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Ages and Dispensations

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

How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery...

And to make all men see what is the fellowship ['dispensation'] of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world ['from the ages'] hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by ['might be made known through'] the church the manifold wisdom of God,

According to the eternal purpose ['According to a purpose of the ages'] which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Eph. 3:2, 3, 9-11).

The words "age" and "dispensation" do not refer at all to the same thing; nor are they even closely related. The former has to do with a period of time, but the latter does not refer to time. It refers to a "stewardship" occurring within time -- within part of an age, a complete age, or even possibly a sequence of ages.

Thus, there are ages, and there are dispensations within the framework of these ages. The ages began at the time of the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the dispensations probably began shortly afterwards. There would probably have been a dispensation within God's economy in association with Satan being placed over the earth as its first provincial ruler (at a time preceding his fall and man's subsequent creation); and such a dispensation could have covered one or more ages.

But insofar as man is concerned, ages and dispensations began with the restoration of the earth and the creation of Adam. We are living during a present age and dispensation (though the dispensation only covers a part of the age), and Scripture reveals and names both a succeeding age and dispensation. Then, beyond this succeeding age and dispensation, there is an unending array of future ages and possibly one or more dispensations (occurring within God's economy during the course of these future ages).

Though we are living during an age, this present age is not "the Church Age" as it is often called. There is no such thing as "the Church Age." The age during which we live began long before the Church was brought into existence, and it will continue at least seven years following that time when the Church is removed from the earth.

Rather, the existence of the Church during the present time (during a part of an age) has to do with a "dispensation." It has to do with "the dispensation of the grace of God," "the fellowship ['dispensation'] of the mystery" (Eph. 3:2, 9).

And "the mystery" is explained in very simple terms in both Ephesians and Colossians. In Ephesians it has to do with the "Gentiles [who are 'aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world']" being made "fellowheirs [with Jewish believers], and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel" (2:12; 3:6). And in Colossians reference is again made to the Gentiles, with the mystery being defined as "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (1:25-28).

The mystery -- though "hid in God" from the beginning (the beginning of the ages) and, of necessity, forming an integral part of the foundational material in Genesis (seen in the types) -- was not fully revealed to man until the days of the Apostle Paul. Though God had chosen Moses to lay the foundational material, He waited another 1,500 years and chose Paul to, through additional revelation, open the foundational material to one's understanding.

This is somewhat similar to the angels referred to in I Peter 1:12 desiring "to look into" the things surrounding the salvation of the soul (cf. vv. 3-11). They apparently had seen these things in the Old Testament foundational material (which forms types) but could not fully understand them because the full revelation of God had not yet been given.

But why bother with the foundational material once the matter to which the foundational material refers has, at a later time, been revealed (as, for example, the mystery)? The answer is very simple. The later revelation opens the earlier after a fashion that the earlier will shed additional, necessary light on the later. And, aside from that, the unchangeable basics are set forth in the earlier revelation. Both must be viewed together in order to grasp the complete picture after a correct fashion.

(A "mystery [Gk. musterion, meaning, 'a hidden thing,' 'a secret']" in the New Testament is usually defined as something previously hidden but now revealed [cf. Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:4, 5]. This definition though should not be thought of along the lines of something not found in previous revelation, for there is nothing in the New Testament that does not have its roots somewhere in the Old Testament. Rather, a "mystery," in reality, pertains to something previously revealed [seen mainly in the types] but not opened up [or fully opened up] to one's understanding until a later point in time.

The making known of a mystery requires Divine action [e.g., Christ, in time past, opened previously revealed revelation surrounding mysteries to His disciples' understanding (cf. Matt. 13:10, 11; Eph. 3:2, 3); and the indwelling Spirit, today, leads individuals "into all truth" surrounding mysteries (cf. John 16:13-15; I Cor. 13:2)]. Such a making known takes something in the Scriptures which cannot be understood [or fully understood] in and of itself and, through Divine leadership [using additional revelation which casts light on the earlier revelation (today, comparing Scripture with Scripture under the leadership of the indwelling Spirit)], opens the matter to one's understanding.

"These are 'mysteries' [a reference to 'the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens' in Matt. 13] because men by nature and by their own abilities are unable to discover and to know them. It must 'be given' to a man 'to know' them. This Divine giving is done by means of revelation..." [R. C. H. Lenski].)

Ages

The Greek New Testament uses the word for "age" (aion) one hundred twenty-six times. And a major problem in understanding ages surrounds the translation of aion. The word has, numerous times, been translated either "world" or "forever" (e.g., Matt. 12:32; 13:22, 39, 40, 49; 21:19; Mark 4:19; 10:30; 11:14; Heb. 1:2; 5:6; 6:5, 20, KJV). Actually, in the KJV there are only two instances in the entire New Testament where aion has been translated "age" (Eph. 2:7; Col. 1:26). Other versions (e.g., NASB, NIV) have, on the other hand, rendered the word as "age" in many instances, though still frequently remaining with the KJV translations "world" and "forever."

Then, to further complicate the issue in the KJV, the Greek word genea (appearing in a plural form and meaning "generations") has been translated "ages" twice (Eph. 3:5, 21), and the former mistranslation leaves a very misleading thought.

Actually, in Eph. 3:21 both aion and genea appear together, and both have been mistranslated in the KJV. Genea, appearing in a plural form, has been translated "ages"; and aion, appearing twice and meaning within its structured usage, "of the age of the ages" (referring to the climactic age in a sequence of ages, i.e., to the Messianic Era [which is the subject matter leading into this verse -- vv. 1-11]), has been translated "world without end."

(Aion and genea also appear together in Col. 1:26; and, unlike Eph. 3:21, both words have been translated correctly in the KJV -- "...hid from ages and from generations...")

To translate genea as "ages" in Eph. 3:5 sets forth an issue concerning ages which is not at all in accord with the teaching of other Scripture. Scripture sets forth the thought of a series of ages beginning at the time of the creation of the heavens and the earth (I Cor. 2:7; Eph. 3:9; Heb. 1:2), which move toward and climax with the coming Messianic Era. That is, the 1000-year Messianic Era is the climactic age in a series of ages which began with the creation of the heavens and the earth and the placing of Satan over the earth as the earth's first provincial ruler.

The basic problem though with understanding the word meaning "generations" as ages in Eph. 3:5 has to do with the thought that many generations come and go during Man's Day, but not so with ages. The whole of Man's Day -- 6,000 years -- actually covers only one age, not many ages as Eph. 3:5 in the KJV would lead one to believe.

Scripture makes it quite clear that only two ages exist within the framework of the 7,000 years referred to by the seven days in Gen. 1:1-2:3. One age covers the first 6,000 years, and the other age (the climactic age) covers the last 1,000 years.

To understand this within its Scriptural framework, begin with Matt. 12:31, 32. These verses, dealing with what is called "the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit [attributing to Christ an exercise of supernatural power emanating from Satan rather then from the Holy Spirit]," refer to two ages. And the sin of committing this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit by the religious leaders in Israel was such that it would not be forgiven them, "neither in this world ['age'], neither in the world ['age' (not in the Greek text, but implied)] to come" (v. 32).

That is, there would be no forgiveness during either the age in which they lived or in the age which would follow. And, the action by the religious leaders in Israel (looked upon in a larger sense as action by the entire nation), followed by Christ's announcement to them, forms the major turning point in Matthew's gospel.

It was on "the same day" in which this occurred that "Jesus went out of the house [a reference to the house of Israel], and sat by the seaside [a reference to the Gentiles]" (Matt. 13:1; cf. Dan. 7:2, 3; Matt. 23:38; Rev. 13:1). It was also on this same day that He began to speak in parables, something new in His ministry. Then it was shortly after these things occurred that the Church was first mentioned and the ministry of Christ moved more toward the thought of the Cross rather than the Crown (cf. Matt. 16:17-23; 17:22, 23; 20:17-19). And then, anticipated by all the preceding, the announcement was finally made by Christ in Matt. 21:43 that the kingdom (the proffered heavenly sphere of the kingdom which had been rejected) would be taken from Israel and be given "to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof."

The two ages referred to in Matt. 12:32 cover 7,000 years of time -- the age which covers Man's Day, and the age which covers the Messianic Era. And this is quite easy to illustrate.

1. Looking Forward in Time

First, note the account of the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17-30. This ruler approached Christ with the question, "Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life [lit., 'life for the age']?" (v. 17). And Christ told him exactly what he must do (vv. 19-21). Christ's answer had to do with obedience to that which God had commanded, denying self, taking up one's cross, and following Christ (cf. Matt. 16:24-27).

Confusion arises when a person attempts to read into this passage that which is not there, while ignoring that which is there. The subject is entrance into the kingdom during the coming age, not eternal life which exists during the present time and extends throughout the endless ages of eternity. Contextually, the words "eternal life" in verse seventeen could be better translated, "life for the age." The word "eternal" in the English text is a translation of the Greek word aionios (the adjective form of the noun aion, meaning "age").

And, verse thirty clearly shows that "age" has to be the correct understanding of aionios in verse seventeen. In verse thirty, following the translation in most English versions, Christ refers to "eternal life" in the "world to come [some translate, 'age to come']" (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV). This though is not what the Greek text states at all. In the Greek text, aion and aionios both appear together, referring to the same period of time. Aion has been translated "world" (or correctly, "age" in some versions); and aionios has invariably been translated "eternal" (as in v. 17).

The latter part of Mark 10:30 should literally read, "...and in the age to come age-lasting life," or, "...and in the age to come life for that age." "Eternal life," as previously stated, is not even in view. There is no such thing as inheriting "eternal life" in the "age to come [or 'world to come' as some translations erroneously read]."

Eternal life is not inherited; it is a free gift, and it is a present possession rather than a future hope. The possession of eternal life (present) and coming into possession of an inheritance (future) -- both spoken of numerous times in Scripture -- are two different things entirely. That which is in view in Mark 10:17-30 is an inheritance with Christ as co-heir in the 1000-year kingdom during the coming age.

But that which we want to see here is a reference to the same two ages referred to in Matt. 12:32. The coming age is, in Mark 10:30, specifically identified as the Messianic Era; and the present age, in existence at a time preceding Calvary in Matt. 12:32, lasts until the Messianic Era.

2. Looking Back in Time

Now, with that in view, note several Scriptures which show that the age in existence at a time prior to Calvary -- an age which extends forward to the Messianic Era (the end of Man's Day) -- also extends back to the very beginning of Man's Day. That is, comparing several other references with Matt. 12:32 and Mark 10:17, 30, it can unquestionably be shown that one age covers the whole of Man's Day.

"As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world ['age'] began" (Luke 1:70).

"Since the world ['age'] began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind" (John 9:32).

"Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world ['age'] began" (Acts 3:21).

"Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world ['age']" (Acts 15:18).

The word "prophet" (Luke 1:70; Acts 3:21) is used in Scripture in a somewhat broader sense than it is usually thought of today. The word appears quite often (about 150 times in the N. T.) and is used as a title given to the person whom the Lord had chosen to communicate -- "announce," "declare" -- His message to the people; and the message need not necessarily be prophetic per se for the title "prophet" to be used of the messenger.

This title is used referring to those chosen at different times to declare the will and purpose of God through either a written revelation or a verbal expression. It is used of individuals preceding the existence of the nation of Israel (Jude 14), of individuals in Israel (Matt. 23:37; Luke 24:27), of individuals in the first century Church prior to the completion of the canon of Scripture (I Cor. 12:28; 13:9, 10; Eph. 4:11), and of individuals in Israel once again yet future (Joel 2:27, 28; Rev. 11:3, 10).

In this respect, all of those chosen to write portions of the Word of God, beginning with Moses and ending with John, could be called "prophets." And others, such as Enoch or Noah who communicated the message of God to the people of their day -- though they were not chosen to write particular sections of Scripture -- could also be looked upon after this same fashion (cf. II Peter 2:5; Jude 14). In fact, this word, in its strict Scriptural usage, could be used referring to certain individuals all the way back to and including Adam himself.

(The first recorded statement by Adam, which concerned an existing relationship between himself and Eve, has far-reaching ramifications. It has to do with "a great mystery" which God desires His people to know and understand, for it concerns an existing relationship between Christ and the Church. The former forms the type and the latter the antitype, and this mystery can be seen in its correct proper perspective only through viewing both the type and antitype together [cf. Gen. 2:23, 24; Eph. 5:21-32].)

The age in which Jesus lived at the time of His earthly ministry is, thus, not only seen in Scripture as extending forward to the beginning of the Messianic Era but it is also seen as extending back to the beginning of man's existence on the earth. Comparing the different ways aion (age) is used in Luke 1:70; John 9:32; Acts 3:21; 15:18, a person can arrive at only one conclusion. The present age, looking back in time, covers the entire period of the "prophets," which, of necessity, would have to include not only Enoch (who "prophesied" over 1,500 years prior to the appearance of Moses [Jude 14]), but also Adam.

3. The Complete Picture

God knew all of His works which would transpire within the framework of the ages at the time of man's creation (Acts 15:18). And this was something known at a prior time when He designed and made the ages with the thought in mind that His Son would, in the climactic age of the sequence of ages in view, inherit "all things" (Heb. 1:2). And God -- being both Omniscient and the Architect of the ages -- in order to make His will known and reveal events transpiring during the ages, simply "spake by the mouth of his holy prophets," beginning with Adam.

Accordingly, at least three ages in relation to the earth can be seen in Scripture. At least one age (and there may have been more than one) existed between the creation of the heavens and the earth in Gen. 1:1 and the beginning of the restoration of the ruined creation in Gen. 1:2b. Then another age began at that point which covers the next 6,000 years. And, to bring the first sequence of ages to a close, the climactic age of the ages will be ushered in at the completion of the 6,000 years, an age which will cover the next 1,000 years.

Then, at the end of the 1,000-year Messianic Era, the present heavens and earth will be destroyed and be replaced with a new heavens and a new earth, and a new age will begin (which will apparently be the first in a new sequence of ages). How long that age will last is unrevealed. But it will have a beginning point and an ending point. And following that age will be another age, and then another, and then another, forming an unending God-designed and arranged sequence or sequences of ages comprising eternity.

Dispensations

"Dispensation" is the term used in Scripture to show distinctions in God's dealings with different groups of mankind during Man's Day, along with the Messianic Era. As previously shown, one age covers the whole of Man's Day and another age covers the succeeding Messianic Era; but, as will be shown, there are more than two dispensations within the framework of these two ages.

The word "dispensation" is the translation of the Greek word, oikonomia. A cognate form of the word is oikonomos, which is made up of two words -- oikos (house) and nemo (to manage). Thus, oikonomos has to do with the management of a house, referring particularly to the person (the manager, the steward) placed in charge of the house. And oikonomia (the word used for "dispensation") carries the same basic meaning.

Oikonomia has been translated "stewardship" in three instances in the New Testament (Luke 16:2-4, KJV); and the word actually only appears five other times, translated "dispensation" four of the times (I Cor. 9:17; Eph. 1:10; 3:2; Col. 1:25; I Tim. 1:4, KJV).

"Stewardship" has to do with household management. Christians are stewards in this respect since they are members of a household, have been placed in charge of a portion of the Owner's goods, and are expected to manage those goods within the household (under the leadership of the Holy Spirit) after such a fashion that there will be an increase (cf. Matt. 25:14ff; Luke 19:12ff).

Thus, a "dispensation" simply has to do with the management of the Lord's household affairs through those whom He has placed in His house (stewards). And when there is a stewardship change within God's dealing with mankind, there is, correspondingly, a change in the dispensation. This would have to be the case, for stewardship and dispensation are synonymous in this respect.

Within the scope of the 7,000 years set forth through that foreshadowed by the seven days in Gen. 1:1-2:3, there are at least four different dispensations. There is a present dispensation (during which God is dealing with Christians), there were at least two past dispensations (one in which God dealt with Israel, and the other in which He dealt with mankind at large prior to His dealings with Israel), and there is a future dispensation (the Messianic Era).

Then, the period prior to the creation of Adam in which Satan ruled over the earth apart from a successor being present could probably be called a dispensation in the strict sense of the word (for a stewardship did exist, one in which Satan rebelled against the Lord within his assigned position and trust). And on the other side of the 7,000 years a similar situation exists with respect to the thought of dispensations, with man then occupying positions in God's government of the universe.

However time and events both before and after the 7,000 years are spoken of in Scripture only to an extent which will allow man to properly understand time and events during the 7,000 years. Scripture deals with the latter almost exclusively, having very little to say about the former.

Thus, to speak of dispensations outside the framework of the 7,000 years is doing little more than surmising. We have very little revelation to work with in this respect, and the subject has been mentioned only to carry some continuity of thought from the past age or ages into the 7,000 years and from the 7,000 years into the future ages.

1. The Normal Dispensational Outlook

When referring to dispensations, The Scofield Reference Bible is usually looked to more that any other source, for its references follow, to a large extent, a dispensational framework set up different places in the footnotes. And this is the same dispensational framework which is usually taught in Bible colleges and seminaries when viewing Scripture after a dispensational fashion.

Footnotes in The Scofield Reference Bible call attention to seven dispensations: 1) Innocence (from the creation to the fall), 2) Conscience (from the fall to the Flood), 3) Human Government (from the Flood to the call of Abraham, 4) Promise (from the call of Abraham to the giving of the Law at Sinai under Moses, 5) Law (from Sinai to Calvary), 6) Grace (from Calvary to the Kingdom), and 7) the Kingdom (the 1000-year Messianic Era).

The preceding though, in The Scofield Reference Bible, is based on an incorrect understanding of what constitutes a dispensation. Dr. Scofield, for example, defines a dispensation as "a period of time during which man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God" (footnote to heading of Gen. 1:28ff).

Then, commenting on "the dispensation of the fulness of times" in Eph. 1:10, Dr. Scofield states, "This, the seventh and last of the ordered ages which condition human life on the earth"

(The preceding quotations were taken from The Scofield Reference Bible of 1909, the original edition. The same definition of a dispensation was retained by the editors in The New Scofield Reference Bible of 1967, the updated edition; but the footnote commenting on "the dispensation of the fulness of times" in Eph. 1:10 was deleted in the later edition.)

Thus, in both editions of The Scofield Reference Bible, there is an incorrect definition of a dispensation. And in the original edition, in the footnote commenting on Eph. 1:10, "dispensation" and "age" are made synonymous, i.e., the seven dispensations are set forth as seven ages.

This is probably the point to which a high percentage of the existing confusion concerning both dispensations and ages can be traced, for footnotes in The Scofield Reference Bible, rather than Scripture itself, have set the mold for much of the dispensational thought in Christendom today. And this is also probably why the present dispensation is, more often than not, erroneously called "the Church Age" by many Christians.

2. The Scriptural Divisions

Using the strict definition of the Greek word oikonomia (dispensation), Scripture will logically divide itself into four dispensations during the 7,000 years extending from the creation of Adam to the end of the Messianic Kingdom. In I Cor. 10:32 mankind is divided into three groups, and God's dealings with these three groups -- separately during Man's Day, and together during the coming Messianic Era -- establish the only Biblical dispensational scheme of the matter.

"Give none offence [do not be offensive or provide a cause for stumbling], neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God."

God deals with mankind in cycles of time. There were 490-year cycles in which He dealt with Israel (e.g., Dan. 9:24-27), and these cycles occurred within a larger 2,000-year cycle in which He dealt (and will deal) with the nation (seven years yet remain -- the seven years comprising the coming Tribulation, Daniel's unfulfilled Seventieth Week -- to complete not only a final 490-year cycle but the full 2,000-year cycle).

There are actually three of these 2,000-year cycles (though only one pertains to Israel); and the three 2,000-year cycles, comprising the whole of Man's Day -- covering God's dealings with the Jews, the Gentiles, and the Church of God (His dealings with each occurring separately within one of the 2,000-year cycles) -- is followed by the last cycle of time, lasting 1,000 years. This will be the 1,000-year Messianic Era in which God will deal with the Jews, the Gentiles and the Church of God together at the same time. And all of this has been foreshadowed by the seven days which God placed at the very beginning of His revelation to man, in Gen. 1:1-2:3.

That would be to say, God, throughout the 6,000 years comprising Man's Day, deals with the three divisions of mankind on an equal time-basis -- for 2,000 years each. Then, following the 6,000 years He will continue His dealings with these three divisions on an equal time-basis. He will deal with all three together, at the same time, for 1,000 years. And these four divisions comprise the dispensational divisions which Scripture itself provides. This is how the 7,000-year period, foreshadowed at the beginning, in Gen. 1:1-2:3, logically divides itself into four dispensations.

God began His actions after this fashion through dealing with mankind at large -- through what would be considered His 2000-year dealings with the Gentiles -- though during the first 2,000 years of human history there was, in the strict sense of the word, no such thing as Gentiles. A Gentile in Scripture is simply someone who is not a Jew (or today, when the expression "in Christ" is used, not a Christian as well [Gal. 3:28]); and prior to the call of Abraham and the separate creation which emanated from his seed through Isaac and Jacob (Isa. 43:1), a division within mankind of this nature did not, it could not, exist.

However, God's dealings with mankind in general during the first 2,000 years of human history was, in the main, with those who would later be looked upon as Gentiles. And His dealings with this division of mankind must either be placed in the first 2,000-year period or not be placed at all. Or, to turn that around, the first 2,000-year period must either relate to the Gentiles or not relate to any one of the three divisions of mankind.

Then God dealt another 2,000 years (seven years yet remain) with those called Jews, or Hebrews (Abraham was not a "Jew" [a name derived from Judah], but he was the first person in Scripture called a "Hebrew," with his descendants being called "Hebrews" [a name thought to mean "the one who crossed over," i.e., over the Euphrates enroute to the land to which he had been called, with his descendants looked upon as crossing over with him -- Gen. 14:13; 40:15; 43:32; Ex. 2:11; Joshua 24:2, 3]).

After that, which brings us into the present 2,000 years, God is dealing with a new creation "in Christ" -- with Christians -- called into existence for a specific, revealed purpose. And we are today living very near the end of the present two millenniums, which would also place man (Jew, Gentile, and Christian) very near the end of the entire triad of three 2,000-year periods.

That which will end the 6,000 years though, as previously shown, is not the completion of the present 2,000-year period but the completion of the previous 2,000-year period (for seven years yet remain to complete that period, which will occur after the completion of the present period). This period will be completed through the fulfillment of Daniel's full Seventy Weeks. One Week -- the Seventieth Week -- remains, which comprises the coming seven-year Tribulation.

Then, and only then, will God deal with all three divisions of mankind together, at the same time. And He will, at that time, deal with these three divisions after this fashion for 1,000 years, completing the full 7,000 years.

Thus, Scripture begins with a 2,000-year dispensation having to do with God's dealing with the Gentiles, it continues with another 2,000-year dispensation having to do with God's dealings with the Jews, it continues with another 2,000-year dispensation having to do with God's dealings with Christians, and it concludes the 7,000 years with a 1,000-year dispensation in which God will deal with all three groups of mankind, together at the same time.

This is the manner in which Scripture naturally divides itself, which is in perfect keeping with the framework of time foreshadowed by the six and seven days opening the book of Genesis. And following these natural divisions is really the best way to divide the whole of Scripture to show an overall dispensational picture which can be easily understood -- 1) from Adam to Abraham, 2) from Abraham to Calvary (plus the future seven-year Tribulation), 3) from Calvary to the Kingdom, and then 4) the 1,000 years toward which everything has moved since God, in the beginning, "made the worlds ['ages']" (Heb. 1:2).

Arlen L. Chitwood, The Lamp Broadcast, Inc., Norman, Okla.
E-mail: alchitwood@att.net.