Gods plan of the agesJesus(saints) (on) (back to)2000yrs 2000yrs 2000yrs (up) (earth) (earth)Adam-------------------Noah----------------------Jesus crucified--------------------rapture---(7yrs trib)----Jesus returns----sets up his millennial kingdom--------------------- great white thrown judgment -&- eternity new heaven &earth.1000yrs ( see Rev chps 20-21and 22 )( Rev 19 & 20)
A Study In Dispensations Part 1
1. Pease see on the above time line, there was approx 2000 yrs from Adam to Noah.2. approx 2000 yrs. form Noah to Jesus on the cross.3. approx 2000yrs from Jesus' crucifixion until now( 2005),by our present calendar. Our calendar is off a few years. Some think the Julian calendar is off 3 yrs or a little more. In any event we are living near the end of the church age which goes from the day of ( Pentecost which was 50 days after Jesus arose) to the rapture of the church. The church age is also known as the time of the Gentiles or also called the time of grace. The time of grace is a period when anyone can come to Jesus Christ and be saved and receive eternal life. Those who accept him duringthis age of grace will be taken up to heaven before the 7 years judgment that God pours out on unbelieving individuals and nations.Today Lets Discuss the Bible Dispensations
Lets start at the beginning. Jesus spoke these words in Luke 10:18 18And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. We can tell also by the dialog in Genesis that Satan was on the earth in the Garden of Eden. Right away he tempted Eve and caused her to fall and then Adam.
Satan and 1/3 of the angles of heaven had rebelled against God in heaven and were cast down to the earth. Satan had attempted to exalt himself above his creator (God). After being cast down he attempted to destroy Gods creation Mankind. God had told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good & Evil for in the day thereof they would die.
Satan called God a liar. and told Eve --------- this
1Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4.And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil
All the angles of heaven and all the people through out all generations even unto now are therefore watching the conflict of the ages.
Can mankind run his life without God? Who is right? God or Satan and Mankind? God has given men and women the freedom of choice. He doesn't want robots. God loves us and doesn't force us to love him and follow him.
He wants our willing love and obedience like we want our children to love and obey us because we know what is best for them. We don't want them to play in the traffic.
God made us and knows what is best for us. When we buy a new automobile the manual tells us what kind of fuel to use and how to take care of it. God has given us the manual for our life and happiness. It is the Bible.
Now lets look at the dispensations of Bible History. God is always the same but he has dealt with man in different ways during the different dispensations. It is a lesson plan to bring us to eternal life after we had fallen. As we study these different time periods you will find that after mans failure each dispensation ended in Judgment.
Example
1. The first time period was the dispensation of Innocence. Adam and Eve were innocent and didn't know anything about evil. They were created to live forever. They had perfect bodies and brilliant minds in that God gave them the ability to name all the creatures.
God met with them and talked with them because they were perfect and without sin or evil. They lived in a perfect environment and were stress free. There was no weeds or dangerous animals because those came after the fall. There was no disease germs or any thing on earth that could cause them sickness or harm. They were built to live eternally.
When they sinned they begin to die. They didn't drop over dead that day but the dieing process began. They actually lived several hundred years but the ageing process was then working ever so slowly in them.
Ever since then it is the nature of all living things to die. But God began a process and plan that was created by God even before the foundation of the world to rescue his fallen creation through his son. A plan to restore men and women back to fellowship an eternal life with him through belief and faith in his Son as the redeemer.
Please notice here that there is God the father and his Son Jesus talking in these early scriptures about the creation and even discussing it.
24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
2And God said, Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fi6sh of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Please note the words carefully we have above in red. They were spoken by the Father and the Son Jesus discussing the creation of mankind. They are both God discussing the creation from the beginning.( God the father and God the Son.) The words Us and Our denote plurality
I have had a couple of semesters of Hebrew. Though I have forgotten much of it I was impressed that our Hebrew teacher and text book stated that when a word in Hebrew ends in (iem) it is masculine plural.
Eliohiem (phonetic spelling) which denotes God in Hebrew scriptures is masculine plural. A man teacher is called Moreah in Hebrew and the word for men (plural) teachers is Moreahiem. The word for boy is (yelled) and boys is (yellediem) So God (Eliohiem) is masculine plural
Unfortunately most Jewish people misinterpret the one scripture that says Hear O Israel the Lord thy God is one. Jesus said me and my father are one. What is meant here is they are one in purpose and will. Jesus in his prayer in the garden just before his crucifixion asked his father if it was possible let this cup pass from me but he went on to say not my will but your will be done.
Jesus often said I came not to do my will but the will of my father. The Bible said when a man an women marry they become one flesh in the eyes of God but we know that they are two separate people but are to walk in agreement and love. How can two walk together unless they are in agreement.
Dispensations
Ok back to the discourse of the dispensations or Gods time periods of dealing with mankind down through history.
1. We see that the 1st dispensation ended in Judgment. Man and woman sinned and the judgment of the dieing process came upon them and all their descendents. They were driven from the garden and had to toil in the earth for their living from a world that was difficult. They farmed, raised sheep and had to deal with weeds etc. There was then pain in child birth for the women.
2. The second dispensation immediately began. In that dispensation period, mankind did what was right in their own eyes. God spoke to a few individuals like Enoch and Noah. Enoch was a friend of God and walked with God in the cool of the evening.
Please read the two chapters below.
Genesis 5
1This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; 2Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 3And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:4And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: 5And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
6And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:7And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters: 8And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.
9And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan: 10And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters: 11And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died. 12And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:
13And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters: 14And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died. 15And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:
16And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters: 17And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died. 18And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:
19And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 20And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.
21And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
25And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech: 26And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: 27And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
28And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: 29And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed. 30And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:
31And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died. 32And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Chp 6
1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.10And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
15And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. 16A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
17And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. 18But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
19And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. 20Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
21And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
22Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him,so did he.Commentary here:
We have seen that that the first dispensation ended with death coming upon mankind and they were driven form the garden of Eden which most bible scholars believe was in the area of what is now the rivers Euphrates and Tigress near Iraq.
Likewise the 2nd dispensation ended in judgment by a world wide flood.
If you will look at the time line chart at the top of this lesson you will see that there was approximately 2000 yrs.from Adam and Eve. to Noah's flood. There was 2 dispensations during that 2000 years. The age of innocence and the next age where man kind did what was right in their own eyes. Both showed that man degenerated into a life of violence, depravity and immorality much like we see today on earth everywhere you look.
By the way; you have probably seen on this web site links re: the finding of Noah's' ark. It has been found, and it is right where the Bible said it landed. You can schedule a trip to eastern Turkey, visit and see for your self. There is an visitors center there built by the government of Turkey. They have proclaimed Ron Wyatt the official finder.
For more information go either to Anchor stone which has much free information and pictures, or to The Ron Wyatt site. There are links to both on our site http://anewheavenandearth.org Click on them and you will receive fascinating insight to all we have been telling you.
The 1st two dispensations covered a period of approx 2000 years of history.
Our next lesson will cover 2 more dispensations and another 2000 yrs. Stay with us we will go through all the dispensations rapidly. You might want read both the book of Genesis and Exodus before the next lesson for we will be covering that
1And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
4And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
5And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.7Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. 8So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
The later chapters of Genesis cover the repopulation of the earth, The tower of Babel and its destruction. After it's destruction God scattered the tribes of the earth,across what was the land mass at that time.He then divided up of the land mass into continents which occurred in the time of a man named Peleg.
Genesis 10:25
And Arpachshad b24egat Shelah; and Shelah begat Eber. 25And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg. For in his days was the earth divided.
There has been speculation about how the American Indians arrived in North and South America. Scientist speculate that they crossed from Russia and China through the Aleutian Islands.
That is possible but the Bible has this one brief statement about the people being scattered and then mentions that the earth was divided. This came after the people were scattered. If you look at the globe of the earth it appears that Africa and South America are like pieces of a jig saw puzzle and could have been joined at one time. Geologist call it continental drift. In any event this is some what speculative.
This moving of the land mass didn't have to happen quickly but could have taken place slowly over several hundred years. The Bible said it was divided during the time of Peleg. In the early dispensations people lived several hundred years.
I am not the only Bible student that postulates this. I would like to add this is not necessary or important to your salvation and may be interesting to only a few people. It is possible that it meant that the people were divided. The Bible doesn't offer an other information on this subject.
The Call of Abraham
We will briefly cover the call of Abraham in the nest Lesson and progress on through it quickly to the dispensation of the Law of Mosses and after that the birth of Jesus Christ and the age of Grace which is the Christian dispensation. It will end with the rapture of the church to heaven. After that is the dispensation of the 7year tribulation. Please be patient we will soon get to the things that are happening now and the things that are in the very--very near future.
If you have questions about this lesson or the following lessons and dispensations go to our comments blog link on our web site and we will try to answer them.
May God bless you and your family Jesus loves you !! he really does
Bill Hicks