Time is divided up into seven periods, which Bible scholars call dispensations. Each dispensation is defined by how God interacts or deals with mankind at that time. Today, we’ll cover each of those seven dispensations.

1. The Dispensation of Innocence. This time period begins when man is placed in the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve lived there and maintained the garden, in direct fellowship with God. There was no sin. They were innocent of any sin or wrong. All they understood was goodness and righteousness. This age, or dispensation, ended when they disobeyed God and were driven out of the garden. (Genesis 1-3). We do not know for sure how long this dispensation lasted.

2. The Dispensation of Conscience. Through the fall of Adam and Eve, mankind gained knowledge of both good and evil (Genesis 2:17, Genesis 3:7). They now had to rely on their conscience to guide them to discern what was good versus evil. While they had a conscience through which God tried to point them to do right, many, such as Cain, rebelled. This dispensation ended at the flood of Noah.

3. The Dispensation of Human Government. This dispensation began at the flood of Noah. Man had failed to follow his conscience, or the inner knowing of what was right before God, and had become so wicked that God had to destroy all but Noah and his family in a worldwide flood. After the flood, God gave man responsibility and authority to govern the world with him. Man was tested as to whether he would do what God gave him to do after the flood. God spoke the same blessing over Noah that he had spoken over Adam and Eve. Man’s authority over the earth to rule and govern by God’s command was based on Genesis 9.

4. The Dispensation of Promise. This dispensation began when God called Abram and entered a covenant of promise with him and his seed. The seed of Abraham would become a great nation, eventually bringing forth the Messiah, and God promised him this. God also promised to Abram and his seed the Promised Land, which even today belongs to Israel. Abram’s test, and after he was renamed, Abraham’s test, was to have faith in what God had promised. His descendants did not continue to pass this test, and the result was Egyptian bondage. (Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 15:5, Genesis 17)

5. The Dispensation of Law. This period began when God gave the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. It was given to them to regulate their lives. It defined what was sin for the Israelites. We see that the children of Israel repeatedly disobeyed the law and suffered the consequences many times. The law was given to point man to Christ, and this period lasted until Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross. (Exodus 20:1- Exodus 31:18, Romans 10:4)

6. The Dispensation of Grace. This period has also been called the Church Age, and it is the dispensation in which we are currently living. It began at the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and will last until the rapture, or catching away, of the church. Christ fulfilled the law and as a result made the way for man to be righteous through faith in Him. Man is no longer tested by the law to be made right through his actions, but now man is accepted by God simply by accepting Jesus Christ as his Savior. (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:24-26, I Thessalonians 4:16-17)

7. The Dispensation of the Reign of Christ. This speaks of the 1,000 year millenium. This is earth’s final dispensation before we go into eternity. At the second coming of Christ, He will defeat those who followed the antichrist and satan, and He will set up an earthly kingdom in which the saints will rule with Him for 1,000 years. At the end of the 1,000 years, the enemy is loosed for a time to tempt those alive on the earth who have not had the opportunity to choose between God and the devil. Then the enemy is defeated, judged, and thrown into the lake of fire forever, along with his followers. At the close of this last dispensation, God will renovate the earth, purifying it and giving us a perfect planet. He will bring the heavenly Jerusalem to earth and we will all be together for eternity. (Revelation 19:11- Revelation 20:15)

That’s a quick overview of the seven dispensations, or periods into which time is divided. Tomorrow, we’ll explore the application of each of these dispensations in the life of a believer.