AN EXAMINATION OF
DISPENSATIONAL THEOLOGY (Part 1)
by Dr. Renald E. Showers
The majority of Dispensational
Theologians are convinced that the Scriptures reveal seven dispensations
of God's rule which cover the scope of history. This article will examine the first three of those recognized
dispensations.
Traditionally
Dispensational Theologians have called the first dispensation the Dispensation
of Innocency. Since Dispensational Theologians normally name each new
dispensation after its new ruling factor or factors, it might be better to call
the first dispensation the Dispensation of an Unconfirmed Favorable
Disposition. The reason for this suggested name will be seen later.
The
first dispensation began with the creation of man and ended with the fall of
man from God. The Scripture portion
which covers this dispensation is Genesis 1:26-3:24.
The
ruling factor which God used to govern man during the first dispensation was an
unconfirmed favorable disposition.
Before man fell, he was favorably disposed toward God. Adam and Eve fellowshipped with God. They obeyed God by cultivating the Garden of
Eden in accordance with His will. They
did not run and hide from Him when He approached them. These things indicate that man originally
had a disposition which was favorably oriented toward God.
It
should be noted, however, that this favorable disposition was unconfirmed. This means that man was not locked into it
forever. He could lose it by his own choice.
Man's
favorable disposition toward God was unconfirmed because man had not chosen it
for himself. It had been given to him
by God at the time of his creation.
When God created Adam, He gave him this type of disposition in
accordance with His own sovereign choice.
He did not show Adam all the types of dispositions which were possible
and then give him the option of deciding which type he wanted.
The
only way that man's favorable disposition could become confirmed was for man to
be confronted with an alternative to being favorably disposed toward God and
then for him to choose to remain favorably disposed.
The special revelation which God gave to man for the first dispensation is recorded in Genesis 1:28-29; 2:15-17, 24. God revealed that man was to abstain from eating the forbidden fruit and was to cultivate and keep the Garden of Eden. As male and female, human beings were to live together in a marital, one-flesh relationship, reproduce themselves, and exercise dominion over animal and plant life.
Man's
responsibility during the first dispensation was to obey God on the basis of
his unconfirmed favorable disposition toward Him. This responsibility subjected man to the following test: Would
man obey God on the basis of his unconfirmed favorable disposition?
Man
failed the test. Satan entered the garden and confronted him with an
alternative to being favorably disposed toward God. The alternative was for man to reject God's rule over him and assert
his own self-rule – just as God is His own Self-Ruler. Man chose to adopt this alternative rather
than to remain favorably disposed toward God.
He displayed his choice outwardly by eating the forbidden fruit in
violation of God's command.
Man's
failure resulted in judgment which consisted of several tragic
consequences. Man died spiritually as
soon as he made his fateful choice (Gen. 2:16-17). A great separation took place between man and God. Man lost his favorable disposition toward
God and replaced it with a disposition of enmity against God (Rom. 8:7). This is evident from the fact that Adam and
Eve hid from God when He entered the garden to talk with them after their
original sin. Because man had chosen to
go this route, this disposition of enmity was a confirmed disposition. Man was so thoroughly locked into it that he
could not rescue himself from it. Only
the redemptive work of God could accomplish such a rescue.
In
addition to spiritual death, man became subject to disease, deformity,
accidents, and physical death. The
woman was cursed with pain in childbirth and with the desire to rule the
man. The ground was cursed, thereby
making man's work of growing food much more difficult. Man lost his perfect environment. Because man followed Satan's lead to rebel
against God's rule, Satan was able to usurp the rule of the world system away
from God temporarily. Instead of living
in a world system ruled by the benevolent God who loved him, man was doomed to
live in a world system dominated by a tyrant who would use man for his own
selfish ends.
In
the midst of this dismal tragedy, at the end of the first dispensation God gave
a ray of hope. In Genesis 3:15 He pronounced the first promise of the Redeemer
who would be born of woman into the world during the course of history. As God progressively worked out His purpose
for history, two of the great things which He would accomplish through the
Redeemer would be the provision of redemption for fallen man and the defeat of
Satan.
The
second dispensation extended from the fall of man through the Noahic Flood. The
Scripture which covers this dispensation is Genesis 4:1-8:19.
Inasmuch as man had lost his favorable disposition toward God, that ruling factor of the first dispensation was no longer available. As a result, in the second dispensation God administered His rule over man in a different way. It appears that He used two ruling factors to govern man during the new dispensation. The first new ruling factor was the human conscience. In Romans 2:14-15 the Apostle Paul indicated that human beings have a conscience. That the conscience functions as a ruling factor over human beings is evident, for Paul declared that it caused pagan Gentiles to "do by nature the things contained in the law," even though they had never been given the Mosaic Law. Paul also indicated that the conscience is the awareness of good and evil which exists inside of human beings.
Genesis
3:5 and 22 indicate that man obtained this awareness of good and evil as a
result of eating the forbidden fruit.
In other words, the human conscience began when man rebelled against
God. Since the conscience functions as
a ruling factor over human beings, it became one of the ruling factors of the
new dispensation. Because of this,
Dispensational Theologians have chosen to name the second dispensation after
this new ruling factor.
The
second ruling factor which God began to use in the second dispensation was the
restraint by the Holy Spirit. In
Genesis 6:3 God talked about His Spirit striving with man during the days prior
to the Noahic Flood. The verb which is
translated strive signifies to rule.[1] Thus, the Holy Spirit was also a ruling
factor during the second dispensation.
In
Genesis 4:3-7 God accepted Abel's blood sacrifice but rejected Cain's bloodless
sacrifice. This implies that the special revelation which God gave to man for
the second dispensation was that man was to approach God only by means of a
blood sacrifice (cf. Heb. 11:4). Sinful man, no matter how sincere, could not
come to God in his own way. He could come only in the one way that God had
ordained.
Man's
responsibility during the second dispensation was to obey God on the basis of
his conscience and the restraint by the Holy Spirit. This responsibility
subjected man to the following test: Would man obey God on the basis of his
conscience and the restraint by the Holy Spirit?
Man
failed the test miserably. Cain refused
to bring the kind of sacrifice which God required. When God rejected his improper sacrifice, Cain became so enraged
that he murdered Abel. Cain then began
to build a godless civilization which became characterized by polygamy and
violence. By Noah's day "the wickedness of man was great in the
earth" and "every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually" (Gen. 6:5).
Things had become so bad that God could find only one righteous man left
– Noah.
This
serious failure brought horrible judgment. Through a worldwide flood, God
destroyed the perverted segment of mankind.
Through the ark, God preserved Noah and his family. In essence, God wiped the slate clean in
order to give man a fresh start.
It
should be noted that murder began as the result of man's rebellion against
God's rule and that the flood took place because of that rebellion and God's
judgment of it.
The
third dispensation extended from the Noahic Flood to the call of Abraham. The Scripture portion which covers this dispensation
is Genesis 8:20-11:32.
Inasmuch
as man had failed to obey God on the basis of his conscience and the restraint
by the Holy Spirit during the second dispensation, once the flood ended God
started a new dispensation by instituting a new ruling factor. Since the
fountainhead of all human corruption prior to the flood was the continued
existence of the first murderer, Cain, God determined that never again would He
allow murderers to infect the rest of humanity with their rebellious attitudes.
Shortly after Noah and his family left the ark, God ordained capital punishment
for murderers (Gen. 9:5-6).
Capital punishment necessitates a human government agency to administer the sentence of execution. God required that the murderer's blood be shed by man. Thus, when God ordained capital punishment, He was thereby instituting human government as a further restraint against the lawless rebellion of man. In Romans 13:1-7 the Apostle Paul indicated that governmental authority derives its existence from God, that it was ordained for the purpose of restraining evil, and that it functions as the minister of God when it uses the sword for capital punishment.
Human
government, then, with its authority to administer capital punishment, was the
new ruling factor which God instituted for the third dispensation. Human conscience and the restraint by the
Holy Spirit continued on as ruling factors in this new dispensation (indeed,
Rom. 2:14-15, 2 Th. 2:7, and other passages indicate that they continue as
ruling factors even into today's dispensation). Thus, the third dispensation
had three ruling factors which God used to govern man: human conscience, the
restraint by the Spirit, plus human government. Dispensational Theologians have named the
third dispensation after the new ruling factor, since that is the factor which
made the third dispensation distinct from the second.
The
special revelation which God gave to man for the third dispensation is recorded
in Genesis 9:1-17. God commanded man to
multiply and populate the earth. He
indicated that animals would now have a fear of man. God made animals a source of food for man. He promised that there would be no more
universal floods, and He required the execution of murderers.
Man's
responsibility during the third dispensation was to obey God on the basis of
human conscience, restraint by the Holy Spirit, and human government. This responsibility subjected man to the
following test: Would man obey God on the basis of these three ruling factors?
Man
also failed this test of the third dispensation. Noah became drunk, which led
to an indiscretion on the part of his son, Ham. Through time Noah's descendants rebelled against God's command to
populate the whole earth (Gen. 11:4).
In order to prevent their scattering over the entire earth, they began
to build the city and tower of Babel.
This
failure brought God's judgment. Up to
this time Noah's descendants spoke only one language (Gen. 11:1). This universal language enabled them to work
together on their building project. God judged these rebels by confusing their
language. For the first time man began
to speak different languages. This
brought the building project to a halt because the builders could no longer
understand each other's speech. It also
caused Noah’s descendants to separate from each other and relocate to different
areas of the earth. Thus, they would begin to populate the entire earth.
Through
time this beginning of different languages caused the development of
nations. Thus, different languages and
nations began as the result of man's rebellion against God's rule and God's
judgment of that rebellion. n
In
the next GFJ, look for part two of this article as Dr. Showers covers the
dispensations of Promise, The Mosaic Law, Grace, and The
Millennium.
Taken from There
Really Is A Difference by Renald E. Showers, (The Friends of Israel Gospel
Ministry, Inc., Bellmawr, NJ, 1990).
Used by permission. Renald E.
Showers is a graduate of Philadelphia College of Bible and holds degrees from
Wheaton College, Dallas Theological Seminary, and Grace Theological
Seminary. He presently is on the staff
of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, Inc. and serves on the faculty of the
Institute of Biblical Studies. He has
been a guest Bible Conference teacher at the Duluth Bible Church.
[1] C. F. Keil
and F. Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary On The Old Testament, Vol. I, translation
by James Martin (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1959), p.
851.