THE
SEVEN DISPENSATIONS by C.J. Koster
Satan, the Father of all lies, has
seen to it that the Sabbath of YHWH was changed to the first day of the week,
Sunday. This he accomplished in the 4th Century (write to us for further
details). Since then men have devised various excuses and invented fables and
lies in an attempt to justify this change. To name but a few: One of the first
fables was coined in 364 by the Council of Laodicea. They pronounced
Sabbath-keeping as “judaizing”. Thereby the Sabbath
was branded as the Jewish Sabbath and is still known as such by most people.
NOWHERE in the Scriptures will you find the Sabbath being called the Jewish
Sabbath. That is a man-made fable and therefore a lie. In the Scriptures it is
referred to as “Sabbath”, “the seventh day”, or “the Sabbath of YHWH your
Elohim” (Ex. 20:10) YHWH often calls it “My Sabbaths” (Ex. 31:13, Yehez. 20:12 etc.) The Sabbath was not made for the Jews
(as they allege) but “made by man” (Mark 2:27).More recently, another lie was
invented in an attempt to get past the truth of the Sabbath: the so-called
“Dispensational Truth”. Scofield in his Scofield Reference Bible has popularised the idea of
Dispensations, and he promotes “The Seven Dispensations”,
1.
Innocence (Gen. 1:28)
2.
Conscience or Moral Responsibility
(Gen. 3:7)
3.
Human Government (Gen. 8:15)
4.
Promise (Gen. 12:1)
5.
Law (Ex. 19:1)
6.
Church (Acts. 2:1)
7.
Kingdom (Rev. 20:4)
Hereby they insinuate that the
Almighty has dealt differently with man in seven different periods of time, as
if His standard for being accepted as His child has been changed from time to
time! Other dispensationalists only believe in four dispensations and most
Christians have led to believe in two dispensations viz. the dispensation of
law and the dispensation of grace.
In the KJV the word, dispensation,
appears four times, all of them in the N.T. 1Cor. 9:17, Eph. 1:10, Eph. 3:2 and
Col. 1:25. The KJV use of “dispensation” was carried over from its use in the
Latin Vulgate in these four texts. This word in the KJV, dispensation, does not
convey the meaning of the Greek word correctly. Therefore we find that almost
all the other, newer, English translations have used the word “stewardship”,
instead, which is more correct (see Nestle Interlinear, RSV, NASB etc.).
The word in the Greek text is “oikonomia” which simply means stewardship or the management
of a household or of household affairs (“Oikonomos”
denotes a steward). Let us now examine the theological use of dispensation:
Most Bible Dictionaries do not even list the word, dispensation. Baker’s
Dictionary of Christian Ethics and the New Catholic Encyclopaedia describe how
the word, which comes from the Latin “dispensare”,
started being used in the affairs of the church in the Roman Catholic church in the 5th century. In the New Catholic Encyclopaedia
we read, “In the Code of Canon Law dispensation is defined in canon 80 as a
relaxation of a law in a particular case..... The Roman pontiff.... has the
power to dispense from all ecclesiastical legislation”. The idea amongst the
present day dispensationalists that the “dispensation of grace” means a “doing
away with the law” could only have been born in the minds of our modern
anti-law theologians who read about the Roman Catholic’s dispensation of a
church law.
Do we find any dispensation of the
law of YHWH in the Scriptures? The Zondervan
Pictorial Bible Dictionary says, “The modern theological use of the term..... is not in Scripture.” (emphasis
mine). Vine’s Expository Dictionary of N.T. Words says the word does not mean a
period or epoch - “a common, but erroneous, use of the word”. I would like to
quote all four of these Scriptures texts as rendered in the RSV.
1 Cor.9:17, “For if I do this of my
own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will,
I am entrusted with commission.”
Eph.1:10, “For he has made known to
us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose
which he set forth in Messiah as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all
things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”
Eph. 3:2, “.... assuming that you
have heard of the stewardship of YHWH grace that was given to me for you...”
Col. 1:25, “... His body, that is,
the assembly, of which I became a minister according to the divine office which
was given to me for you, ....”
Can you find anything relating to
the idea of different periods? Of course not! The Zondervan
Pictorial Bible Dictionary is honest and says, “The modern theological use of
the term IS NOT FOUND IN SCRIPTURE!” (capitals mine).
Most dispensationalists have even included the four Evangels (Matthew, Mark,
Luke and Yohanan) as being in the “Dispensation of
Law”. Some of them even regard the sermon on the Mount
to be applicable to the “7th Dispensation”, the “Dispensation of the Kingdom”
(futuristic - still to come!) What sacrilege! Yahushua said so clearly in Jon.
10:35, “And the Scripture cannot be broken”. YHWH says in Mal. 3:6, “For I am
YHWH, I change not”. In Ya’acov 1:17 YHWH is spoken
of as “the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning”. Is there a difference between the O.T. and N.T.? Yes, there is. In
the O.T. the faithful looked forward to the Coming of Messiah. And we in the
N.T. rejoicingly look back to His First Coming and
the Great redemption on Golgotha that He wrought for us. The Sacrificial laws
and the priesthood system of the Old Testament were types and pointed forward
to the Perfect Lamb of YHWH (our Sacrifice for sin) and to the Perfect High
Priest; Yahushua! And that is the only difference that came about in the New
Testament. Read Hebrews chps. 7, 8, 9 and 10 and see
how Yahushua fulfilled the Sacrificial and priesthood laws. Scofield,
in his Scofield Reference B. described ‘dispensation’
as a “period of time during which man is tested in respect to obedience to some
specific revelation of the will of (Elohim)!” This idea has since been
exaggerated and twisted by the liberal no-law teachers to the point of only
accepting Paul and his writings as necessary for the Gentile believers! But
what does Paul say about the Commandments of YHWH? Paul confirms the necessity
of keeping the Commandments of YHWH in 1 Cor. 7:19, “Circumcision is nothing, and
uncircumsition is nothing, but what matters is the
keeping of the commandments of YHWH.” (NASB) Again he confirms the validity of
the law in Rom. 3:31, “Do we make void the law through faith? YHWH forbid: yea,
we establish the law.” Read Sha’ul’s confirming words
in Rom. 7:12 and 22. And Paul commands in 1 Tim. 6:13 and 14, “I charge
you.....that you keep the Commandment without stain or reproach ...” (NASB) The
Word of YHWH comes as a fire, as a hammer to crush this great lie: That YHWH
has “dispensed with His Law in the New Testament era”, that He has “relaxed His
Law”. This lie of all lies, instigated by Satan, has been fabricated to deceive
the world and to keep people in bondage to sin - Jer. 23:29, Rev. 12:8, Rev.
18:23 and Rev.19:20. “Little children, let no man deceive you: HE THAT DOETH
RIGHTEOUSNESS IS RIGHTEOUS, even as He is righteous”, 1 Yohanan
3:7.