The meaning of the Greek word Oikonomia

The Greek oikonomia is made up of the word oikos 'house’ and nemo 'to administer,' 'to deal out,' and 'to distribute.'

 The word dispensation is the translation of the Greek oikonomia, a word that has become well known in the anglicized form Economy. Crabb discriminates between economy and management thus:

‘Economy has a more comprehensive meaning than management: for it includes the system and science of legislation as well as that of domestic arrangements, as the economy of agriculture ... political, civil, or religious economy’.

It is a secondary and derived meaning of the word that uses it as a synonym of frugality, for a truly economical use of money, sometimes may mean very lavish spending. We can speak of the ‘economy of nature' and by so doing, refer to the operations of nature in the generation, nutrition, preservation, and distribution of plants and animals. Macaulay's writing of David Hume said: ‘David Hume, undoubtedly one of the most profound political economists of his time'.

The Greek oikonomia is made up of the word oikos  ‘house' and nemo  'to administer,' 'to deal out,' and 'to distribute.' The word oikonomia is employed by Plato for the management of a household, and oikonomia and oikonomos and oikonomeo are found in the LXX. In Isaiah 22:19-21, where the A.V. reads ‘station,'  ‘government,' the LXX reads oikonomia ‘stewardship'. Oikonomos translates the Hebrew Al ha Beth 'over the house’ in 1 Kings 4:6; 1 Kings 16:9; 1 Kings 18:3, and in four other places. We have gone thus far afield in order that the reader may have first-hand information concerning the use of the term from ancient to modern times. We now give a concordance of the three words that are found in the Greek New Testament.

Luke 16:2. Thou mayest be no longer steward.

Luke 16:2. Give an account of thy stewardship.
Luke 16:3. Taketh away from me the stewardship.
Luke 16:4. When I am put out of the stewardship.
1 Cor. 9:17. A dispensation (of the gospel).
Eph. 1:10. That in the dispensation of the fulness.
Eph. 3:2. The dispensation of the grace of God.
Eph. 3:9. The dispensation of the mystery (R.V.).
Col. 1:25. According to the dispensation of God.
1 Tim. 1:4. A dispensation of God which is in faith (R.V.).

Luke 12:42. That faithful and wise steward.
Luke 16:1. Rich man, which had a steward.
Luke 16:3. The steward said within himself.
Luke 16:8. Commended the unjust steward.
Rom. 16:23. Erastus, the chamberlain of the city.
1 Cor. 4:1. Stewards of the mysteries of God.
1 Cor. 4:2. It is required in stewards ... found faithful.
Gal. 4:2 Is under tutors and governors.
Tit. 1:7. Blameless, as the steward of God.
1 Pet. 4:10. Good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

‘The Greek word rendered dispensation is oikonomia and refers to the act of administering. By the figure Metonymy, the act of administering is transferred to the time during which that administering is carried on.

How many ‘dispensations' are indicated in the Scriptures? This is a question that is more easily asked than answered. Every single believer who has been entrusted with the stewardship of truth adds to the number of ‘dispensations,' but this aspect of the matter is, of course, not intended by the question. When we refer to the different ‘dispensations,’ we refer to those subdivisions of the ages in which the revealed will of God, carrying differing obligations, has been made known and put into force, and in practically every case, the administration or stewardship of these separate and differing administrations, are found to have been entrusted to some chosen servant of the Lord. Moses, for example, is inseparable from the dispensation of law, and ‘Moses verily was faithful in all his house’ (Heb. 3:5).

The following subdivision of the Purpose of the Ages does not claim to be perfect or complete, but no real distinction in administration has been ignored, though some may have been merged (as, for example, the special stewardship of John the Baptist the period under Saul before the accession of David and others, which would swell the list unduly). 

(Some may overlap, and more than one can run together at the same time).

(1) Innocence. Adam unfallen. Paradise enjoyed.
(2) Adam to Noah. The Fall to the Flood.
(3) Noah to Babel. - Some features of Genesis 9 remain unchanged.
(4) Babel to Abraham. The Nations and the Nation.
(5) Abraham to Egypt. The Exodus marks a critical change.
(6) Exodus to Sinai. The covenant is 430 years after the promise.
(7) Sinai to Jericho. The forty years wandering.
(8) Jericho to Saul. The land entered.
(9) David to Christ. Here there are subdivisions which we have not noted.
(10) The Earthly Ministry of Christ, His Birth, Life, Death, Resurrection, Ascension.
(11) Pentecost to Peter in Prison, Acts 2 to 11.
(12) Paul’s First Ministry. The Gentile a wild olive contrary to nature.
(13) Paul’s Prison Ministry. The dispensation of the grace of God and the dispensation of the Mystery.
(14) The Resumption of Pentecost. The seven churches of Revelation 2,3.
(15) The Day of the Lord. The Apocalypse.
(16) The Millennial Kingdom and Revelation 20.
(17) The Period between the End of the Millennium and the Great White Throne.
(18) The End. The goal was reached. God, all in all.

No significance must be attached to the numbers that stand before any one dispensation. Paul's Prison Ministry happens to be No. 13 in this list, but the very questionable period from Sinai to Jericho is No. 7. Anyone is at liberty to add further subdivisions as the study of the Word makes such dispensations, administration, or stewardships clear.

A word perhaps is called for in connection with the subheading that suggests that two dispensations may run together. If a dispensation is but another name for an age, it is clear that two ‘ages’ cannot run together, but in any one period of time, there may be more than one stewardship in exercise. Galatians 2:7-9 makes it clear that Paul had an apostleship and a stewardship that differed from that of Peter but which was exercised during the self-same period. Or again, Romans 1:18 to 2:29 and Acts 17:25-28 make it clear that at the same period that Israel had the law, the covenants, and the service of the tabernacle with all its rich typical teaching, the nations of the earth were under a dispensation of conscience and the witness of the works of creation.

John’s Gospel, with its insistence upon the Giver of life, is addressed to those who did not know the meaning of the Hebrew word Rabboni and so could not be Jews. It was written after the whole of Paul’s ministry had ceased; it can be preached today without invading the smaller circle of faith encompassed by the Prison Epistles. It will be seen that a mere list of dispensations cannot set forth the whole truth of the matter and must be used with discrimination. The office of Dispensational Truth is to decide whether any particular doctrine be it command, promise, calling, or prophecy - does or does not pertain to any particular individual or company, and the recognition of these varying dispensations is, therefore, essential if we would walk worthy of our calling, and preach the truth for the present time.

Before attempting to explain or expound any particular portion of Scripture, the following interrogation, which is but the recognition of the fact that there is a succession of dispensations observable in the Bible, will prove a valuable guide.

Is the verse in question in the Old Testament or in the New Testament?

If in the Old Testament, is it in the Law or the prophets, before or after Abraham, before or after David, etc?
If in the New Testament, is it in the Gospels, and if so, which, for each Gospel, has its own peculiar viewpoint?

If in the Acts, is it in the period covered by Pentecost (Acts 2 to 12) by the early ministry of Paul (Acts 13 to 19), by the interval (Acts 20 to 28), or by the Prison Ministry of Paul?

Most objections to the teaching of the Mystery, and most of the confusion that is so evident, is the result of continually harking back to epistles before Acts 28, as, for example, a believer may appear to be following and endorsing your teaching concerning the constitution of the Church of the one Body in Ephesians, only to betray confusion by quoting Galatians 3:27-29.

Romans 6:3-4

. . . baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  Therefore we are buried
with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

In all ages, even back to Eden and the first sacrifice, the believer has been identified with Christ in some respects. And quite often, this identification is known as a baptism. So the sacrificer leaned on the victim, showing his dependence on it as a substitute and looking forward to the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. All sacrifices looked forward to Him.

During Acts, Paul especially speaks of baptism into Christ. Romans 6:3-4 is a good example;

1. Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? (We were there at Calvary)

2. Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: (Burial a proof of death)

3. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (New creation)

Here are three stages of identification in these two verses; death, burial, and resurrection.

Remember that this is a dry baptism, with no water involved, for it is not a ceremonial washing.

Now the above baptism was in force during the time The Kingdom was being re-offered to the Jews (and a few Gentiles). His ascension was known, but no identification with that was ever dreamed of. They had the hope of the kingdom of heaven here on earth. It was to be realized at the last trump, the coming of the Lord for His people to see and be with Him on earth.

But when the Dispensation of The Mystery was made known after Paul's last sermon to the Jews at the time signified in Acts 28:28, there was a further identification made known, a better standing for those that would believe the good news of The Mystery.

The baptism of Romans 6:3-4 has not been discarded. It is still basic. Colossians 2:12 says that, but in Ephesians 2:5-6 we find the experience of those who have gone on into The Mystery;

l. Hath quickened us together with Christ.

2. And hath raised us up together.

3. Hath made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Enthroned with Him)

This 3-fold identification with Him is in connection with His ascension. This was not the experience of Israel and their kingdom, which is to come here on the earth with their Messiah, sitting on the throne of His father, David.

The hope of those seated with Christ in the Heavenlies is to be manifested with Him there (Colossians 3:4). This is far above the clouds of heaven and the sound of the trumpet. And it is a prior hope, the Coronation of the King of kings and Lord of lords before His unveiling here on the earth. It is the place of our citizenship.

Those with this hope are exhorted to put their affection on things above where Christ sitteth, not on things of the world (not even the kingdom of heaven).

This, then, is the STANDING of the members of the Church, which is The Body of Christ. And someday, it will be their STATE.

Ephesians 1:22-23

... The church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.

1. The Declaration.

We believe that since the setting aside of Israel (Acts 28:28) God has ushered in a new dispensation, called the 'DIspensation of the Grace of God to the Gentiles, and the 'Dispensation of The Mystery'. We believe that God originally revealed this new dispensation to Paul while he was a prisoner and that its teaching is to be found in Pauls's Prison Epistles alone. The company of believers called during this dispensation is called the Church, which is His Body, of which Christ is the Head.

Its sphere of blessing, its constitution, and its hope are unique, and neither the promise to Abraham nor the characteristics of the Pentecostal church belong in any way to this new calling of God.

A. Scriptural grounds.

'... By revelation, He made known unto me the mystery ... that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel: whereof I was made a minister ... to make all men see what is the fellowship (dispensation R.V.) of the mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid (has been hidden since the ages) in God' (Eph. 3:3, Eph. 3:6-7, Eph. 3:9).

'... For His body's sake, which is the church: whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil (complete) the Word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints' (Col. 1:24-26).

'Praying ... for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds' (Eph. 6:18, Eph. 6:20).

'... blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation (overthrow) of the world' (Eph. 1:3=4).

'... The church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all' (Eph. 1:22-23).

B. An explanation of some special features of the dispensation of the mystery. This present dispensation is connected with a series of facts that influence its character

Its chosen apostle and minister is Paul, the prisoner. Paul, the prisoner, in Acts 28:23-29, spent a whole day with the leaders of Israel in Rome, and when it became evident that Israel of the dispersion was as obdurate as their brethren in the land, blindness settled upon the nation and the door of grace was opened wide to the Gentiles.

'... the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it' (Acts 28:28).

Israel's hope (Acts 28:20) and Israel's signs (28:1-9) did not cease with Matthew 28 or Acts 2, but remained to the end of the Acts. Till then, the Gentile believer had been but a wild olive graft into the stock of Israel. In Acts 28, the Israelite stock is cut down; the axe, so long laid to the root of the tree, does its work. A new dispensation with new terms is ushered in -- the dispensation of the grace of God for the Gentiles committed to Paul, the prisoner of the Lord (Eph. 3:1).

2. Its Special Sphere of Blessing.

This church has a unique sphere of blessing. Israel's inheritance is the land of promise; Abraham and those who walk in the steps of his overcoming faith look forward to the heavenly City; it is reserved for the church of the One Body to be blessed in heavenly places. These heavenly places are at the right hand of God, far above all (Eph. 1:20-21); the church of the One Body is spoken of, not merely as attaining that high place, of standing there, or serving there -- unspeakable blessings as these would be -- but of actually being 'seated together' there at the right hand of God. Nothing like this had ever been made known before.

3. The Time of its Election is Unique.

Three times in Scripture do we read the words, 'Before the foundation of the world.' Two of these passages speak of Christ, viz., John 17:24 and 1 Peter 1:20. The other reference speaks of the election of the church of the One Body 'before the foundation of the world.'

The etymology of the word 'foundation,' katabole, and its usage elsewhere (e.g., 2 Cor. 4:9; 2 Sam. 20:15, etc., etc.) lead us to adopt the rendering, 'Before the overthrow of the world.' Linking this passage with Genesis 1:1-2, and, by the analogy of faith, with Ezekiel 28:11-19, we discover that before the judgment upon Satan and his angels, which involved the original earth in chaos, this church with its heavenly destiny was chosen.

4. The Time of its Manifestation was Deferred.

This dispensation is called the Dispensation of The Mystery. We are told that it was 'hidden in God' from the ages and the generations and was only made known when Israel failed and was temporarily set aside. This revelation completes the Word of God. Nothing further is to be expected, but from now until the end, what has been promised shall, in due time and order, come to pass. Judged from the record of the rest of Scripture, this Dispensation of The Mystery is a parenthesis in the outworking of the purpose of the ages, but from the standpoint of Him Who knows the end from the beginning, and worketh all things after the counsel of His will, the Church of the One Body and its Dispensation fall into their predestined place, and complete the whole.

5. Its Constitution is Unique.

The Gentile members of this church were told to remember that once they were Hopeless, Christless, Godless, and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. This church was no development, adjustment, or evolution of the company that was formed during the Acts period (though, of course, many of the individuals who composed the early church passed over by faith into the other) but was a new creation.

'... for to create in himself of the two, one new man, so making peace' (Eph. 2:15, Author's translation ).

In this new company, there is an equality of membership never known before. Even when writing the Epistle to the Romans, Paul speaks of 'the Jew first.' But in the new company, we have an entirely new constitution :

'Fellow-citizens with the saints' (Eph. 2:19). 'That the gentiles should be fellow-heirs, fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers of his promise in Christ by that gospel, whereof I (Paul) was made a minister' (Eph. 3:6, Author's translation).

6. It is Characterized by the Supremacy of Christ Himself, the Substance Eclipsing and Removing all Shadows.

In this dispensation, there are no 'healings,' 'tongues,' and other supernatural sign-gifts. They ceased with the setting aside of the people of Israel. There is only one baptism in this church, that of the Spirit -- not that of water. The baptism of the Spirit must not be confused with the earlier manifestation of spiritual gifts but associated with the identification of the believer with His Lord in His death, burial, and resurrection, which is not necessarily set forth typically by immersion in water. Water baptism is closely connected with Israel. Peter could never have said, as did Paul, 'Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel' (1 Cor. 1:17), for Peter's gospel and baptism are inseparable.

The Church of the Mystery has no warrant to observe the Lord's Supper. Its institution (Matt. 26) shows that it is directly linked with the New Covenant, in which the church of the One Body can have no place. The New Covenant is not a vague term to be spiritualized into any dimension. It is defined in Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8 as being essentially to do with the restoration of the house of Israel and the house of Judah, a blessed theme, but with no relation to this church of heavenly places.

All fasts, feasts, and observance of days find themselves fulfilled in Christ :

'Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ' (Col. 2:16-17).

The prison epistles of the apostle Paul -- Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and 2 Timothy -- constitute the charter of this Church of The Mystery.

These epistles are written to and about us. The rest of Scripture is absolutely necessary to us -- just as the foundation of a building is necessary to its topmost stone -- but these epistles are peculiarly our own. It is a misrepresentation of our teaching to say that we have reduced our Bible to four epistles. We might as well charge the whole Protestant Church with cutting the Bible in half because it professes to be under grace and not under the law.

7. There is a Sacred Trust Connected with this New Calling.

In Ephesians 4:3-6 we are enjoined to keep the sevenfold unity of the Spirit, of which Christ, the One Lord, is the center.

1. One LORD
2. One HOPE
3. One FAITH.
4. One SPIRIT.
5. One BAPTISM.
6. One BODY.
7. One GOD AND FATHER.

In both 2 Timothy 1 and 2, Paul's teaching is the pattern: 'Which thou hast heard of me.'

In 2 Timothy 1:12 and 2 Tim. 1:14, Paul speaks of 'that good deposit,' a sacred trust of truth first of all 'committed' to Paul, then to Timothy, and subsequently 'to faithful men who should be able to teach others also' (2 Tim. 2:2).

It is to this commitment that we desire to respond. For this, we seek grace, strength, understanding, and endurance. To this end, we put pen to paper and publish teachings, seeking to buy up every opportunity of making known these unsearchable riches of Christ.

We know not when the last member of this blessed company shall be called and the Church completed, but we do know that the signs of the times indicate to us that the end of the age draws near. We see the movement beginning among the 'dry bones' of Israel; we see the fig tree once more beginning to put forth its leaves, and the signs of the apostasy spoken of by Paul in 1 Timothy 4 and 2 Timothy 3 and 4 appearing. We believe, therefore, that our hope draws nearer still; may we 'live ... looking for that blessed hope' (Tit. 2:12-13).

Philippians 4:19