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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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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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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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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