«　WEEK 5　DAY 1　»

　　Eph. 1:9-10 Making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself, Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him;

　　Eph. 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

　　In eternity God planned a will. This will was hidden in Him; hence, it was a mystery. God's will as a mystery hidden in God issues in God's economy, dispensation (3:9). From God's will issues God's economy through His purpose, good pleasure, and counsel.

　　After God's will, purpose, good pleasure, and counsel, there is God's economy. God's economy is God's household administration, God's plan and arrangement. With an administration, there is the need of a plan, and with a plan, there is the need of an arrangement. Based upon God's will, He made a purpose. In His will and purpose, there is His good pleasure. Then the Divine Trinity had a council to make a decision, which is the divine counsel. Based upon that counsel, God made a plan with an arrangement, and this plan with this arrangement is His household administration, His economy. (The Central Line of the Divine Revelation, pp 31-34)

　　Economy is a translation of the Greek word, oikonomia. This Greek word has been anglicized into the English word economy and is equal to the word dispensation. The basic meaning of this word is a kind of arrangement, a kind of an arranged order. So it may be considered as a plan, as a management, or as an administration. God has a divine arrangement of His administration…. The Greek word, oikonomia, is composed of two words: oikos, meaning house and nomos, meaning law. Hence, it refers to the house arrangement, household management or administration. The word denotes the management and distribution of the wealth of a rich household. (The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, Volume 1, pp 1, 4)

　　This house is the house of God, including all the saved ones in the whole human race, all those who were chosen by God and have received God as their life (Eph. 2:19). They are a group of people who became the new creation by receiving God's life through God's selection. They are a big family of God. Furthermore, in this big family we are the masters and all the angels are the servants who wait upon us, ministering to us as those who inherit so great a salvation (Heb. 1:14).

　　In this universal house, there is the need for a household administration to arrive at a specific purpose. Whenever there is a household administration, it is necessary to have a dispensation and a plan. This is not a small matter. With the household administration, there is a dispensation; with the dispensation, there is the need for a plan. Hence, when God makes His dispensation, He designs a number of administrative procedures for the carrying out of His economy. For this reason, oikonomia may also be rendered dispensation, which means “arrangement” or “plan,” referring to God's plan for His administration. In God's administration, God's plan, there are many dispensations and many ways. (Revelation and Vision of God, p.103)