What is a Dispensation?
A "dispensation" is not a period of time, but an administration, or stewardship of time. It's more associated to a way of life than a length of time. The Greek word itself means to manage a household. It describes the role of a steward and a system or a way of doing things. Before Paul's mystery dispensation, Israel lived under the economy of law. God dealt with Israel differently to how He deals with us today. Thus, the mystery dispensation, which started at Paul's conversion, has more to do with God dispensing a new lifestyle of grace to replace Israel's law, than calculating the duration in ages or years on a timeline. A dispensation ends when God declares a new set of rules that changes the pattern or behaviour (1 Tim.1:16) of living from the previous dispensation. In summary, an age deals with time, whereas a dispensation relates to a way of life. So, when studying the Bible rightly divided, the focus should be on the way of living, and not on the duratio...