What are the origins of Dispensationalism:

Some Dispensationalist try to make the assertion the apostles were Dispensationalist. Therefore, the origins of Dispensationalism can be found in the early Church. However, this is a presumptuous statement. Trying to determine the Eschatological views of the apostles is a difficult task and is the goal of Eschatological debate.

What is not debated is Dispensationalism, in its current form of formal eschatological theory, was developed in 1833 by John Nelson Darby (1800-1882). In 1819 Darby developed a theory that Israel and the Church were not the same thing. Prior to this theory, what is called replacement theology taught the Church is the continuation of Israel, or the Church israel.

Traditionally, Isaiah 32 was assumed to have been fulfilled when Christ arrived:

The Fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks, till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.

Isaiah 32:14-15

Prior to the arrival of Christ, Israel was a wasteland (spiritually speaking). Upon the arrival of Christ, Israel (represented by the Christian Church) is revived (again, spiritually speaking). Darby, believing the Church and Israel are distinct, concluded Isaiah 32 was not yet fulfilled and Israel would experience a revival at a future date, known as the dispensation of Israel.

Darby also theorized a rapture could occur at any moment. While a belief in the rapture was nothing new, most believed it would be immediately followed by the extinction of all mankind. Darby theorized the rapture may be followed by a tribulation, known as a pre-tribulation rapture.

The restoration of Israel in 1948 only fuelled the theory of Dispensationalism. Many Dispensationalist saw the restoration of Israel as the beginning of the End Times:

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Matthew 24:32-35

Believing the generation that saw the restoration of Israel (represented by the fig tree) would be the generation that saw the rapture, Dispensationalist eagerly taught the rapture would come soon. This sensational warning won many converts to the Dispensational theory.