I find it interesting how closely Dispensationalism parallels the Theory of Evolution. Just as Evolution divides the history of the world into epochs, so Dispensationalism divides history into dispensations.
Here is how the story might go……..
“In the early dispensation of Law, there was a primitive race called the Jews. They were at times barbaric, and did not have much knowledge. They had incomplete DNA (just the Old Testament). They had many vestigial organs – Sabbaths, feasts, dietary laws, cleanliness laws, and the like. These vestigial organs were very inconvenient, cumbersome, and made their lives a burden. They spoke a primitive language called Hebrew, and live under a different set of laws. It was a violent era of history and love, mercy, and forgiveness were only vaguely understood. They were like children who had to be “under the law” because they had not yet reached the stage of development necessary to be able to understand the principles of the Gospel. According to some experts, they also lived under a different Covenant – a Covenant of works. Life was a constant struggle to perform all the necessary works.
But this dispensation eventually gave way to a new epoch of history – the dispensation of Grace. That primitive species called the “Jew” gave birth to a new species called the “Church”. This new species was much more advanced, both intellectually and physically. Instead of living in dark caves, with volcanic smoke obscuring the light, they lived in the brightness of the Gospel sun. They no longer had to spend their lives fighting to subdue wild beasts (Eph. 6:12); instead they could live in comfort and pleasure. They now had a new set of DNA that eclipsed the old. There wasn’t much use for the old DNA anymore, except for the anthropologists who wanted to study history and the origins of life. Within a few generations their vestigial organs began to shrivel up and fall off. They discarded the Sabbaths, feasts, dietary laws, etc. They were new creatures, living in a new environment, and those old organs were no longer applicable; they would just get in the way. They lived under a new (and totally different) covenant. They were now also much smarter and were old enough to choose for themselves which laws they wanted to obey or not obey. Some of them decided to hang onto the Ten Commandments. A few decided to still follow the dietary laws, but most did not. They rejoiced in their freedom from law. Most of them really felt an empty place where their old holy day organs had fallen off though, so they crafted their own replacements from the limbs of wild animals (like the ones in Rev. 12-13).
They were happy now. The burdensome laws had been left behind and instead of being stooped over like the primitive Jews, they could now walk upright. They were quickly moving along into the future, leaving the Old Paths farther and farther behind. They were evolving very fast – quickly becoming a totally different creature than they had once been. When you looked back at the way they had been at the beginning you could hardly even recognize them anymore! They were indeed a new and advanced species. Funny thing was that they were beginning to look more and more like the creatures in Rev. 12-13 (which we just spoke of). Oh well, progress is progress!
Another interesting thing was that they seemed to need dramatically less clothing (both spiritually and physically). They seem to have overcome the shame of their nakedness, felt by early man. Now they could do just about anything and not feel ashamed. They no longer felt any need for a robe to cover themselves (Rev. 3:18).
They have also adapted to being able to eat just about anything. Having discarded their old dietary laws they can now ingest just about anything without their conscience complaining – novels, movies, soap operas, science fiction, video games, wild music, etc. Their favorite sources of food have become the television, computer, and internet, from which they are hand fed. Some of them still go to a fast food restaurant once a week to supposedly be fed a bit of healthy food, but most of them don’t realize that it has been highly processed and much of it is genetically engineered. Once in awhile one of them will crack open the old Bible that man once ate from regularly and they nibble at a few crumbs before rushing off to work, but most of them think it tastes too stale compared to their highly seasoned TV dinners (or computer dinners, or internet dinners), so they don’t care to nibble at it much anymore.
There have been many other changes as well. But they are too numerous to list.
Most of the human race is rapidly gaining ground in the process of evolution. But there are a few annoying folks here and there who insist on trying to return to the Old Paths, of restoring the ancient stone walls that protected the primitive Jews. They are trying to revive the old Sabbaths and Feast Days (for this we call them “Judaizers”). They refuse to eat anything they consider unclean. They are putting on clothes again, that have been washed clean and white (Rev. 7:14). They are trying to restore the old Sanctuary that was ransacked by the first creature in Rev. 13. They are trying to undo all the progress that has been made over the last 2,000 years! They are going to hinder our species from entering the next dispensation – the earthly Kingdom Dispensation.
Something must be done, or they are going to wreck everything, bring us all into bondage, and take us right back where we started!”