Dispensations of God are His divine orderings of the affairs of the world.
The Seven Dispensations of God:
- Dispensation of Innocence: The period of time in the Garden of Eden prior to the fall of man. Adam & Eve’s needs were all met, there was no fear and they had a relationship with God. The dispensation ended by a conscious decision of Adam to disobey
- Dispensation of Conscience: This period of time, man lived according to his own conscience. He did whatever seemed right in his own eyes. This continued until the Great Flood.
- Dispensation of Human Government: After the Flood, God wanted the descendants of Noah to scatter and re-populate the earth. However, man decided to stay together, unite as one and try to be like God. The problem here was not the outward actions of man, but the attitude of heart – that is they did not acknowledge a need for God.
- Dispensation of Promise: This is when God made a promise to Abraham. His descendants lived under the covenant of circumcision with the Father. This lasted until they went down into Egypt.
- Dispensation of Law: This was the period of the Mosaic Law. It lasted until the resurrection of Jesus
- Dispensation of Grace: Those of us who follow Christ are under His grace. The Lord knew that no one could follow the law perfectly, so He sent the One who could follow the Law (His son) to become the perfect sacrifice that grace could be extended. This is the age in which we currently live and it is rapidly coming to a close.
- The Kingdom Age / Millennial Reign of Christ: This is the final dispensation. It begins after the conclusion of the Great Tribulation and the establishment of Jesus’ throne on the earth.
