What are the seven dispensations? | GotQuestions.org

The Meaning of Dispensationalism and the Seven Periods of History

What are the seven dispensations? We're going to answer that question. You can also discover more on GotQuestions .org. Dispensationalism is a method of interpreting history that divides God's work and purposes toward mankind into different periods of time.

Our focus will be on the main seven dispensations, although some theologians believe there are as few as three or as many as thirty-seven. The first is called Dispensation of Innocence. This dispensation covered the period of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

These were God's commands in this dispensation. The Dispensation of Innocence was short-lived and ended with Adam and Eve's disobedience and ultimate expulsion from the Garden. The second dispensation is called the Dispensation of Conscience, and it lasted 1 ,656 years from the time of Adam and Eve's eviction until the flood.

This dispensation demonstrates what mankind will do if left to his own tainted will and conscience. The third dispensation is that of Human Government, which began in Genesis 8. God had destroyed life on earth with a flood, saving just one family to restart the entire human race.

God made these promises and commands to Noah and his family. Noah's descendants failed to scatter and fill the earth as God had commanded. About 325 years later, the earth's inhabitants began building a tower monument to their solidarity and pride.

God halted construction, created different languages, and enforced his command to fill the earth. The result was the rise of different nations and cultures. From that point on, human governments have been a reality.

The Abrahamic Covenant and the Dispensation of Promise

The fourth dispensation, called the Dispensation of Promise, started with the call of Abraham, continued through the lives of the patriarchs, and ended with the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt, a period of about 430 years.

During this dispensation, God developed a great nation that he had chosen as his people. The basic promise during the Dispensation of Promise was the Abrahamic Covenant, highlighted here. The fifth is called the Dispensation of Law.

It lasted almost 1 ,500 years, from the exodus until after Jesus Christ's death. During the Dispensation of Law, God dealt specifically with the Jewish nation through the Mosaic Covenant, or the Law. The dispensation involved temple worship directed by priests, with further direction by the prophets.

Eventually, due to the people's disobedience to the covenant, the tribes of Israel lost the promised land and were subjected to The sixth dispensation, the one in which we live now, is the Dispensation of Grace.

It began with a new covenant in Christ's blood. This Age of Grace, or Church Age, started with the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. This dispensation has lasted for almost 2 ,000 years, and it will end with the rapture of the Church.

The Millennial Kingdom of Christ and the Final Judgment

The seventh dispensation is called the Millennial Kingdom of Christ, and it will last for 1 ,000 years as Christ Himself rules on earth. The only people allowed to enter the kingdom are the born-again believers from this present dispensation of grace, as well as the righteous survivors of the seven years of tribulation and the resurrected Old Testament saints.

This period ends with the Final Judgment. That answers the question, what are the seven dispensations? On our website, gotquestions .org, you'll find a deeper discussion and recommended resources. If this helped you, give us a thumbs up and click subscribe.

Meanwhile, if you'd like to study more, click that bell and check out these other questions.