We have seen through several previous posts that, if from God, the time between a prophecy and its fulfillment is immaterial to knowing that the prophecy will eventually be fulfilled in its entirety. We should prepare ourselves for those prophecies which are still yet to come. More importantly, our preparation for these future events should encourage us to look inward and start conforming ourselves to Christ’s attitude and view. What is important to Christ should be important to us. Preparing ourselves and investing in the lives of others, both physically and spiritually, are two of the most important ways of how to redeem our time prior to Christ’s return.

I’ve summarized it in a poem:

If time was an element that we could reap or mine,

Then we would have no worries here and now.

However, time is elusive and holds no design,

And to it we must succumb, and we must bow.

Our view of time must change to free its chain.

God’s gift must be our view: the key receive

To open our mind to blessings that from Him rain.

The eyes of God is the reward if in Him we believe.

Now keen our senses for our Lord’s return

As we invest in others’ lives and help them see anew.

The time we have is on our side if we learn

That immortality through Christ is sure, so His will we do.

The world, and we, wait for the renewing—it is deemed;

And we shall obtain it, if here we achieve time redeemed.

RC Dockens

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

We have seen that God has revealed His truth in His Word: both in Jesus Christ (Jn 1:14) and through Scripture (2Tm 3:16). Our faith in what Christ has accomplished in our reconciliation to God is a volitional act on our part—the only part we play. The writer of Hebrews defines faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hb 11:1). Mankind accepts Christ’s act of redemption in this manner through the hearing of it (Ro 10:17): he has not observed the act, but trusts in it and the eternal hope it brings. Therefore, this is a volitional act by man himself. However, faith is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Ga 5:22-23) which the Holy Spirit matures into greater faith God can use in one’s life for even greater things and help one to stand firm (2Co 1:24). Therefore, the righteousness through faith that Paul describes in Romans 3:21-31 states what Christ did for us, but also infers what Christ will do for us in this present life and provides the secure hope of what He will do for us in the life to come. Righteousness is not just for now, but for all eternity.

In previous posts, I stated we need to understand God’s intent for time to know how to utilize (or redeem) our time effectively. We have seen how God has created time and has utilized it to bring about His will. He has used various prophecies to give us a glimpse of His intentions for the future and has allowed us to have a part in His plan if we accept it. As we have seen in other posts, acceptance is the first critical step. More is needed if we want to redeem the time we have (Ep 5:16). As we yield more of our life over to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we gradually become more and more conformed to the moral image of God and Christ (Cl 3:5-10), and we begin to develop a perspective of life, meaning, and attitude as that of Christ (1Co 2:16; Pp 2:5). Paul was an example of this fact. Paul was very secure in his faith (Ro 8:31-39), but this made him have even more zeal for those who had not yet gained this faith (Ro 10:1). His heart for others was expressed in almost every letter he penned. He invested in the lives of others, like Timothy (Ac 16:1-5; 1Tm 1:2), Titus (Tt 1:4), and Onesimus (Pm 10-11; Cl 4:9), and others.

We do have to be cautious. The enemy (Satan) wants to “devour” us (1Pt 5:8) by making us ineffective, whether through deception of the truth (2Jn 7-8) or causing us to lose sight of our true purpose here (3Jn 9-10). Also, as Christ has taught us to be in the world but not of the world (Jn 17:14-15), Satan also has followers who are in the church (congregation) but not of the Church (true body of believers), and we are cautioned to be on guard for such (2Pt 2:1-2; Ju 4) and to not conform to the world’s standards (Ro 12:1-2; Ja 1:27). We are to be holy (1Pt 1:15-16), i.e., unique, set apart.  Christ’s indwelling of us via the Holy Spirit (1Co 3:16) is our present assurance of future glorification (Cl 1:27), i.e., a state of eternal glory (2Tm 2:10; 1Pt 5:10). Therefore, our perseverance now will lead to much reward for all eternity (Cl 3:24; 2Tm 4:8; Ja 1:12; 1Pt 5:4; 2Jn 8).

Although God’s expectations of us is quite high, he does not expect us to meet those standards on our own. He has given us the tools we need for this life (His word and the Holy Spirit) and has provided the hope we need for the next.

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The purpose of the previous posts on the timing of prophetic fulfillment was to illustrate a number of prophecies in the Bible which have come true. Also, the examples were chosen to help emphasize the number of years between the initial prophecy and its fulfillment had little to do with the exactness of the fulfillment. In other words, just the indication that the prophecy was of, or from, God was enough to ensure the prophecy would indeed come true. Because the Bible has so many prophecies which have come true, their fulfillment is supportive to the assurance that the prophecies which have not yet come true will still be fulfilled. As stated, we cannot use the argument of time to suggest they will not be fulfilled since time seems to have had little impact on the prophecies that have so far come true. One reason of this could be that God operates on a timescale different from ours (2Pt 3:8-9) and the rationale for His timescale can probably not be determined (Is 55:9). It essentially boils down to faith. If you can trust God is the author of truth (Jn 14:6, 17) as well as His Word (Jn 17:17), then what has been stated and has not yet been fulfilled is just as valid and binding as that which has been stated and has been fulfilled.

How do we accept Truth? The simple, but important, answer to acceptance is faith. This is very different from a belief in something. Belief does not necessarily lead to truth. After all, many good people have done many bad things in their misguided belief of truth. People used to believe the earth was flat and the center of the universe or solar system, and those who believed otherwise were ‘heretics,’ worthy of punishment—even death. Although their belief was sincere, it did not change the fact that the earth is a sphere and not the center of the solar system, the galaxy, or the universe. Faith on the other hand is as old as time itself and has always led to truth. It was true before the Law was given to the Israelites through Moses: Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness (i.e., a correct relationship to the will of God) (Gn 15:6). It was true for those under the Law: Habakkuk stated the just would live by faith (Hk 2:4). It is also true today: both Jew and Gentile are justified (i.e., declared—not made—righteous) by faith (Ro 3:27-31). It will also be true during the Tribulation (after the rapture, or the Receiving, and removal of the restraint of the Holy Spirit [2Th 2:7-8]) since many will have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rv 7:14) indicating their faith and acceptance in what the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ accomplished for them—reconciliation with God (Ro 3:21-26). It is a matter of choice that must be made in this life. There are no second chances once this life is over (Ec 11:3).

So, the time and decision is for now. Will you make it?

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: 1332 BC (Leviticus 23, 25)

Year of Fulfillment: Still in the future

Time until fulfillment: >3354 years (not yet fulfilled)

As noted in previous posts, there were three feasts which occurred in the seventh month of the Jewish calendar. They, too, had practical application to the nation of Israel when they were first instituted, but they also referred to future events that are also in our future today. These are discussed in this post.

Beginning of the Tribulation (the last 7-year period prior to Christ’s 2nd Coming)

The Remembrance of Israel as Foreshadowed by:

Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashanah (1st day of the seventh month: Lv 23:23-25)

The Feast of Trumpets is also known as the Feast of Remembrance or the Feast of Memorial and is known by modern Jews as the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah). The Jewish New Year celebration probably reflects the Jewish civil calendar rather than the sacred one since the month in which the Passover occurs was originally instituted as the first month of the Jewish year (Ex 12:2). This feast occurs on the first day of the seventh month. The times of its celebration recorded in scripture are few (1Ki 8:1-66 and 2Ch 5:1-7:10; Er 3:1-5; Ne 8:1-9:38), but each event was a memorial to remember what God had done for them. Each of these occurrences had the following events in common: the people gathered and acted as a nation, they gathered in Jerusalem near the Temple, they renewed their covenant relationship with God, they began sacrifices, they celebrated the feasts, and God responded to the people on a national level. In each event, the nation of Israel was asking God to remember them and to restore His relationship with them, as Jeremiah pleaded to God for His remembrance of Israel and to “renew our days as of old” (La 5:21).

As mentioned in prior posts, the Feast of Pentecost (Shavuot) was the beginning of the Church Age at which time Israel as a nation was temporarily set aside until the required number of Gentiles are saved (Ro 11:25). At that point, the rapture (or The Receiving) occurs, and all Christians are removed from the Earth. God then “remembers” His covenant with Israel (Ro 11:26; Jr 31:33-34) and His main focus is back on Israel as a nation. There is probably an unspecified period of time between the rapture and this “remembrance” of Israel since the first is a focus on the Church and the latter is a focus on the nation of Israel. During this time, 144,000 Jewish people will be saved and act as evangelists to their fellow Jews and to the world at large (Rv 7:4-8, 14:1-5). Therefore, this feast is symbolic of the beginning of what is known as the Tribulation Period.

Christ’s 2nd Coming as Foreshadowed by:

Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur (10th day of the seventh month: Lv 23:26-32)

This feast was different from the others in that it was first for contrition and then celebration (Lv 23:32). This was the day the high priest made a sacrifice to atone for the sins of the people (Lev 16). The atonement was a cleansing of both the items used in the ceremony (Holy of Holies, Tabernacle, and brazen altar) as well as individuals (priests, high priest, all the people) indicating atonement was not just a covering of sin, but a cleansing of sin as well.  Today, the focus is on the individual rather than a nation, and during the 10 days prior to the Day of Atonement (called the Ten Days of Penitence), one is strongly encouraged to repent: prayers are said, good deeds are done, and fasting is common.

These actions of the high priest in Leviticus pointed toward what Christ was to do for mankind. Atonement is a process instituted and initiated by God. Christ has redeemed us by addressing the price, penalty, and condemnation of sin which separates us from God (Jn 3:16-18). This action has to be done by a third party. Just as Boaz operated as a kinsman-redeemer to redeem Ruth (Ru 4), Christ operated as our redeemer to pay the debt owed to God to redeem us from sin (Cl 1:14). Christ became our propitiation (appeasement) by addressing the righteous wrath of God, for God is holy and expects us to be the same (Lev 11:44). Christ’s death on the cross satisfied God, appeased His wrath, and allowed us to become clean and useful to God (Ro 3:25, 1Jn 2:2, 4:10). Christ reconciled us by addressing our stand with God. Christ’s death on the cross restored the fellowship between us and God (2Co 5:18-19). The path to be reconciled is now open, yet we must accept it (Ro 6:23; Cl 1:20). Christ cleansed us by addressing the domination of sin. Christ’s death on the cross removed sin’s domination over the old nature (2Co 5:17) and as we confess the sin, God performs the cleansing from the sin (1Jn 1:9).

Since atonement also involves inanimate objects and allows them to be used in service to God, Christ will utilize this aspect of atonement for Israel at a future time and make the nation of Israel useful for God’s service. This will occur at the Second Coming of Christ at which time Christ will reconcile and restore the relationship between Himself and Israel (Zc 12:10 - 13:9).

Tribulation, Great Tribulation and Antichrist

These are not part of the feasts, but occur between the last two sections just mentioned. The chronological time between the “awakening of Israel” after the rapture and the resorted relationship of Israel back to God is the time of the Tribulation. It has its beginning sometime after the rapture when the Antichrist makes a covenant with Israel (Dn 9:27). The Antichrist is the one whom Satan uses to set up a one-world government and attempts to destroy all those who oppose him (Dn 7:15-25). At the end of 3½ years, the Antichrist will revoke his covenant with Israel and desecrate the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem with his own image (Dn 9:27) and seek to destroy all of Israel (Jr 30:4-7; Rv 12). The last 3½ years will be a time of great trouble for Israel (Jr 30:5-7; Zp 1:14-18) with natural calamities never before experienced (Hg 2:6-9; Rv 8:6-13) and is therefore termed “Great Tribulation.” Those in Jerusalem will be pushed to the brink of annihilation (Zc 14:1-2). They have no place to turn but to call upon their Messiah who comes to fight for them (Zc 12:5, 14:3-5), and they recognize the true identity of their Messiah (Zc 12:10-14), the one pierced—Jesus Christ (Jn 19:37; Rv 1:7).

The Millennium Kingdom (1000-year reign of Christ on Earth) as Foreshadowed by:

Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot (15th to 21st day of the seventh month: Lv 23:33-43)

Although this feast had an agricultural connection (Dt 16:13-17), this did not seem to be its main emphasis, and it did not seem to really be about the 40-year wandering of Jews due to the emphasis on celebration (Lv 23:39-41; Dt 16:13-15), and the elements of the booths’ construction (Lv 23:40). Therefore, it was likely more about God’s provision for them rather than their lack during their time of wandering, and pointed to the time of future rest which they did not have in the wilderness.  Although entering the Promised Land served as a type of rest for Israel from their wanderings (Js 23:1), the book of Judges points out the temporary nature of this ‘rest’ (Jd 2:10-19). There was a more permanent rest to which this feast pointed (Hb 4:8-11). After Christ returns to earth and destroys Israel’s enemies at His second coming (Is 63:1-6; Zc 14:3, 12-14), removes the unrighteous (Mt 24:36-51), and sets up His earthly 1,000-year kingdom (Zc 8:3, 14:9; Rv 20:4), Israel will be the one favored of all people and will enjoy the rest they have not had all during the nation’s existence (Zc 8:4-22). This feast will also be celebrated during this time—not only for Israel but for everyone (Zc 14:16-21) since spiritual cleansing will be an emphasis to all those dwelling on the earth during this time (Zc 14:8, 16, 21).

The New Heavens and Earth as Foreshadowed by:

The Jubilee (Lv 25:1-55)

In the seventh month of every 49 years (seven Sabbaths of years, Lv 25:8), on the Day of Atonement, the 50th year was consecrated and liberty was proclaimed (Lv 25:10). All property was to be returned to its original owner, and all people were to return to their own clans (Lv 25:10). One was not to sow or harvest during this 50th year (Lv 25:11-12). Jubilee was to be used to determine the value of land and property that was sold. One was to ascertain when the next Jubilee was to occur and base the price on the number of years until the next Jubilee, because both land and property (including individuals who had sold themselves in order to live) would return to their owners or clans during the year of Jubilee (Lv 25:14-17).

Although this is not a formal feast as were the others, this does tie into the other feasts and to the regular Sabbath (Lv 23:3). Before explaining the feasts in Leviticus 23, God stated to not forget the pattern established back in the beginning (Gn 2:2; Lv 23:3). As the Sabbath of rest of creation pointed to the completion of creation (Gn 2:1), to the rest (or satisfaction) God had in His creation (Gn 2:2), and to the perfect state of God’s creation (Gn 1:31), so the Sabbath year of rest (Jubilee) points to the end of history when all will be returned to the perfect state God had in the beginning and we will be forever with the Lord (2Pt 3:13; Rv 21:4-7).

In Leviticus 25, the Jubilee required all land and people be returned to their original owners and clans (Lv 25:10). This Jubilee also points toward the new heavens and earth where the eternity of rest (Hb 4:9) is entered and the original, perfect state is again attained. The present earth cannot enter because of sin. Just as our spirits groan and wait eagerly for the redemption of our bodies (Ro 8:23), so does all of creation (Ro 8:22) because of the sin imposed upon it by Adam (Ro 8:20). It, too, can be liberated from the bondage of decay to which it is now subjected (Ro 8:21). Knowing God is unique and devoid of sin (Lv 19:2), and demands even inanimate objects of worship to be cleansed from sin (Lv 16:16), the earth cannot enter into eternity in its present state. God will therefore cleanse the earth with fire so that His righteousness can dwell there (2Pt 3:10, 13).

What a rich heritage God gave to the Jews. One day, all of this can be your heritage as well. Everyone wants a bright and promising future. God is providing it, are you going to accept it?

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: 51 AD (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Year of Fulfillment: Still in the future

Time until fulfillment: >1971 years (not yet fulfilled)

We have been talking about prophecies which have already been fulfilled. Yet, there are several important prophecies which have not yet been fulfilled. One of them is known as the Rapture. Let’s explore it here.

The name “Rapture” comes from the Greek word harpadzo (found in 1Th 4:17) which means “to seize or carry off.” Paul is referring to the translation of the church from earth to heaven. I prefer to call this “The Receiving” because it is tied to the traditional view of a Jewish wedding. The details have already been provided in previous post. Yet, it shows the bridegroom comes to receive his bride unexpectedly; yet she is expected to be found ready. She then goes back with her husband to his father’s house where he has prepared a place for them to live. Doesn’t that sound very similar to these verses in 1 Thessalonians? It is also similar to what Christ told his disciples before he was taken and crucified (Jn 14:1-3). To me, the phrase “The Receiving” sounds more personal and intimate.

From the time of Pentecost in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit was given to each individual believer in Christ until the present day, the Church Age has existed. The initial Christians were Jewish, and it was not until the Jerusalem church started undergoing persecution (Ac 8:1-3) that the Jewish Christians (true Jews or Jewish proselytes) were scattered throughout the known world and continued to talk to others about Christ (Ac 8:4), which eventually led to Gentiles becoming Christians (Ac 10:23-48). God using Paul to become an Apostle to the Gentiles (Ac 9:15). As the Feast of Pentecost (Shavuot) represented, the Church (i.e., the believers in Christ) is composed of all who believe, whether Jew or Gentile (Ro 1:16). As a whole, more Gentiles became Christians than did Jews; however, Paul taught that this was by God’s design. This would be true until the “full number of the Gentiles has come in” (Ro 11:25). However, God has not turned His back on the Jews (Ro 11:26). The Rapture, or The Receiving, is the event which will end the Church Age. It occurs somewhat before the Tribulation Period (this is the start of the future prophecy of the Feasts of Israel ). At the time of God’s choosing, those Christians who are dead will rise in an incorruptible body, and those alive will be changed instantaneously into an incorruptible body (1Co 15:51) and will meet Christ in the air to be with Him forever (1Th 4:13-18).

As we have seen earlier, almost all of the prophecies that deal with Israel as a nation have had a timetable given to them, if people were diligent enough to understand them. However, although the rapture is prophesied (1Co 15:51-53; 1Th 4:13-18), its timing is unknown and there is no scripture that gives a timetable for it. Some believe there is reference to this event in Old Testament scripture in poetic terms (SS 2:8-14); however, Paul called the rapture a “mystery” (1Co 15:51). Therefore, it was not a recognized Old Testament teaching. The apostles and the early Church taught the imminency of Christ’s return (e.g. Pp 3:20, 4:5; 1Th 1:10; Tt 2:13; Ja 5:7-9; 1 Jn 2:28; Rv 22:20), implying things may occur before the imminent event, but there is nothing that must occur before it happens.

As stated above, the bride was expected to be ready at all times. Are you ready for your bridegroom? What if he came today? Would you be smiling and ready to receive him or miss him because you weren’t looking for him?

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Birth, Death, Burial, Resurrection, and Ascension

Year of Prophecy: © 3760 BC (Genesis 3:15)

Year of Fulfillment:  3 BC (birth: Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-7)

Time until fulfillment: 3757 years

There are many prophecies in the Bible regarding the birth of Christ, but Genesis 3:15 is the first. There are too many prophecies with correct fulfillment to be mere coincidence. A few are the following: a descendant of King David and of King Solomon (2Sa 7:12-17, 1Ch 28:4-5; Mt 1:1, 6-7), would be preceded by a forerunner (Is 40:3, Ml 3:1; Mk 1:2-4, Mt 3:1-3), born of a virgin (Is 7:13-14; Mt 1:18-25, Lk 1:26-35), the time of His coming given (Da 9:24-27; Mk 11:1-11, Lk 19:29-38), the place of birth given (Mi 5:2-3; Lk 2:1-7, Mt 2:1-6), and a celestial announcement of His birth (Nu 24:17; Mt 2:1-2). With the birth of Eve’s first son, Cain, there was hope that God’s promise was being fulfilled since his name probably meant ‘acquired.’ However, Cain turned out to be the first murderer! Satan had lost no time. He was at work in the life of Cain (Jn 8:44) and has worked throughout history to try and prevent Christ’s birth and the effectiveness of those serving Christ.

Christ’s death was also foretold. Christ was betrayed by a friend (Ps 41:9; Jn 13:21) for 30 pieces of sliver (Zc 11:12; Mt 26:15, Lk 22:5) which was used to buy a potter’s field (Zc 11:13; Mt 27:9-10), forsaken by friends (Zc 13:7; Mt 26:56), accused by false witnesses (Ps 35:11; Mt 26:60), silent to accusations (Is 53:7; Mt 27:14), spat upon, smitten and scourged (Is 50:6, 53:5; Mt 27:26, 30), was crucified with criminals (Is 53:12; Mt 27:35), was pierced (Zc 12:10; Jn 19:34) but no bones were broken (Nu 9:12, Ps 34:20; Jn 19:33-36), and was buried with the rich (Is 53:9; Mt 27:57, 60). In addition, Christ’s resurrection was foretold (Ps 16:10-11, 49:15; Mk 16:6) as well as His ascension (Ps 68:18, 110:1; Lk 24:51, Acts 1:9).

One event in and of itself may not be convincing, but the sheer number of the events which were prophesied and fulfilled become overwhelmingly persuasive. As we see above, it was almost 4000 years before Christ came after God stated He would come, but the timing of His coming was as God desired (Gal 4:4). During the interval between the prophecy and its fulfillment, God allowed so many prophecies to be stated. This should have been overwhelmingly convincing to everyone when Christ did arrive on the scene. However, doubt is a very effective tool used by Satan (Gen 3:1). We should not allow time to be a factor in our thinking of prophetic fulfillment because the concept of time is a human phenomenon and not God’s (2 Pet 3:8). Our source of belief should be on what God said and not the time it takes for its fulfillment.

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Year of Promise: © 1295 BC (Joshua 9:1-27)

Year of Promise Broken: © 1051 (2 Samuel 21:1)

Time until fulfillment: ~ 244 years

As previously noted, God made many prophecies through people He chose to speak for Him. These usually spoke proclaiming their words were directly from God. However, others spoke prophecies that they themselves spoke, although they were God inspired. In addition, God sometimes held people to the promises they made as well. An example of that is presented here.

When Joshua and the Israelite army started their conquests in Canaan, the people from the town of Gibeon decided to try trickery to save their lives. God had told the Israelites to drive out completely all those who lived in Canaan, over time, and not to make any covenants with them (Ex 23:31-33). However, having seen their neighbors being wiped out by Israel, the people of Gibeon, descendants of the Amorites (2Sa 21:2) of whose land was promised to Israel through Abraham (Gn 15:21) and who lived in a nearby section of Canaan, put on old clothes, packed moldy bread, and feigned they had traveled a long distance. They did this so they could make a peace treaty with Israel and would agree to be their servants if Israel agreed to spare their lives (Js 9:1-13). Joshua and the leaders, knowing God’s command to them about the inhabitants of Canaan (Js 9:7), did not trust them at first, but later believed them. Yet, they did not seek the Lord in regard to their decision (Js 9:14). Later, Joshua found out about the ruse, and made the Gibeonites slaves to Israel (Js 9:15-27).

However, during the time of Saul, the first king of Israel (1Sa 11:17-25), Saul tried to annihilate the Gibeonites (2Sa 21:2) and God showed his displeasure by sending a 3-year famine during the reign of King David (2Sa 21:1). The reason God did this is unknown but may be tied to the command God had given Israel, which stated the alien within their land should be treated as native-born (Lv 19:33-34). When David asked the Gibeonites what they wanted for retribution, they replied they wanted seven of Saul’s sons delivered to them for execution (2Sa 21:6). This was done and later, David gathered their remains as well as those of Saul and Jonathan, who had previously died in battle, and buried them in a family tomb within Saul’s family (2Sa 21:7-14), and God again blessed the land (2Sa 21:14).

You may find this a bizarre story. I will admit it is one of the more unusual stories in the Bible. Yet, it does show how seriously God takes his promises and the promises of those who he has placed in charge. Even after 200 years, God still held to what Joshua had promised the Gibeonites. Maybe Saul focused on the deception of the Gibeonites and felt he was being patriotic by taking them out. This is a caution to us to understand carefully the history of an event before we take action based upon our own beliefs without all the facts. God upheld Joshua’s original promise, and Saul should have also. I think we can see time is inconsequential to God. We cannot use it as an excuse.

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Year of Prophecy: © 1745 BC (Genesis 49:5-7)

Year of Fulfillment: © 1295 BC (Joshua 19:1-9; 21:1-42)

Time until fulfillment: ~ 450 years

As we have noted, God made many prophecies through people He chose to speak for Him. These usually spoke as their words being directly from God. However, others spoke prophecies that they themselves spoke, although they were God inspired. One example of this was Jacob pronouncing that both Simeon and Levi would have no major inheritance.

When Jacob was on his deathbed, he gathered his sons around him and stated what would happen to them in coming years (Gn 49:1). For Simeon and Levi, he stated the following, “I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel” (Gn 49:7). The reason for this goes back to earlier days of Jacob’s life when he had left his father-in-law, Laban, to return to be near his father. He dwelt in Shechem in Canaan and bought a plot of ground there (Gn 33:18-19). Jacob’s daughter, Dinah (and the sister to Simeon and Levi), started interacting with the local women and became involved with the son of Hamor, the ruler of that area. Hamor’s son wanted to marry her but had already had intercourse with her prior to this request (Gn 34:2-4). Simeon and Levi were enraged at this but kept their anger to themselves—for a time. They told Hamor that in order for his son to marry Dinah, all the males of the city had to be circumcised. While the men were still very sore and unable to fight well, Simeon and Levi killed every male and brought their sister back to their home (Gn 34:13-31). Jacob was very displeased with his sons, and scolded them, but took no further action (Gn 34:30-31).

Hundreds of years passed after Jacob’s prediction. The Israelites were made slaves in Egypt for 430 years (Ex 12:40), they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years (Js 5:6), and they had several years of conquest before each tribe finally had their inheritance provided (Js 13-21). Who remembered what Jacob said by that time? Also, there was no specific attempt in Joshua 13-21 to limit these two inheritances. However, God did not forget. The tribe of Levi became the priests, and they had no specific parcel of land, but had certain cities throughout the land assigned to them (Js 21). Simeon was given an inheritance within the territory of Judah (Js 19:1-9). Therefore, Simeon had no clearly defined area, just a number of cities mentioned. Later, by the time the kingdom of Israel was divided into the Northern (Israel) and Southern (Judah) kingdoms (1Ki 12), Simeon is not mentioned. The Southern Kingdom was stated to be composed of Judah and Benjamin (1Ki 12:21). There is some evidence that some descendants of Simeon migrated east of the Jordan (1Ch 4:38-43) and may have been taken captive with the Northern Kingdom by Assyria.  However, for the most part, it seems that most of Simeon had been absorbed into Judah’s territory. God ensured that Jacob’s prediction came true. The process of time did not change the outcome. Although people forgot, God did not.

I think this helps us to see that we can rely upon what God promises or what is recorded in his Word. We may think time has a way of diluting or dissolving things, but we would be wrong.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: © 1462 BC (Leviticus 23)

Year of Fulfillment:  32 AD (Matthew 21:1-11; 27:32 - 28:15; Mark 11:1-11; 15:21 - 16:14; Luke 19:28-44; 23:26 - 24:12; John 12:12-19; 19:16 - 20:18; Acts 2)

Time until fulfillment: ~ 1494 years

The prophecy through the feast of Israel is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the tenth of the ten examples.

God has a way of interweaving multiple aspects and meanings into events so that they are meaningful for the present, for the past, and for the future. This is especially true for the feasts that He provided to the nation of Israel in Leviticus. They were practically meaningful to the Israelites since God tied many of them to the different harvests times, but also made them memorials to commemorate His appointment with them so they could look back on the events and their original occurrence to see how He had guided and protected them and to give a visual to what He would be doing in their future. Their significance cannot be understated, because they were to be held in perpetuity (Ex 12:14, 17, 24; Lev 23:14, 21, 41). We will briefly look at four of them here since in our “present”, their “future fulfillment” has already occurred.

Feast of Passover (Pesach; 14th day of the first month: Lev 23:5)

Passover is probably the most known feast and the one which most people identify with those being Jewish. It commemorates the exodus of the children of Israel, under the leadership of Moses, from Egyptian slavery (Ex 12). The preparation for the feast began on the 10th day of the first month (Ex 12:3), called Preparation Day, when a lamb was chosen for Passover. The animals were to be examined to be sure they were without defect (Ex 12:5). This Preparation Day has demarcated other significant events in Jewish history. It was the day Joshua led the children of Israel across the Jordan River into the Promised Land (Js 4:19), and the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey (Zc 9:9; Mt 21:1-17; Mk 11:1-11; Lk 19:28-48; Jn 12:12-17). Since Jesus ate with Lazarus six days before Passover (Jn 12:1), being the ninth day of the First Month, this indicates His entry into Jerusalem was on the tenth day of the First Month.

Passover itself was held on the 14th day of the First Month (Ex 12:6, Lv 23:5). Since the day began at sundown (Gn 1:5), the lamb was slaughtered just before sundown (Ex 12:6; i.e., on the 13th day) and roasted over a fire. Therefore, the Passover meal was observed at the start of Passover (i.e., that night, the beginning of Passover). On that first Passover, the people took the lamb’s blood and marked it on the sides and top of the doorframe (Ex 12:7), which, if these marks were connected, would form a cross. The people then ate the meat of the lamb roasted in the fire, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread (Ex 12:8). Each subsequent Passover was observed as a memorial of this ‘passing over’; blood was sprinkled only on this first Passover (Dt 16:1, 3). The Passover sacrifice could only be done in the place God would choose as a dwelling for His Name (Dt 16:5). Jerusalem was the place God chose for His dwelling (2Ch 3:1, 1Ki 8:29), and the place where Christ was later crucified (Mt 27:22-56; Mk 15:12-41; Lk 23:13-49; Jn 19:1-37).

Therefore, Preparation Day marks judgment and Passover marks deliverance. During the exodus, the lamb was secured so that its blood would deliver the Israelites from the judgment of death (Ex 12:12-13). When the Israelites crossed the Jordan, they consecrated themselves to the Lord (Js 3:5) and stones were erected to signify God’s fulfilled promise of their deliverance (Js 4:19-24). When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the colt, he spoke of judgment as well (Jn 12:30-32) which was a fulfillment of the judgment of which the prophet Isaiah had spoken (Is 6:10, 53:1; Jn 12:38-40) due to their spiritual blindness. Jesus was then crucified on Passover about the same time as when the lamb was slain for Passover (Jn 19:31). Therefore, just as the lamb from the original Passover saved the Israelites from physical death, Jesus, the Lamb of God, saves us from spiritual death (1Co 5:17).

These events are not mere coincidence and are mentioned in the Bible for their significance. The original Passover then pointed to the purpose of Jesus Christ’s first coming. The prophet Daniel even pinpointed the time in history when Christ would be presented to Israel (Dn 9:25-26). The time from the decree of Artaxerxes given to Nehemiah (Ne 1-2) to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls and defenses until Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the colt was 483 years, as stated by Daniel. Therefore, the end of the 483 years or “until Messiah the Prince” (Dn 9:25) was in 33 A.D. Both Daniel (Dn 9:25) and Zechariah (Zc 9:9) refer to Christ as a Prince or King. Therefore, Christ was presenting himself to Israel as their King as prophesied; however, the Jewish leaders rejected him (Lk 19:47, Jn 12:37). Jesus wept over Jerusalem because they did not recognize him or his significance to them and for the judgment that would befall them (Lk 19:41-44). If the Jewish leaders were such scholars of the Scriptures as they claimed (Jn 9:34), they should have known to have looked for him on that very day since Daniel had prophesied, and recorded, it so many years prior. God had given them many years to understand the prophecy. Besides, they knew of the Magi and their seeking of the Messiah’s birth (Mt 2:3-6). All they had to do was put two and two together; but alas, history records their rejection through spiritual blindness (Is 6:10, Jn 12:37-40) instead.

Feast of Unleavened Bread (Matzah; 15th - 21st day of the first month: Lv 23:6-8)

This feast followed immediately after Passover with the first and last days of the feast being Sabbaths (or days set aside from normal activities). During the Exodus, unleavened bread (bread without yeast) was eaten because they left Egypt in haste and did not have time to make bread with yeast (Ex 12:34). Leaven (or yeast) symbolizes sin and how its effects readily permeate one’s life (1Co 5:7-8; Ga 5:9). Three commandments were given with this feast: i) to sanctify (or dedicate to the Lord) their firstborn (Ex 13:2), ii) remember the Exodus by eating unleavened bread (Ex 13:6), and iii) to observe the feast when they entered the Promised Land (Ex 13:5, Js 5:11). These commandments symbolized God’s deliverance (God protected their firstborn while those of the Egyptians died), their separation from the moral pollution of Egypt and their separation unto God (Js 5:9), and their recognition of God keeping His promise to Abraham (Gn 13:15). They were to also teach their children of this significance (Ex 13:8) to remind them of the historical appointment the nation had with God on that day as well as the lesson of separation and holiness.

This feast speaks of sanctification, a separation from something/someone and a separation unto something/someone else. The first Sabbath of the feast commemorated the day the Israelites left Egypt (Ex 13:3) and crossed the Red Sea - separating themselves from Egypt. The completion of this feast, the second Sabbath, was not held until they entered Canaan, the Promised Land (Ex 13:5; Js 5:10-11). The five days in between these two Sabbath days then represented the period of time the children of Israel were in the wilderness. Therefore, the first Sabbath was the Israelites separation of Egypt and unto the Lord, after which they grew in their relationship to God during their travels to the Promised Land. The final Sabbath of the feast represented the finality of their Egyptian separation (Js 5:9).

Since Christ’s death occurred just before the beginning of Passover (Mk 15:42-43; Lk 23:54; Jn 19:42), Jesus’ sinless (unleavened) body was in the tomb during the beginning of the feast of unleavened bread. Therefore, this symbolizes his death and the accomplished positional sanctification in those who believe in Him (1Co 6:11; 2Th 2:13; 1Pt 1:2; Hb 13:12). Just as the Jews (slaves) were separated from the Egyptians (masters), the apostle Paul states that through the shed blood of Christ’s death for our sin, we are now separated from our former masters, Sin and Satan (Ro 6:1-7:6). Therefore, the first part has already been accomplished through Christ’s death. However, the prophetic nature of the remainder of this feast is now and future. Those who are believers have the capacity to be conformed to the image of Christ (1Co 2:16; Pp 1:6), and are therefore undergoing progressive sanctification. Final sanctification (or glorification) will occur in the future when Christ makes us like Him (1Th 3:13; 1Jn 3:2).

Feast of First Fruits (Bikkurim; 16th day of the first month: Lv 23:9-14)

The first occurrence of this feast was not until the Israelites entered Canaan (Lv 23:10; Js 5:11-12). As was noted above, the Israelites entered the Promised Land on the 10th day of the First Month. This was the beginning of the harvest season—first barley and then wheat. This six-month period enabled the Israelites to eat off the land during their conquest of the land (Js 5:12).  This demonstrates the appropriateness of God’s timing. After crossing the Jordan River, the Israelites recommitted themselves to God by reinstating the rite of circumcision (Js 5:2) which God has provided as a symbol of His covenant with Abraham (Gn 17:9-14). The Israelites then observed the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of First Fruits (Js 5:10-12). It is noted that they did eat roasted ‘old corn’ (i.e., corn they did not personally gather) on the day after Passover (Js 5:11). They did not eat of the new grain until the wave offering of the new grain was made and presented to the Lord (Lv 23:14). Although this feast occurred at the time of the first harvest, the feast of First Fruits memorialized the event of entering the Promised Land; it did not function as an agricultural or fertility feast as some of the surrounding nations perhaps practiced, and was later expanded to thank God for his provision and acknowledge His supremacy over all.

The apostle Paul interprets the significance of this feast by declaring that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the first fruit of our resurrection to come (1Co 15:20). Therefore, just as Christ was crucified just before Passover and his body was in the tomb on the first day of Unleavened Bread, His resurrection occurred on the day of First Fruits. The idea of “first fruit” is giving the best of something with it being a representative of what is to come. Physically, this represented the coming crops. Spiritually, Christ’s resurrection symbolized the first fruits of resurrection with a whole harvest of resurrected believers to someday follow (1Th 4:13-17).

Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost (Shavuot; 5th day of the third month: Lv 23:15-22)

Pentecost was held 50 days after the Feast of First Fruits (Lv 23:16). During the Exodus, this timeframe put them at the foot of Mt. Sinai (Ex 19:1-2). Although not celebrated until they reached the Promised Land, it is likely that the time of this feast marked the ratification of the Mosaic Covenant by the Israelites.  Once the Israelites entered Canaan, this feast marked the beginning of the wheat harvest, 50 days after the barley harvest. A first-fruit of the wheat harvest was also to be offered to the Lord (Lv 23:16-18). There is a major difference between the two offerings of these two harvests. When presenting the first-fruit of the barley harvest, one unleavened loaf was presented (Ex 12:15; Lv 23:10-11). This offering had to be unleavened because the Feast of First Fruit was held during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lv 23:4-14). However, during the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), two leavened loaves were offered (Lv 23:17). Also, during both harvests, grain was left at the edges of the fields for the poor and for non-Jews (Lv 23:22). This is further demonstrated when Ruth, a Moabitess (a Gentile), was allowed to glean during the barley and wheat harvests from the field of Boaz (a Jew) without reprimand (Ru 1:22, 2:21-23).

Luke refers to the prophetic significance of this feast when he stated in Acts 2:1, “and when the day of Pentecost was fully come,” indicating that a future fulfillment of the feast was about to occur. What occurred at this time was the giving of the Holy Spirit (Ac 2). This was a paradigm shift of how God related to man. After Acts 2, with the nation of Israel temporarily set aside (Ro 11:25), along with the Temple, God began to work with individuals rather than with a nation with each person’s body becoming the Temple for the Holy Spirit (1Co 3:16). Therefore, since the giving of the Law and the establishment of the nation of Israel as the medium through whom God would reveal Himself to man occurred at, or near, the first Pentecost, and was also a significant paradigm shift in God’s relation to man, it would seem logical that this second paradigm shift would also have occurred at Pentecost.

Therefore, the two loaves made of finely ground wheat flour and leaven (yeast) were doubly symbolic of both Jews and Gentiles together to which Jesus alluded to in his teaching the disciples that he had food to which they know not of (Jn 4:32) with his encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar (Jn 4), which began with the giving of the Holy Spirit (Ac 2), which God taught to Peter in a vision (Ac 10:15) right before the first Gentile received the Holy Spirit (Ac 10:24-48), and by which God made Paul, a Jew, an apostle to Gentiles (Ac 9:15). This is also to what Paul spoke when he stated that the partition (the Balustrade: the partition in the Temple beyond which a Gentile could no longer go) had been removed by Christ and His death for mankind’s sin (Ep 2:12-16). The apostles also recognized this as a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (Ac 15:15-18; Am 9:11-2; Ob 17, 19-21).

As we have seen, these four feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost) had national, practical, memorial, and prophetic significance. They are grouped in the first three months of the Jewish calendar and for the most part have been fulfilled in our current past. The next feasts did not occur until the seventh month with the next three also occurring in close proximity to each other. These three are still in our present future.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: © 500 BC (Ezekiel 26)

Year of Fulfillment: 356 BC

Time until fulfillment: ~144 years

The prophecy against Tyre is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the ninth of ten.

When Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land, not all the Canaanites were destroyed (Jd 1:27-36), and although the city of Tyre was part of Asher’s inheritance (Js 19:24-31), it remained a fortified city (Js 19:29). By the time of King David, there was peace between Tyre and Israel (1Ki 5:1), and the king of Tyre helped Solomon build the Temple in Jerusalem by supplying materials and workers (1Ki 5:2-12). This peace ended during the reign of Ahab, king of Israel. Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal king of Sidon (and Tyre), who brought the worship of Baal to Israel (1Ki 16:31) which included the sacrifice of living children.  Later, the Phoenicians started to sell Jewish captives as slaves to the Greeks to which the prophet Joel prophesied against (Jl 3:4-6).

After Nebuchadnezzar took Zedekiah, king of Judah, and Jerusalem, captive, Nebuchadnezzar also took Palestine, Syria and cities on the coast, including Tyre (after a 13-year siege in 573 BC), captive. The inhabitants fled to an island part of the city about one-half mile offshore. The channel between them and the shore was about 20 miles deep; the walls facing the shore were 150 feet high, and the walls on the other sides stood sheer against the sea; shore-based artillery were useless at such a range. The citizens of Tyre now considered their city impregnable. It stood until the time of Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BC). When Alexander defeated Sidon, Tyre sent him their good wishes and support. However, when Alexander asked to be allowed to sacrifice to the shrine of Heracles inside their city (a god whom Alexander claimed to be of descent), Tyre refused. Wishing to come to amicable terms, Alexander sent envoys to Tyre, but they were killed and thrown over the city walls into the sea. Becoming very angry, Alexander determined to build a causeway into the sea to be able to fight against the city. He used every stone and timber left of the original city and threw them into the sea to build this connection to the new city - 60 feet wide all the way to the island.  Although the citizens of Tyre tried to stop Alexander and his troops, Alexander was much too determined. When the causeway was within artillery range, Alexander used stone throwers and light catapults reinforcing them with archers and slingers for a saturation barrage. During the time it took to build the causeway, Alexander built a fleet from the conquered nations to attack Tyre as well. Alexander succeeded in taking the city after a seven-month siege in 332 BC.

Tyre never recovered to its former glory. Yet, it did manage to recover. Antigonius, a successor of Alexander the Great, later besieged the city. Also, during the Crusades, the Muslims further destroyed the inhabitants and the city. All that remains today is a local fishing village, named Sứr, where fishermen spread their nets to dry and to repair.

Every event which Ezekiel prophesied came true. In Ezekiel 26, God made the following proclamations concerning Tyre:

• Many nations would come against Tyre (Ek 26:3)

• The walls of Tyre would be broken down (Ek 26:4)

• Dust would be scraped from her, and she would be left like a bare rock (Ek 26:4)

• Tyre would be a place for the spreading of nets (Ek 26:5)

• Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, would build a siege wall around Tyre (Ek 26:8)

• Nebuchadnezzar would plunder the city (Ek 26:9-12)

• The stones, timber and soil of Tyre would be cast into the sea (Ek 26:12)

• The city would never be rebuilt (Ek 26:14).

Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the original city and Alexander used everything left to build the causeway across the channel to the island city. The city on the mainland was never rebuilt. Again, we can trust what God tells us.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: © 650 BC  (Nahum)

Year of Fulfillment: 612 BC 

Time until fulfillment: ~38 years

The prophecy against Nineveh is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the eighth of ten.

Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire. It had a very long history. It was originally built by Nimrod (Gen 10:8-12) around 6000 BC. It was a beautiful city of wide boulevards, large squares, parks and gardens. The city was 700 hectares large with 15 gates—each named after an Assyrian god. The walls were 12 km in circumference. Aqueducts and canals lead water from sources in the hills 50 km away. The surrounding area was an agrarian society which used intricate irrigation systems which fed the agriculture.  Most housing was of mud bricks with only one story and flat roofs. Most people of that time had modest housing, but palaces and temples could cover large areas inside the city. These would be quite ornate due to highly skilled craftsmen with expertise in sculpture.

The Assyrians were noted for their vast knowledge in warfare and organization. Their literature covered legal issues, medicine, and history. Large libraries were built. Because of the Assyrian obsession with war and invasion, knowledge in many areas increased due to assimilation of all these diverse people. In science and mathematics, they were the first to divide the circle into 360 degrees and the first to invent longitude and latitude in geographic navigation.  For their time, they had sophisticated medical sciences. They obtained all this at a great price. Their actions to other peoples were ruthless. The following has been noted: they flung away the bodies of soldiers like so much clay; they made pyramids of human heads; they burned cities; they filled populous lands with death and devastation; they reddened broad deserts with carnage of warriors; they scattered whole countries with the corpses of their defenders as with chaff; they impaled 'heaps of men' on stakes, and strewed the mountains and choked rivers with dead bones; they cut off the hands of kings and nailed them on the walls leaving their bodies to rot with bears and dogs on the entrance gates of cities; they employed nations of captives in making brick in fetters; they cut down warriors like weeds, or smote them like wild beasts in the forests, and covered pillars with the flayed skins of rival monarchs.

About 150 years prior to Nahum’s prophecy, the prophet Jonah had prophesied against the city as well, but both the people and their king repented (Jh 3:3-10). This time, the judgment was assured and final (Na 3:19). The fulfillment came in 612 BC when Nabopolassar, the king of Babylon, took his army, attacking from the south, and united with the Medes and Scythians, attacking from the north, to lay siege against Nineveh. The walls were too thick to penetrate, so the decision was made to starve them out. This took over 3 years and several massive attacks which were unsuccessful.  During this time, the Assyrians became so confident in the failure of their attackers that they began to hold parties becoming drunk in their revelry. An oracle had told the king he would be safe until the river became his enemy.  During the siege, the Tigris River became so swelled due to heavy rains that it caused one part of the wall to collapse. Seeing this as a sign of doom, the king of Nineveh took his household and possessions and committed mass suicide so as not to fall into the hands of the Babylonians. The people opened the gates of the city to Nabopolassar; however, no mercy was bestowed onto the city. It was completely destroyed. When Alexander the Great came through this area during his conquests, he could not even tell that a city had ever been there. All the greatness that Nineveh and the whole known world knew of Nineveh had all been forgotten. All of this had been prophesied by the prophet Nahum: an "overflowing flood" would "make an utter end of its place" (Na 1:8); Nineveh would be destroyed while her inhabitants were "drunken like drunkards" (Na 1:10); Nineveh would be unprotected because "fire shall devour the bars of your gates" (Na 3:13); Nineveh would never recover, for their "injury has no healing" (Na 3:19); the downfall of Nineveh would come with remarkable ease, like figs falling when the tree is shaken (Na 3:12).

Nineveh’s destruction was swift and complete (Na 2:6-11; Is 10:5-19). Nineveh and her people had once repented from their actions (Jh 3:6-9), but now are destroyed because of their pride (Is 5:12).  Nineveh was lost to history until 1845 AD. Great palaces and temples have been excavated and the evidence indicates that the destruction of the city was due not only to invasion but by flood and fire, just as was prophesied. This should serve as solemn council to all nations who hold that the greatness of their past ensures its continued future and greatness.

Again, we can trust in what God tells us. This should be both comforting as well as a warning. There are many things in scripture which are promised to us which we can claim. Yet, there is also coming destruction and judgment predicted. Are you ready for those as well? You can be. It’s just a simple conversation with the God of all promises.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: ©689 BC (Isaiah 45:1)

Year of Fulfillment: 539 BC (2 Chronicles 36:20-23; Daniel 5:30-31)

Time until fulfillment: ~150 years

The prophecy that Cyrus would defeat Babylon is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the seventh of ten.

Cyrus II (also known as Cyrus the Great) was the founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire that continued for two centuries until the time of Alexander the Great. He inherited the throne at his father’s death, Cambyses I, in 559 BC and soon managed to unify the Median and Persian kingdoms into a single nation. Then, in 539 BC, he went after the kingdom of Babylon. Over the previous 14 years, Babylon had not had strong leadership, for its king Nabonidus had not been in the city during this time and he had left his son, Belshazzar, in charge of affairs in Babylon (Dn 5). Nabonidus had also fallen into disfavor with the Babylonian priesthood. Cyrus attacked Opis on the Tigris River defeating the Babylonians and causing Nabonidus to flee and later return to Babylon.  This gave Cyrus control of Babylon’s vast canal system. According to Herodotus, Cyrus had the Euphrates River, upriver from Babylon, diverted enough to cause the water level flowing through Babylon to drop to the height of one’s thigh and enabled the Persian army to march through the riverbed into Babylon during the night and capture the city. Cyrus himself entered Babylon shortly thereafter and proclaimed himself “king of Babylon.”

The prophet Isaiah predicted this long before it ever occurred. Isaiah was a prophet during the reigns of the Judean kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (Is 1:1). He began his ministry around 740 BC and may have lived into the first part of the reign of Manasseh.  Isaiah prophesied to both Israel and Judah. The main world influence during the time of Isaiah was the Assyrian Empire. The main subject of the first 12 chapters of the book of Isaiah is the prophecy of the demise of Israel by Assyria in three stages.  Although Isaiah warned, Israel did not heed. Then, starting in chapter 13, Isaiah turns to Judah and predicts the punishment of Judah for the same reasons God allowed the destruction of Israel by Assyria. The interesting thing about the prophecy against Judah is that Isaiah prophesied the overtaking of Judah by Babylon and the demise of Babylon long before Babylon was anything to write home about. It was another century before Babylon came onto the world scene as a nation with which to be reckoned. Not only did Isaiah predict the invasion of Judah by Babylon almost a century before it occurred, but he then predicted that Judah would return to their homeland and by whom it would occur. This definitely shows that God is in control of all situations. The prophet Jeremiah would later prophesy that Babylon would take Israel captive for 70 years under the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar (Jr 25). However, Jeremiah was not very specific in what would happen to Israel at the end of this 70-year period. He states that Babylon will be punished and enslaved by other nations, but not specifically about Israel’s return. By Isaiah giving specific prophesy about Israel’s return and under whose reign it would happen, it gave the people hope and assured them that it would occur—especially to those who were keeping track of the years of captivity. This must have been very exciting to Daniel when he realized that he was living during the time of fulfillment of these prophesies by Jeremiah and Isaiah (Dn 9:1-2).

This should be exciting to us as well. Why? It means whatever God has recorded in His Scripture will come to pass and we can be sure of it. Do you know what promises you can claim? Maybe it’s time to read and find out.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: © 701 BC (Isaiah 39)

Year of Fulfillment: 586 BC (2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36:15-19)

Time until fulfillment: ~115 years

The prophecy of the captivity of Judah by Babylon is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the fifth of ten.

As was noted in a previous post, even before this prophecy, Joel prophesied against Judah regarding the invasion by Assyria. Not long after the Assyrian conquest of Israel, the Assyrian general Sennacherib (the son of Sargon II) came to power in 705 BC and attempted the invasion of the Southern Kingdom of Judah in 701 BC (130 years after Joel’s warnings). King Hezekiah of Judah attempted to buy him off with approximately 11 tons of sliver and 1 ton of gold, even stripping off the gold from the doors of the temple to obtain it (2Ki 18:13-16). Instead, this just made the king of Assyria want more and within two years returned to Jerusalem knowing that Hezekiah was building an alliance with Egypt. The key to this Assyrian attempt being unsuccessful was Hezekiah turning the problem over to God. Hezekiah’s prayer for victory was so that “all the kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God” (2Ki 19:19). In response, God smote 185,000 of the Assyrian army causing Sennacherib and the remainder of his army to return to Nineveh (2Ki 19:35-37). In Sennacherib’s personal account, there is no mention of the capture of Jerusalem, just the ancillary conquests and tribute.  But, of course, no mention of the defeat. Therefore, by this act of Hezekiah, Judah and Jerusalem never succumbed to Assyria.

Not long thereafter, Hezekiah had a fatal illness (2Ki 20) and Hezekiah prayed that God would heal him. God sent word through the prophet Isaiah that Hezekiah’s request had been granted (Is 38:4-8). Then, Merodach-Baladan of Babylon sent an envoy to Hezekiah to wish him well after his recovery (2Ki 20:12). Hezekiah received them and showed them all he had. When Isaiah heard of this, he told Hezekiah that one day everything Hezekiah and his descendants had would be carried to Babylon (2Ki 20:16-18; Is 39).

The Chaldean (or Neo-Babylonian) empire grew in power and eventually overthrew the Assyrian empire in 612 BC as prophesied by the prophet Nahum. The main power came when Nabopolasser became king in 626 BC and brought Babylon to world renowned status regaining control over Mesopotamia. During this time of the conflict between Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt, the kingdom of Judah became the pawn. Josiah tried to take the opportunity to gain back territory taken from Judah, but was defeated in a battle with Necho, king of Egypt (2Ki 23:29-30; 2Ch 35:20-26). King Necho deposed Josiah’s son Jehoahaz, caring him off to Egypt where he died, and made his brother Eliakim a puppet king, changing his name to Johoiakim (2Ki 23:31-35). Judah thus became a tribute state to Egypt. In 605 BC, Nabopolassar’s son, Nebuchadnezzar, defeated Egypt and completed the Chaldean dominance of the known world, and Judah then became a tribute state to Babylon (2Ki 24:1). However, when the Babylonians suffered a defeat in 601 BC, Jehoiakim defected his alliance back to Egypt. Jehoiachin became king of Judah after his father died and at the same time Nebuchadnezzar mounted an offensive against Jerusalem. Jehoiachin surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC. Nebuchadnezzar plundered the city and temple, took Jehoiachin captive, and made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king, changing his name to Zedekiah (2Ki 24:17). Nine years later, Zedekiah rebelled, and Nebuchadnezzar returned in 588 BC, besieged the city for 2 years, and caused its utter defeat in 586 BC, burning and plundering the city (2Ki 25).

During this time, God made several attempts through various prophets to get the people to repent and turn back to him and not suffer the fate of this judgment; however, they would not listen (2Ch 36:15-17). King Zedekiah treated many of these prophets harshly and accused them of treason (Jr 37:9-21) and not being patriotic (Jr 38:4-6). It is never a question of if God will fulfill his promise, but when.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: © 1762 BC (Genesis 46:4, 47:9)

Year of Fulfillment: © 1422 BC (Joshua 4:19)

Time until fulfillment: ~340 years

The promise to Jacob that his family would return to Canaan is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the third of ten.

This promise is similar and related to the promise to Abraham discussed previously. God had told Abraham his descendants would be enslaved for a 400-year period but would return with great wealth (Gn 15:13-16). Apparently, Abraham’s descendants taught this fact to their children, for Joseph asked his brothers to not forget ‘his bones’ (realizing that it would be a long time before it would happen) when they returned to Canaan (Gn 50:24-25). Joseph realized that he was part of that fulfillment (Gn 50:19-20) and the reason he asked his father and family to come (Gn 50:21), and the reason God assured Jacob that going to Egypt was part of His plan (Gn 46:3-4). After the time of Joseph, however, this promise seemed to have faded with time. The Israelites complained even before they left Egypt (Ex 5:20, 6:9) and as they were leaving Egypt (Ex 14:12). Truly, if God had not kept His promise, no one would have even known He had forgotten. Thankfully, God does not forget! (Is 49:15; 2Pt 3:9).

There are promises in the Bible for us as well. That is why we need to read and study so that we can know what they are and claim them, knowing they will come true. God never forgets. That should be a comfort to us as well as a wakeup call. Do you want to be ready for the next fulfilled promise to come or be totally surprised and unprepared? The choice is yours.

Note: There seems to be a discrepancy between the times the Israelites were slaves in Egypt versus the time it took for the fulfillment of this prophecy. We know the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years (Ex 12:40-41) and were in the wilderness for 40 years (Js 5:6); However, John Pratt (a Biblical chronologists whom I chose to indicate the timing of these Biblical events) puts the Crossing of the Jordan River in 1422 BC. Apparently, he is considering the 430 years to start with Joseph entering Egypt rather than Jacob and his family entering Egypt. Jacob was in Egypt 17 years before he died (Gn 47:28), which is about the same number of years as Joseph’s age when he was sold into Egypt (Gn 37:2). The important point is that God kept his promise even when the children of Israel had forgotten all about it. We can always count on God not forgetting.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: ©1977 BC (Genesis 12)

Year of Fulfillment: ©1395 BC (near death of Joshua – Joshua 24:13)

Time until fulfillment: ~582 years

The promise of a nation to Abraham is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the second of ten.

As was seen earlier, when God made His covenant with Abraham (Gn 17), it included the promise of making Abraham into a great nation. Actually, this promise was given even earlier – when God called Abraham out of Ur of Chaldea (Gn 12:2). However, the fulfillment of this promise did not occur during Abraham’s lifetime. Both Abraham and his son Isaac seemed to remain somewhat Nomadic during their lifetime (Gn 20:1, 21:34, 24:62, 26:1, 17, 23) although they became very wealthy (Gn 26:13), another part of the promise (Gn 12:2-3). It was not until after the time of Moses and during the leadership of Joshua that the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham through the promise, became recognized as a nation. The life of Joshua was devoted to the conquering of the land of Canaan for establishing Israel as a nation. At the time of his death, Israel had rest from war (Js 23:1). Although other altercations later ensued, Israel had become a formidable nation with which to be reckoned.

Because this promise to Abraham was unconditional, the actions of Abraham or his descendants did not change the outcome. This was probably a good thing, because the Israelites were not always appreciative of the journey to becoming a nation. Over the 2-year period it took the Israelites to reach Canaan, the Promised Land, from Egypt (Ex 13:17-18 states that they did not take the shortest way so as to avoid early war with other nations which would discourage them and have them voluntarily return to Egypt) there are 10 rebellions that are recorded in Scripture:

1. Complained at the Red Sea about being trapped (Ex 14:11): God performed a miracle by parting the Red Sea so Israel could go through on dry ground, but Pharaoh’s army was drowned (Ex 14:21-31)

2. Complained at Marah about water being bitter (Ex 15:24): God performed a miracle by showing Moses a tree to cast into the waters which then became drinkable (Ex 15:25)

3. Complained in Desert of Sin about no food (Ex 16:3): God performed a miracle by sending quail for food and sent manna every morning until they reached Canaan (Ex 16:4-15)

4. Disobeyed and tried to gather manna on the Sabbath (Ex 16:27): God had Moses re-explain the significance of the Sabbath and why a double portion was to be gathered on the sixth day (Ex 16:29-30)

5. Complained at Rephidim about lack of water (Ex 17:2): God performed a miracle by providing water from a rock (Ex 17:5-6)

6. Worshipped golden calf (Ex 32:5-6): Levites killed about 3000 people using their swords (Ex 32:27-28)

7. Complained at Taberah about their hardships (Nu 11:1-3): fire from the Lord consumed the outskirts of the camp (Nu 11:1)

8. Complained about the manna at Kibroth Hattaavah (Nu 11:4-6): God performed a miracle and sent quail, but also sent a plague among them (Nu 11:31-34)

9. Miriam & Aaron opposed Moses (Nu 12:1-2): Miriam was given leprosy and had to dwell outside the camp for 7 days at which point God healed her (Nu 12:15)

10. Complained at Kadesh Barnea about not being able to enter the Promised Land (Nu 14:2-3): God had them stay in the wilderness a year for each day the spies were spying out the land of Canaan (a total of 40 years) (Nu 14:34).

These incidences show the longsuffering of God to Israel and how the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham was not dependent upon their obedience. The first five instances above have no consequences attached to them. However, the last five have consequences, yet Israel still did not learn their lesson. Then, after the 10th rebellion, God stated that they would have to roam for another 38 years before the Israelites could enter the Promised Land (Nu 13:34, Dt 2:14) – to purge those that disobeyed (Nu 14:22-34) and allow them to learn to depend and trust upon God. As noted above, God fulfilled the promise through Joshua and his conquests with help from the Lord (Js 24:13).

Therefore, it took over 5 centuries for God’s promise to Abraham to be fulfilled. It seems obvious that the people of Israel did not necessarily remember this promise as evident by their complaints or was just too self-absorbed about their own comfort and desires at the time, God did not forget, and the promise came to fruition.

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Year of Prophecy: ©1977 BC (Covenant with Abraham – Gn 15)

Year of Fulfillment: 1952 BC (birth of Isaac – Gn 21:2)

Time until fulfillment: ~25 years

The promise of a son to Abraham is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the first of ten.

Abraham was born as Abram in the land of Ur (Gn 11:27), which is in modern Iraq. Abraham had received a special call from God to leave his homeland (Gn 12:1). It is unknown why Abraham received such a call. However, the genealogical record in Genesis gives evidence that Noah may still have been alive during Abraham’s early years. Perhaps through his influence or other godly descendants of Noah, Abraham’s heart was softened to God’s direction and leadership. As is usually the case then as today, all around Abraham was ungodliness – even his own father worshipped idols (Js 24:2). God’s challenge to Abraham was to ‘step up to the plate’ and choose whom he was going to serve. Abraham chose wisely and reaped an everlasting benefit not only for himself but also for his descendants (Gn 17:7).

Abraham, as great as he was, was still human. As so many married couples do today, Abraham and Sarah desired a child. Not just a child, but one of their very own (Gen 15:2). Throughout history, being childless has often had a hurtful stigma to a Jewish couple. It was said that he who had no child was like one dead.  We don’t know exactly when the promise God made to Abraham that he would have a son occurred (Gn 15:4), but it was at least 10 years after they had reached Canaan that Sarah and Abraham began to compromise (Gn 16:3). Perhaps the reasoning went something like this: I believe what God said, but He stated that I would have a son from my own body, but he did not exactly state Sarah would be the mother, so perhaps it is okay to go with custom and have a son through my wife’s maidservant. It was God who instituted one man and one women to be together (Gn 2:24), so for what reason would God yield to man-made customs over His own declaration? Bottom line, man is weak. However, God did not give an exact date for Isaac’s birth until Ishmael, the son of Hagar (Sarah’s maidservant) and Abraham, was 13 years old (Gn 17:21) – one year after the establishment of the circumcision as the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham and his descendants, and the changing of Abram’s name to Abraham (Gn 17:5) and Sarai’s name to Sarah (Gn 17:15). Isaac was born at least 25 years after God’s first proclamation of the promise – a lifetime of wait for any couple, but just in time on God’s timetable. Isaac was born after the sign of God’s covenant to Abraham was established.

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It is not just the topic of time of which we are concerned, but the Bible’s perspective of time that is of consequence. In order to understand the topic of which someone is writing, it many times helps to understand something about the author as well.

All of the writers of both the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible were Jewish, with very few exceptions. It is believed that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon during the time of Daniel the prophet, wrote the fourth chapter of Daniel. While tradition has claimed that Luke, the physician who was a companion of the apostle Paul and who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, was a Gentile, there is probably more evidence which supports he was more likely a Jew. Therefore, most of the ideas and teachings would be from a Jewish perspective. The idea of time would be no exception.

A day is defined in the Bible, and by Jewish teaching, as “an evening and a morning” (Gn 1). Of course, this then begs the question of whether the days mentioned in the first chapter of Genesis are literal days. There are four main reasons to believe that they are literal days:

i) There is nothing to suggest that it was not a literal day. If we use Occam’s razor principle, i.e., the simplest solution tends to be the right one, then it is less complicated to see it as a literal day.

ii) This is how Moses, the believed author of Genesis, and other Jews throughout history defined “a day.”

iii) In Exodus 20:11 and 31:17, where the importance of the Sabbath is described, each passage states that the earth and heavens were created in six days and that God rested on the seventh. Since the emphasis in these two verses was on the seventh day of each of our weeks, if God rested on the seventh day and it was a literal day as implied here, then the other six days should be literal days.

iv) Since Moses was the author of both Genesis and Exodus, then if he taught in Exodus that these were literal days, then he probably meant them to be literal days in Genesis as well.

Why is it important to understand this? Paul stated that the Jews were entrusted with the words of God (Ro 3:2); therefore, it is important to understand the Jewish perspective of life and time. It is unclear why God chose the Jews, but scripture is clear that God chose Abraham and made an everlasting covenant with him (Gn 15:17-21). Somehow, God made an impression on Abraham. It is possible that Noah was still alive in Abraham’s early years [then known as Abram (Gn 11:27)] and had an influence on him.  God’s covenant to Abraham was not only for Abraham but for his descendants through the line of Isaac (Gn 17:19) and Jacob (Gn 28:13-15; 35:9-13). This covenant included promises of blessings, having a great name, becoming a great nation, and being a blessing to others and the whole world (Gn 12:1-4). Abraham believed in the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness (Gn 15:6). Because the covenant was everlasting and unconditional (Gn 15:17), its fulfillment was entirely in God’s hands and not in the hands of Abraham, or his descendants, the Israelites. Although they would reap consequences of their actions (Lv 26; Dt 28), God has promised to keep his part of the covenant regardless of their actions (Jr 31:36) because He is faithful (Dt 7:9). All through history, even through judgments of captivity and sword, God has, and will, ensure that a remnant remains (Is 10:22, Jr 23:3).

Because of this relationship with the Jewish people which God initiated, it is important to understand the hows and whys of His interactions with them. It was God who initiated the Jewish calendar (Ex 12:2), often referred to as the Mosaic calendar, and the festivals to which the Israelites were to follow (Lv 23). The calendar we have today, known as the Gregorian calendar, was devised by an Italian doctor named Aloysius Lilius and adopted by Pope Gregory in 1582. Prior to this was the Julian calendar, issued by Julius Caesar in 45 AD, which had a year as 365 days and added an additional day every 4 years making a year being 365.25 days. The true value is 365.242 days for the length of the earth’s orbit around the sun. This little error of 0.008 days per year had added up to almost 10 full days by 1582 and was making the first day of spring very close to the beginning of summer. The Gregorian calendar skips the leap years in 3 out of every 4 century years which makes each year 365.2425 days and keeps the spring equinox on either March 20 or 21 of each year. These calendars are based upon the sun as its reference point whereas the calendar instituted by God in the Bible is a lunisolar calendar which uses the moon as its reference for seasons (Ps 104:19). A lunisolar calendar is probably more apt for an agrarian society which is highly dependent upon knowing the stars and ends of seasons (and the reason it was used up to the Roman era), but as we have evolved to more of a financially-dependent society, the Gregorian calendar has become more useful. Although God referred to the months of the calendar as numerals, over time and due to influence of surrounding nations (Dt 16:1, 1Ki 6:1, 37; 8:2) and Babylonian captivity (Er 6:15; Ne 2:1, 6:15; Es 2:16, 3:7, 8:9; Zc 1:7, 7:1), names used by other nations were sometimes used. Often, they would cross-reference them to the Mosaic calendar (e.g., Es 8:9).

The timeline in the Bible is always related to the Jews. Although Gentile nations are described, events are always presented from the Jewish perspective. A few examples are the timeline for the Egyptian bondage (Gn 15:13), the Babylonian captivity (Jr 25:11), and the death of Messiah (Dn 9:26). These types of timelines are not provided for Gentile events. Prior to the Church Age (Ac 2), Gentiles were the minor component of God’s salvation plan, whereas during the Church Age (modern times), Gentiles are the major component of God’s salvation plan. Therefore, the time of the rapture is not provided. Yet, as we have stated in other posts, even the Rapture is from a Jewish wedding perspective. After the rapture of the Church, God’s timeline for the Jews will again be started (Dn 9:27).

Time and prophecy are interrelated, but are they intricately connected? A prophet’s message was considered from God if the prophet’s words came true (Dt 18:21-22). However, no timeframe is specified. How do we know all the prophecies in the Bible are literal and true? One is the belief that the Bible is God’s word (2Tm 3:16). Another is to see what has already come true and see if that gives enough credence to the validity of other prophecies. Future posts will give some examples to consider.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

The Bible clearly teaches that time, at least as humans know it, began (Gen 1:1) and has an end (Rev 21:5-6). Did God create time? Is He part of time? Stephen Hawking, probably one of the most noted physicists of our time with a large interest in cosmology, has stated that there was no set moment when the universe began because there was no precise moment when time began – the universe did not begin “in” time but came into being with the universe.  While Hawking used his theory to demonstrate, at least in his own thinking, that there is no need to believe in God, this type of model actually supports early views about God and time. Theologians like Augustine and Aquinas believed and taught that God created time and existed outside of time which made God timeless and atemporal.  Other theologians like Boethius, Stump, and Kretzmann agree to God’s timelessness but that He is temporal in that He experiences events in succession but has done so for all moments in the past and will continue to do so for all moments in the future. Therefore, both camps agree to His eternality but not how He is timeless. Then there are those even more recently, like Padgett and DeWeese, who claim God is in time but a different type of time than humans experience, and Craig who argues that God was timeless prior to creation but entered time when he created the universe. These ideas seem to create two main views of time: the A-theorists who hold the idea that time passes and is a succession of events; and the B-theorists who hold the idea that space-time is viewed as a static 4-dimensional reality, i.e., that the past, present, and future all co-exist simultaneously.  Even science does not seem to be unanimous in its view of time: Quantum Theory supports the A-theorists’ view of time while Einstein’s Theory of Relativity supports the B-theorists’ view of time.

It is possible that both groups are correct. Ever since Einstein’s revolutionary theory in 1905 that light does not always travel as a wave as part of the electromagnetic spectrum but also as tiny particles called photons, the field of physics today has accepted these two aspects of light. Previously, scientists built camps on one side or the other. Einstein proved what previous scientists had not: light exists as waves and particles simultaneously. Therefore, since time and light are intricately associated, as Einstein also showed in his theory of relativity, then it would not be inconceivable that time could also behave in two differently perceived aspects.

I feel that all three camps (A-theory, B-theory and some combination of the two), by being so dogmatic in their views, have limited some of the characteristics of God that the Bible attributes to Him. We must be careful in how we reason. We cannot always reason how God works with human understanding (Is 55:8-9). Our basis should be what the Bible states, not if and how we can reason what the Bible states. If God was timeless and then created time for mankind, it is conceivable that He can still remain outside of the time He created. Why would the Bible’s claim to God’s omnipresence (Ps 139:7-10) be limited to physical places? Why can it not also apply to time? If God is God, can He not exist in time and outside of time simultaneously? God’s “interaction” with mankind would then be perceived as a “before” and “after” event for us (A-theorists time) but not outside of our time where the past, present, and future time coexist (B-theorists time). The Bible states that God does not change (Hb 13:8). This is implying that His character never changes; however, the way in which He interacts with mankind has changed several times over the centuries.

I do not feel it is not the act of creation that should begin the debate of whether God is or is not in time as we know it, but the act of his human birth. Creation created a cause and effect that impacted mankind, but not necessarily God. However, Christ coming to the earth in human form created a cause and effect, a before and after experience, for both humanity and the Godhead. Before Christ came to earth He was also Spirit since he was one with the Father (Jn 4:24; 8:58). Being born, He became the God-Man that was required to meet the demands of a redeemer. However, since his death and resurrection, He has remained the God-Man (1Tm 2:5). Since Christ as the God-Man is currently with the Father (Hb 1:3), there would seem to be a “before” and “after” that was created even outside our realm of time, regardless which type of time one subscribes to believing. Therefore, it seems fairly easy to rationalize that God is outside of our time (i.e., a creator can be outside the elements of which he creates: in this case, time itself), but the question remains: is He in a different type of time, and if so, is it linear or simultaneous for Him?

Whether God is or not inside of time, it seems evident that God exists differently than mankind (2Pt 3:8). Is this type of debate even worth pursuing? More than just a mental exercise, if taken seriously, it should broaden both our understanding and awe of who God is. What is the application? Paul told the Ephesians to “redeem the time” (Ep 5:16). To what was Paul referring and what understanding about time helps us to do this?

One of the definitions of the word redeem is “to convert into something of value.” This is likely the meaning Paul was considering in Ephesians 5:16 when he talked of redeeming the time. We all have the same amount of time; it is how we use it that counts. Into what are we converting our time? Before we can do that effectively, we need to have a good understanding of what time has been created for and what it has revealed to date in order to know how to maximally utilize it for our future.

Let’s delve into that next time.

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What does one struggle to obtain more of, can never have more than anyone else, and if lost, can never recover? Time. It governs our very existence. It flows ever forward with events occurring in a linear fashion one after another. As much as one would like to “re-do” an event, the best one can do is to apologize, make amends, ignore or recover and go on. Perhaps one reason that science fiction is so popular is because time becomes a commodity over which man has control rather than time controlling man. Man likes to be in control and feel that his destiny is within his domain. When one focuses on time, it makes one realize that they are not necessarily in control of their ultimate destiny (Jb 1:21) and there may be conditions under which they must live (Pr 12:28). Was that why time was created? Is time another method God uses to focus on His glory? Will it be one of the elements of nature that God will use to hold man accountable for his decisions (Ro 1:20)? As one gets older, one realizes that life is indeed short; it is a vapor that quickly vanishes (Ja 4:14). Therefore, one needs to understand how time can be redeemed (Ep 5:16) and what that means for an individual. What is time anyway? It is a subject of philosophers and scientists. To the former it is a subject to elicit emotion; to the latter, an enigma to the understanding of the universe. We move forward in it – whether willingly or unwillingly.

To a physicist, however, time does not advance forever forward. In order to make the universe make sense and to rationalize how all is put together, time is not only a continuous variable but can also go forward and/or backward. Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2, states that energy equates to the mass of an object times the speed of light squared. This became part of his theory of relativity and stated that the speed of light is a universal constant, meaning that no one could exceed that speed, i.e., approximately 186,000 miles per second.  To enable someone to go back in time, one would have to travel faster than the speed of light. This was captured in a popular limerick:

There was a young lady named Bright,

Whose speed was far faster than light.

She set out one day,

In a relative way,

And returned on the previous night!

A.H. Reginald Buller

However, it is argued that as a mass increases its speed, its mass, but not its size, actually increases. Therefore, the velocity has to increase due to the increase in mass. Taken to its limit, the mass increases to infinity and the velocity never reaches the speed of light. Buller also captured this thought in another limerick:

To her friends said the Bright one in chatter,

“I have learned something new about matter:

My speed was so great,

Much increased was my weight,

Yet I failed to become any fatter!”

A.H. Reginald Buller

Some have touted to have broken this barrier, although there are still skeptics. In these experiments, if time appeared to have gone backward, it was only by billionths of a second – not enough to convey the idea of “time travel.” Although these experiments are not proof of time travel, others believe that these results support the probability of being able to travel faster than the speed of light by altering spacetime around an object, similarly to what is well-known by Star Trek enthusiasts as “warp drive.” At least for now, it seems that we can potentially get somewhere even faster than we can today, but not get there before we left. We are currently limited to time in one direction.

In our next post, we’ll see what God says about time.

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