v. Administration, Apostolate, Ministry
Eph 1:10 in the d of the fulness of times
Eph 3:9 make clear to all what is the d of the mystery
Dispensation (Gr. oikonomia, essentially “stewardship”, “the office of the steward”; Eph 3:2; Col 1:25). In the RVR it appears in 2 passages with the sense of “administration”, “plan”, “order” (Eph 1:10; 3:9).
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
(gr., oikonomia, law or disposition of a house). A concept that appears four times in the Bible (commission in 1Co 9:17, dispensation in Eph 1:10 and administration in Eph 3:2 and Col 1:25) with a double meaning:
(1) In reference to a person in authority means an arrangement or plan and
(2) in reference to a person under authority it refers to a stewardship or administration.
The modern theological use of the term, as “a period of time during which man is tested with respect to obedience to a specific revelation of the will of God” (Scofield), is not found in the Scriptures. However, the Scriptures do distinguish between the way God manifested his grace in what may be called “the old covenant” and the way he has manifested it since the death of Christ in the “new covenant,” and there are differences. consistent in the requirements that God requires of believers. Paul has this in mind when he speaks of God’s dispensations in Ephesians and Colossians.
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
(Laws or provisions of a house).
In Eph 1:10, it refers to God’s plan of salvation. In Eph 3:2 it means “distribution”, “administration”, as in 1Co 9:17 and Col 1:25: (commission).
Christian Bible Dictionary
Dr. J. Dominguez
http://bible.com/dictionary/
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
tip, ESCA DOCTOR
see, MILLENNIUM
vet, (Gr. “oikonomia”). It literally means “administration of a house”, an “economy”, and hence an orderly dealing with men by God in the various administration of his ways at different times. In examining God’s administrations with men, we may point to the state of innocence in Eden, though it hardly partook of the character of a dispensation. A command was given to Adam and Eve, with a demand for obedience, announcing the penalty if they disobeyed. This was followed by a prolonged period of almost 1,600 years until the Flood, (a period without any concrete dealings of God with men, although certainly with the promise of the Liberator given in the Protoevangelium (Gen. 3: 15)). During this time men became corrupt in all their ways, and the earth was filled with violence. God then spoke to the world in the person of Noah, who was a “herald of righteousness,” patiently waiting for his repentance as the ark was prepared (1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Pet. 2:15). They showed no repentance, and the ancient world perished. In the post-Flood world, God established human government, while the knowledge of God, as God who judged evil, was dispersed by the descendants of Noah; Traditions of the Flood are found by virtually every tribe and language in the world. This constitutes another divine testimony. Then followed the division of the land among various nations and tribes, according to their families and languages. Among these ignorance about God prevailed (Acts 17:30), despite the testimony of God’s power and deity, and the testimony of conscience mentioned in Rom. 1-2. Some 360 years after the Flood the Patriarchal Age began with the call of Abraham, a new sovereign deal from God; but this was limited to Abraham and his descendants. (a) DISPENSATION OF THE LAW. The Dispensation of the Law followed, which is, strictly speaking, the first publicly ordained system of God’s dealings with men, and administered by angels (Deut. 33:2; Acts 7:53; Gal. 3: 19). The oracles of God were given to a nation, to the only nation in all the earth that God had known in this way (Am. 3:2). It was the dispensation of “Do this, and you will live with blessing; disobey, and you will receive a curse” (cp. Dt. 28). This dispensation had three stages: (A) About 400 years under the Judges, a time when God would have been King of them in a direct theocracy, but in which time each one did what seemed good to him. (B) 500 years as a kingdom under kings. (C) 600 years from the captivity to the coming of Christ. In connection with this there was the prophetic testimony: the Law and the prophets were until John (Lk. 16:16). During this “Dispensation of the Law” the Times of the Gentiles had their beginning with the political supremacy of Nebuchadnezzar, the head of gold and king of kings (Dan. 2:37, 38); they continue to run their course, and will continue until the Lord Jesus begins his reign. (b) DISPENSATION OF GRACE. The Dispensation of Grace and Truth began, after the preaching of John, with the coming of Christ. During this economy the Gospel is preached, the great Amnesty that God offers to every creature under heaven, and the call of the Church to separate for the Lord takes place, extending this period as an interval, from the day of Pentecost to the rapture of the saints (Acts 2:1-4; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). God entrusted to Paul a special “dispensation”, both in regard to the Gospel, and to fulfill the word of God by the doctrine of the Church as the body of Christ (1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 3:2, 3; Col. 1:25, 26). (c) DISPENSATION OF THE KINGDOM. The Dispensation of the Kingdom of Christ on earth during the millennium. It is also called “the dispensation of the fulness of times” (Eph. 1:10; Rev. 20:1-6). (See MILLENNIUM). Under all these various administrations the goodness and faithfulness of God are made manifest, and the failure of man is made universally manifest.
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
oikonomia (ojikonomiva, 3622), means primarily the government of a family, or of family affairs (oikos, house; nomos, law); then, the government or administration of the property of others and is therefore used as stewardship (Luk 16:2,3,4). Other than that, it is used only in the Epistles of Paul, who applies it: (a) to his entrusted responsibility to preach the gospel (1Co 9:17 “commission”; KJV: “dispensation”); (b) of the administration that was delivered to him, so that he might announce “the word of God fully”, this announcement being fully effected the revelation of the fullness of the arranged and imparted cycle of truths that are consummated in the truth related to the church as the body of Christ (Col 1:25; KJV: “administration”; “dispensation”); likewise in Eph 3:2, of the administration that was given to him of God’s grace (KJV: “dispensation”) with respect to the same “mystery”; (c) in Eph 1:10 and 3.9 it is used of God’s arrangement or administration, whereby in “the fullness of time” (or ages) God will gather all things in heaven and on earth in Christ. In Eph 3:9 some mss. they have koinonia: “communion”, instead of oikonomia: “dispensation”. In 1Ti 1:4 oikonomia can mean an administration in the sense of (a) or a dispensation in the sense of (c). The oikodomia reading should not be accepted: “building”, which appears in some mss. See .¶ Note: A dispensation is not a period or an epoch (common but erroneous use of the word), but a mode of dealing, disposition or administration of affairs. Cf. oikonomos, butler; and oikonomeo, to be a steward, to manage. However, it is true that the various epochs of the past have seen different modes of government, and their characteristics have been marked by the way God administers his dealings with men in the course of time.
Source: Vine New Testament Dictionary
The theological word “dispensation” is translated from the Greek oikonomia and appears in 1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 1:10; 3:2, 9 and Col. 1:25. Oikonomia also appears in Lk. 16:2, 3, 4, where it is translated “stewardship”; and in the best of the Greek texts, 1 Tim. 1:4, where the term is translated “building” from the Greek oikodomē. Charles Hodge points out the double use of the word: (1) with respect to one in authority, it means a plan or scheme; (2) with respect to one under authority means “stewardship” or “administration.” The theological interest of the term belongs to the first of these uses. When God is the dispenser, the term dispensation refers to the purpose he has in mind and the manner in which he executes it. God’s covenant with sinful man has always been one of grace; but the covenant of grace was based on a twofold plan, or to use biblical terminology it was revealed in two dispensations. The first of these was the Mosaic dispensation sometimes called “The Old Covenant,” and the second is the Christian dispensation generally called “The New Covenant.” Strictly speaking, the covenant (cf.) is one and the same covenant of grace throughout time (see Paul’s description of the relation of law to grace in Gal. 3), and it would be more appropriate to speak of the old and the new. dispensation. What has come to be known in our day as “dispensationalism” finds many “dispensations” in the Bible. Scofield, for example, discovers no less than seven, called the dispensations of innocence, of conscience, of human government, of promise, of law, of grace, of the kingdom. Dispensationalism claims to be a method of “rightly dividing the word of truth” in relation to dispensations. According to this view a dispensation is “a period of time during which man is tested with respect to obedience in some specific revelation of the will of God” (Scofield Annotated Bible, p. 5). If we are to go to the strict use of the word biblically, however, we will find that it is used in Scripture to make only one distinction, namely the distinction between the way God’s grace was known before the coming of Christ and the way God’s grace was known before the coming of Christ. as it manifested itself after his redemptive work was completed. This is the Pauline sense of the word when he speaks of “the dispensation” of God in Eph. 1:10; 3:2, 9; Col. 1:25. This is the plan that belongs to the “fulfillment of time.” That is, it is God’s way of presenting his grace that belongs to his revelation in the Lord Jesus Christ. The “mystery” to which Paul refers is not the call to the Gentiles, as some infer, but the redemption effected by Christ. The suggestion that a dispensation is “a period of time” somewhat misses the real meaning of the word and is incidental to the fact that the two plans of God—the Mosaic and the Christian—were consecutive in administering it.
Under the Mosaic or “ancient” dispensation, the gospel came in types and shadows; the Epistle to the Hebrews shows the relation between this first dispensation and that of the gospel. In the form of priest, altar, sacrifice, tabernacles and mercy seat was exhibited the manner in which God pointed out the salvation of…