CHAPTER 5
MEASURING TIME
Although time is fleeting and ephemeral, it is still measurable, progressing continuously along the timeline of God's plan creating an ever-building past we call history. God always knows what time it is, and where His plan is in relation to where the end will be. God and mankind measure time very differently. God has a plan which will play out in stages called "Ages" of time, and this is the primary measure of time which God employs. But how man measures time incrementally has changed from ancient times to today. Measuring time to humans is more about human convenience than God's plan. But when it comes to looking backward and trying to pinpoint the exact time of an event discussed in the Bible, we need to understand that how humans have measured time has not been very precise, let alone consistent, throughout human history.
Old Testament years of time provided in the Bible are expressed in lunar (moon cycle) years which means each month is about 30 days (actually 29.5) and each year is 12 x 29.5 = 354 days, 11.25 days short of current annual calendar measurements of time expressed in years. The ancients understood that a year did not equal twelve moon cycles, but moon cycles were so much easier for the average person to use for measuring time, so they did. A month was from new moon to new moon, and twelve of them were a lunar year. But the seasons slowly got out of sync, so every so often there would be a correction to align the seasons back to normal so they would not be planting their crops in calendar winter, for example. The Bible also measures time by generations from genealogies, such as from Adam down to the Great Flood. Until the Roman era, time was mostly measured by the moon phases, not by the sun location relative to the earth as is done now. Then the Romans set the years to sun cycles, making the calendar fairly accurate. But for those who like to check calculations from the Bible, remember to convert from lunar to solar years.
In addition to the use of lunar measurements, ancient people often measured time from historical acts of significance. They would say it was X years after the Great Flood, or during the Xth year of the reign of a certain king, or X years after the fall of a certain empire, and so on. This method of measurement makes it difficult to pinpoint the exact date of ancient events unless the measuring point used has a precisely known date. Then eventually there were sundials, then clocks and then cell phones and Hawaiian "whatever time" which means when we get around to it. The timeline of history from the Garden of Eden to today is fairly well understood, and it is in thousands of years not tens of thousands and certainly not millions. Man has been on the earth only 6000 years. The genealogy from Genesis 5 sets the timeline from Adam down through his descendants whereby we can accurately estimate the time from Adam down to times of recorded history.
The Bible says God provided the sun, moon, planets, stars, and seasons to measure time, as well as for other obvious purposes.
“Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.” [Genesis 1:14-16]
The Bible also says in Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
Beyond simply being outstanding poetical verse, what does this actually mean for us as believers in God's plan? As a slight side discussion, it means above all else that believers must have patience, and patience is a matter of waiting over a period of time longer than we would like it to be. This is a very practical application of time to the believer, that God requires much patience of us, and not just for a short time. Patience and faith are siblings, and both relate to time. We cannot have faith for a nanosecond and declare victory. Faith requires an extended period of continuation in order to truly be faith, otherwise it is a fleeting random emotional expression followed by an opposite reaction. Faith without time is empty. It is only faith over time which has power. We do not get what we want when we want it just because we are God's children. Hebrews 6:13 says “When God made his promise to Abraham.....saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.” For Abraham that “patience” thing was about 30 years. The portion of Ecclesiastes cited earlier also shows how low Solomon stooped after his early spiritual victories. Solomon was the one who in his youth told God that he desired “wisdom” over wealth or power, which pleased the Lord. Then many years later Solomon was bemoaning how “I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race” and how life is just a series of disappointments. But it was Solomon who chose to marry 1000 women and allow idolatry to spread in Israel as a result of many of his heathen wives who were bored with him. Speaking of time and women and Solomon, if he had sex with 3 of his wives each day then each wife would have sex once per year. Another practical application of time. No need to thank me. Anyway, his numerous wives, many of them heathens, focused their attention on spreading idolatry related to their false gods throughout Israel. And they were very good at the task. Solomon started out his spiritual life with great promise, but ended up getting his eyes on the details of life God had given to him and became jaded, as seen in much of the book of Ecclesiastes. But in Ecclesiastes 3:11 Solomon finally comes back to the point of time, which is that “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” This is the verse which sums up this book. God has made everything beautiful in its proper time. Yet mankind cannot fathom what God has accomplished, and will accomplish, over the entirety of time. Solomon epitomizes the struggle of most believers, which is to have some spiritual victories, but generally fail. However, it is our faith which saves us, not the relative amount of spiritual victories in our lifetime.
With that little foray into Biblical poetry about time from a disgruntled man who wasted much of the time God gave to him, let us now return to our discussion regarding how time and location have been woven into God's plan for souled creatures. Next we start a more detailed discussion of locations throughout time.