God, eternity and time!

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Permalink Reply by Daft John Anakin Skywalka on October 5, 2009 at 1:46pm

The way to have transcendent experience of time is to come to experience more of eternal time's contents - to become time-full not time-less...

God planned eternity but is able to experience temporary unknowing in order to surprise Himself with His Own plans... God and creation all have time in them and are in time.

For people to experience fullness or smallness we need space. The only way for people to experience fullness and smallness is to have time. Where there is any experience, whether of time or space or what fills them, there is the question of causality.

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Permalink Reply by Nibwaakaa inini biidaabin on October 15, 2009 at 10:09am

Hey good question. No wonder no answered. I was looking up the word in Greek and also in connection with my own culture. So this is just speculation. And as someone once said "were revelation ends speculation begins".

This word in Greek used here in Revelation 8:1 can also denote season, such as going from one moon to another, in marking time, or Passover to Pentecost. I know for certain they did not have watches then, sun dial maybe? But we also in our own culture count the moons and each moon cycle each month denotes a different season, One month my be called the Wild rice month the next the deer gathering month. That is each month has a PURPOSE. So it is with time, it was created with a PURPOSE being fulfilled. And when the purpose has been finalized (! Cor 15:24-28) Then there is no more time or ages.

So this half time mentioned seems to me to mean there was a time in the progressive unfolding of the Manifestation of Christ in you the hope of Glory, a silence a rest as it were. Doesn't music have a rest note in a piece of music denoting silence between notes? So we are His master piece of a music inwhich He is writtting upon us to be seen and heard.

Thanks for listening and thanks for asking such a good question. I think many time God puts these questions in our spirit so we would search them out.

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Permalink Reply by Ruthie McCloude on October 23, 2009 at 7:59am

Amanda this is an excellent question, and difficult to answer but I will give it a stab based on my questioning God about time in general some years ago. Since everything that has transpired from the Beginning, God set up at creation all of the events that have ever occurred to date. He did EVERYTHING then, and sat down to rest. Christ's coming, the events in the book of Revelation, everything! In the creation mode, He dealth with time and intervals of events to occur in all future, thus the statement in the fullness of time, Christ came into the earth. His advent was not coincidental, it was planned and layed out from the beginning and He just sat in Heaven until the plan unfolded. This lull in time in Heaven was set during creation and the scenario in earth plays out until it gets to that injection point. God is not doing anything else in the earth because He gave US dominion in the creation days and we are the ones who are supposed to set precedents and rule in the earth and effect the routine changes needed to maintain His creation. That was Adam's job in the beginning - to prune and weed out! When Christ said "It is finished", that is what He meant. Everything was restored back to Adamic status and man was supposed to pick up from there and be god in the earth again, ruling and reigning until Christ returned to reclaim His position as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There is another fullness of times set in eternity for us to come forth as the Sons of God. Already planned, and finished in God's viewpoint - it just hasnt materialized in the natural realm yet.

Ruthie

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Permalink Reply by Craig Nolin on October 23, 2009 at 2:15pm

Time does not exist unless it is measured. Time is relative, and when the disciples were speaking of time, they were speaking in human terms that people can understand. This is nothing to be truly important, what matters is that something happens and what that something is.

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Permalink Reply by Dawn M Sikes on October 24, 2009 at 12:50am

In order to understand this passage you need to look at more than one part of it. You also need to consider the context of what the entire chapter say’s. I suggest viewing:
http://www.biblegateway.com/
http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.cfm
These are free sites to look up scripture in many different translations with blue letter offering the Strong’s Hebrew and Greek. I like to use KJV and the amplified most often. I use KJV because of the Strong’s Greek and Hebrew translations of the words. I also use the amplified a lot because it’s translated with out much of the work or it’s just great for a reference.
In the amplified this scripture reads:
1WHEN HE [the Lamb] broke open the seventh seal, there was silence for about half an hour in heaven. In the KJV the Greek word used here is G2256 hēmiōrion. It is two words which mean half and hour.

To be honest the time here suggests to me that there was a pause in expectation of the trumpets to be sounded. Its figurative language and should really not be taken in a literal manner. Not that any real time went by because when John saw this he was in the Spirit and there is no reference to time in the Spirit. John was being shown a vision and therefore it does not describe time in a spiritual sense. John could have been seeing things quickly or in an environment where time itself was non-existing. Eternal it self is not time but a place of non-time. In the Spirit there may be time but it is not measured in the same manner to which we measure time on earth. So yes, there is a concept of some type of time in relation to God's eternal but it’s not the same as physical time measured here. One reference in scripture is that a day to God is like a thousand years of man's time. 2 Pet. 3:8
8Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape you, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.(B)
So if we really wanted to guess the time spoken of here in Rev. we might take that there are 24 hrs in a day so in supposed God time 24 hrs is 1000 years. 30 min. in relation to that time frame would be like saying it was silent for almost 15 years. What is most important in this scripture is the pause. The anticipation of what was to come. It was to note that all heaven was aware of what was about to be released from the seal. So weather we are guessing that it was silent for almost 15 years or that it was 30 min. of our time the fact remains that there was a pause and notice of change. The number seven is a complete number. The seventh seal points to a completion of what is to come. This seal brings an end to something and a beginning to something else. I just thought that this might add some perspective to the question.

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Permalink Reply by Dawn M Sikes on October 24, 2009 at 12:52am

You make a very good point about the revealing of the things already acomplished in the Spirit. We must run our race and walk out in our existance our part in God's plan. Good point!

Ruthie McCloude said:

Amanda this is an excellent question, and difficult to answer but I will give it a stab based on my questioning God about time in general some years ago. Since everything that has transpired from the Beginning, God set up at creation all of the events that have ever occurred to date. He did EVERYTHING then, and sat down to rest. Christ's coming, the events in the book of Revelation, everything! In the creation mode, He dealth with time and intervals of events to occur in all future, thus the statement in the fullness of time, Christ came into the earth. His advent was not coincidental, it was planned and layed out from the beginning and He just sat in Heaven until the plan unfolded. This lull in time in Heaven was set during creation and the scenario in earth plays out until it gets to that injection point. God is not doing anything else in the earth because He gave US dominion in the creation days and we are the ones who are supposed to set precedents and rule in the earth and effect the routine changes needed to maintain His creation. That was Adam's job in the beginning - to prune and weed out! When Christ said "It is finished", that is what He meant. Everything was restored back to Adamic status and man was supposed to pick up from there and be god in the earth again, ruling and reigning until Christ returned to reclaim His position as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There is another fullness of times set in eternity for us to come forth as the Sons of God. Already planned, and finished in God's viewpoint - it just hasnt materialized in the natural realm yet.

Ruthie

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Permalink Reply by Dean Johnson on November 30, 2009 at 2:54am

His disciples said, "When will you become revealed to us and when shall we see you?" Thomas37.

Ruthie McCloude said:

There is another fullness of times set in eternity for us to come forth as the Sons of God. Already planned, and finished in God's viewpoint - it just hasnt materialized in the natural realm yet.

Ruthie

We shall be changed when we See Him As He Is.

Jesus said, "It is I who am the all," Thomas 77.

His disciples said to him, "When will the repose of the dead come about, and when will the new world come?"
He said to them, "What you look forward to has already come, but you do not recognize it," Thomas 51.

His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?"
Jesus said, "It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'here it is' or 'there it is.' Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it," Thomas 113.

Time and eternity are reconciled into one.
As useful as time is, we sometimes limit our perspective only within our experience of time.

Here is a short article that discusses a New Divine Eternal Perspective

URfriend,
Dean Johnson

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Permalink Reply by Craig Nolin on November 30, 2009 at 5:03pm

Heya Dean! :D

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Permalink Reply by Amanda Taylor on December 3, 2009 at 8:58am

Like I said this was just a question and to get people to think! :) I mean we could tear this scripture apart even more but it would just cuz us to be even more nuts about trying to figure oyt what it means but I love it cuz it shows the mystery behing God and the reasons why we need to be rooted and grounded in HIS word! Thanks for everyones inputs! I enjoy them!

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Permalink Reply by kristi001 on December 5, 2009 at 8:07pm

I think the author who was writing could have been thinking of a pause and to him (the writer) a pause might be about a half an hour. Also its like God created the heavens and the earth in 7 days. Well, who knows how long a day is in God's time? That has always helped me in that I see no reason to pit creation(ism) against evolution or darwin(ism).
kristi001

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Permalink Reply by Kelly Beane on December 20, 2009 at 9:46pm

I am not familiar with the book of Thomas. I'm really curious what it is.

Dean Johnson said:

His disciples said, "When will you become revealed to us and when shall we see you?" Thomas37.

Ruthie McCloude said:

There is another fullness of times set in eternity for us to come forth as the Sons of God. Already planned, and finished in God's viewpoint - it just hasnt materialized in the natural realm yet.

Ruthie

We shall be changed when we See Him As He Is.

Jesus said, "It is I who am the all," Thomas 77.

His disciples said to him, "When will the repose of the dead come about, and when will the new world come?"
He said to them, "What you look forward to has already come, but you do not recognize it," Thomas 51.

His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?"
Jesus said, "It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'here it is' or 'there it is.' Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it," Thomas 113.

Time and eternity are reconciled into one.
As useful as time is, we sometimes limit our perspective only within our experience of time.

Here is a short article that discusses a New Divine Eternal Perspective

URfriend,
Dean Johnson

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Permalink Reply by Katherine Anderson on December 22, 2009 at 7:48pm

It's one of the Gnostic gospels from Nag Hammadi: http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/bookt.html

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