What your pastor never told you about the old testament – Part 3

“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine…” Acts 2:42

The first two in this series dealt with the Old Testament as a covenant between God and the Israelites but not for us Gentiles. This edition deals with THE DIFFERENT AGES AND DISPENSATIONS OF GOD’S DEALINGS WITH MEN (termed THE DISPENSATIONAL PERIODS). Dispensation (Gr kairos) is a certain limited and definite TIME PORTION of “chromos” (Gr for duration unlimited) Gal. 4:4-5; 2Tim. 2:15.

It has become imperative for us to know the DIVISIONS of the Bible, due to its general and undiscriminating use by some “Christians,” which has caused a monumental spiritual calamity to the souls of millions, who claim to be saved.

Two (2) passages in the New Testament make it crystal clear that the Bible has been divinely DIVIDED to suit the range of time and season. The first is found in Hebrews 1:1-2 and the second in 2Tim. 2:15.  In Heb. 1:1-2 the Scripture says “God Who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by (His) Son.” This means that God has spoken at “many times” as well as “in various ways.”  The time when He spoke to “the fathers” is distinguished from the time in which He has “spoken to us.” Also, the time in which “He spoke by the prophets” stands in contrast with the time in which He spoke by (His) “Son.”  And the “time past” is distinctly distinguished from “THESE LAST DAYS.”

To “rightly divided the word of truth” (2Tim. 2:15), it is extremely essential to regard the TIMES in which the WORDS were spoken, as well as THE TIMES in which they refer.  The three dispensational periods in the Bible are:
• The Patriarchal (Fathers) age

• The Mosaic (Moses) age
 
• The Christian (present) age. 

The Patriarchal dispensation was from Adam to Moses; the Mosaic dispensation was from Moses to the death of Christ, and the Christian dispensation is from Christ’s death to His second coming – Gal. 4:4-5; 1Thes 4:16-18.
 
By virtue of this, what is recorded as connected with the TIMES of the Jews is not necessarily applicable to the TIMES of the Christians. There is no authority for taking enactment Divinely fitted for the times of the Jews and transferring them to the present dispensation. Hence, nobody can transfer, for example, TITHE paying, from Jewish to Christian dispensation IF THE APOSTLES DIDN’T!!

All Bible excerpts are from the KJV.

For more information, please contact us at: The Church of Christ
59, International Airport Road,
By Stop Over Motel Bus Stop
Opposite Mobil Filling Station
Ajao Estate, Lagos.
Phone: 08020597508; 08035517773; 08138484275; cocajaoestate@gmail.com
Evang. Joshua A. Koranteng