Page 111 - Eschatology - Masters revised

A dispensation or a stewardship given to man is a period of time during which God gives man certain
responsibilities and deals with man in certain ways. These responsibilities and means of relationship vary
from time period to different time periods. A very clear example of this is the difference in the way God
related to people, and what He expected of them, in the Old Testament verses during the time of the
New Testament. In fact, the word testament means covenant. God had a certain kind of covenant with
the Nation of Israel during the time of the Old Testament. And God has a new kind of covenant with
people living during the time of the New Testament.

This understanding of various time periods in history and interpreting scripture accordingly is called
“Dispensationalism”. Though the exact number may vary, many Bible scholars point to seven different
dispensations or time periods of a certain stewardship given to man by God as recorded in Biblical
history.

The first 483 years of Daniel 9:24-26 occur in the dispensation of the law given to the Nation of Israel.
The gap between verse 26 and 27 is called the Church Age in which there is a new dispensation. This is a
time period in which God has chosen to work through the Church of Jesus Christ. The seven-year
Tribulation as described in Daniel 9:27 is another dispensation when God’s relationship to people on
earth will be different again. Then, the Millennium, the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ on this earth will
be yet another dispensation.

God chose not to reveal the Church Age dispensation to the Old Testament prophets like Daniel.
Therefore, as far as Daniel’s understanding could go, he understood that the 490 years would run
without any pauses or gaps. But the added revelation of the New Testament reveals that the Church Age
is a gap of time, another dispensation, between the first 483 years and the last 7 years.

Notice that the 70th week must still be fulfilled in the future.
Also, notice that God’s hold on working through the nation of Israel is TEMPORARY, not permanent.
God’s unconditional promises to the nation of Israel were not canceled by Israel’s disobedience in
rejecting Jesus as their Messiah.

By way of application, our major function as believers during this church age is to represent Jesus Christ
to a lost world. If we fail to fulfill that function God will put us on the shelf and not use us for His glory.
Just like God put His primary use of the nation of Israel on hold during this temporary gap in time, He
will cease to use us for His glory. We will not lose our positional relationship with Jesus Christ, nor our
eternal life but we will lose our experiential relationship with Him and our eternal rewards. These are
rewards that we could have gained by living for him while here on earth, to be used for Him for all of
eternity.

The tribulation is a future seven-year period of time when God will finish His discipline of Israel and
finalize His judgment of the unbelieving world. The church, made up of all who have trusted in the
person and work of the Lord Jesus to save them from being punished for sin, will not be present during
the tribulation. The church will be removed from the earth in an event known as the rapture (1
Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53). The church is saved from the wrath to come (1
Thessalonians 5:9). Throughout Scripture, the tribulation is referred to by other names such as the Day
of the Lord (Isaiah 2:12; 13:6-9; Joel 1:15; 2:1-31; 3:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:2); trouble or tribulation
(Deuteronomy 4:30; Zephaniah 1:1); the great tribulation, which refers to the more intense second half
of the seven-year period (Matthew 24:21); time or day of trouble (Daniel 12:1; Zephaniah 1:15); time of
Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7).

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