"And to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery which for ages hath been hid in God who created all things."—Ephesians 3:9 (ASV)

Time has always been an important element in God’s plan for man. Such biblical phrases as "in due time" and "at the time appointed" indicate that God is a precise God and punctual. True, his concept of time may differ from ours, for a day with the Lord is "as a thousand years" (2 Peter 3:8). Therefore many feel that God’s plans delay too long in coming to pass. But, as he informed the prophet Habakkuk, "though it tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not tarry" (2:3).

Noting the importance of time, many Christian scholars are termed "dispensationalists," meaning that they see large periods of time in God’s plan devoted to specific works. Most of these scholars divide the Bible into seven such periods: the age of innocence, before sin entered; the age of conscience, to the flood; the age of human government, up to the time of Abraham; the age of promise, from Abraham to Sinai; the age of law, from Sinai to Christ; the age of grace, from the cross to the present; and the foretold kingdom age of a thousand years.

In the chart below, familiar to most within the historic Bible Student movement, this division is simplified into three dispensations, the middle of which is subdivided into three ages. In this issue of THE HERALD, we will look at these various time divisions. In this chart the dispensations are designated by their scriptural term, "worlds" (2 Peter 3:6, 13; Gal. 1:4).

While the terms "ages" and "dispensations" are similar, there are distinct differences between them. The word "dispensation," as found in the New Testament, is a translation of the Greek oikumene, meaning an administration. These dispensations refer to the period before the flood when man was left to his own conscience and angelic beings freely sought to intermingle with humans; to the period from the flood to Christ’s kingdom when earth is described as being subject to Satan as "the god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4). During this second period God dealt with three selected groups successively: (1) a chosen family of patriarchs who (2) would father the nation of Israel of whom God said "you only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2); and (3) the footstep followers of Jesus who would be selected from both Jews and Gentiles. In the third dispensation there will be a totally new administration, a righteous one under the leadership of Jesus Christ and his church, which will establish eternal peace and harmony for "ages without end" (Eph. 3:21, margin).

Each of these periods of time will be dealt with in successive articles with a view to noting the purpose each plays in the ultimate design of God for the accomplishing of his will that "all men be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth"(1 Tim. 2:4).

Tragically, many today look at the sorry state of affairs which prevails on the earth and reject the concept of a God. "How," they say, "can a God of power and love permit such evils and atrocities we witness every day?" But as an architect can not be judged by his unfinished building, so God can not be judged by the current status of humankind. When each of his ages will have accomplished their intended design, all men can join in singing "Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!" Then "the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isa. 35:10).