Jag,

Apologies ahead of time as I have to be brief and then sign off..... a drive-by .... sort of.

Anyway, I think it was you that made comment regarding the why of all the millennia of the dealings of God and Man. That's probably not how worded it, but I will go on as if it was.

It seems to me that Man may indeed be on some sort of stage. I would not be surprised if there are not millions if not billions of "angels" who are very interested observers of how God is dealing with Man. Seems that 1/3 of the angels rebelled and were cast out.... perhaps God is serving more than one purpose when dealing with Man. He is demonstrating His character to them in ways perhaps never done before. IDK

He is demonstrating who He is and the What and WHY of his actions. We on earth can see from one perspective and the heavenly hosts see from a different perspective. As has been noted, His ways are not our ways and His purposes are not clearly understood by us.

So, postulate that there is more going on and there is a "stage" aspect concerning the life and times of Man.

Now, switch gears for a moment..... maybe there is NOT a difference in the "nature" or "character" of God.... OT vs New Testament.

Thinks dispensations for a bit.... Scholars will characterize the Dispensation of the Law as the 5th Dispensation. A dispensation simply meaning that for a season, God dealt with Man in certain ways for certain purposes as He brings about the culmination of Creation.

The Dispensation of the Law had its purpose..... and now we are in the Dispensation of Grace. God did not change at all. He may be dealing with Man in different ways as He demonstrates who He is and what His purposes are.

For those that don't know, there is ample evidence in the Old Testament that reveals the character of God and that character as revealed in the OT is identical to what is revealed in the NT. The idea is the God does not and has not changed, but He deals with Man in different ways... the dispensations were different.... God was not different ....all leading up to Jesus' death on the cross and the Dispensation of Grace.

Anyway, a difficult subject for a Campfire post..... must be brief and that is the nature of the "Fire. Also, trying to explain dispensations to non-Christians is problematic.

Also, this will make no sense whatsoever to the non-Christians who may read it. To those I say.... do your study.

Here is a link to a introduction to Dispensational thinking and interpretation. Will only make sense to Christians.

https://www.gotquestions.org/seven-dispensations.html


My own view is that I have never read any discourse on Dispensations that I am really comfortable with. Many articles on dispensations end up with teachings on the Rapture and Millennial Reign that I am not sure about.

Last edited by TF49; 07/13/20.
The tax collector said: “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Jesus said he went home “justified.”