How do you explain the expression, “dispensation of the fulness of times”? What does this mean word-for-word? You should know the verse I’m talking about: Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.

Let’s start with Webster’s definition:

“DISPENSATION, noun [Latin See Dispense.] 1. Distribution; the act of dealing out to different persons or places; as the dispensation of water indifferently to all parts of the earth. 2. The dealing of God to his creatures; the distribution of good and evil, natural or moral, in the divine government. 3. The granting of a license, or the license itself, to do what is forbidden by laws or canons, or to omit something which is commanded; that is, the dispensing with a law or canon, or the exemption of a particular person from the obligation to comply with its injunctions. ‘A dispensation was obtained to enable Dr. Barrow to marry.’ 4. That which is dispensed or bestowed… as the gospel dispensation…”

The fourth definition seems a bit archaic to me. I don’t think any of us use dispensation in that sense anymore. I know Webster was not perfect. He was a Calvinist but I found his definitions to be pretty accurate, consistent with other dictionaries and with the etymology of the word dispensation, which goes back to roughly the 1300’s. There are of French and Latin origins.

Notice that there is no time element in any of these definitions. I’ve heard people say, “a dispensation is a period of time in which God deals with man in a specific way.” No, a dispensation is really about the administration, not the time. Of course, an administration would cover a period of time, but the emphasis in the definition is on the administration.

Here is where we would also make a distinction between an age and a dispensation. Whereas a dispensation is about the stewardship or the administration, an age is a period of time that’s defined by a certain characteristic. The Golden Age. The Jazz Age. The Stone Age.

I’ve also heard it said, “in the Greek, a dispensation is a period of time.” No, it isn’t. Take your pick when it comes to Greek dictionaries (Wuest, Thayer’s, even Strong’s), oikonomia is pretty consistently defined as an administration or a stewardship. In fact, oikonomia is translated as dispensation 4 times and stewardship 3 times in the King James Bible. Means the same thing. The Scriptural emphasis is on an administration that dispenses, not time.

Thus, I’d argue we have in these definitions for dispensation, three primary ideas that are relevant to us. We have 1) the distribution of something, 2) the administration or stewardship over something being dispensed, and 3) the license or authority given to do something.

The first definition is the distribution of something. We could say, “Pastor Hal has been put in charge of the dispensation of free pizza every Sunday,” or the distribution of free pizza.

The second definition is the administration or stewardship over something. This is the primary usage of dispensation in Paul’s epistles. This is why oikonomia is also translated 3 times as stewardship. The emphasis in Scripture is upon the administration over something, and that something is usually what is being dispensed. Paul in Eph. 3:2 famously says, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward. That verse is not about the dispensing of the grace of God over a period of time. That verse is about the dispensation of the grace of God that was given to Paul to give to us believers. He was given a stewardship or an administrative role on Earth to tell the world about the grace that God. That grace also happens to be what God is freely dispensing to anyone who has faith in His gospel.

Then the third definition is the license or authority given to do something. This is very much in the same vein as the second definition. A dispensation has been given, a special license has been granted to do something, or a stewardship has been given to carry out something specific. When Paul says in 1 Cor. 9:17 that a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me, he means that he has been given a stewardship to share the new gospel that was committed to him. As the apostle of the Gentiles, he was in charge of disseminating God’s new gospel.

It’s really in the second and third definitions that Scripture primarily uses the word dispensation. The emphasis is on the administration, the authority, or the stewardship.

I’d argue that this is also how we should view dispensation in Eph 1:10. When Paul writes, the dispensation of the fulness of times, how can he be talking about the distribution of the fulness of times? That makes no sense. I’d suggest that the proper way to interpret dispensation in this verse has to be about the administration over the fulness of times.

How do you explain the fulness of times?

This isn’t the first time Paul wrote an expression like this. In Gal 4:4 Paul writes, But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law…

What did he mean by the fulness of the time? We would say, “When time ran out.” God would say, “When time filled up” because of the hourglass. We would look at an hourglass and say, “Time ran out of the top part.” God would look at that hourglass and say, “Time filled up the bottom part.” So when it comes to the whole question of whether a glass is half-empty or half-full, God is definitely a half-full kind of God.

Thus, in Gal. 4:4, Paul meant that when time had filled up, when the filling up of the sand in the bottom of the hourglass had been completed, when they reached the appointed time, God sent forth His Son into the world to die for all of us.

Notice how Paul says the fulness of the time was come. What does he mean by the time? There was one time. There was one measurement of time used to determine when His Son would come. There was one clock or one hourglass. That time was counting down or filling up. When that one measurement of time had completed, when the bottom of the hourglass was filled up, God sent His Son into the world. The fulness of time is the completion of the countdown.

Yet, in Eph 1:10 Paul says, the fulness of times, plural, the filling up of times, plural.

How do you explain that? How can you fill up more than one time?

Paul is talking about more than one measurement of time, more than one hourglass. This can be more than one hour, more than one year, more than one decade, or century. Times can also be measurements of seasons, eras, a foretold series of events, or ages even.

Regardless, what is meant by times is more than one measurement of time.

One of the more famous usages of times is found in Rev 12:14. This is after the Abomination of Desolation. The believing Jews have run into the mountains outside of Judea, and we’re told that they will be “nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.”

How do you explain time, times, and half a time?

Time is one measurement of time. So what is that measurement of time being used? Years. So what is time? In this case, one year. Times is more than one measurement of time. In this case, two years. And half a time is half a measure of time. Six months. So at the midway point of the Tribulation, when the Abomination of Desolations happens, the believing Jews who run into the mountains will be fed and protected by God for 3 ½ years until the Lord comes.

How do we know that this is the correct interpretation? Context.

This measurement of time has to correspond with Rev. 12:2 and the 42 months until the end of the Tribulation. 42 months is 3 ½ years, which means that time, times, and half a time must be measurements of years. Plus, narratively speaking, we also know we’re at the midway point of the Tribulation.

God taught us how to interpret times in Rev. 12:14 and we determine what those measurements of time are according to the context.

So when Paul says in Eph. 1:10 the fulness of times what is the context to help us determine these measurement of time? I’d suggest Paul’s talking about everything that God had predestinated, which he mentions in vs. 5 and 11.

Wait, Joel. Predestination isn’t a measurement of time. No, but it means that you can interpret times any way you like. You can say hours, years, decades, centuries, seasons, eras, prophesied events, ages, whatever measurement you want, because no matter how you interpret those measurements of time, the filling up of those measurements will take you to the very end of the chart.

Thus, you could say “the fulness of all the years” or “the completion of all the years.” You could also say “the completion of all the events in prophesy,” “the completion of all the ages,” or “the completion of everything we were foretold would come to pass in the Bible.” Or when God’s two-fold purpose for Heaven and the Earth are fully completed, when the Lord completes everything He determined to carry out with mankind, when He has finally judged everything, when He’s subdued all sin and rebellion, when everything has been made right, THEN you have reached the dispensation of the fulness of times.

You have reached the end of everything as we knew it.You have reached the administration over the completion of everything God foretold.

You have reached God’s administration over His eternal purpose in the eternal state, all that God purposed to do after the prophesy and mystery programs have fully run their courses, when His Son has judged everything and put an end to sin and death forever. This is after the Great White Throne.

We will all, Jews and the Body of Christ, be gathered together as one to watch the great bonfire of the Earth (2 Peter 3:10-13). We are given a new Heaven and a new Earth (Rev. 21:1-4), and New Jerusalem will come down to permanently reside upon the Earth.

You have reached, essentially, the beginning of the eternal state.

Adapted from Joel Hayes