A knowledge of “dispensational truth,” as it is often termed, is indispensable for the intelligent reading of the Bible. Yet many Christians seem to have hardly given it a thought. God has been pleased to deal with men at different times in various ways. Fresh revelations of Himself and of His will have ushered in new modes of dealing with men, new dispensations.
“Dispensational truth” teaches us rightly to distinguish these changes and to discern their nature, so that the important features of each may not be obscured. The importance of this for us Christians is that we thereby learn the true character of the calling wherewith we are called from on high and of the age in which we live.
Up to the time of Christ, a dispensation ran its course in which the prominent feature was Israel, the chosen nation of the stock of Abraham. The period in which we live, from Pentecost to the coming of the Lord, is marked by altogether different features. Not Israel, but the church is prominent in God’s thoughts today. Before dwelling on the important distinctions between the two, let us be quite sure that we understand exactly what we are speaking about.
By ISRAEL we do not mean the Jews, the scattered nation as they are today, nor as they were in the time of our Lord, a remnant still clinging to their ancient capital, Jerusalem. We do not allude to them as they actually existed at any time, but rather to what that nation was according to God’s original plan for them.
The Church
When we speak of THE CHURCH, we do not refer to any ecclesiastical building nor to any denomination, nor to any number of professed Christians banded together into what is called nowadays “a church.” We use the term in its scriptural sense. The Greek word rendered “church” simply means “called-out ones.” Those who are called out of the world by God during this period of Christ’s rejection are by this means and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit banded together into God’s assembly, the church.
It may be helpful to notice that in Scripture the term “church” is used in three ways:
2. As the aggregate number of all Christians upon earth at any given time (1 Cor. 10:3232Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: (1 Corinthians 10:32); 1 Cor. 12:2828And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. (1 Corinthians 12:28); Eph. 1:22,22And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, (Ephesians 1:22) etc.). In this aspect, the church is like a regiment which abides the same, though the units which compose it are constantly changing.
Of these, the last is the sense in which we use the word in this article, though if we speak of the church as it exists on earth today, we obviously allude to it in its second aspect. It must be remembered, however, that we refer, as in the case of Israel, not to what the church actually is or has at any time been, but to what it is according to the original design and thought of God.
A Few Necessary Distinctions
Having defined our terms, let us observe a few necessary distinctions.
1. With John, the forerunner of the Lord, God’s utterances under the old covenant reached their full stop. With Christ, the new utterances began. His appearance on earth heralded the dawn of a new day. When the Son of God had died and risen again, when He had ascended to heaven and sent down the Holy Spirit, then was inaugurated a dispensation that was utterly different from all that had gone before.
2. The characteristic feature of the old dispensation was law; that of the new is grace. In Christ, a power mightier than the law was present. Now God gives and man receives. The new dispensation is marked by grace reigning through righteousness, to eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 5:2121That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:21)).
3. The old dispensation centered around Israel as a nation; the new is connected with the church. There is nothing national about the church. God is now making an election from all nations, and those thus gathered out for His name compose “the church.”
Moreover, in connection with the church, God begins with the individual. It is composed of those who have personally been set in right relations with God. Only as forgiven and as having received the Spirit to indwell them do they become members of the one body and “living stones” in the spiritual house.
4. Connected with Israel was a ritualistic worship, the value of which lay in its typical significance. The church’s worship does not consist of sacrificial offerings, symbolic ceremonies, and the like, but is “worship in spirit and in truth.”
5. Israel’s blessings and privileges were largely of an earthly and material order; the church’s are heavenly and spiritual. When Paul wrote to the Ephesians as to the heavenly inheritance of Christians, far from speaking of material things, he said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:33Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: (Ephesians 1:3)). How complete the contrast!
6. While Israel’s destiny is to be the channel of blessing to all nations, during the golden years of the millennial age, the church’s destiny is association with Christ in heaven.
Was there a definite time when God’s ways with Israel ended and when the church period began?
The death of Christ marked the close of God’s dealings with Israel as a nation, and His resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost inaugurated the present dispensation. Compare Acts 2:41-4741Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2:41‑47) with 1 Corinthians 12:1313For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13).
Two qualifying remarks must, however, be made.
First, though God’s ways with Israel reached their great climax in the cross, He, nevertheless, continued certain supplementary dealings with them until the death of Stephen, and perhaps even until the destruction of Jerusalem. Nor were the full designs of God as to the church made known in their entirety at the very outset of the present age. They were gradually revealed through the apostles, particularly through Paul, though the church itself began its corporate existence on the day of Pentecost.
Second, God’s ways with Israel have ended only for a time. Israel has been side-tracked, as it were, while the church occupies the rails. When the church has been transferred to heaven, Israel will again be brought out upon the main line of God’s dealings.
What was God’s object in calling out Israel into the special place they occupied?
They were called to take possession of the promised land for God, as a kind of pledge that the whole earth belonged to Him. When they entered Canaan, they crossed the Jordan as the people of “the Lord of all the earth” (Josh. 3:11-1311Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan. 12Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man. 13And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap. (Joshua 3:11‑13)). Further, they were to preserve in the world the stock “of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came” (Rom. 9:55Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans 9:5)). Incidentally also, in that nation as a sample and privileged beyond all others was made God’s last trial of the human race. If, as Romans 3:1919Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. (Romans 3:19) puts it, the law utterly condemns the sample nation of the Jews, who were under it, then every mouth is stopped, and all the world is “guilty before God.”
What is God’s object and purpose in connection with the church?
The church is Christ’s body (Eph. 1:2323Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:23)). Therefore in it He is to be expressed, just as our bodies are that in which we live and express ourselves.
It represents Him here during the time of His rejection and personal absence in heaven. Satan has got rid of Christ personally from the earth, but He is here as represented in His people. To touch the church, or any who belong to it, is to touch Him. His own words to Saul imply this: “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” (Acts 9:44And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? (Acts 9:4)).
The church is God’s house, the only house He has upon earth at the present time. God will not be turned out of His own world! He dwells today in a house which none have been able to destroy. God’s ultimate purpose is to have a bride for Christ (Eph. 5:25-2725Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25‑27)), a people who, sharing now as heavenly strangers His rejection, find their eternal portion as sharers of His heavenly glory.
Shall we not thank God that our lot is cast on this side of the cross of Christ?
F. B. Hole (adapted)