Lesson 4: The Fourth Dispensation
The Promised Land, wherever it may be, always lies on the other side of a wilderness
The Age of Promise
A promise, is a promise, is a promise.
The third dispensation ended on the plain of Shinar when God confounded the language of the people and forced them to scatter. Remember the image of the ants? The fourth dispensation continues with Abraham still in Canaan, the Land of Promise, to Moses receiving the Law on Mount Sinai.
Please open your Bible to Genesis Chapter 12. Scripture for this dispensation is Genesis 12 through Exodus 18.
Back up to the end of the second paragraph. This last sentence reminds me of a question on a weekly test in a literature 101 class. The professor asked, "How does the Iliad end?" Well, I had read neither the Iliad nor the Odyssey even though I should have read both. I was running well behind time, you see. Thinking myself quite adept at difficult questions, I simply wrote in, that the Iliad ends where the Odyssey begins. Ha! Ha! Well, after that I devised a system to always read every book right away, a few paragraphs from the beginning, the middle, and the ending. I still do that today. Now, I have a wonderful book on the life of Abraham. First, middle, and last, first and always. So if I were to ask you how the fourth dispensation begins you could answer, that it begins where the third dispensation ends and you would not be incorrect, just brief. I tell you this because the ending of dispensation three and the beginning of dispensation four overlap with Abraham.
Conscience failed. Promise will now be tried. The idea behind promise is that if God makes a promise, it will become a guiding force or ruling factor in the lives of those to whom the promise was made. There were four charges, tests, or responsibilities given to Abraham and his descendants in this dispensation. These tests were restraint by the Holy Spirit, conscience, government, and promise from God. What were the promises?
- God would bless Abraham
- Give him countless descendants
- Make his name great
- He would be the father of many nations
- Give him the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession
- Bless those who bless him; curse those who curse him
- A great nation would arise named Israel
- Israel would be given the land of Canaan forever
- Give blessing to all families through Abraham
- The Redeemer would come through Israel
As with the failures in the other dispensations, this one also brought a judgment from God which we still see today with Israel and her neighbors. We are all aware of the constant war, killing, suicide bombings, and hate against Israel. Another judgment was that the Israelites would go into bondage. They would be slaves to other peoples and nations for a time alloted by God. God would not forget His promises, however. They were only to be held back until the judgments were completed. The period of judgment for this dispensation lasted somewhat over 200 years.
