## The Seven Dispensations

#### The story of Man's Failure - and God's Grace - as demonstrated in all ages

                                                                           ^  v                   Christ returns     Christ         The Great
                Beginning                Call of                   Ascension  |                    in the air.       returns        White Throne
                of civilization          Abram        The Law      of Christ  |                        ^             to earth       Judgment
                |                         |           given to             ^  Descent of the       Rapture of          |            Rev 20:11
    Creation    |          Landing        |           Moses        The     |  Holy Spirit          the church          |               | A new
    of man      |          of the ark     |           Ex 20:1-17   Cross   |  v                        |               |  Christ's     | eternal
    |           |            |            |            |             __|__ ^  |                        |               |  Millennial   | Heaven
    | INNOCENCE | CONSCIENCE | GOVERNMENT |  PROMISE   |     LAW       |   |  |         GRACE          |  TRIBULATION  |  KINGDOM      | & Earth
    |___________|____________|____________|____________|_______________|   |  v________________________|_______________v_______________| --> -->
      Gen 2:25 |  Gen 3:22  |  Gen 9:5   | Gen 12:1-3 |   Gal 3:19  |            | Eph 3:2  Rom 6:14  |   Mat 24:21    |  Dan 2:44     | Rev 21
               |            |            |            |             |            |                    |                |             Final
           Expulsion       The         Confusion      Slaves       Israel       Fall of              Confusion        Armageddon     rebellion
           from Eden       Flood       of tongues     in Egypt     Dispersed    Jerusalem            of Religions                    crushed

Dispensation | Opening Event | Man's Responsibility | Man's Failure | Man's Tendency | Closing Event | Personal Salvation
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
INNOCENCE (1) Summary/Principle: Rom 5:12 | God creates man Gen 1:26,27 2:7,25 | Believe & Obey Gen 2:15-17 | Innocence Lost Gen 3:6,7 | Away from God Gen 3:9,10 | Judgment- Expelled from Eden Gen 3:17-19 3:22-24 | By Grace through Faith- Substitutionary sacrifice: - The blood of the Lamb, Gen 3:21 - The promise of the Seed, Gen 3:15; 4:25
CONSCIENCE (2) Rom 2:15 | Abel offers a lamb. Cain murders Abel. Gen 4:2-15 | Believe & Obey Gen 4:4-7 Heb 11:4 | Conscience defiled Gen 6:5-7 | Away from God Gen 6:11-13 | Judgment- The Flood Gen 7:11-12,23 | By Grace through Faith- Gen 6:8 Heb 11:4-7 1Pet 3:18-22
GOVERNMENT (3) Rom 13:1-7 | Noah -worships God -receives a covenant and responsibility Gen 8:20-22 | Believe & Obey Gen 9:1-6 | Personal disorder Gen 9:20-23 Societal disorder Gen 11:1-4 | Away from God- 'Man's Failure' references apply. | Judgment- Confusion of tongues Gen 11:5-9 | By Grace through Faith- The line of the Seed: Gen 9:26; 11:10-32
PROMISE (4) Num 23:19 Mic 7:20 Rom 11:29 | God -calls Abram -gives him promises Gen 12:1-7; 13:14-17; 15:5 Promises repeated to Isaac & Jacob Gen 26:1-5 28:10-15 | Believe & Obey Gen 15:6 Rom 4:3 | Promised blessings pursued by fleshly means: -Abram, Gen 16:2 -Jacob, Gen 27:19 -Moses, Acts 7:22-29 | Away from God- God's promises disregarded: -Lot, Gen 13:10-13 -Esau, Gen 25:31-34 26:34,35 -The sons of Israel Gen 37:18-20 -Israel's longing for Egypt Ex 16:2,3 Summary: Psa 106:1-15 | Judgment- -Bondage in Egypt Ex 1:7-14; 2:23-25 | By Grace through Faith- Rom 4:3-5 Heb 11:8-22 Gen 22:8,15-18 Gen 49:8-12,18
LAW (5) Rom 3:19,20 | Israel promises to keep the Law Ex 19:1-8 | Believe & Obey Deu 7:11-15, blessings Deu 8:11-20, cursings | Law broken repeatedly- Ex 32:1-8 Judg 21:25 Psa 106:16-48 | Away from God Dan 9:4-16 | Judgment- -Israel captive in Assyria 2Kin 17:1-18 -Judah captive in Babylon 2Kin 25:1-11 -Jerusalem destroyed Mat 23:37-39 | By Grace through Faith- the blood of the Lamb Ex 12:3 Lev 17:11 Heb 9:19-22 Gal 4:4,5 Examples of believers: -Moses, Heb 11:23-40 -David, Rom 4:5-8 Summary- Gal 3:10-19
GRACE (6) John 1:17 Titus 2:11-14 1Pet 1:10-12 | Christ -ascends -sends the Spirit Acts 1:1-9 Acts 2:1-4 -establishes His church 1Cor 12:12,13 Eph 3:1-10 | Believe & Obey -for eternal life Acts 2:36-47; 16:30,31 John 6:28,29,47; 5:24 Rom 5:1,2; 10:4 Eph 2:8,9 -for earthly living Rom 8:2-4 Gal 2:20; 3:2,3 | Apostasy- 2Tim 4:3-4 Heb 6:4-8 | Away from God 2Tim 3:13 2Pet 2:1-3,17-22 | The Bride of Christ caught up to meet Him. 1The 4:16-17 Rev 3:10 Judgment- The apostate church enters the Tribulation. Rev 2:21-23 Rev 3:15-16 | By Grace through Faith- 1Pet 1:18-21 Isaiah 53 Rom 3:20-26 Rom 6:23 also see references under 'Man's Responsibility'
TRIBULATION (a special 7 yr period) John 5:43 | The man of sin is revealed 1The 5:1-3 2The 2:1-12 Mat 24:21-22 | In the Tribulation, man's failure comes to awful fruition: Innocence- Men live the lie & call evil good (cp. Gen 3:5). Conscience- Corrupt minds ignore God's Word (Mat 24:37-39). Government- The world unites with Antichrist against God. Promise- Israel is in the promised land, but in unbelief. Law- The rebuilt Temple is given over to false worship. Grace- The apostate church is aligned with the Antichrist. | Judgment- Christ casts out Satan & his false leaders. Rev 19:11-21 Rev 20:1-3 | Even in this terrible time, many find salvation by Grace through Faith in the blood of the Lamb. Rev 7:14; 12:10,11
KINGDOM (7) Isa 9:6,7 | Jesus Christ returns to earth as King of kings Mat 25:31-34 Rev 20:4-6 | Believe & Obey Isa 2:1-4 Isa 11:1-16 Isa 12:1-6 Isa 55:1-3 Zech 14:16-18 | Even in the age of Righteousness, man turns away from Christ to follow Satan when given the opportunity. Rev 20:7-10 | Judgment- -the final rebellion is crushed. -eternal destinies are decreed Rev 20:10-15 | By Grace through Faith- Rev 20:4 cp. Rev 21:27
| Jesus Christ prevails in every point of man's failure. (Each point is shown in Isa 9:6,7). | During the Kingdom age, the disorder of previous ages is corrected: Innocence- God's truth is known by all men (Jer 31:34). Conscience- God's people have holy hearts to serve Him (Jer 31:33). Government- Christ rules from Jerusalem. Righteousness covers the earth. Promise- Israel is in her land. Abrahamic & Davidic covenants are fulfilled. Law- True temple worship declares that Christ has fulfilled the Law. Grace- The true church is with Christ in His glory.

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