Dispensationalism Made Easy  

Introduction 

Down through the ages God has governed His creatures in various ways.Dispensationalism is simply the study of the different governments of God.  

According to "The New Scofield Study Bible",the "dispensations are a progressive and connected revelation of God´s dealings with man,given sometimes to the whole race and other times to a particular people,such as Israel.On man´s part the continuing requirement is obedience to the revelation of God.The purpose of each dispensation,then,is to place man under a specific rule of conduct,but such stewardship is not a condition of salvation." 

Dr.Scofield lists three concepts associated with the different dispensations:" 1.) a deposit of Divine revelation concerning God´s will,embodying what God requires of man as to his conduct; 2.) man´s stewardship of this Divine revelation; 3.) a time-period,during which this Divine revelation is dominant in the testing of man´s obedience to God."  

The following is a list of the different dispensations:1.) Innocence 2.) Conscience 3.) Human Government 4.) Promise 5.)The Law 6.) Word and Spirit 7.) Grace 8.) Kingdom 9.) The Fullness of Times 

Innocence 

The first government that God set up between Himself and man was the Dispensation of Innocence.Man was created in innocence and placed in a perfect environment.He did not know good from evil,simply because he knew only good.He had no desire or inclination to disobey God in any way. 

God told Adam that he was not to eat of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil"(Gen.2:17). This tree stood as a symbol of the distinction between God and man,a constant reminder that He was the creator and man the creature,and that man´s happiness depended on a recognition of this relationship.Despite this Adam went his own way.He was not compelled to sin but,tempted by Satan,he chose to disobey God.Eve was deceived but Adam transgressed deliberately (1Tim. 7:14).All was suddenly changed as a result of this rebellion against God´s chosen way to govern His creatures.After the fall we read that Adam "begat a son of his own likeness,after his image"(Gen.1:26;5:3). 

This dispensation ended in man´s expulsion from Eden (Gen.3:24).It closed with man rebelling against his Creator and instead of remaining in a state of "innocence" he now had the "knowledge of good and evil" written in His heart: 

"Who shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness"(Ro.2:15). 

Conscience  

With the entrance of sin man came into possession of the knowledge of good and evil,and with it conscience.Under this dispensation man was accountable to do all known good and to abstain from all known evil. 

With this new knowledge of good and evil a sense of blameworthiness came on man when he even contemplated doing wrong.One would think that this would in itself be a strong deterrent to evil and,perhaps,prevent man from ever falling into sin again. 

However,shortly after the beginning of this dispensation we find that "Cain rose up against Abel,his brother,and slew him"(Gen.4:8).Near the end of the dispensation of conscience,"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"(Gen.6:5).Because the earth was "filled with violence"we see that God must destroy all mankind by a flood,except Noah and his family. 

Man´s actions during the dispensation of conscience demonstrates what man will do when guided only by his conscience.Conscience may produce fear and remorse,but it will not keep men from doing wrong—because conscience imparts no power. 

Although the dispensation of conscience ended at the flood,conscience (or moral responsibility) continues as an abiding truth in human life (2Cor.1:12;Ro.2:15). 

Human Government 

Because of the violence and murder that had prevailed under the dispensation of conscience,God now instituted,with Noah,the dispensation of human government.The basis of this new arrangement is found in the Divine order: "Whosoever sheddeth man´s blood,by man shall his blood be shed"(Gen.9:6). 

Although man´s moral responsibility (under conscience) to God continued ("Render…unto God the things that are God´s),God delegated to him certain areas of His authority,in which he was to obey God through submission to his fellow man ("Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar´s",Mt.22:21).In the previous dispensation restraint upon man was eternal,but now a new and external restraint was added—the power of civil government. 

God also commanded Noah and his sons to be fruitful and to multiply and replenish the earth (Gen.9:1).Instead of scattering,their posterity kept together,and sought to build a capital city and "make themselves a name" by building a tower to heaven (Gen.11:4).Man became intoxicated with his own importance and willfully disobeyed God.In judgment upon man´s first attempt to establish a world order in opposition to the Divine commandment,God struck at the very thing that binds men together—a common language.He then "scattered them abroad from there upon the face of the earth".

Even though the dispensation of human government ended with the confusion of the common language,human government remains to this day a restraint upon man.We are told that "the powers that be are ordained of God"(Ro.13:1),and to resist that power is to resist God 

Promise 

After man´s failure under human government,God again made a beginning with a single family.God made a promise to Abraham,telling him that "in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed":

"Now the Lord had said unto Abram,Get thee out of thy country,and from thy kindred,and from thy father´s house,unto a land that I will show thee;and I will make of thee a great nation…and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed"(Gen.12:1-3). 

This promise to make out of Abraham a "great nation" also included the promise of a specific territory of land that the nation of Israel would inherit : 

"In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram,saying,Unto thy seed have I given this land,from the river of Egypt unto the great river,the river Euphrates"(Gen.15:18). 

The Lord also promides that He would bless all the nations of the earth through the "seed" of Abraham: 

"That in blessing I will bless thee,and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven,and as the sand which is upon the seashore…and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed"(Gen.22:17,18).

The "seed" in these verses refers to both the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal.3:16) and to the nation of Israel (Isa.61:9).Israel´s ultimate purpose is stated as follows: 

"Ye are the light of the world…Let your light so shine before men,that they may see your good works,and glorify your Father,Who is in heaven"(Mt.5:14,16). 

Therefore,the Lord promised Abraham that He would protect Israel and in return she would serve Him by "good works" so that all the nations would glorify the Lord Who is in heaven: 

"…the oath which He swore to our Father,Abraham,that He would grant unto us that we,being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,might serve Him without fear,in holiness and righteousness before Him,all the days of our lives"(Lk.1:73-75). 

After the Lord made these promises,he began to fulfill them by giving Abraham many decendants.Later,due to a famine,his descendants had left Canaan and gone into Egypt,where they were welcomed by thye king.At his command,they had settled in the best of the land,and had prospered and multiplied until the numbered about two million.However,a different dynasty had succeeded to that which had welcomed them.Suddenly,they were made slaves and forced to work from moring until night. 

"The children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage,and they cried,and their cry came up unto God…and God heard their groaning,and God remembered His covenant with Abraham"(Ex.2:24). 

Then God chose Moses to deliver His people,saying unto him,"I will send thee unto Pharaoh,that thou mayest bring forth My people,the children of Israel,out of Egypt"(Ex.3:10). 

And the Lord fulfilled His promise to Abraham that He would deliver Israel out of the hands of their enemies: 

"But because the Lord loved you,and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers,hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand,and redeemed you out of the house of bondage,from the hand of Pharaoh,king of Egypt"(Deut.7:8). 

After leading the children of Israel across the Red Sea and destroying the armies of Pharaoh,He also fought and destroyed the armies of Amalek in the wilderness (Ex.17:8-13).But even though the Lord had fulfilled His words to deliver the Israelites from their enemies,the Israelites did not "serve Him in holiness and righteousness",as was their part of the covennt.Instead,they rebelled against the Lord: 

"Our fathers understood not the wonders in Egypt;they remembered not the multitude of Thy mercies,but provoked Him at the sea,even at the Red Sea"(Ps.106:7). 

"Remember,and forget not,how thou provoked the Lord thou God to wrath in the wilderness;from that day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt,until you came into this place,ye have been rebellious against the Lord"(Deut.9:7). 

So we can see that the children of Israel refused to serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness in spite of the fact that the Lord did deliver them from their enemies.Instead,they were rebellious and their behavior made it obvious that in their present state it would be impossible for them to fulfill their destiny to be "the light of the world": 

"Let your light so shine before men,that they may see your good works,and glorify your Father,Who is in heaven"(Mt.5:15,16). 

The Law (Mosaic Covenant)

"Wherefore,then,serveth the law?It was added because of transgressions,till the seed should come to Whom the promise was made"(Gal.3:19). 

If the nation of Israel was ever going to fulfill their destiny as "the light of the world",it was now necessary for God to place them under the law,which would act as a "schoolmaster": 

"Wherefore,the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ…"(Gal.3:24). 

The Greek word translated "schoolmaster" is "paidagogos",and a paidagogos was a governesss and disciplinarian who was given the responsibility of guarding children from the evils of society and giving them moral training.The purpose of the Law was to place the children of Israel under the precise discipline of the law,and in this way the people would be a "holy nation". 

The Law,or the Mosaic Covenant,was composed of three parts.First was the "Ten Commandments",which is an _expression of the righteous will of God.Next were the "ordinances".Once an Israelite sinned,he was declared "blameless" if he brought the required offering and took part in the ordinances of "atonement".Lastly,there were the "judgments",which governed the social life of Israel.

If the children of Israel would faithfully keep the law then they would be known and feared by all the nations of the earth: 

"The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto Himself,as He hath sworn unto thee,if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God,and walk in His ways.And all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord,and they shall be afraid of thee"(Deut.28:9,10). 

"Keep,therefore,and do them;for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations,who shall hear all these statutes and say,Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people"(Deut.4:6). 

Not only that,but it was through the nation of Israel that all the people of the earth were to gain a knowledge of the one true God: 

"Unto them were committed the oracles of God"(Ro.3:2),so "that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God,and that there is none else"(1Ki.8:60).  

The Lord also revealed the the "law" was both "a blessing and a curse": 

Before,I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:A blessing,if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God,which I command you in this day;And a curse,if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God,but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day,to go after other gods,which ye have not known"(Deut.11:26-28). 

Later,God also promised King David that his son,Solomon,would "build a house for My name,and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever"(2Sam.7:13). 

At the dedication of the Temple that Solomon built "the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord".Over time "King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and for wisdom.And all the earth consulted Solomon,to hear his wisdom,which God had put in his heart"(1Ki.10:23,24).

But Solomon went down to Egypt for his queen,the daughter of Pharaoh,who "turned away his heart after other gods"(1Ki.11:1,4).As time went on in Israel the kingdom ruled by Solomon became a hindrance to God´s purposes.Isreal began to treat the Gentiles with contempt,and instead of revealing the true God to them,"the name of God" was "blasphemed among the Gentiles" through them (Ro.2:24). Solomon´s Temple,which was to have been "a house of prayer to all nations"(Mk.11:17),they treated as though it was not God´s house,but their own,and ended up by degrading it until it became at last "a den of theives". 

Not only did the Jews fail in their commission to be the Ministers of God,they also "mocked the messengers of God,and despised His words,and misused His prophets,until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people,till there was no remedy"(2Chor.36:16).Jerusalem was then given up to fire and sword,and the Jews who escaped death were carried away captive to Babylon. 

The law had brought "death" to the nation of Israel: 

"...for the letter killeth...the ministration of death,written and engraved in stones"(2Cor.3:6,7). 

It was during this time when the prophets began to reveal a time when the children of Israel would be brought back to their land and brought back to life.In a vision the prophet Ezekiel saw the nation of Israel and he likened them to "dry bones": 

"The hand of the Lord was upon me,and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord,and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bone….these bones are the whole house of Israel;behold,they say,Our bones are dried,and our hope is lost;we are cut off on our part"(Ez.37:1,11). 

The Lord then revealed how He would restore Israel and bring her back to life so that she could fulfill her destiny as "the light of the world": 

"He said to me,Prophesy upon these bones:and say to them,O dry bones,hear the word of the Lord.Thus says the Lord God to these bones,Behold,I will cause spirit to enter into you,and you shall live"(Ez.37:4,5;RSV). 

The nation would be reborn by hearing the word of God and having the Lord put the Holy Spirit within her.The Lord promised Israel that He would "take you from among the nations,and gather you out of all countries,and will bring you back into your own land…a new heart also will I give you;and a new Spirit will I put within you…and I will put My Spirit within you,and cause you to walk in My Statutes,and ye shall keep My ordinances,and do them"(Ez.36:24,26,27).  

The Word and the Spirit 

"The Law…was added because of transgressions,till the seed should come to whom the promise was made…which is Jesus Christ"(Gal.3:16,19). 

"And the Word was made flesh,and dwelt among us…"(Jn.1:14). 

At the beginning of the Ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit fell upon Him to give Him power (Mt.3:16;12:28;Jn.3:34):He said: 

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,because He hath appointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor;he hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,to preach deliverance to the captives,and recovering of sight to the blind,to set at liberty them that are bruised,to preach the acceptable year of the Lord"(Lk.4:18,19). 

The Lord Jesus Christ was sent into the world to"give repentance to Israel."He said,"I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of Israel"(Mt.15:24).And according to the prophecy of Ezeliel,the Son of Man came to give life to Israel.He told those of Israel: 

"It is the Spirit that giveth life…The words that I speak unto you,they are Spirit,and they are life"(Jn.6:63). 

This was the time when Israel would hear the word of God and come to life so that they could fulfill her destiny to be "the light of the world": 

"The hour is coming,and now is,when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God;and they that hear shall live"(Jn.5:25). 

The Lord next sent His Apostles to preach the "gospel of the kingdom" to the children of Israel:

"These twelve Jesus sent forth,and commanded them,saying,Go not into the way of the Gentiles,and into any city of the Samaritians enter not;But go,rather,to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.And as you go,preach,saying,The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.Heal the sick,cleanse the lepers,raise the dead,cast out demons…"(Mt.10:5-8). 

Later,He sent out "seventy" of His disciples to preach the same gospel and these disciples were also empowered by the Holy Spirit.He told them to "heal the sick that are there,and say unto them,The Kingdom of God is come near unto you"(Lk.10:9). 

So we see that "Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God,to confirm the promises made unto the fathers"(Ro.15:8): 

"The Lord thy God will raise unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee,of thy brethren…and will put My words in His mouth,and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him"(Deut.18:15,18).  

However,the leaders of Israel would not believe the words which He spoke to them and they resisted the Holy Spirit.The Lord Jesus Christ received no response but the bitterest hate from the Jewish religious leaders.They "held a council against Him,how they might destroy Him"(Mt.12:14).They then "delivered up and denied" the Lord Jesus,and "cried out,away with Him…crucify Him"(Acts 3:13;Jn.19:15).At last they "killed the Prince of Life". 

Surely,God would now gather His believers out of the world before engulfing it in judgment fire.But mercy upon mercy!Because God "is longsuffering toward us,not willing that any should perish"(2Pet.3:9),that awful day of judgment is deferred. 

The Lord´s intecessory prayer upon the cross secured Divine forgiveness for Israel: "Father,forgive them;for they know not what they do"(Lk.23:34). 

After His resurrection the Lord told the believers to remain in Jerusalem so that they would receive the "power" of the Holy Spirit so that the following prophecies could began to be fulfilled: 

"A new heart will I give you,and a new Spirit will I put within you…And I will put My Spirit within you,and cause you to walk in My statutes,and ye shall keep My ordinances,and do them"(Ez.36:27). 

On the day of Pentecost,the beginning of the Jewish Feast of Weeks,the believers did recive this gift of the Holy Spirit to enable them to follow the statutes and ordinances of the Lord: 

"And the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and of one soul"(Acts4:32). 

"And all that believed were together,and had all things common;and sold their possessions and goods,and parted them to all men,as every man had need.And they,continuing daily with one accord in the Temple,and breaking bread from house to house,did eat their food with gladness and singleness of heart"(Acts2:44-46). 

On the same day the Apostle Peter offered the kingdom to the unbelievers of the nation of Israel and their religious leaders: 

"Ye men of Israel…Repent,therefore,and be converted,that your sins may be blotted out,and the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;and He shall send Jesus Christ"(Acts3:19,20). 

But instead of repenting,the leaders "laid their hands on the apostles,and put them in the common prison"(Acts5:18).They next brought Spirit-filled Stephen before the Great Council and set up false witnesses against Him…"and cast him out of the city,and stoned him" to death (Acts7:58).We see that these leaders would not believe the Word of God and the "resisted the Holy Spirit".Stephen told them:

"Ye stiffed-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears,ye do always resist the Holy Spirit;as your fathers did,so do you"(Acts7:51). 

Throughout the ages God had remained on terms with mankind.But now every claim which the creature had on God was forever forfeited,and every tie forever broken.There had been promises and blessings,but the Messiah was to be the fulfiller of them all.If a single blessing now descend on mankind,it must come to them in grace. 

And it was no accident that "standing by and consenting" unto Stephen´s death was Saul (Paul),the leader of the rebellion against Christ,and who was chosen by God to usher in the dispensation of the Grace of God. 

Grace 

Paul was God´s foremost enemy,the leader of Israel´s rebellion against God.Instead of crushing His enemy,God now reaches down in grace to save Paul,and makes him His chosen vessel to dispense the riches of His grace to a sin-cursed world.Unto Paul was committed "the dispensation of the grace of God"(Eph.3:1-3),and "the gospel of the grace of God"(Acts20:24). 

Paul declared that the gospel which he preached "among the Gentiles"(Gal.2:2) was the subject of a special revelation peculiar to himself,saying that "the gospel which was preached by me is not after man.For I neither received it of man,neither was I taught it,but by the revelation of Jesus Christ"(Gal.1:11-12).Paul calls this gospel "the preaching of Jesus Christ,according to the revelation of the mystery,which was kept secret since the world began"(Ro.16:25). 

The "mystery" is the "gospel of the grace of God".Paul explains that Adam,the first man,disobeyed God,and as a result "sin entered into the world,and death by sin,and so death passed upon all men,for all have sinned"(Ro.5:12).Sin not only alienated man from God,it alienated God from man.A just and holy God could not but regard man as an enemy.But "while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son"(Ro.5:10).And "through our Lord Jesus Christ"all who believe "have now received the reconciliation" and God is not "imputing their trespasses unto them"(2Cor.5:19). 

The great truth of the doctrine of reconciliation is clear:"by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation,even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men into justification of life"(Ro.5:18). 

A new era has dawned upon the world.Now "the Father judgeth no man,but hath committed all judgment unto the Son"(Jn.5:22).And He,the sinner´s only Judge,is now the sinner´s Savior.Heaven is thrown open to the lost of the earth.Eternal life is brought within the reach of the weakest and the worst of men.God is not imputing trespasses,but preaching peace.And the only being in the universe who has the power to punish sin is now seated on the throne of God as Savior,and His presence there has changed that throne into a throne of grace.Today,"grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life"(Ro.5:21);"for the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"(Ro.6:23).

And this "free gift"of eternal life comes "unto all and upon all that believe"(Ro.3:22).As it is written,"For by grace are ye saved through faith;and that not of yourselves,it is the gift of God"(Eph.2:8).Salvation is the gift of God,bestowed on the principle of grace,and received on the principle of faith,and all made possible by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary.

During the dispensation of grace God "hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation"(2Cor.5:18).Now,as "ambassadors for Christ",we are to be "stewards of the mysteries of God"(1Cor.4:1) and proclaim "the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery".Besides the mystery that the sinner is saved by the grace of God,here are the other mysteries: 

The Mystery of Christ

The Apostle Paul wrote that he would have all believers understand his "knowledge in the mystery of Christ…that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs,and of the same body,and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel"(Eph.3:4-6).God´s purpose in the present dispensation is to make of the Jew and the Gentile a wholly new thing—"the Church,which is His body",formed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit (1Cor.12:12-13). 

Today the sinners of earth are called to the highest glory of heaven in the closest possible relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.God "hath raised us up together,and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus"(Eph.3:6).This is not a reference to the future state,but instead it is the place and calling of the Christian here and now.For it is a present truth that the believer has been "translated into the kingdom of His dear Son"(Col.1:13).All believers are to know that "our citizenship is in heaven"(Phil.3:20).This position as members of the Body of Christ is fully entered the moment that Christ is received by faith. 

The Mystery of Israel´s Fall

"For I would not,brethren,that ye should be ignorant of this mystery:that blindness in part is happened to Israel,until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in"(Ro.11:25).Due to their blindness,or unbelief,the nation of Israel has been temporarily set-aside as God´s agent upon earth (Ro.11:11,15).There is nothing in the Old Testament Scriptures to suggest that Israel would ever lose her position as God´s special people.And the purpose and effect of her "fall" is stated in the words that "God hath concluded them all in unbelief that He may have mercy upon all"(Ro.11:32).

If Israel would not accept salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ,at least they would not be permitted to keep this salvation from the Gentiles.So now God has temporarily suspended His prophesied plan and replaced it with a dispensation that had been kept secret,choosing Paul to be "the apostle to the Gentiles"(Ro.11:13) to proclaim the gospel of grace to all nations. 

The Mystery of the Rapture

"Behold,I show you a mystery:We shall not all sleep,but we shall be changed"(1Cor.15:51-52),"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout…then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds"(1Thess.4:16-17).This is the secret that at the coming of the Lord some of His people will pass to heaven,as Elijah did,"with death untasted and the grave unknown"(1Cor.15:51).

As mentioned previously,as members of the body of Christ our citizenship is in heaven.During this dispensation we are ambassadors for Christ.An ambassador is one who represents his nation or ruler in a foreign land.Today believers are representing the Lord Jesus in His absence here on earth.And when one nation declares war against another nation the first thing that is done is to remove the ambassadors to a safe location.God is going to remove His ambassadors before He declares war on this sinful world. 

Failure Again

As in the previous dispensations,man again has come short of God´s trust.The Church today has failed miserably to even acknowledge the Mystery,much less making it known.The main truths of the distinctively Christian revelation were lost in the early Church.The basal truth of salvation by grace through faith alone was not recovered until the sixteenth century and other truths were not recovered until the evangelical revival of the nineteenth century.Even so,today the vast majority of the so-called Christian Churches ignore these recovered truths and instead teach doctrine not meant for the church of the present dispensation.

The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His Church will bring the present dispensation of grace to a close.And by calling His heavenly people home to heaven the way will be cleared so that He can restore His covenants with His earthly people,the children of Israel,and therefore resume His prophesied program for earth. 

The resumption of The Word and Spirit 

Following the Lord´s coming for His believers,He will resume His program for earth according to prophecy.Once again the "gospel of the kingdom shall be preached"(Mt.24:14).The nation of Israel will be restored to Divine favor,for "God hath not cast away His people whom He foreknew"(Ro.11:2).

Prophecy reveals that "in the later time…a king of fierce countenance…shall stand up"(Dan.8:23),and this man,the Antichrist,"opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God,showing himself that he is God"(2Thess.2:4).He will make a treaty with the Jews and then break it by setting up "the abomination of desolation…in the Holy Place"(Mt.24:15).That event will mark the beginning of the "great tribulation",during which the Antichrist will persecute the Jews.Near the end of this tribulation the Lord Jesus will return to Jerusalem and deliver the Jews from their great enemy (Zech.14:4,5).Immediately following the deliverance of the Jews,"the sun will be darkened…and the stars shall fall from heaven"(Mt.24:28). 

After an unspecified time period "the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,in flaming fire taking revenge on them that know not God"(2Thess.1:7,8).This is a period of time when God will openly intervene in the affairs of man and will include the destruction of the Antichrist and the False Prophet and their armies.The Day of the Lord will usher in the Millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth. 

Kingdom 

The Old Testament Scriptures speak of an Age of universal righteousness and peace,a period of 1000 years during which Satan shall be bound and the Lord Jesus Christ will reign over the earth.

This will be the time foretold by the Prophet Isaiah,when "the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together,and a little child shall lead them…They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain;for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord,as the waters cover the sea"(Isa.11:6,9). Heaven will rule upon the earth and "the Lord shall rejoice in all His works"(Ps.104:31). 

The principle under which God will deal with men in those days will be "righteousness".It will be an "Autocratic Government",for the Lord will rule with a "Rod of Iron"(Isa.11:1;Rev.2:27;9:15;Ps.2:9),but that rule will be based on love. 

Yet the Lord´s beneficent reign will not change the unregenerate heart of man.At the end of the thousand years "Satan shall be loosed out of His prison" and will deceive the nations.However,this final rebellion will culminate in the casting of Satan and his followers into the lake of fire. 

Fullness of Times 

"That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ,both which are in heaven,and which are on earth,even in Him"(Eph.1:10). 

With eternity in view all of God´s children will have been removed from the presence of sin and brought into a glorified state.The members of the church of the present dispensation—not "the professing church",which is drifting to its doom,but the true church which the Lord is building—are elected to heavenly glory as "the body of Christ".The faithful martyrs of the "great tribulation" are to have a distinctive reward by election to heavenly glory as "the Bride,the Lamb´s wife"(Rev.21:9,10).Both the church and the Bride will be on display throughout eternity so that the heavenly host may observe the trophies of God´s grace. 

Scripture gives us a brief glimpse of this glorious eternity beyond,when every trace of sin shall have been wiped out forever,when heaven shall join with earth,and "the tabernacle of God"—the dwelling place of God—shall be with man."He will dwell with them,and they shall be His people,and God Himself shall be with them,and be their God"(Rev.21:3). 

Throughout eternity not one of the redeemed from any age will boast of his own righteousness or merit.All will acknowledge their unworthiness and proclaim the praises of the One Who died that they might live!

"Behold,God is my salvation;I will trust and not be afraid:for the Lord is my strength and my song;He is also become my salvation." 

Note: For this Dispensational Survey of the Bible I have used the words of such noted Dispensational teachers and writers as C.R.Stam,Sir Robert Anderson,C.I.Scofield,Clarence Larkin and Paul Sadler.