Even non-dispensationalists recognize that the commands of the NT are not the same as the commands under the Law of Moses and that the commands before the Law of Moses were different still.

Scofield, in his study Bible, suggested that there are seven total dispensations, with one of those, which he called kingdom, being future. (See here)

Later, traditional dispensationalists saw three dispensations after the church age: the Tribulation, the millennial kingdom, and the eternal state on the new earth.

The number of dispensations is not crucial. The key is to recognize that there are many different dispensations in Scripture.

Most non-dispensationalists (e.g., most covenant theologians) do not believe that there will be a Rapture, a Tribulation, or a Millennium. Most people in Christianity believe that the next dispensation will be the final one and that it is the Eternal State.

Regardless of how many dispensations one sees, God has changed His commands at various times. For example:

• Before Adam and Eve sinned, clothing was not commanded.
• Until the Law of Moses, marrying one’s sister, or half-sister in the case of Abraham, was not forbidden.
• Before the Flood, eating meat was forbidden (Gen 1:29; 2:16-17; 3:18-19). It was not until Gen 9:1-3 that God said that “every moving thing that lives shall be food for you.”
• Under the Law of Moses, no longer was “every moving thing that lives” food for the people of Israel. Animals such as pigs, shrimp, lobster, rabbits, scavengers, mice, lizards, eagles, vultures, falcons, sharks, and eels were forbidden for the Jewish people.
• During the church age, all animal meats are once again legal.
• Animal sacrifices were required from Genesis 4 till Pentecost, and even at the beginning of the church age, certain animal sacrifices were still allowed.
• Customary work was forbidden on the seventh day until Pentecost, when that command was rescinded. Church-age believers are not under the Sabbath command. Eric Liddell of Chariots of Fire fame was not a dispensationalist.
• Under the Law of Moses, there were priests from the tribe of Levi. Today there are no priests, whether Levites or otherwise. Christian groups that have priests and altars are not dispensationalists.
• The Law of Moses is not in effect during the church age.
• The Law of Moses will be in effect during the Tribulation and the Millennium.
• There is no temple during the church age.
• There was a temple until AD 70, and there will be a temple again during the Tribulation and Millennium. Christian groups that have temples are not dispensationalists.

That may seem a bit complicated. It is not. I can illustrate it by comparing it to the American presidency.

We call each president’s term of office his administration. That is another word for dispensation. We could refer to the FDR dispensation, the Kennedy dispensation, the Johnson dispensation, the Reagan dispensation, the Obama dispensation, the Biden dispensation, and the Trump dispensation.

Trump’s tariffs, for example, are new commands for this generation. But tariffs were in place during many earlier dispensations. According to Wikipedia (see here), tariffs went from twenty to sixty percent, then back to twenty percent from 1790 to 1860. From 1861 until 1933, the U.S. had high tariffs. After 1942, the U.S. began to promote something called free trade. But even during the last eighty years, we have had some tariffs.

The Bush, Obama, Trump 1, and Biden dispensations all utilized tariffs. But they were very limited. Now the Trump 2 dispensation is imposing widespread tariffs.

Each president makes decrees called executive orders. These have the force of law. Of course, judges sometimes block the decrees.

The old saying “elections matter” is based on the concept of dispensations. Every country in the world changes its laws when a new president or prime minister is elected. The changes might be minor or major. But the laws do change.

In part 3, we will consider three major objections to dispensationalism.

Keep grace in focus by understanding the changing nature of God’s commandments.