Dispensation Bible Study #3

Dispensation of Conscience

Gen 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Before Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, God slew an animal and gave them coats of the skin to cover their nakedness. In the new dispensation of Conscience, the price of sin had to be paid by the shedding of blood of an innocent animal. This set a precedent for the rest of time that to pay for sin, blood must be shed. This principle in the scriptures is referred to as “atonement.”

In the dispensation of Innocence, salvation was in whether or not man OBEYED GOD’S WORD. In the new dispensation of Conscience, man had to still OBEY God’s word, but also had to rely upon His conscience to be saved. What exactly is our conscience?

Conscience- The faculty in man that helps us to know the difference between right or wrong.

That little voice that tells you what you are about to do or have just done is wrong was placed there by God! Do not ignore your conscience, because God still speaks to men through it!

Gen 4:1-2 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Adam and Eve had two sons: Cain and Abel. Abel became a shepherd while Cain became farmer like his father.

Gen 4:3-4 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

Where did Abel and Cain learn to give an offering unto the Lord? Obviously Adam had taught his sons what was expected of them. Even though the scriptures do not record the actual words spoken, God must have given Adam more instruction to obey. Abel brought a sheep and offered it unto God as a sacrifice. Cain also brought something to offer God but brought fruits and vegetables. God was pleased with Abel’s sacrifice but was displeased with Cain’s sacrifice because it did not have blood. Remember, blood was instituted by God as being required to cover sins. God in His mercy did not immediately judge Cain, but offered him another chance to give a sacrifice. Cain now had to use his conscience to determine what was the right thing to do. He could offer another sacrifice that was acceptable to God or he could get bitter and jealous.

Gen 4:8-10 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

Cain knew from his conscience that murder was not pleasing to the Lord. For Cain to be saved in this dispensation, he had to only fulfill two requirements: 1. Obey God’s Word (and God had commanded to give an offering unto him with blood.) 2. Listen to his conscience for what was right or wrong. He failed to do both.

Why did Cain not make things right with God and react by murder? To answer this question let’s ask another question. Why did Abel do the right thing?

Heb 11:1-6 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. 5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Hebrews chapter 11 is the “Hall of Fame of Faith.” It lists the men and women who possessed faith in God and, in so doing, pleased God regardless of the dispensation in which they lived.

Abel had faith that God would accept him, and reward him. Cain is not mentioned here so he obviously did not have faith that God would respond to his sacrifice. The lack of faith in God caused Cain to respond in the wrong manner. Because sin had destroyed God’s relationship with man, man now had to have faith in whatever God told Him would restore that relationship. Unfortunately, Cain failed to believe that the sacrifice exactly like God had commanded would cover his sin.

There also was another man mentioned here: a man name Enoch.

Gen 5:22-24 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

Enoch pleased God so much, that He did not even have to face death, God just took him to be with him!

Jude 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

So Enoch did please the Lord and also prophesied about the future. While those that lived in the dispensation of Conscience did not have their spirits revived from the death of sin, and thus could not have the close relationship with God that Adam had possessed in the Garden, Man could still have a relationship with God. Despite the simple rules of this dispensation only 3 men were called righteous or faithful: Abel, Enoch, and Noah. The majority of men did not follow the rules of this dispensation. So much that God decided to start over:

Gen 6:5-7 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

God got so mad that the majority of the earth was not even trying to please Him or obey His commandments that He decided to destroy the earth! Yet as God looked over the entire earth, He realized that He could not destroy the entire earth because one man was trying to serve Him.

Gen 6:8-14 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

A man named Noah “found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” God informed Noah of His plans to destroy the earth. God then commanded Noah to build an “ark,” a large floating barge type structure” and gave him the plans to go by. Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japeth, and they with Noah built the ark.

Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Noah is also listed among the “hall of fame” of Faith in Hebrews chapter 11. Unlike most men of his day, Noah had faith that God would do exactly what He had said. From the time that Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden until the Flood came in Noah’s time was the Dispensation of Conscience.

So the dispensation of Conscience:

Began with a promise that man could still find favor with God.

Ended with a judgment on all mankind by death.

For salvation, man had to OBEY the Word of the Lord by giving worthy offerings with blood, have faith that God would accept their offerings, and listen to their conscience.

The event that led to the ending of the dispensation was the flood.

The dispensation probably lasted 1,656 years.

The dispensation did not provide for regeneration of man’s spirit.