In order to understand the Bible, one must study dispensationally, this means to rightly divide the Scriptures (2 Timothy 2:15). But what does it mean to study dispensationally or to rightly divide? On the most basic level: it is reading a Bible passage and asking, "Am I in the group of people being spoken to here?" That is, "Is this passage speaking to Christians?" Most commonly, we are taught that the entire Bible is written to us. But that should be understood that the Bible is written for us, for our learning, but not all of it is addressed to us.
For example: When god gave the law to the people of Israel through Moses in about 1500 BC, one of the laws was to do no work on the Sabbath. The Sabbath lasts from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. When a man was found picking up sticks on the Sabbath in Numbers 15:32-36, God commanded the people of Israel to put him to death by stoning. Now does that mean if we see our neighbor mowing his grass on Saturday morning that he is committing a sin? Should we round up the whole neighborhood and stone him. Obviously, the answer is no. We must realize that the children of Israel were not Christians. We are not under the law of Moses like they were then. They lived in a different dispensation from us. Read Romans 8:2.
The word dispensation comes from the word dispense. So a dispensation is an administration (dispensing) of God’s Will over a certain period of time to a certain group of people. Another way to look at this is that a dispensation is God’s way of dealing with a group of people during a particular time period. To properly understand a Bible passage, it is important to know both the time period to which it refers, and the group of people to which it applies. This way, you can determine which dispensation applies to each Biblical passage.
God has had different rules for different groups of people in different time periods. Not only may the rules be different, but the punishment for not keeping the rules may be different. The way God interacts with man may be different. Sometimes even the environment man lives in may be different. Refer to capital punishment; there was none until Genesis 9:6 even though murder had occurred prior to this period. God protected Cain from being punished. When God instituted the law of Moses, capital punishment was administered for working on the Sabbath; the worship of idols, adultery, homosexual acts and consulting of spirit mediums were all punishable by stoning.
There are seven dispensations (human perspective) all of which are contained in Eternity. For the sake of our ability to understand, Bible students will often speak of Eternity Past and Eternity Future to distinguish the effect on the dispensations. Example: God has always existed and this time period including pre creation is considered as Eternity Past. God will always exist and this time period is considered as Eternity Future; however, this time period is scheduled to begin after the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ on earth and will last forever. The dispensations are defined as:
Innocence-from the creation to the fall of man: Genesis 1:1 to 3:22
Conscience- from the fall of man to the great flood. It lasted from about 4000 BC to about 2350 BC and is covered in the Scriptures from Genesis 3:23 to Genesis 8:19. With very little instruction from God during this time, man acted according to his own conscience. The evil became so overwhelming, that this dispensation ended when God destroyed all but Noah and his family in the great flood.
Human Government – from the great flood to the call of Abraham. This dispensation began in about 2350 BC and is still in effect. Although Abraham and his descendants went under the dispensation of promise around 2000 BC. It is covered in the Scriptures from Genesis 8:20 to Genesis 11:32. During this dispensation, God allows humans to govern themselves and to punish criminals.
Promise – from the call of Abraham to the giving of the law to Moses: to the children of Israel. This dispensation applied only to Abraham and his descendants through his son, Isaac, and Isaac’s son, Jacob (all called Israel). It lasted from about 2000 BC to about 1500 BC is covered in the Scriptures from Genesis 12:1 to Exodus 19:7. God promised Abraham that He would give land to Abraham’s seed and that his seed would bless all the nations of the world. Although Israel went under the law, the promise to Abraham is still in effect.
Law – from the giving of the law to Moses for the children of Israel to the Cross. This dispensation applied only to Jacob’s descendants, Israel. It began about 1500 BC and lasted until the Cross. Some rules of the law will resume after the Church is caught up to meet Christ in the air.
Grace – from the Cross to the rapture. This is the current dispensation. After Israel rejected Christ, the gospel was presented to the Gentiles
Kingdom – this is the Divine Government from the return of Jesus Christ to the Great White Throne of Judgment. This begins at the end of the seven year tribulation, which begins after Grace and lasts for 1000 years. During this time, Jesus Christ will reign as King in Jerusalem. Read Daniel 9 and Revelation for more on this.
It is important to understand dispensations so as to not mix up rules for different people in different times.