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 A basic example is to compare our day of believing the Gospel of grace to the first Dispensation in the Garden of Eden. There was no Gospel of grace (see 1 Cotinthians 15:2-4) in the Garden.  They were to avoid the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  But we're not concerned with that tree.  We are concerned with faith in Jesus who died on a tree.  So, you see the difference between those two Dispensations.

And that's the basic type of differences of each Dispensation. Each begins with a message of hope but, sadly, ends in Judgment and God establishing a new Dispensation with new hope. 

Even among those who deny being "Dispensationalists", you will find this obvious Dispensational lay out discussed because it's so obvious that it cannot be avoided.  One interesting example that I found was in the Anabaptist work titled, "The Martyrs Mirror."  In the introduction to this 1,140 page history of martyrdom, this non-dispensational author is making that case that God has one "divine and heavenly church," which is not what the Bible actually says.  But in his attempt to defend this unbiblical idea of the church existing "through all the ages up to the present time", T.J. van Braght writes:

" From Adam to Noah, from Noah to Abraham, from Abraham to Moses, from Moses to Christ, from Christ to the end of the world, God ordained, for each of these periods, different customs, as regards the external divine service of this church..." (1)

And this quotation demonstrates the necessity of letting God's plain, simple word speak without adding our own ideas to it.  His (Braght's) statement is a Dispensational statement until he adds his own pre-conceived notion of there being "the church" or "this church" in each of these ages (or better, "Dispensations").  

But if you ignore his extra-Biblical notion of "the church", you will see that he clearly recognizes the five Dispensations that take place between the 1st (Eden to the Fall) and the 7th (Millennial Kingdom Age) which he leaves out.  Compare this quote from Braght and many others found in otherwise non-Dispensational works to our chart or those of Clarence Larkin and others.

We developed the chart (above) to help the Bible student understand the Biblical Framework for understanding the Bible: 

1. The First Dispensation began at Creation and ended when Eve and then Adam took of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, resulting in the Fall.
2. The 2nd Dispensation began after the Fall but ended with the Flood of Noah. 
3. The 3rd Dispensation began when Noah and Fam stepped off the Ark but that ended at the Tower of Babel. 
4. The 4th Dispensation enter Abraham, Isaac and Jacob but ends in Captivity. 
5. The 5th Dispensation enter Moses and the Law that ends with the 69 Weeks of Daniel and "messiah cut off" with Jesus on the Cross. 
6. We are in the 6th Dispensation which ends with the Rapture and 70th Week (7 year Tribulation) and Return of Christ to establish His Kingdom on Earth. 
7. The 7th and final Dispensation is the Millennial Kingdom Reign of Jesus which ends after 1,000 years when there is one last rebellion against Jesus that is put down in a moment. 

That 7th Dispensation ends but the Kingdom does NOT... and that is the beginning of ETERNITY.

So, considering that this provides an overview of 66 books with 1,189 chapters, it's a pretty simple framework that God has given for the understanding of His Book and His eternal plan of the ages.  

2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

(1) Thieleman J. van Braght, "The Martyrs Mirror," Page 21.  Published by Herald Press, Harrisonburg, VA.  (c) 1938 by Mennonite Publishing House.  ISBN:: 978-0-8361-1390-7

We are free to agree and disagree with the brethren on certain specifics of the Dispensation model for Bible interpretation.  With that in mind, the following list includes some of the more well-known teachers over the years who presented various forms and degrees of Dispensations in the Bible:

• William Gouge
• Pierre Poiret
• Isaac Watts
• John Taylor
• John Flechiere
• David Bogue
• Adam Clarke
• John Priestley
• George Faber
• David Russell
• J.N. Darby
• J. B. Stoney
• Edward Cronin
• J.H. McCulloh
• John Pye Smith
• John Cox
• John Cumming
• Judge Joel Jones
• W.C. Bayne
• Charles Hodge
• Robert L. Dabney
• John R. Graves
• Samuel Andrews
• George Saltau
• William Parlane
• George Pember
• Robert Cameron
• George Wilson
• A. E. Knoch
• J. G. Bellett
• George V. Wigram
• C. H. Mackintosh
• F. W. Grant
• James Inglis
• James H. Brookes
• Dwight L. Moody
• R.A. Torrey
• E.W. Bullinger
• Clarence Larkin
• C.I. Scofield
• Norman Harrison
• George H. Gudebrod
• C.A. Chader
• H.A. Ironside
• David L. Cooper
• Arthur Isbell
• George Croly
• Algeunon Pollock
• James M. Gray
• Lewis Sperry Chafer
• Isaac Haldeman
• Charles H. Welch
• Cornelius. R. Stam
• John C. O'Hair
• Charles F. Baker
• William R. Newell
• A. C. Gaebelein
• Miles J. Stanford
• R. B. Shiflet
• Roy A. Huebner
• Carol Berubee.
• Dwight Pentecost
• J. Vernon McGee
• Donald Grey Barnhouse
• Charles Ryrie
• John Walvoord
• W. Graham Scroggie
• Bruce Dunn
• Clarence Mason, Jr.
• Dave Breese
• John Whitcomb
• Paul Nevin
• Hal Lindsey
• J.R. Church
• Erwin Lutzer
• Zola Levitt
• Myron Houghton
• Jack Van Impe
• Peter Ruckman
• Ken Blue
• David Jeremiah
• Douglas Stauffer
• Tim LaHaye
• Noah Hutchings
• Chuck Missler
• Gary Stearman
• Thomas Ice
• David Cloud
• David E. Walker

In this book, Dr. Ruckman helps guide us in our understanding of Dispensations  He discusses what Dispensations ARE and are NOT.

By paying careful attention to what is said, the student will be prepared to explain Dispensations to others without causing confusion.  This is not only for Bible teachers in the local church but is important for EVERY Bible believer who discusses the subject with others.

Another reason this is such an important book is because of the two extremes represented by the majority of teachers, schools and denominationsL

1. Throw out Dispensations and simply go at the Bible with a hacksaw type of approach.
2. Hyper-divide the Bible to the point that you slaughter the Bible and destroy the clear cohesiveness found when "rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15)

Satan's desire is to either destroy the Bible (which he will NEVER do) or to keep you from reading it.  And if you read it, Satan will attempt to keep you from understanding it.  This book will help to defeat Satan's purposes and you will benefit greatly from it's contents.

Dispensationalism did NOT begin with J.N. Darby.  Nor did it begin with post-trib Rapture visions of Margaret McDonald OR the writings of a Jesuit named Ribero.  (See the videos for these topics in our playlist above.)

Dispensationalism began with the Bible and is as old as the Bible itself.

To your left, you will see a book cover for, "Ancient Dispensational Truth: Refuting the Myth That Dispensationalism Is New."  We also preface our recommendations with the disclaimer that we do not necessarily endorse every thing said in this book or everything the author believes.

But James C. Morris has done a very good job of demonstrating the truth of the title of his work.  We highly recommend it to all Dispensational Bible Believers and also to those who repeat the false claim that, "Dispensationalism is New."