sami

TIME….. that turns out to be the issue for humans. When I was 9 years old I wanted to do the things that 16 year olds were doing. When I turned 16 I wanted to do what 20 somethings were doing. As time passed I had a family (5 children) and that took all of my time, effort and attention for years. Do I love them? Yes, and for the most part they were happy years and quite entertaining. Am I sorry? NO, but as the years rolled by I cannot say that I wasn’t glad when they began to leave to establish their own lives. As they left one by one I began to feel freedom that had eluded me for decades and with one child left we could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Quite soon after feeling that freedom ( fishing and traveling vacations) for the first time in decades, my husband suffered a heart attack and died at age fifty. There it was…the realization that in this system of things our days have limits. Jesus brother James came to mind “ Come, now, YOU who say: “Today or tomorrow we will journey to this city and will spend a year there, and we will engage in business and make profits,” 14 whereas YOU do not know what YOUR life will be tomorrow. For YOU are a mist appearing for a little while and then disappearing.” James 4:13, 14

Solomon said it all and his words are significant for everyone…10 All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheʹol, the place to which you are going. 11 I returned to see under the sun that the swift do not have the race, nor the mighty ones the battle, nor do the wise also have the food, nor do the understanding ones also have the riches, nor do even those having knowledge have the favor; because time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all. 12 For man also does not know his time. Just like fishes that are being taken in an evil net, and like birds that are being taken in a trap, so the sons of men themselves are being ensnared at a calamitous time, when it falls upon them suddenly. Ecclesiastes 9:10-12

Man’s attitude, because of life’s limitations, is immediacy, now or else it is not real or true. It is much like a pregnancy… many milestones must be met before a successful birth. Menstruation ceases, cells specific for different areas of the body begin to divide, many changes are in motion at the same time. Lungs develop, brain develops, fetus settles in drinking amniotic fluid to sustain and nourish until the time limit expires and the fetus is ready to live outside the womb. Onlookers, family members see the manifestations of the pregnancy and know the birth is imminent - it is a waiting game. Fulfillment of prophecy is much the same. Jehovah God has set a time limit for this system to develop into whatever mankind wants to make of it. And after living in this system and under man made rules and ideologies for seventy nine years, I can tell you it has given birth to nothing that is good.

Jesus Christ, while on earth, gave his disciples a composite sign which included many facets within that sign. What was the sign supposed to alert those who witness it? “The sign of Christs presence AND the conclusion of a system of things,” the first fulfillment of the prophecy was Jerusalem’s destruction by the Romans in 70 C.E. However, the first part of the question to Jesus had to do with his presence - a sign that he would be present in kingdom power. Well then - the major fulfillment of that prophecy did not occur in 70 C.E. because that was only about thirty seven years after Christ’s death. The major fulfillment is happening now “the conclusion of the systems of things.” Yes, man has failed to realize that our time is not God’s time.

Right about now you are asking yourself what this has to do with my post ? It is this…humans measure their lives in increments of time and as time passes we can see our measured time of life coming closer to the end. But we haven’t done anything but raise and care for children – we’ve become old but really haven’t felt the full effect until something major happens. Time was never a measured issue with God because he is from everlasting to everlasting. Measured time was for humans. The measured time period between “In the beginning” and “evening and morning a first day” is unknowable, most likely eons of time passed. (that is the first measurement) The next measurements are the creative days (yom) which were about 7 thousand years long. The seventh day, God's rest, is on going.

The punishment phase of Adam’s life was known as a day (yom) as measured by God, but to humans the totality of his life was 930 yrs. The fact is…time is a relative measurement – it depends upon who is the keeper of it. Did man create time? No, God is the one who provided the basis for the measuring of time. Genesis 1:14, 15 states: “ Then God said: “Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to make a division between the day and the night, and they will serve as signs for seasons and for days and years. 15 They will serve as luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to shine upon the earth.” And it was so. Because Jehovah has not acted to rid the globe of wicked, lawless people who are themselves incorrigible, they assume God does not exist.

When men speak of what God did or has not done, they speak in terms of our own time increments and limitations. We haven’t, as yet, seen it in our span of life. Restlessness and impatience are hallmarks of humankind. Just like our children asking “are we there yet.” Does the wind exist? We can’t see it but we can see and feel its effects. Because God has not acted within the time limitations of our generation’s lifetime, one formulates an opinion of nonexistence.

However, throughout history Jehovah God has acted on behalf of his servants many times. During the flood of Noah’s day Jehovah saved eight souls from the pervasive wickedness of that time period.

The Exodus saved Jehovah’s people from the tyranny, abuse and slavery of the Egyptian Pharaohs. The same is true when Sennacherib, king of Assyria came against Hezekiah, king of Israel. Jehovah sent an angel during the night who slew 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night. You have the seventy year captivity of Israel in Babylon when Jehovah appointed Cyrus, king of the Persian Empire to overthrow Belshazzar and the Babylonian world power by diverting the Euphrates River giving access to the city.

Another instance validated through historical records is the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E when Cestius Gallus, governor of Syria, moved against Jerusalem to put an end to uprisings by the Jews and maintain Roman control. However, he was called back to Rome – the Christianized Jews were seeking a time when they could do as Jesus had said: “Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken about by Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place (let the reader use discernment), 16 then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains. Matthew 24:15,16

The disgusting thing was the Gentile army of Rome and the holy place was the city of Jerusalem with its temple. The Christians fled away to Pella as soon as the Roman army left. They were saved, but those who were not followers of Christ were annihilated when General Titus returned and destroyed the city and its temple. 1 million Jews were slaughtered and the rest taken as slaves to Rome.

There are innumerable examples in scripture where Jehovah came to the aid of his people and that to me inspires confidence that in the near future that will be the outcome again. The limit he set six thousand years ago has nearly expired and I look forward to seeing my husband and children resurrected to live on the cleansed earth and have the prospect of life everlasting. “9 For evil men will be done away with, But those hoping in Jehovah will possess the earth. 10 Just a little while longer, and the wicked will be no more; You will look at where they were, And they will not be there. 11 But the meek will possess the earth, And they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace 29 The righteous will possess the earth, And they will live forever on it. 30 Psalm 37:9-11,29