This is post # 1247 of this thread
@Absolutely and you are correct in dispensations of time being set forth by God. The issue of dispensations of time/times ect. did not originate in the first century or in the 1800's with Darby they are from the beginning of the Scriptures and have been spoken of in Judaism even to this day.
In Judaism and in the early Church it was spoken of as "days" that is the seven days of the heaven and the earth (Genesis 2:4)
This is A.H. book 5 chapter 28.3
3. For in as many days as this world was made, in so many thousand years shall it be concluded. And for this reason the
Scripture says: Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all their adornment. And God brought to a conclusion upon the sixth day the works that He had made; and God rested upon the seventh day from all His works.
Genesis 2:2 This is an account of the things formerly created, as also it is a
prophecy of what is to come. For the day of the Lord is as a thousand years;
2 Peter 3:8 and in six days
created things were completed: it is evident, therefore, that they will come to an end at the sixth thousand year.
This is the epistle of Barnabas chapter 15
Further, also, it is written concerning the
Sabbath in the Decalogue which [the Lord] spoke, face to face, to
Moses on Mount Sinai, And sanctify the
Sabbath of the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart.
Exodus 20:8;
Deuteronomy 5:12 And He says in another place, If my sons keep the
Sabbath, then will I
cause my mercy to rest upon them.
Jeremiah 17:24-25 The
Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of the creation [thus]: And God made in six days the works of His hands, and made an end on the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it. Attend, my children, to the meaning of this expression, He finished in six days. This implies that the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day is with Him a thousand years. And He Himself testifies, saying, Behold, today will be as a thousand years. Therefore, my children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all things will be finished. And He rested on the seventh day. This means: when His Son, coming [again], shall destroy the time of the
wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and change the-sun, and the moon, and the stars, then shall He
truly rest on the seventh day. Moreover, He says, You shall sanctify it with pure hands and a pure heart. If, therefore, any one can now sanctify the day which
God has sanctified, except he is pure in heart in all things, we are deceived. Behold, therefore: certainly then one properly resting sanctifies it, when we ourselves, having received the promise,
wickedness no longer existing, and all things having been made new by the Lord, shall be able to work righteousness. Then we shall be able to sanctify it, having been first sanctified ourselves. Further, He says to them, Your new moons and your
Sabbath I cannot endure.
Isaiah 1:13 You perceive how He speaks: Your present
Sabbaths are not acceptable to Me, but that is which I have made, [namely this,] when, giving rest to all things, I shall make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which
Jesus rose again from the dead. And when He had manifested Himself, He ascended into the heavens.
There are other examples if you like but for now in a way of explanation we in the modern day use the term "dispensation" instead of remaining with the way this was always spoken of in the past. That is that Genesis 1:1-Genesis 2:4 have always been considered to be a
prophecy of the days of creation from it's beginning to end.
The confusion is in that in the modern day we use the words "generation, day, aeon ect. differently from the way the Jews of old or those Christians of the 1st,2nd ect. centuries did. This is the primary cause of the confusion in understanding the NT because we don't bare in mind that to a Jew in the first century a day,aeon generation ect. are at times spoken of in reference to one of the seven generations of the heaven and earth. So "this generation shall not pass.." is in reference to one aeon of time(thousand years) not ending till all is fulfilled and then the next age/aeon would begin.