), which will ultimately result in the removal of the above curses (as described in my article called What Will Happen after the Second Coming?).

    So God said that the future Savior will be the offspring of a woman. The prophet Isaiah explained this by saying that the future Savior will be born of a virgin:
    "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)
    Jesus was born of a virgin, and therefore He was literally "the offspring of a woman" because He didn't have a human father. In Part One we saw that He fulfills all of the requirements to be the King of the Jews because of the virgin birth, and my article called New Testament Passages Concerning Women - Part Two explains why He had no inherited sin because of the virgin birth.

    There's no other time in history when people were innocent of sin, and innocent of righteousness, and commanded to work in the Garden of Eden, and commanded not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and so on. That was a unique age. After Adam and Eve sinned, the human race entered into a new period in which they were under the curses described above, which is a clear dividing point in the relationship between God and the human race. In this article we'll see several more of these dividing points, and the periods between these dividing points are often referred to as "dispensations" by pastors and Bible teachers.

    To summarize, here are the main features of the Dispensation of Innocence:
    • The key person in this dispensation was Adam because sin and death came through him. Even though Eve failed the same test as Adam, Adam is the one who was held responsible (Romans 5:14-19 and 1 Corinthians 15:22).

    • The covenant that introduced this dispensation was the Edenic Covenant.

    • The responsibility in this dispensation was for humans to be ruled directly by God.

    • The test in this dispensation was to obey the simple command of not eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

    • The failure in this dispensation occurred when Adam and Eve ate the fruit.

    • The judgments in this dispensation were banishment from the Garden of Eden, the curses that God placed on men, women, and all of Creation, and placing Adam and Eve and all of their descendants into the devil's domain of sin, sickness, fear, death, and destruction (which is described in detail in my article called Understanding Jesus - Part Two).

    • The display of God's grace in this dispensation was the promise that the offspring of a woman (prophetically referring to Jesus) will crush our enemy (the devil), which will ultimately result in the removal of the above judgments (see my series called The Rapture of the Church).


    During this dispensation, humankind was tested with one simple commandment (not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). Humankind rebelled against God.

  2. The Dispensation of Conscience

    This dispensation began with the introduction of the Adamic Covenant (which we examined in Part One), and it covers the period from just after the Fall (Genesis 3:14) until just after the Flood (Genesis 8:5-14):
    "So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." To the woman he said, "I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat from it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man." Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil." (Genesis 3:14-4:2)

    "The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible. After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him. By the first day of the first month of Noah's six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry." (Genesis 8:5-14)
    In Part One we saw that the Adamic Covenant did not contain any specific laws or commandments, which means that the people of that time were governed through their consciences, as the New Testament describes:
    "(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)" (Romans 2:14-15)
    In the above passage, Paul's point was that in the absence of a specific law, people still have a conscience to guide them. Since there were no laws or commandments in the Adamic Covenant, people during that dispensation were meant to follow their consciences. This doesn't mean that the conscience was no longer needed after the Dispensation of Conscience had ended, it simply means that the conscience was the means of governing people during this dispensation. As Romans 2:14-15 (above) explains, the conscience is still important even to this day, and throughout the New Testament we see the importance of listening to our consciences (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance).

    Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, and then they had another son, Abel (later they had other sons and daughters as well - Genesis 5:3-4). Cain worked the soil, and he brought some of his crops as an offering to the Lord. Abel kept flocks of animals, and he brought portions of some of his flocks as an offering to the Lord. God looked on Abel's offering with favor, but He did not look on Cain's offering with favor:
    "Later she [Eve] gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. And Abel also brought an offering - fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast." (Genesis 4:2-5)
    Some Christians believe that Abel's offering was favorable to God because it was a bloody sacrifice, anticipating the bloody sacrifices under the Law of Moses and Christ's blood on the cross. However, there's no atonement for sin mentioned here, and there's no scriptural evidence that God required Cain and Abel to offer a bloody sacrifice.

    Since Cain worked the soil (Genesis 4:2, above), it would be natural for him to offer crops as the fruit of his labors, and many centuries later (under the Law of Moses) there were a number of required offerings which consisted of various crops (see Leviticus 23:10-14, for example). Therefore, we can't be dogmatic that crops were unacceptable offerings to God.

    Hebrews 11:4 says that "By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he [Abel] was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings." Therefore, it appears that Abel had a level of faith that Cain didn't have, and Cain had an attitude problem:
    "But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him." (Genesis 4:4-8)
    In the above passage, notice that God did not condemn Cain for not offering a bloody sacrifice, nor did He punish Cain for not offering a bloody sacrifice, nor did He treat Cain as if he had sinned by not offering a bloody sacrifice. Instead, we're told that Cain had an attitude problem and apparently had less faith than Abel did, and God implied that Cain did something wrong.

    What was it that Cain did wrong? Notice that Genesis 4:2-5 (above) says that "in the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD." In Young's Literal Translation, this is translated as "it cometh to pass at the end of days that Cain bringeth from the fruit of the ground a present to Jehovah" (Genesis 4:3 YLT). This is immediately contrasted with Abel, who brought "fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock" (Genesis 4:2-5, above). Abel's offering was acceptable to God because it was the firstborn, but Cain's offering was not from the firstfruits; it was from the leftovers because it was after "the course of time" or at "the end of days." This demonstrated Cain's attitude problem and lack of faith, which is why God did not look on Cain's offering with favor.

    When Cain killed Abel (Genesis 4:8, above), he didn't break any of the Ten Commandments because the Ten Commandments were not given to humankind until many centuries later, during the time of Moses. In fact, Cain didn't violate any direct command of God against murder because there were no direct commands or laws from God during the Dispensation of Conscience. What Cain violated was his conscience, both in his offering and in killing his brother. Since there was no capital punishment during this dispensation as we'll see, Cain did not receive the death penalty for committing murder:
    "Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?" The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth." Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." But the LORD said to him, "Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden." (Genesis 4:9-16)
    People are sometimes confused by the fact that even though murderers must receive the death penalty according to Genesis 9:5-6, the above passage shows that Cain did not receive the death penalty for murdering Abel. The death penalty for murder was instituted during the Dispensation of Human Government as we'll see in the next section, so Cain did not receive the death penalty because there was no such thing during the Dispensation of Conscience. When we recognize that God deals with people differently during different dispensations, this helps us understand some of the confusing passages in the Bible.

    As the population of the world increased, the vast majority of people did not follow their consciences:
    "The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the LORD said, "I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created - and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground - for I regret that I have made them."" (Genesis 6:5-7)

    "Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out." (Genesis 6:11-14)
    In the above passages we can see that the population of the earth was so wicked that God wiped all of humankind from the face of the earth (in the Flood), with the exception of Noah and his immediate family.

    Recall that during the Dispensation of Innocence, humankind was innocent of sin and innocent of righteousness. But during the Dispensation of Conscience, all of humankind was governed through the conscience, and the vast majority of the human race fell into wickedness. God then wiped the earth clean of humankind and began again with Noah and his immediate family, initiating a new period in which humankind was governed in a different way than ever before as we'll see in the next section. These are very clear dividing points in the relationship between God and the human race, and again, the periods between these dividing points are often referred to as "dispensations" by pastors and Bible teachers.

    To summarize, here are the main features of the Dispensation of Conscience:
    • The key person in this dispensation was Adam. Even though Eve also received the new revelation concerning the covenant for this dispensation, it was Adam who was responsible for the sin that characterized this dispensation (Romans 5:14-19 and 1 Corinthians 15:22).

    • The covenant that introduced this dispensation was the Adamic Covenant.

    • The responsibility in this dispensation was for people to be ruled by God through their consciences.

    • The failure in this dispensation was that "all the people on earth had corrupted their ways" (Genesis 6:12, above), and "every inclination of the thoughts of [people's] heart was only evil all the time" (Genesis 6:5, above).

    • The judgment in this dispensation was the Flood, which killed every human on earth except for Noah and his immediate family.

    • The displays of God's grace in this dispensation were the salvation of Noah and his family during the Flood, and the fact that God gave humankind centuries to repent before He punished their wickedness.


    During this dispensation, humankind was governed through the conscience. As in the previous dispensation, humankind in general rebelled against God.

  3. The Dispensation of Human Government

    This dispensation began with the introduction of the Noahic Covenant (which we examined in Part One), and it covers the period from just after the Flood (Genesis 8:15) until the time of Abraham (Genesis 11:27-32):
    "Then God said to Noah, "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you - the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground - so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it." So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds - everything that moves on land - came out of the ark, one kind after another. Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."" Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being. "Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind. As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it." Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you - the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you - every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth." (Genesis 8:15-9:17)

    "This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram [later renamed to Abraham], Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai [later renamed to Sarah], and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no children. Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran." (Genesis 11:27-32)
    In Genesis 9:5-6 (above), God gave people the authority to judge and execute murderers, so here we see the death penalty for the first time in history. This new authority implies a system of human government in which certain people ruled and passed judgment over other people. During this dispensation we see kingdoms and nations and rulers beginning to rise up for the first time in history (below).

    Notice that God told Noah that the human race must be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth:
    "Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth."" (Genesis 9:1)
    In Genesis 9 and 10 we see that humankind began to spread out over the earth:
    "These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the earth." (Genesis 9:19)

    "(From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)" (Genesis 10:5)

    "Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD." The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah - which is the great city." (Genesis 10:8-12)

    "Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans scattered and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha." (Genesis 10:15-19)

    "These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations." (Genesis 10:20)

    "These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations." (Genesis 10:31)

    "These are the clans of Noah's sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood." (Genesis 10:32)
    In the above passages we see that different clans or nations had their own languages, and Genesis 11:1-9 (below) explains how these different languages came about. Notice that originally the whole world had one language, and notice that people built a city so they would not be scattered over the face of the earth:
    "Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."" (Genesis 11:1-4)
    Once again the human race had rebelled against God (by disobeying His command for them to fill the earth), which brought judgment on them:
    "But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel - because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth." (Genesis 11:5-9)
    In Genesis 1:1-2:3 we see the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth and the creation of Adam and Eve. Then Genesis 2:4 backtracks and restates the creation of the heavens and the earth and provides more details about the creation of Adam and Eve. Similarly, in Genesis 9 and 10 (above) we see people spreading out over the world with different languages, and then Genesis 11 (above) backtracks and explains why people spread out over the world with different languages.

    Immediately after the account of Babel (above), we see a genealogy of the line of Noah's son Shem:
    "This is the account of Shem's family line. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad. And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters. When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters. When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters. When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters. When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters. When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters. After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran." (Genesis 11:10-26)
    As we'll see in the next section, "Abram" in Genesis 11:26 (above) is Abraham, the great-grandfather of the nation of Israel. The above genealogy demonstrates that during this dispensation God was preserving a family line from Noah through Abraham and his descendants, which would reach its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

    To summarize, here are the main features of the Dispensation of Human Government:
    • The key person in this dispensation was Noah because God gave Noah the new revelation concerning this dispensation.

    • The covenant that introduced this dispensation was the Noahic Covenant.

    • The responsibility in this dispensation was for people to be ruled by God through human governments and their consciences.

    • The test in this dispensation was to spread out over the earth.

    • The failure in this dispensation was humankind's rebellion when they stayed together at Babel.

    • The judgment in this dispensation was the confusion of languages.

    • The display of God's grace in this dispensation was the preservation of Noah and his family line.


    During this dispensation, humankind was ruled through human governments (such as the numerous nations mentioned in the above passages) and their consciences. But as in all of the previous dispensations, humankind in general rebelled against God.

  4. The Dispensation of Promise

    This dispensation began with the introduction of the Abrahamic Covenant (which we examined in Part One), and it covers the period from Abraham's initial calling (Genesis 12:1) until just before the giving of the Law to Moses (Exodus 19:1-2):
    "The LORD had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev." (Genesis 12:1-9)

    "In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt - on the very day - they came to the Desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain." (Exodus 19:1-2)
    In the Dispensation of Innocence and also in the Dispensation of Conscience, we saw that God was dealing with the family line of Adam (i.e., the entire human race). In the Dispensation of Human Government, we saw that God killed off virtually the entire human race and then He started over with Noah's family line. In the Dispensation of Promise, we see that God was dealing specifically with Abraham's family line. This period is often referred to as the Dispensation of Promise by pastors and Bible teachers because of the many great promises that God made to Abraham and his descendants (which we examined in Part One).

    Abraham successfully passed several tests because of his faith in God, as in these examples:
    "The LORD had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there." (Genesis 12:1-5)

    "Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son." (Genesis 22:6-13)

    "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead - since he was about a hundred years old - and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness - for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead." (Romans 4:18-24)
    Abraham successfully passed several tests of obedience and faith, but inevitably there were times of faithlessness, rebellion, and sin in the lives of Abraham and his descendants.

    For example, God told Abraham to go live in the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:1-5, above), but Abraham didn't have enough trust in God to stay there during a famine, so he went down to Egypt (Genesis 12:10). In Egypt, he told his wife to be deceitful about her relationship with him because he didn't trust God to protect him, and his wife was taken into Pharaoh's harem (Genesis 12:11-20). When Isaac (Abraham's son) was dying, his wife Rebekah devised a plan to deceive Isaac so that their second son Jacob would receive the blessing from Isaac that should have gone to their first-born son Esau (Genesis 27:1-30). Eleven of Jacob's sons sold their brother Joseph into slavery, and they deceived Jacob into thinking that Joseph was dead (Genesis 37:12-35). The Israelites eventually left the land of Canaan and settled in Egypt, where they fell into idolatry by worshiping foreign gods (Joshua 24:14 and Ezekiel 20:4-10). These are some examples of faithlessness, rebellion, and sin in the lives of Abraham and his descendants.

    Abraham was the original patriarch (father or founder) of the nation of Israel, followed by his son Isaac, followed by Isaac's son Jacob, followed by Jacob's 12 sons:
    "Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!" (Hebrews 7:4)

    "Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs." (Acts 7:8)

    "For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs" (Romans 15:8)
    Since this dispensation was focused on Abraham and his descendants (who were ruled by the patriarchs), pastors and Bible teachers sometimes refer to this period as the Dispensation of Patriarchal Rule. The New Testament refers to King David as a "patriarch" or "father" (e.g., Acts 2:29), but in the next section we'll see that David lived during a different dispensation when the rule of authority came through the Law of Moses rather than directly through the patriarchs.

    While God was specifically dealing with Abraham's family line during this dispensation, the rest of the world continued to be ruled through human governments and individual consciences.

    To summarize, here are the main features of the Dispensation of Promise:
    • The key person in this dispensation was Abraham.

    • The covenant that introduced this dispensation was the Abrahamic Covenant.

    • The responsibility in this dispensation was for Abraham's descendants (through Isaac and Jacob) to be ruled by God through the patriarchs. Everyone else was meant to be ruled by God through human governments and their consciences.

    • The failures in this dispensation were that all of the patriarchs were deceitful at times, and most of them did not stay in the land that God had given to them, and the Israelites in general fell into idolatry in Egypt.

    • The judgment in this dispensation was the slavery in Egypt for 400 years (Genesis 15:13).

    • The display of God's grace in this dispensation was the preservation of a particular family line, which ultimately reached its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.


    During this dispensation, God focused on Abraham's family line. As in all of the previous dispensations, humankind in general (including the patriarchs at times) rebelled against God.

  5. The Dispensation of Law

    This dispensation began with the introduction of the Old Covenant (which we examined in Part One), and it covers the period from the giving of the Law of Moses (starting in Exodus 19:3) until the cross (Mark 15:24-25):
    "Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."" (Exodus 19:3-6)

    "And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. It was nine in the morning when they crucified him." (Mark 15:24-25)
    Once again we see a change in the way that God dealt with humans. This dispensation specifically involved the Jews, who were required to obey the 613 commandments in the Law of Moses (for example, see Judaism 101 - A List of the 613 Mitzvot (Commandments) Offsite Link).

    Notice that before the cross, Jesus lived His entire life under the Old Covenant and the Law of Moses because the Dispensation of Law ended at the cross. As we'll see in Part Three, when Jesus told people to pay their tithes and to properly observe the Sabbath and to obey the Ten Commandments, for example, He said these things because He and all other Jews were required to obey the Law of Moses, which was still in effect until it was canceled at the cross.

    During this dispensation, God raised up a succession of "judges" who defeated Israel's enemies and freed the Jews from each period of oppression caused by their idolatry and rebellion against God (see the book of Judges). But eventually the elders of Israel went to the prophet Samuel and said, "appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have" (1 Samuel 8:5). When Samuel asked God about this, God replied that the Jews had rejected Him as their King, just as they had done from the day that He brought them out of Egypt (1 Samuel 8:6-8). So once again we see humankind repeatedly rebelling against God. However, God gave the Jews what they wanted by anointing kings to rule over them (see the books of 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles).

    Most of the Jewish kings did not follow the Law of Moses, but instead they led the Jews into idolatry (for example, scan through the books of 1 and 2 Kings). In His grace and patience, God put up with their idolatry for many centuries, but eventually He caused the vast majority of the Jews to be taken into slavery as we saw in Part One. When they finally returned to the land of Israel, they began to follow the Law of Moses again (see the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, for example). However, it wasn't long before they went back into rebellion and idolatry. For centuries (before and after their slavery), God sent prophet after prophet to warn the Jews in order to turn them back to Him (e.g., Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Micah, Zephaniah, and Malachi).

    After the last two books of the Old Testament were written (Malachi and Nehemiah), approximately 430 years went by until the birth of Jesus (for the reason why, see sign #20 in my article called End-Times Prophecies Are Coming to Pass Right before Our Eyes). During Jesus' ministry, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law committed the unpardonable sin, the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, by accusing Jesus of being demon-possessed and rejecting Him as the long-awaited Messiah (Matthew 12:22-32, Mark 3:22-30). Because of this, judgment came in AD 70 when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, causing a world-wide dispersion of the Jewish people that continues to this day (for more on these things, see my article called The Second Coming).

    While God was specifically dealing with the Jews during this dispensation, the rest of the world (the Gentiles) continued to be ruled through human governments and individual consciences.

    To summarize, here are the main features of the Dispensation of Law:
    • The key person in this dispensation was Moses because God gave Moses the new revelation concerning this dispensation.

    • The covenant that introduced this dispensation was the Old Covenant.

    • The responsibility in this dispensation was for the Jews to obey the Law of Moses. All of the other people in the world (the Gentiles) were meant to be ruled by God through human governments and their consciences.

    • The failures in this dispensation were that the Jews kept turning to idolatry, and they did not fully obey the Law of Moses, and they rejected the Messiah.

    • The judgments in this dispensation were the periods of oppression (in the book of Judges), and the Assyrian and Babylonian Captivities (as we saw in Part One), and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 which caused a worldwide dispersion of the Jewish people that continues to this day.

    • The display of God's grace in this dispensation was the system of animal sacrifices under the Law of Moses which "covered" the Israelites' sins (but did not remove their sins as we saw in Part One). God's grace was also displayed as He waited for centuries, sending prophet after prophet to call the Jews to repentance, before His judgment fell on them.


    During this dispensation, God ruled the Jews through the 613 commandments in the Law of Moses. As in all of the previous dispensations, humankind in general (including most of the Jews) rebelled against God.

  6. The Dispensation of Grace

    This dispensation began with the introduction of the New Covenant (which we examined in Part One), and it covers the period from the cross (Mark 15:24-25) until shortly after the Second Coming (Revelation 19:11-21):
    "And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. It was nine in the morning when they crucified him." (Mark 15:24-25)

    "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, "Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small." Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh." (Revelation 19:11-21)
    This dispensation will end shortly after the Second Coming. For some fascinating things that the Bible tells us about the Second Coming (such as who will return to the earth with Jesus, what will happen after He returns, when He will return (although not a specific date), where He will return to, why He will return, and how He will return), see my article called The Second Coming.

    God's grace was displayed in various ways throughout all of the previous dispensations, but pastors and Bible teachers refer to the current age as the Dispensation of Grace based on passages such as this:
    "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people." (Titus 2:11)
    The apostles and the human authors of the New Testament received a certain amount of new revelation or divine inspiration, but the apostle Paul received more revelation concerning the Law of Christ than anyone else. This is why roughly half of the New Testament was written by Paul (see my article called Who Wrote the New Testament?). For example, Paul said:
    "For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles - Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 3:1-6)
    The human race's test of obedience during this dispensation is to receive God's free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus (for the detailed scriptural evidence on how to receive salvation, see my article called How to Receive Salvation). After receiving salvation, our responsibility is to obey the Law of Christ and to become more and more like Jesus.

    Earlier we saw that the Dispensation of Promise and the Dispensation of Law only applied to Abraham and his descendants (through Isaac and Jacob), but the present Dispensation of Grace applies to the entire world.

    The New Testament tells us that the majority of humankind will not accept God's free gift of salvation. It also says that many Christians and churches will turn away from the truth (see sign #16 in my article called End-Times Prophecies Are Coming to Pass Right before Our Eyes).

    The Bible describes a future seven-year period of unprecedented suffering and distress during which God will pour out His wrath on the earth. It will begin when Israel signs a seven-year treaty or contract agreement of some kind with the Antichrist, and it will end at the Second Coming. This seven-year period of time is often referred to as the Tribulation by pastors and Bible teachers. However, God will display His grace by "snatching" all Christians off of the earth before the seven-year Tribulation period begins (see my series called The Rapture of the Church).

    To summarize, here are the main features of the Dispensation of Grace:
    • The key person in this dispensation is the apostle Paul, who wrote almost half of the New Testament based on the new revelations that God gave him concerning the Law of Christ. The apostle John received a lot of new revelations as well (see the book of Revelation), but those were prophecies of future events rather than revelations of how we must conduct ourselves under the New Covenant.

    • The covenant for this dispensation is the New Covenant.

    • The responsibility in this dispensation is for Christians to obey the Law of Christ, which is described throughout the New Testament, and to become more and more like Jesus. Everyone else is meant to be ruled by God through human governments and their consciences.

    • The test in this dispensation is to receive God's free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus.

    • The failures in this dispensation are the sin (disobedience) in the lives of Christians, and Christians and churches abandoning the faith or turning away from sound doctrine, and the rejection of Jesus by non-Christians.

    • The judgments in this dispensation will be the seven-year Tribulation period and the Second Coming (because Jesus will kill all non-Christians at or shortly after the Second Coming - see my article called The Second Coming).

    • The displays of God's grace in this dispensation are the pre-tribulational Rapture (see my series called The Rapture of the Church) and the ministry of the Holy Spirit (see my article called All Gifts of the Spirit Are Available Today). In addition, there will be a great last-days revival during the few years prior to the Rapture (see sign #19 in my article called End-Times Prophecies Are Coming to Pass Right before Our Eyes). To get an idea of how close we might be to the Rapture, see the intended impact of my book.


    As in all of the previous dispensations, humans in general (including most Christians) are rebelling against God.

  7. The Dispensation of the Millennium

    After Jesus returns at the Second Coming, He will reign on earth in a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and prosperity. This kingdom will last for one thousand years, which is why pastors and Bible teachers refer to it as "the Millennium" or "the Millennial kingdom." My article called What Will Happen after the Second Coming? describes some fascinating things that the Bible tells us about life during the Millennium and on into eternity.

    The Bible does not describe a "Millennial Covenant" that will introduce the Millennium, but in Part One we saw that the New Covenant will be fulfilled in the Millennial kingdom. We'll just have to wait and see what new laws and commandments will apply during that dispensation (e.g., Isaiah 2:1-4, 51:3-6, Ezekiel 37:22-25, Micah 4:1-4).

    The Dispensation of the Millennium will cover the period described in Revelation 20:1-10:
    "And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth - Gog and Magog - to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Revelation 20:1-10)
    The above passage tells us that the devil will be locked away in "the Abyss" during Jesus' thousand-year kingdom on earth, so the devil will be unable to deceive people during the Millennium. Without their leader, the demons will presumably be inactive during the Millennium (or perhaps they will be locked in the Abyss as well) because the Millennium will be a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity. The above passage also says that certain people will reign with Jesus during the Millennium, and my article called What Will Happen after the Second Coming? explains that they are the Church Age Christians who were raptured before the seven-year Tribulation period began, as well as the Christians who were killed during the Tribulation period, as well as all of the Old Testament saints.

    The above passage goes on to say that when the thousand years are over, the devil will be released from his prison (Revelation 20:7, above). It's shocking to learn that even after 1,000 years of peace and prosperity on the earth, with Jesus living right here alongside us, the devil will be able to raise a vast army of people ("like the sand on the seashore") to do battle against the Lord (Revelation 20:7-9, above). But God will supernaturally defeat that army and send the devil to the lake of fire to be tormented day and night (Revelation 20:9-10, above).

    To summarize, here are the main features of the Dispensation of the Millennium:
    • The key person in that dispensation will be Jesus.

    • The covenant (if any) which will introduce that dispensation is not described in the Bible, perhaps because the New Covenant will be fulfilled in the Millennial kingdom.

    • The responsibility in that dispensation will be to obey Jesus' laws and commandments.

    • The test in that dispensation will be for every Gentile (non-Jewish) child born during the Millennium to believe in Jesus for salvation by their 100th birthday (as explained in my article called What Will Happen after the Second Coming?).

    • The failures in that dispensation will be that some Gentiles will not receive salvation by their 100th birthday, and that the devil will be able to raise a huge army of people to do battle against the Lord.

    • The judgments in that dispensation will be the death of Gentiles who don't receive salvation by their 100th birthday, the destruction of the devil's army after the thousand years have ended, and sending the devil to the lake of fire to be tormented day and night.

    • The display of God's grace in that dispensation will be 1,000 years of righteousness, peace, and prosperity on the earth (with no more wars).


    During this dispensation, humankind will be ruled directly by Jesus. As in all of the previous dispensations, multitudes of humans will rebel against God.


Conclusion

We've seen that there are several clear dividing points in the way that God has dealt with humans throughout history, and the periods between those dividing points are often referred to as "dispensations" by pastors and Bible teachers.

It's important that we try to understand the various dispensations because commands that applied to one group of people during a particular dispensation don't always apply to other groups of people during other dispensations. As we've seen, properly distinguishing between the various dispensations can help us understand some of the difficult passages in the Bible.

In each dispensation, we see the same rebellion:
  • When God gave people a simple command in the Garden of Eden, people rebelled against God.

  • When God governed people through the conscience, people in general rebelled against God.

  • When God allowed people to be ruled through human governments, people in general rebelled against God.

  • When God provided patriarchs to govern Abraham's descendants, Abraham and his descendants (and everyone else) in general rebelled against God.

  • When God gave the Jews a set of written laws to follow, the Jews (and everyone else) in general rebelled against God.

  • When God gave Christians the requirement to obey the Law of Christ and to become more and more like Jesus, they (and all non-Christians) in general are rebelling against God.

  • While Jesus reigns on earth for one thousand years, many Gentiles (non-Jews) will rebel against God by refusing to receive salvation before their 100th birthday. After the one thousand years are over, the devil will be able to raise a huge army of people who will rebel against God.


In all of the different ways that God has dispensed His authority and governance over us, people in general have displayed the wickedness and rebellion in their hearts. It's only through the grace of God that anyone will be allowed into heaven. For the detailed scriptural evidence on how to receive salvation and be allowed into heaven, see my article called How to Receive Salvation.


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Continue on to Part Three.


For the glory of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh, was delivered over to death for our sins, and was raised to life for our justification.

Dave Root
home page and email: https://www.vividchristianity.com

"Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3)

"Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist - denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also." (1 John 2:22-23)

"If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God." (1 John 4:15)

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." (1 John 4:1-3)

"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist." (2 John 1:6-7)

"He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." (Romans 4:25)
 
 
Modification History
  • 07/06/2024 - Added an update in the Introduction section.

  • 06/28/2024 - Added a link to my book in the section called "The Dispensation of Grace."

  • 04/23/2024 - Combined the last two bullet points in the Conclusion section.

  • 03/20/2023 - Added a link to my article called "New Testament Passages Concerning Women - Part Two" in the section called "The Dispensation of Innocence." Added Genesis 15:13 and slightly modified the concluding sentence in the section called "The Dispensation of Promise." Added a link to my article called "All Gifts of the Spirit Are Available Today" in the section called "The Dispensation of the Millennium."

  • 02/18/2023 - Added a link to my article called "Understanding Jesus - Part Two" in the section called "The Dispensation of Innocence." Added a paragraph about Jesus and all other Jews being required to obey the Law of Moses before the cross in the section called "The Dispensation of Law." Added links to my article called "End-Times Prophecies Are Coming to Pass Right before Our Eyes" in the section called "The Dispensation of Grace." Slightly modified the section called "The Dispensation of the Millennium." Added a link to my article called "How to Receive Salvation" in the Conclusion section.

  • 11/21/2022 - Added a paragraph about Cain in the section called "The Dispensation of Conscience."

  • 10/07/2022 - Modified the section called "The Dispensation of the Millennium." Modified the Conclusion section.

  • 08/11/2022 - Modified the section called "The Dispensation of Grace." Modified the section called "The Dispensation of the Millennium."

  • 07/23/2022 - Modified my closing statement.

  • 05/24/2022 - Added some comments concerning the confusion of languages at the tower of Babel in the section called "The Dispensation of Human Government." Added another judgment in the section called "The Dispensation of Grace." Added another failure in the section called "The Dispensation of the Millennium."

  • 03/09/2022 - Modified the section called "The Dispensation of Innocence." Modified the section called "The Dispensation of Grace."

  • 12/19/2021 - Replaced John 1:14 with Titus 2:11 under "The Dispensation of Grace."

  • 11/03/2021 - Made the font size a bit bigger and added a fish symbol as a favicon (which is displayed in the browser tab).

  • 09/24/2021 - Made a slight change to say that when the Antichrist makes a seven-year "covenant" with Israel, it will be a treaty or contract agreement of some kind. Originally I had said that it will likely be a peace treaty, but that's too narrow of a definition of "covenant."

  • 07/28/2021 - Modified the statement of responsibility in most of the dispensations.

  • 05/10/2021 - Modified the section called "The Dispensation of Law" to say that this dispensation ended at the cross. Changed the initial passage concerning the cross in the section called "The Dispensation of Grace."

  • 05/31/2020 - Modified the section called "The Dispensation of Grace" to say that this dispensation began with the introduction of the New Covenant.

  • 04/03/2007 - New article