    
  
ENTERPRISE
Musing on the passage of time and the approach of
eternity, caused many questions to come to mind. Then while
pondering these queries, another occurred, "Is it worthwhile for
us to delve into some things or should they be laid aside as
something unprofitable for Biblical research?"
2 Tim 2:23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid,
knowing that they do gender strifes.
The answer to this question seems simple; 'If answers are found
in the Word, then these things are profitable for us ,while
those things about which God remains silent, are best left to
the speculation of the world's philosophers.'
2 Tim 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness:
2 Tim 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works.
The title of this piece is derived from a popular television
series of the recent past. The job of the Enterprise was to "go
where no man had gone before" Now, I do not pretend to be
breaking new ground, for I am sure many others have gone this
way before. On the other hand, after over fifty-five years of
Bible Study I, personally, have never delved into these
thoughts. So, to paraphrase the introduction to that T.V. show,
'I will boldly go where I have never gone before'. If you would
like to come along for the ride, have a seat and fasten your
seat belt. It could be a bumpy ride as many of your concepts of
Time and Eternity are challenged. I know mine were.
This is not intended to be a scientific treatise nor an
expounding upon obscure theological points. I do not flatter
myself that I would be capable of such endeavors.
Here are a few of the questions that came to my mind. Others may
be added to the list, but these will suffice for the beginning
of the trek.
1. If an omnipresent God is not confined by
space, can an eternal God be confined to or restricted by time?
2. Is Time a straight line? Is it constant or
can it be altered in any way?
3. Is there any past or future in eternity?
4. Does time pass in eternity or Could a 'young
earth' be 'billions' of years old?
5. Is time relevant when thinking of the work
of the eternal God, except as it relates to man?
6. Could simultaneous events be separated by
time?
7. Could events separated by time be
simultaneous?
8. Can effulgent light be enclosed in palpable
darkness?
9. Can the creator be restricted by the laws of
physics which govern His creation?
10. Do the proven facts of 'General or special
Relativity' relate to God? To the Bible?
11. Is it an 'oxymoron' for the Eternal God to
speak of the 'Fullness of Time'? Why not?
QUESTION NUMBER ONE
1. If an omnipresent God is not confined by space,
can an eternal God be confined to or restricted by time?
The fact of God's omnipresence is without question. The Bible is
clear that He is always present in every place.
Upon the completion of the Temple, Solomon said at its
dedication,
1 Ki 8:27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold,
the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much
less this house that I have builded?
David exclaimed in song,
Psa 139:7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither
shall I flee from thy presence?
Psa 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make
my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Psa 139:9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the
uttermost parts of the sea;
Psa 139:10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand
shall hold me.
Concerning the wicked who try to escape judgment God said in
Amos 9:2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand
take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring
them down: God said of Himself,
Jer 23:23 Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God
afar off?
Jer 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not
see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith
the LORD.
Other citations of scripture could be multiplied, but these
suffice. We turn then to the other part of the question;
Is the eternal I Am constrained by the restrictions of time?
Why ask this question? If, as some men, even some scientists,
now believe, Time Travel is theoretically possible, could man
escape God's judgment by fleeing into the darkest recesses of
the past? Let us not waste time in speculation, but simply allow
God to give a forthright answer.
Isa 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that
inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and
holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble
spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the
heart of the contrite ones.
On more than one occasion, He identifies Himself as the 'I Am' .
Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he
said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath
sent me unto you.
Isa 43:13 Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none
that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let
it?
If our theoretical time travel could take us back even before
the 'evening and the morning were the first day' it would not
help us to escape judgment for He would be there!
John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Before Abraham was, I am.
The term, 'I Am' covers both space and time.
Isa 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that
inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and
holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble
spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the
heart of the contrite ones.
Though the concept is strange to us, and hard for temporal minds
to comprehend, God is neither confined to the present nor is He
restricted by the constraints of time as it controls us. This is
shown in several ways.
It is shown by the fact that Christ's death was real to God long
before it actually occurred.
Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship
him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world.
Regardless of the interpretation man has tried to place on these
words, the fact remains, Because God IS eternal and dwells in
eternity, He sees all of time as being present. He is the I Am,
not the 'I will be' nor the 'I Was', but the eternal one to whom
past and future is constantly present. An acknowledgement of
this and acceptance of it will immediately remove all difficulty
in understanding the Foreknowledge of God and reconciling that
with the Free Will of man, who must operate in 'time'.
Another example of this is seen in the twelfth chapter of the
Book of the Revelation. In showing John this vision, God
presents things which actually happened from eternity to
eternity as well as in time and displays them all as in the
present.
Rev 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a
woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and
upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
Rev 12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth,
and pained to be delivered.
The woman is Israel and the time was around two thousand years
ago when Christ was made flesh.
Gal 4:4 But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Rev 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold
a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven
crowns upon his heads. Satan, as the beast is introduced as he
appears during the Tribulation .
Rev 12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of
heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood
before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour
her child as soon as it was born.
Here is a great example of time being eternally present with
God! John sees the dragon [Satan] as the one whose tail drags
the stars [angels] from heaven. Jesus referred to this event as
He explained His power to cast out demons;
Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as
lightning fall from heaven.
Jude speaks of it in respect to the falling of some of the
angels;
Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate,
but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting
chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Isaiah describes the event;
Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of
the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst
weaken the nations!
Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into
heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will
sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the
north:
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will
be like the most High.
Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides
of the pit.
Ezekiel tells us a little more of the event; Ezek 28:14 Thou art
the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou
wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down
in the midst of the stones of fire.
Ezek 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou
wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Ezek 28:16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled
the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore
I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I
will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the
stones of fire.
Ezek 28:17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou
hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will
cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they
may behold thee.
This is the description of the angel Lucifer and how he fell and
became the one we know as Satan. When did it occur? It all
happened in that part of eternity after God had created the
angels as spirits and before the evening and the morning became
the first day. Yet this is shown to John as in the present!
"and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be
delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born."
The same one who caused the fall of one third of the angels,
attempts to destroy the child, [Christ] This was carried out
shortly after the birth of Christ and the town of Bethlehem felt
the effects of it.
Mat 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the
wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the
children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof,
from two years old and under, according to the time which he had
diligently inquired of the wise men.
Mat 2:17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the
prophet, saying,
Mat 2:18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and
weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children,
and would not be comforted, because they are not.
Though it had occurred many years earlier, John saw it as in the
present.
Rev 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule
all nations with a rod of iron:
Now John sees Christ as the King of Kings who shall rule during
the millennial. "and her child was caught up unto God, and
to his throne".
He sees again, the ascension he witnessed a few years before on
the mount of Olives.
Rev 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she
hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a
thousand two hundred and threescore days.
This occurs during the last half of the tribulation.
Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels
fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any
more in heaven.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent,
called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he
was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with
him.
At this point John beholds an event which is yet to happen
as Satan and his angels are permanently cast out of heaven.
All these things are seen by the writer as though they were
transpiring before his face, though the events themselves were
separated by long periods of time. Of course, we know that this
was all a vision, and that God could have made him to see
anything he desired in a vision. This was proven in the many
other visions described in the Book. The remarkable thing
however, and that which is pertinent to our investigation, is
not WHAT was seen but that God was showing them from the Divine
perspective and they were ALL IN THE PRESENT.
QUESTION NUMBER TWO
Is Time a straight line? Is it constant or can it be altered in
any way?
The first reaction of myself and those to whom I have posed this
question has been, "Yes. Time is constant." After all, we have
all sorts of methods for measuring time, and do we not see all
things around us aging at a uniform rate? But then we think of a
couple of Biblical examples of time being altered.
Josh 10:12 Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the
LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel,
and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon
Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
Josh 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until
the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not
this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in
the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole
day.
God had decreed that the sun should rule over the day and the
moon should rule over the night.
Gen 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to
rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made
the stars also.
Gen 1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give
light upon the earth,
Gen 1:18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to
divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was
good.
The question comes to mind; How did God accomplish this
miracle of the long day? Did He cause the earth to cease
spinning on its axis? Did he alter the movement of the sun and
the moon? Did He cause some local phenomenon to occur, which
only seemed like a long day in that locality?
If He had caused the earth to suddenly stop rotating, he would
also have had to cancel the laws of motion. Newton expressed it
thus; 'A body in motion tends to remain in motion in a constant
direction at a constant speed until acted upon by an outside
force.' When a car traveling at sixty miles an hour suddenly
hits a wall, the occupants and all other loose objects keep
moving and are thus tossed through the windshield or are smashed
inside. The surface of the earth is moving at a far greater
speed than any car can travel. A sudden stop would cause the
tides to sweep over the land, the rocks and mountains to become
lethal objects and general chaos would ensue.
Certainly, God could have suspended this law of physics had he
desired. There is no indication however that he did so. Had He
done it that way, the battle could not have been fought. Slings
would not have performed their proper function in battle. Swords
and spears would have been ineffective and the entire battle
would have been a farce as arrows fell harmlessly at the feet of
the archers.
On the other hand, if it was accomplished by somehow altering
the course of the sun and the moon, we are faced with another
problem. God's decree was that the sun should rule the day and
the moon, the night. If Time had marched inexorably on ,while
this was happening, then the sun would have had to rule over
that part of the long day which belonged to the night. This
could not have happened according to the decree of God in the
beginning
Gen 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest,
and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night
shall not cease.
This event was not a local phenomenon. The historical records of
Greece, Egypt, China, Mexico, and Palestine all speak of a long
day corresponding to the time of Joshua's conquest of the
promised land.
The only method of carrying out such a feat would have been to
alter time so that the sequence of night and day would remain
constant. Could this be possible?
In his theory of relativity, Einstein presented such a
possibility. His idea seems to have been that as the speed of
light is approached, time itself is slowed. Later experiments by
scientists have confirmed this. Now, if finite man can confirm
such a thing, it would be a small thing for the infinite I Am to
perform.
During the reign of Hezekiah another such modifying of time
transpired. 2 Ki 20:10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light
thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the
shadow return backward ten degrees.
2 Ki 20:11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he
brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone
down in the dial of Ahaz.
On this occasion, time was not stopped, but actually turned
back. Using methods which are far beyond my comprehension,
astronomers have been said to have confirmed both these events.
It is sufficient for me to know that the God, in whose hand I
rest, is not the servant, but the Master of Time and eternity.
QUESTION NUMBER THREE
Is there any past or future in eternity?
Until such questions were contemplated, the answer would have
been a resounding 'NO!' Eternity was seen as an ever present
NOW, with no thought of a future, and no memory of a past. Upon
reflection however, such a state, would constitute a sort of
'limbo' in which nothing could take place.
This is NOT how the Bible presents the New Heaven and the New
Earth.
There can be no question but that place is in the eternal age.
There will be no death and there will be no night, but there
will be things happening. Events will transpire. The activity of
that New Earth as described in the Word makes this clear.
There is activity;
Rev 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the
nations into it. Activity, by it's very nature relates to
time.
In spite of the fact that it is eternal, and there will be no
night, time will still be measured. There will be 'months';
Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either
side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve
manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the
leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Remember, this is NOT describing a transition state, but is the
final and eternal age.
There are statements by Solomon which seem to give a different
view.
Eccl 1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall
be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and
there is no new thing under the sun.
Eccl 1:10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this
is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
Eccl 1:11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither
shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with
those that shall come after.
It must be noted, however, that Solomon was not speaking of
eternity, but of that which happens under the sun. The entire
book of Ecclesiastes is about man's responsibility to God in
THIS LIFE. His statement in this eleventh verse, is a statement
of fact and a wonderful refutation of those who claim to
remember former lives or to be able to perceive the future. This
is not in man's sphere of knowledge. It is reserved for the I
Am.
Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from
ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My
counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
QUESTION NUMBER FOUR
Could a 'young earth' be 'billions' of years old?
One of the most controversial questions among scientists, as
well as theologians, concerns the age of the earth. It varies
from the six thousand plus of Usher, to the timeless earth of
the 'steady state' theorists. In between lie various other
theories including the 'Big Bang' and its adherents who seem to
think the expanding universe would have taken at least four and
a half billion years to reach its present size. One of the
arguments given for the old age of the earth is the perception
of man, that it would have required this time for fossil fuels,
coal and oil, to have developed.
Bible scholars are almost as divided. There are those who think
it all was created about six thousand years ago at nine o'clock
on a Sunday morning.
Others think it was created in the vast aeons of time before
Adam and was re-constructed in preparation for its human
inhabitants then. My own personal belief coincides most closely
with this idea.
There seems to be a time break between the first and the second
verses of Genesis chapter one. The statement that 'the earth
was without form {tohuw] and void [bohuw]' could as well
have been translated 'became without--' In view of some of the
other statements of the Bible, this seems to have been exactly
what happened.
Isa 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens;
God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath
established it, he created it not in vain [tohuw], he formed it
to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
The description of the earth in Genesis 1:2 describes the earth
as without form and void. [tohuw and bohuw] In Isaiah 45:18 God
Himself said he did NOT create it that way! Because of His very
nature, God could not have created an earth of desolate
confusion.
1 Cor 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of
peace, as in all churches of the saints.
He created the earth ready to be inhabited
Many 'theistic evolutionists' place the original creation of
Genesis 1:1 in the same time frame as their 'steady state'
counterparts. To them, each of the six days of creation
describes the successive ages of development as evolution
steadily wrought its work.
There are some FACTS about the creation upon which we can rely,
because they are truths presented by the creator.
1. The creation was instant. It was not formed
over a long period of time
Psa 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and
all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
Psa 33:7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap:
he layeth up the depth in storehouses.
Psa 33:8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
Psa 33:9 For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it
stood fast.
2. The same power which created it, also
sustains it.
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his person, and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven,
and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things
were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things
consist.
3.He did not have to mine somewhere in the
nether world, nor borrow from any other source for the material.
He created it from the endless supply of His own power.
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation
of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they
are without excuse:
As men who deny God, search for answers to the origin of the
universe, they remind one of the old story of the Blind Men and
the Elephant. One feels of its tail and concludes that an
elephant is like a wiry rope. Another, feeling of his side
assumes that this animal is like a house while another embraces
a leg and declares emphatically that it is like a tree trunk.
Still another feels of an ear and comes to the conclusion that
it is like a large fan, while another states without a doubt
that an elephant is some form of huge snake as he feels of its
trunk.
Each of these men had some of the correct information, but
refused to place that information in its proper relationship to
the whole.
Consider the so called, "Big Bang Theory". Without a doubt, the
universe is expanding. Why, however, should it be considered
impossible that the beginning should have been in a more recent
time? The answer seems to be .'that it would have taken it four
and a half billion years at the speed of light for the outer
most parts to have traveled that far'. But, the blind man is
examining only the tail of the elephant.
On the other hand, Bible scholars often dismiss out of hand, the
findings of science, simply because those findings were used to
try to prove unbiblical theories.
Consider, for instance the so-called Big Bang theory and its
expanding universe. Because, we are told that it would have
taken four and one half billion years for the universe to expand
from the 'flash point' to its present size, then it must be that
old. We are not told where the material came from or what
ignited the explosion but that it all happened a long time ago.
When we place God in the equation of creation, the "big Bang"
takes on an entirely different appearance. Since space does NOT
CONTAIN God, and He dwells in eternity, who is to say that
He
did not create the heavenly bodies and place them near their
present locations? Since time is not relevant to an eternal God,
and we know only that the creation took place before man was
introduced to the scene, is the actual time of the creation
relevant? Could it not have occurred at any point in the eternal
ages before the first day? Time, as we know it, is of no
consequence whatever, in the deliberations as to the creation of
the universe. I like the simplicity of a bumper sticker seen
recently, "The Bible Big Bang - God Spoke and BANG it was done."
The Bible simply says that He put them in place. Could he not
have placed them billions of light years distant in the very
beginning, had he so desired? This would certainly have posed no
problem for an omnipotent God.
Almost sixty-five years ago, while in the fifth grade, we were
given, each week, a copy of the 'Weekly Reader'. Each week I
remember devouring its pages with great enthusiasm. One week I
read on the front page of a fossilized bone which had recently
been discovered. It was reported to be millions of years old,
because it would have taken at least that long for the minerals
of the earth to have fossilized it.
On one of the inside pages of the same issue of the 'Weekly
Reader', was another article, with pictures, of people whose
well-water was so filled with minerals that they were making a
living selling 'fossils' which they made by suspending bones or
other artifacts on strings into the water for several months. My
naive little country boy mind was made to wonder, "Can this be
consistent?" I still wonder about the declarations of the
spiritually blind, as they examine the elephant called
'creation'. When the creator is left out of the equation, none
of the facts seem to fit. On the other hand I have never seen a
proven FACT of any science, that did not strengthen my faith in
the infallible Word of the Creator.
QUESTION NUMBER FIVE
Is time relevant when considering the work of the
eternal God except as it relates to man?
This question has a great deal in common with the previous one.
The difference is, that while the last question was concerned
with the creation of the earth, and it's biological age, this
deals with all the work of God before Genesis 1:2.
It is a temptation to slip into the poetic language often used
in speaking of these things, and refer to something like. "the
dim dark council halls of eternity". If I were trying to put my
thoughts into a poem, I just might succumb to the temptation,
but for now I will speak as clearly as possible of these things,
as they are revealed in God's Word.
A series of events are disclosed to us in the Word. The first
seems to have been the creation of spiritual beings called
'angels'
Angels are not, as some suppose, co-existent with God in
eternity. They are created beings.
Psa 104:4 Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a
flaming fire:
Heb 1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels
spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
In His challenge to Job, God reveals the fact that they were
present at the foundation of the world.
Job 38:3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand
of thee, and answer thou me.
Job 38:4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the
earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
Job 38:5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or
who hath stretched the line upon it?
Job 38:6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who
laid the corner stone thereof;
Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons
of God shouted for joy?
There is no reference to how long before the foundations of the
world were laid, that these beings were created. How could there
be, when time, as we know it, did not yet exist? But how can
there be a sequence of events without a specific time between
them? Perhaps others can fathom this. All I know is that
according to Einstein, and since confirmed by others including
NASA astrophysicists, even time is stopped in its tracks in a
'Black Hole' while going its merry way elsewhere. The angels
dwell in the presence of the eternal one, and do not grow old
while ministering to successive generations of humans who
propagate, grow old and die.
In the sequence of events before the first day, not only were
the angels created and the earth made, but a glorious archangel
named Lucifer was made ruler of that earth. Using the king of
Tyrus as a foil, Ezekiel speaks of it.
Ezek 28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I
have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou
hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Ezek 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou
wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Isaiah tells us his name and his sin and his fate.
Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of
the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst
weaken the nations!
Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into
heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will
sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the
north:
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will
be like the most High.
Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides
of the pit.
Jesus told his disciples that He was there and saw the fall of
Lucifer who by his deeds became known as Satan.
Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as
lightning fall from heaven.
This fall caused the earth to become without form and void and
darkness to envelop it all. The Spirit of God then brooded over
the destroyed creation.
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and
darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God
moved [brooded or fluttered] upon the face of the waters.
Without a doubt, there were a series of events beginning with
the creation of the angels and culminating in the command, "Let
there be light" How much time went by? Was it billions of
years or was it all consummated in a matter of minutes? Is time
relevant since it did not exist then?
QUESTION NUMBER SIX
&
QUESTION NUMBER SEVEN
6. Could simultaneous events be separated by time?
7. Could events separated by time be
simultaneous?
'space-time' = the central concept in the "special-relativity.html"
theory of relativity that replaces the earlier concepts of space
and time as separate absolute entities. In space-time, events in
the universe are described in terms of a four-dimensional
continuum in which each observer locates an event by three spacelike coordinates and a timelike coordinate. The choice of
the last is not unique; hence, time is not absolute but is
relative to the observer's frame of reference.
The foregoing is from the introduction to a scientific article
found on the internet. the italics in the last line are mine.
They mark the words which point up the essence of this question.
Since these are two sides of the same coin we shall regard them
as one.
Consider the following hypothetical, possible event.
With the use of the Hubble telescope, we are told that we can
now see up to ten billion light years into the past. Suppose an
event such as a supernova occurred at the five billion year
range and another at the one billion year range. Theoretically
at least, the events, though occurring four billion years apart,
would be seen as happening simultaneously. On the other hand, If
the events did occur simultaneously, the one at the greater
distance would not be seen until four billion years later.
What is the significance of this for us? Man has long struggled
with the concept of the foreknowledge of God. How can one
reconcile the fact that God knows the end from the beginning
with the free will of man? If God knows what will happen,
doesn't that mean that He has determined before hand that it
WILL happen? From our reference point in time it only seems
logical, that if God has prophesied something He MUST cause it
to come to pass. This, of course would make Him responsible for
the actions of the evil men of whom He prophesied aforetime. Yet
it is clear that man was created with a free will and is held
responsible for his own actions.
Ezek 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the
father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that
sinneth, it shall die.
God, however, does not see these things from our reference
point. Being the eternal I Am and dwelling as he does in
eternity, He sees from the reference point of the eternal
present. Thus, Christ stood as a lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, but was manifested in time for our benefit.
1 Pet 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a
lamb without blemish and without spot:
1 Pet 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of
the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
Acts 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands
have crucified and slain:
Isa 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God,
and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient
times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
God's reference point being eternity, makes it a simple thing
for Him to prophesy events long before they are exhibited in
time.
This is a truly wonderful thing! So-called intellectuals have
long belittled the idea of biblical prophesy as being
superstitious nonsense. Then, in one fell swoop they have
destroyed their own arguments and justified that which
Christians have long treasured by faith. Biblical Prophesy
stands vindicated by science!
QUESTION NUMBER EIGHT
8. Can effulgent light be enclosed in palpable
darkness?
The following are truths to be considered as we approach this
question;
1.God is light
2. This light exceeds any other in the
universe.
3.It is so powerful or has such properties as
would be destructive to man. 4.It must be
hidden or veiled in order that God might interact with man.
5. Only when man has a new body will he be able
to look upon His Glory.
God IS Light. This is truth because His Word declares it and His
works have proven it.
1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of
him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no
darkness at all.
One must note that in this passage there are no adjectives
modifying the word 'light'. It does NOT say that God is a light
of a particular color or strength or of any particular property.
Through the entire spectrum of all we know as light, God is the
source of it all.
Bible scholars have long used the term 'effulgence' in speaking
of the glory of God, for want of a better expression. Like human
speech in every other case, we seem to fall short of being able
to express the ultimates or absolutes needed to verbalize the
whole truth about the most high God. The writers of the Bible
used various ways of expressing this aspect of God's person.
Hab 3:3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount
Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was
full of his praise.
Hab 3:4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming
out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.
Rev 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of
his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was
as the sun shineth in his strength.
Acts 26:13 At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from
heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me
and them which journeyed with me.
2 Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord
shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy
with the brightness of his coming:
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the
right hand of the Majesty on high;
Exo 24:16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and
the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called
unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
Exo 24:17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like
devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the
children of Israel.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no
variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of
the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it,
and the Lamb is the light thereof.
Rev 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in
the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory
and honour into it.
Rev 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day:
for there shall be no night there.
Everyone is aware of the beneficial effects of light upon the
earth and its creatures. Without it, plants don't grow and most
living creatures suffer from deprivation in various ways. We
also are painfully aware of the effects of being exposed to too
much light or to certain properties of light. A few hours at the
beach has ended in excruciating sunburn. Being exposed to an arc
welder without the right protection can end in extreme pain or
even blindness. X-rays and radioactive wavelengths can be
beneficial or deadly, according to the amount received and how
controlled it is.
Perhaps the ultimate in man-made brilliance, has been manifested
in nuclear explosions. Some of the things reported after the
dropping of the first atomic bombs almost defy human reason.
There were stories of shapes of people being burnt on walls as
if they were impressions on photographic film. Another incident
was an anti-aircraft gun crew which was some distance from the
center of the blast and was otherwise unharmed. They were gazing
directly at the area of the sky where the blast occurred and
their eyes were actually melted in their sockets. Is it possible
that light can be bright enough to do that? Read what Zechariah
has to say about the brilliance of the glorified Christ at His
coming with all his saints;
Zec 14:12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD
will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem;
Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,
and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their
tongue shall consume away in their mouth. Paul also tells of
this coming event;
2 Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the
Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall
destroy with the brightness of his coming:
All these things serve to remind us that though light is useful,
beneficial and even essential, it is also harmful, when too
strong or proper preparation for its use is not made..
The question then comes to mind; How can God, whose brilliance
and glory infinitely exceeds any light either man-made or found
anywhere in nature, inter-act with his creation without causing
it to be destroyed? The Bible not only tells us of the
destruction of the Antichrist and his armies when exposed to
such effulgence, but that even the universe itself will be
forced to flee from such a presence.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat
on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and
there was found no place for them.
2 Pet 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the
night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth
also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
At first this problem seems as unsolvable as the legendary
classic about the man who invented a solvent capable of
dissolving ANYTHING. He could never market it because he
couldn't figure out what sort of container would hold it!
However, God had the answer to how His glory could benefit
creation without destroying it. He enfolded his LIGHT in
darkness! How could this be? Is it not axiomatic that darkness
must flee in the presence of light? Yet this is precisely what
God said he did.
2 Sam 22:12 And he made darkness pavilions [tabernacle or
tent] round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the
skies.
1 Ki 8:12 Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell
in the thick darkness.
Psa 97:2 Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness
and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
Psa 18:11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round
about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
These passages set forth the fact that the ultimate Light,
the very essence of brilliance, encloses Himself in darkness,
and yet darkness must flee before the light of even the feeblest
candle. If we can find no answer to this difficulty, then
skeptics will surely say, "Aha, we have an impossible situation
presented in the Scriptures". "A mistake in the Bible!", will be
their cry.
For those of us who have faith in the infallibility of the Bible
and the power of an omnipotent God, it is enough that God said
it is so. The one who commanded the light to shine can, if it
pleases Him, command it to not shine. It is as simple as that.
For the skeptic this is not enough. He must have his answer.
One of the long accepted rules of apologetics is that when faced
with any problem in the Scriptures, a possible answer is all
that is necessary to eliminate the difficulty and answer the
skepticism. One does not have to prove that it is the correct
answer but simply that there is a possible solution.
As I surfed the web in search of answers to my questions
concerning the time-space continuum, I found articles by
scientists of N.A.S.A. and of several university astronomers.
Some of their findings, as they sought proof of Einstein's
theories, caught my attention. Black Holes are accepted as
actually existing. Though they cannot be seen, the evidence of
their presence seems irrefutable. The reason they cannot be seen
is that sight requires light, and the gravity is so powerful in
these places that even light cannot escape. A massive black hole
is found in the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. Also, according
to the calculations of Einstein and others, even time is brought
to a standstill there.
Isa 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that
inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and
holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble
spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the
heart of the contrite ones.
One of the scientists also stated, "The bizarre nature of
Einstein's equations suggest that black holes should
theoretically lead to parallel universes." Note that Isaiah
wrote that God dwelt in eternity with contrite and humble
spirits.
I am definitely NOT contending that black holes are the entrance
to heaven! All I am saying is that for those who mock the idea
of a Holy, Glorious God who dwells in thick darkness with angels
and departed saints, here is a possible answer to your
objections. These possible solutions were not dreamed up by
Christians, but came from the research of men who, for the most
part were unbelievers.
QUESTION NUMBER NINE
Can the Creator be restricted by the laws of physics which
govern His creation?
Civilization has been able to grow and develop as man has
invented methods and machinery according to the laws which
control nature. Natural law is logical and by following logical
reasoning, man has steadily increased his knowledge and thus his
development of all things which he perceives as making his life
more meaningful.
He has not yet reached the threshold of limitations of his
advances. In the early days of human progress, as man attempted
to reach into the heavens by building a tower, he was stopped by
God. Those attempts to conquer space by the use of mud bricks
and slime mortar may seem laughably feeble to us. God, on the
other hand, knew something about man, and saw that he was about
to go beyond the limits God had set for Him at that time.
Gen 11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and
they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now
nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined
to do.
By simply using his God-given ability to use logic, man can and
has done amazing things. What would have seemed like magic or a
miracle to one generation, becomes commonplace to the next. He
has not yet reached the limits of the wonders he can accomplish.
Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the
book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,
and knowledge shall be increased.
There are limits however, to what man has ever done or will ever
be able to do. His every advance has been made by the
application of the laws of physics. In nothing has he been able
to violate those laws. In trying to go beyond these rules, man
is like the little boy who attempts to fly by jumping from the
garage roof wearing a Superman cape or those who thought they
could fly while under the influence of drugs. All the sincerity
and strong desire in the world cannot overcome the laws of
nature. Before man could fly, he had to learn something about
aerodynamics. Before he could go into space ,he had to learn
about things like 'thrust' and 'escape velocity'. All attempts
to violate any of nature's laws have ended in disaster.
Is God bound by these same laws? Absolutely not! When Jesus
ascended from the Mount of Olives he needed no thrust engine nor
did he need to reach 'escape velocity'. He simply rose, as he
spoke to the disciples. After he disappeared into the cloud, he
was seen no more until Stephen saw him at the right hand of the
Father.
Every miracle performed by Him was amazing because it defied all
known laws of nature. Consider the turning of the water into
wine. God devised a system in nature by which water could fall
to the earth, be absorbed by the roots of the vine, find its way
to the cluster and after developing there, be crushed and by a
process of aging and fermentation be changed into wine. Jesus
proved His mastery over His own creation by bypassing the vine
and all the rest of the process. He simply made the water become
wine.
In one way or another his every miracle defied the very rules of
physics that limit man. Because of his ability to do this, we
have faith that our new bodies will not be the result of organ
transplants or marvelous robotics, but will be entirely new
creations, fashioned like His own glorified body. They will not
be affected by sickness, time nor limited by space, but we will
be like He is.
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth
not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Bible history is replete with accounts of occurrences in which
God, in order to accomplish His purpose, set aside or
circumvented the decrees that He had put into place to govern
His creation and to enable man to progress as he attempts to
further himself. Because man does not want to credit God with
these things, he tries to find a way for some natural
explanation for them. He has tried to minimize the crossing of
the Red Sea and the Jordan River. He has come up with all manner
of explanations for the plagues in Egypt and the Manna in the
wilderness. All these efforts fall short, for in each one, there
are elements that can only be the power of God at work.
The keeping qualities of the manna is a case in point. Even if
the source had been a natural one [which it wasn't] there was a
divine component in its not lasting overnight except on the
night before the Sabbath, when it stayed fresh for two days.
Even the cycle of its appearance followed a divine pattern. On
six days it fell, and on the seventh it did not appear. It first
appeared on cue as God promised, lasted without fail for the
forty years of need, and stopped as they entered the Promised
Land.
It is not necessary to multiply accounts of occurrences for the
Word of God is brimming with them. Yet we must recall the most
powerful exhibition of the power of God ever displayed. It
transpired just outside Jerusalem two thousand years ago, and it
has altered the course of human history. It is the resurrection
of Christ from the dead. Others had been raised from the dead in
both the Old and New Testaments, but at each such phenomenon, a
man of God or Christ personally, wielded the power of God upon
the dead to call him forth. Not so at the garden tomb of Jesus.
There was no prophet, priest, apostle nor angel present to bring
the crucified Christ back from death where he had been for three
days. He RAISED HIMSELF!
John 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of
myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it
again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
This is the greatest exhibition of the power of God ever
manifested.
Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eh 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to
us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty
power,
Eh 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the
dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eh 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world,
but also in that which is to come:
The term, exceeding greatness, means to 'throw beyond the line'.
In athletic games, one who threw the hammer, discus or javelin
'beyond the line', was credited with breaking all previous
records. When Christ opened the dreaded vault of death from the
inside and came forth in His glorified form in spite of the
power of Rome, the Sanhedrin, the priesthood and the Roman
guards, he displayed more power than was needed when He spoke
the universe into existence! This is the power that now protects
and enables the Lord's Church.
De 33:27 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are
the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from
before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.
No, God is not bound by the laws of physics which govern His
creation. While we rejoice in the order those laws bring to all
things, it is those special works which bring us the assurance
that He is God.
John 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him,
Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man
can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
If man's present conclusions as to the fate of the universe are
correct, God has a final feat in store that will go against
man's conclusions of things to come. For years the theory of
relativity and the 'Big Bang' agreed with the Bible prophecies
of the ultimate end of the earth as we know it. They all agreed
that eventually the expanding universe would collapse on itself.
Now, however, because of discoveries made through the Hubble
Telescope the conclusions are that it will not collapse but will
continue expanding forever. I was quite surprised as I read of
these 'discoveries'. I was not disappointed however, for in
searching the Scripture, I find the Bible still tells of the end
just as it always has.
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of
the heavens shall be shaken:
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on
it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and
there was found no place for them.
2 Pet 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the
night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth
also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2 Pet 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy
conversation and godliness,
2 Pet 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of
God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
I will place my faith in the God of creation over the
observations of puny man as he gazes at that creation and makes
his conjectures.
It is only fitting that the universe which began by the power of
God would end by that same power.
QUESTION NUMBER TEN
Do the proven facts of 'General or special Relativity' relate to
God? To the Bible?
The operative word in this question is 'proven'. There have long
been accepted theories which were in direct conflict with the
Bible. During the lifetime of Moses there were strange things
being taught. At one time or another it was theorized that the
earth rested on the back of a huge turtle, that life generated
in the slime of the River Nile, the earth was stationary and
flat and that the sun and stars circled it. Moses was taught in
all these things as an Egyptian prince, but was not taken in by
any of it.
Acts 7:22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the
Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. Yet when
Moses wrote of the earth and the beginning of all things he was
not affected by the current thinking ,but wrote the truth as God
inspired him.
When 'science' finally caught up with the Bible, they learned
that the world did rest upon nothing.
Job 26:7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place,
and hangeth the earth upon nothing. They learned that the earth
did indeed turn upon its axis and circle the sun.
Job 38:12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days;
and caused the dayspring to know his place;
Job 38:13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that
the wicked might be shaken out of it?
Job 38:14 It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a
garment. It is not flat as was once supposed but round.
Isa 40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of
the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that
stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out
as a tent to dwell in:
When 'science' finally found proof of these things, many tried
to put a spin upon their discoveries by saying, "Bible believers
have held us back but we have discovered the truth" The facts of
the case were that TRUE Bible believers knew these things all
along and Moses, Job, Isaiah and others had written of them.
For centuries man has struggled with the puzzle of the make-up
of matter. It was thought and taught for centuries, by the
greatest thinkers, that all things consisted of the elements of
earth, fire and water. Though plagued with inconsistencies,
these ideas were passed on from generation to generation. Then
man began to espouse the idea of the atomic make-up of matter.
It was long considered that the molecule was the smallest
element and all things consisted of these. Then it was found
that molecules were made up of atoms. Even into the twentieth
century there were many who thought the atom to be indivisible.
Then man split the atom and released the enormous energy within.
It now seems that man is daily discovering new things about the
make-up of the atom. Only one involved in these things could
possibly understand the quarks, protons, neutrons, hadrons,
leptons, and bosons etc. which are claimed to be identified as
time unfolds. In the final analysis, the Bible said it all
centuries ago and has never changed.
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his person, and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed
by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made
of things which do appear.
In whatever form scientists find it, the ultimate make-up
of matter is POWER or energy, just as God proclaimed He had
created and sustains it.
These same principles of the Bible being ahead of
science is clear in other fields also. Consider the practice of
days gone by of doctors bleeding their patients to rid them of
the sickness in their polluted blood. It is said that George
Washington, our first president was bled to death, because of
this belief. God said long ago that blood was life.
Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I
have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for
your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the
soul.
Thousands had to die before man discovered the truth of God's
ancient declaration.
The Bible agrees with N.A.S.A., that man will travel into space.
Oba 1:4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though
thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee
down, saith the LORD.
Could this be the space station or is it referring to more to
come?
During the seventeenth century, it is said that the French
Academy of Science listed one hundred cases of their science,
proving the Bible in error. Before the century expired, their
science had discarded its conception of every one, while the
Bible continued to say what it had always declared.
When a fact is proven to be true, the Bible always backs it up.
When a theory is false, the Bible will state the truth of the
matter whether men believe it or not.
Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their
unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar;
as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy
sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
QUESTION NUMBER ELEVEN
Is it 'oxymoronic' for the Eternal God to speak of the
'Fullness of Time'? Why not?
An oxymoron is defined as a figure of speech in which
contradictory terms are brought together for emphasis.
Without doubt God is eternal. With Him all things ARE. There can
be no question as to His omnipresence in time, as well as in
space. Yet, for the benefit of man, who is for now, confined to
time, He speaks and acts in this medium.
In God's eternal view, Christ was the sacrificial lamb for
mankind from the beginning.
Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship
him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world.
It was essential however, that the act should take place in
time. It must be at a place in the history of the human race
which would be most advantageous by affecting the largest number
of people.
Had it occurred while the race was still young, it no doubt
would have been soon lost in the fog of man's faulty memory or
have become a mere part of the mythology of the gods.
For optimum effect ,the world had to be prepared to participate
in the sacrifice of the Son of God.
Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
The Nation of Israel had been made ready. The prophets had
foretold of the coming and the death of the Messiah.
Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign;
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call
his name Immanuel.
Psa 22:16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked
have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
Psa 22:17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
Psa 22:18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon
my vesture.
The Law of Moses had pictured Him in types.
Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in
drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of
the sabbath days:
Col 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is
of Christ.
The political scene of the world had been prepared. Had Christ
been sent at a time when Israel was sovereign in her own land,
his death would have been by stoning. Prophecy was that he would
hang on a tree.
Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every
one that hangeth on a tree:
The Babylonian Empire had taken Judah and Israel into a
captivity that had resulted in Jews being scattered throughout
the middle east and Africa. The Persiasn Empire had resulted in
a partial restoration of Israel and kept her from going into
oblivion. The Grecian Empire had spread a language and western
culture that had prepared Israel and the world for the direction
of the thrust of the gospel that was to come later. This was
made evident when Paul was forbidden to go into Bythinia, which
would have sent the drive of the spread of the Gospel to the
East, but instead, was sent to Macedonia, which resulted in it
being spread to Rome, Europe and the entire western world.
The Roman Empire, though cruel and oppressive in many ways was
the first of the world powers that had allowed at least limited
freedom of worship, unlike the previous domains. The Jews were
free to worship at their temple and to receive their Messiah.
They were free to travel and engage in commerce throughout the
Roman Empire and those who had been scattered were free to
return to Jerusalem to worship. The events surrounding the
activities of the Lord's church on the day of Pentecost and
shortly afterward, as well as the early mission efforts,
illustrate the importance of these things.
Truly, though the world was unaware of the events which prepared
it for the focal point of both time and eternity, this was the
'fullness of time'. There was no time in the past which would
have been so effective and with the breakup of the Roman Empire
there has been none since.
Though God is eternal and sees all things in the present, He
created time along with the 'all things'
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was
not any thing made that was made.
For the benefit of His finite creation, He has chosen to operate
in Time. It was for the greatest benefit possible to us that God
chose the 'fullness of time' as the period, and Jerusalem as the
place in the 'Time Space Continuum' to send forth His Son.
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