I have heard it taught in the past that as one of the major dispensations above passes away and the next one comes forth, that somehow those dispensations can and do "meld together" or "overlap" as they say. Now it's true that some of the minor dispensations (judges, kings, prophets, etc.) did run concurrently with other dispensations, especially with the dispensation of the Law. Howbeit, spiritually speaking there is even a certain aspect of that thinking that is correct because people's hearts and minds don't always keep up with GOD'S appointed times. Furthermore, the Bible does teach us that things are brought forth in the spiritual (heavenly) realm before they come forth in the natural (earthly) realm. However, those principles—although true—are another matter altogether, and we want to compare apples to apples here. That is why this teaching will focus more on the last three major feast days and their corresponding dispensations as found in the Bible.
Some have said since Jesus ministered while the dispensation of the Law was still in effect, that this in some way proves "the Law" overlapped into "the Church age"/"Pentecost" and vice versa. Nevertheless, as previously mentioned, many of the lesser Old Testament dispensations did begin or end while another was operating. Still, as for the Law vs. Pentecost, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (which after all is the very essences of the dispensation of Grace), was not yet given to the Church corporately (John 7:39, 14:17) and that which was first given (the sealing) to the eleven apostles was given in part ("the earnest" 1-Cor 1:22) into the soul (the "heart") until "Pentecost was fully come," Acts 2:1. Proof of the temporarily limited power of the Holy Spirit that was given to the eleven is found in the fact that these same eleven after receiving the Spirit from Jesus had to still "draw lots" to decide who the 12th apostle would be. And I just don't find "drawing lots" was, or is one of the signs that believers' get once they're born-again. Furthermore, keep in mind it was Jesus Himself who said that He had to first go away for the Comforter to come.
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." John 16:7
"Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts [in our souls, our spirit man contains the whole]." 2 Corinthians 1:22
"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed [in the spirit of man] with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest [down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession [spirit, soul, and body], unto the praise of his glory." Ephesians 1:13-14
See Baptism of the Spirit / The Triune Man / The Soul of Man
"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." Acts 2:1
Jesus was sent to "fulfill" the scriptures, which obviously needed to take place within the Old Testament timetable. Keep in mind, it was Jesus Himself who told the one leper to "Go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto them" Matthew 8:4. Therefore, Jesus Himself acknowledged He was still operating within the confines of the dispensation of the Law at that time. Jesus knew He was to close out the Old Testament by finishing the work of atonement, and yet point the way to the New Testament (the work of the Church age as enabled by the Holy Spirit & grace), which could only have began corporately at the spiritual fulfillment of Pentecost (Acts 2:1).
"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." Hebrews 8:10-13
One might argue that grace or the Church age started when the first Apostles received the Holy Spirit as mentioned in John 20:22. However, that administration still took place after the three and one half years (42-months) of Jesus' ministry and resurrection. In that instance the Apostles were shown in type to be the first of the first fruits (Ex 23:19), but the limited giving of the Spirit in that instance was still well after Jesus had finished ("it is finished..." John 19:30) His primary mission. Jesus said in John 12:27, "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour" [to become the actual Lamb of GOD and atone for sin]. Thus, the dispensation of "the Law" would have already been closed out before the Spirit was available to the corporate Church.
Apparently, those who believe that all dispensations (small and great) must overlap, want to equate Jesus' ministry (His miracles, teachings, and showing forth of mercy) as the start of the Church age and grace. Yet at the same time the Law proper was still being observed, even by Jesus Himself. I believe most of the confusion with this doctrine of overlap, comes simply from not fully understanding what constitutes each of the major dispensations. As previously stated, the fact that Jesus performed some miracles and taught on the grace of God did in no way begin the dispensation of grace. What began the time period we call "grace," was when the Holy Spirit was given to the Church corporately at Pentecost. That means the actual moment the third temple/the Church age was first corporately recognized, or as Acts 2:1 says, "was fully come," was when the tongues of flame alighted on the heads of those in the upper room. So what I'm trying to say here is this; there can be a prophesying and even a foretaste of that which the next dispensation has in store, but there are exact points (events) mentioned in the Bible that clearly distinguish the beginning and end of at least the three major feasts or dispensations that are mentioned in the Bible; that is if you know what you are looking for. The days of creation and the "seventh day"/seventh millennium are even more segregated from each other. This fact is very important when distinguishing the end of the sixth, and the beginning of the seventh millenniums as far as prophecies and chronology goes (see link 1; link 2).
There is yet another thought to consider in this matter concerning dispensational parameters and that is this: most everything Jesus did while He ministered had already been done in like manner by many of the Old Testament saints and prophets. So could we say that the dispensation of grace started when the manna fell, the red sea split, or people were healed by the word of the prophet? How about when Elisha raised the Shunammite's son from the dead in 2-Kings 4? Then there are all the Old Testament teachings, prophecies, and psalms, all proclaiming God's love, and yes, even the grace and mercy He would extend towards the Gentiles and His own backslidden people in the days to come. The fact remains, those events took place hundreds and some thousands of years before "Pentecost was fully come." As a matter of fact, during the dispensation of the Law the LORD GOD had also (just like Jesus) proclaimed in Jeremiah 31:33-34 the "new covenant" He would make with all nations through His Son's blood.
I believe you will come to learn that the Bible has given us clear parameters by which we can define and identify many of these dispensations and time-periods so that we could "know the time of our visitation" (see Luke 19:44 below). If this was not true, nobody would know what "signs of the time" to watch for, as we are commanded to do so by the LORD. Our GOD is not a God of confusion; He does not promote "fuzzy math," that is when it comes to "knowing the time." GOD has truly provided the understanding to the "when...," of many of the prophetic time periods, because what was once previously hid, was to be released at the "time of the end"; the time we are now walking in brethren.
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy." Daniel 9:24
(see link)
"[Jesus speaking] And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation." Luke 19:44
"WATCH ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." Luke 21:36
"But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have WATCHED, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up." Matthew 24:43
"So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Hebrew 9:28
Therefore, there must be a way provided for the diligent seeker to "know the time," and for sure the dispensation that they find themselves in. As a matter of fact, the most crucial time of any dispensation has always been shown to be at the beginning and or the end thereof. Thus, if we were meant to overlap or shift the beginning and end of these dispensations (one on top of the other), it could only result in confusion and much error, even for those who were and are diligently seeking their place of readiness before GOD. Nevertheless, no matter what you believe, overlapping cannot change the prophesied divine order of events that must take place during each of these time periods. In other words, we cannot honestly say the seventh millennium has already begun (some believe in 2000 AD) when none, and I repeat, "none" of the events that signify the start of that dispensation have even begun. Case in point, the "judgment seat of Christ," the "thousand year reign" of the overcomers, "Satan bound," etc. Furthermore, some of the events the Bible tells us must happen before the end of the Church age (see: link #1, link #2, link #3), have not come to pass yet. Things like the 42-month ministry of the Two Witnesses during the great tribulation, the Witnesses' death and resurrection, and Armageddon just to name a few.
In like manner the days of creation (which correspond to seven millenniums) had definite beginning and ending points. That is, God stated what He made in each day of creation, then afterwards that day was considered done or finished before the next day could begin. This would mean that symbolically God must finish "making" the things that are appointed to be made or brought forth (including spiritual revelation) in each millennium, and that also includes the sixth millennium. Essentially, the sixth day, the day in which the man and "the beast" were created, must be allowed to come to its fullness (666: the fullness of the beast nature) before it can come to an end. If you remember, the "sixth day" was also the day in which the "double portion" of manna was given (Ex 16:22); it was not given in the seventh day. That same double portion represents symbolically the giving of the "former and the latter rain" anointing combined (Jer 3:3; Hos 6:3; Joel 2:23; Rev 11:3) to the Two Witness Co.. This premise is clearly explained in the Six days of Creation page. The other obvious problem with overlapping the different dispensations or symbolic days of creation, is that the end of each dispensation or day, then has to over-lap into the next, and the next, and so on; and who's the one that determines by how much they overlap and when? Keep in mind, if the three major dispensations correspond to the three main feasts, and or the symbolic thousand year day references were to truly over-lap in any tangible sense of the meaning, then what happens at the end of one dispensation or time period, or day, should be happening at the same time that the beginning events of the next dispensation or day are taking place. Yet the Bible and history simply does not show us this mixing or overlapping of events in type or otherwise; especially in the end-time.
Lastly, I have heard it stated by some in the body that I know understand the types, that the seventh millennium must start in the evening (in spiritual darkness, or what the Bible calls "midnight") before "the light" can come forth. They say this because the natural Jewish day starts at sundown. That premise is at best an error caused by not knowing the Word pertaining to the symbolic thousand year days. I believe part of what fuels this un-scriptural belief is that God had (up to this point) always equated each new day in Genesis to start with the "'evening and the morning...," but they must have forgotten the seventh day is unique (see link). So to foster this false belief they have to believe they can equate "night" to the seventh day, just as it was with the first six days of creation; days which did start with the "evening." However, the Bible does not apply the statement "evening and morning..." to the seventh day in Genesis chapter two. As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us there will be "no night" (spiritually speaking) in the seventh millennium, so how can it then start off in a time of spiritual darkness like midnight, the great tribulation, the indignation, or Armageddon?
"And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there." Revelation 21:24-25
"And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever." Revelation 22:5
No my friend, we are still in the sixth millennium, or at least in a time like Joshua 10:13 says where the sun stood still for a whole day. Or maybe we are experiencing the extra time that the "Good Samaritan" said he would "repay" upon His return in Luke 10:35, which must symbolically take place after the "two pence" (the two thousand years given to the Church age) have run out. Either way brethren, a thousand years is still a thousand years; the seventh millennium is not cut short in the Bible. Satan must be bound "a thousand years." The saints must rule and reign "a thousand years." The remaining dead must stay dead after the judgment seat of Christ—another thousand years—before they can rise to stand before GOD Almighty. We must believe the Word in these matters brethren, not some man made calendar that we know is off. Unfortunately, there will always be those that believe the Bible does not mean a literal one thousand year long seventh millennium is going to occur, even though Revelation chapter 20 alone mentions this thousand year span six times. Friends do not be like lemmings to the slaughter. Do not allow yourself to become "bewitched" by the multitude of traditionalist who only preach what they were told and apparently never sought these truths out for themselves.