THE POPULAR ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLE PROPHECY

DISPENSATIONALISM

MANY CHRISTIANS in Conservative Circles interpret the Bible Dispensationally. They believe Scriptures show God relating to Humanity through Seventh Distinct Dispensations or Epochs. Salvation is by grace through Faith in every Dispensations, But God relates to People in different ways in each Dispensations. Dispensationalist belong to many Denominations, and they often Identify with the Scofield Reference Bible and generally Interpret the Scriptures according to its notes and outlines.

DEFINATIONS OF DISPENSATIONALISM:

Dispensationalism is actually a Multifaceted System of thought. Dispensationalist Believe the Following:

• The Bible Is God’s Inspired and Inerrant Revelation to Humanity. Scriptures provide the frame work through which we Interpret the Past and the future.  God written word tell us of his plan for his creation, and His Plan will Surely Come to Pass.
• Because the Bible is God’s literal words and His Plan for History, We should Interpret it literally.
• The Bible reveals God Plan for History. God’s Plan include different dispensations, ages , or epoch of History, through which he test his creatures ( People and Angels ) . God is instructing his creatures through History as his creatures progresses from the Garden of Eden to the Heavenly city.
• All Humanity fell into sin, So each person must individually receive God’s provision of Salvation through the death and the resurrection Of Jesus Christ by believing the Gospel. Thus Jesus Christ is the Only way to a relationship with God.
• Scriptures teaches because of Mankind fall into sin all humanity is naturally rebellious towards God and the things of God. This is why only genuine believers in Christ are Open to the teachings of the Bible. Thus Salvation through Christ Is prerequisite to Properly understanding God’s Word. 
• God’s plan for Humanity include a purpose for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac  and Jacob — That is the Nation of Israel. This plan for Israel includes Promises that they will have the Land of Israel, And they will have a seed, and they will be a world wide blessing to the nations. Many of the promises to National Israel are yet to be fulfilled. Therefore God is not finished with Israel.
• God’s plan for all Eternity  also includes a plan for the church. However this is a Temporary phase that will end with the Rapture. After the Rapture, God will Complete his plan for Israel and the Gentiles.
• God’s main purpose in his master plan for History is to Glorify himself Through Jesus Christ. Therefore Jesus is the goal and Hero of History. 

Lewis Sperry Chafer was right when He suggested that ” Any Person is a Dispensationalist who trust in the blood of Christ rather than bringing an Animal sacrifice” and “Any Person is a Dispensationalist who observe the first day of the week rather than the seventh”( P.9 ). Most student of Scriptures would agree with dispensationalism in this broad sense as they distinguish  between the features of  the Old and New Testaments. 

Summarizing the essential nature of Dispensationalism, Charles Ryrie ( P. 31 ) Suggest, “Dispensationalism view the world as a household run by God. In this household world God is Dispensing or administering it affairs according to his own will and in various stages of Revelation in the process of Time. Theses stages mark off the Distinguishably  different Economics in the Out working of His total Purpose and theses economics are the dispensations. The Understanding of God’s different economic is Essential to a proper Interpretation of his Revelations with in these various Economies”. 

To Understand the Plan and Objective of God through out the ages, One must see a relationship between a Dispensation and a Covenant. A Dispensation is a Temporary Period of Time based on a Conditional test to Determine if Humanity will be faith to the Conditions of God. Scofield ( P.5 ) Define as “a Dispensation as a Period of time during which men is tested in respect of Obedience to some specific revelation to the will of God.” According to Ryrie ( P.29 ) A Dispensation is a distinguishable economy in the out working of God’s Purpose. If One were describing a Dispensation he would include others things. Such as the idea of distinctive, testing , failure and Judgment”. Humanity have failure these various testing. So each dispensation end in Judgment.

A Biblical Covenant is and Eternal Agreement God makes with Mankind , Revealing what He will do for Humanity. God made Seven Covenants with humanity through out history. Each Covenant reveal  principles by which God will relate to man.  Man has the free will to reject the Covenant or Principles of God, but when he violates the Covenant, He suffers the Consequences.  

ESSENTIALS OF DISPENSATIONALISM

Ryrie ( P.41 ) has stated what He calls the Three Essentials or Sine qua  non  ( Latin, “with out which not” ) of Dispensationalism  “The Essence of Dispensationalism , then is the distinctions between Israel and the Church. This grow out of the dispensationalist consistent employment of Normal  or plain Historical Grammatical Interpretation and its reflect an understanding of the basic purpose of God in all his dealing with mankind as that of Glorifying him self through Salvation and Others Purposes as well.”