How God Tells Time
Three and a Half Years
or
God's Special Midpoint in Time
For
centuries man has tried to determine by his own puny efforts at understanding
time, just how it must be that God tells time. We know it can’t possibly be
the same way we determine the passage of time, but just what is it? Consider
for the moment what we do know about “time” in our understanding. The Scriptures
would tell us that the Greeks had two different words to describe the concept
of time:
Chronos, which stood for the lineal, horizontal way we treat the measuring of the passage of time. From this we get our word “chronological”.
Kairos, which stood
for a dimension of time where past, present and future were all already
completed events.
We
mortals can best grasp this concept when we embrace the roll of Prophecy in
the Scriptures. God let His prophets see future events, but when they recorded
them, they were doing it in the present, but God, who knows everything from
the beginning to the end, set His seal to the prophecy.
(The Alpha and the Omega) It must come to pass, and from God’s viewpoint, it already has! Complete, final, a “Done Deal” from God’s perspective.
However, God has already seen how we would struggle to understand these two very different concepts of time. That is why in the Scriptures, the significance of the Midpoint Event is now being revealed to us. Here is what I see in the Scriptures that supports the concept of Midpoint Significance. The Book of Revelation, which is God’s big Finale in his dealing with mankind, is overflowing with examples of Midpoint Significant Events. Here’s what I mean:
1. The Book itself- Revelation is known as “A Book of Sevens”,
seven being the perfect or “Complete” number of God. Half of seven of course is three and a half. More on this will follow below.
2. Twenty two Chapters- Take that ribbon that acts as a bookmark in your Bible. Use it to divide the Book of Revelation in two, with eleven chapters on either side of the ribbon. The first eleven chapters are a message in KAIROS time, which is the “Prophetic” treatment of time. The last eleven chapters are a final message in CHRONOS time, or lineal time as we know time.
3. Divide the total verses in two - (404 total, 202 on each side). If you were to total up all of the verses in the Book of Revelation and find the exact center, with an equal number of verses on either side, the dividing line will fall between verses 8 and 9 in Chapter 12. It is right at this point in Scripture that Satan is thrown down to earth for the last three and a half years of the Great Tribulation.
4. Daniel saw this coming - Take a short side trip to the Book of Daniel, and in the last six chapters note how many times the three and a half year measure of time occurs.
5. Revelation Ch. 12 - Observe how many references there are in Chapter 12 regarding Satan persecuting “ The Woman” and her escape to the wilderness and its protection for three and a half years.
6. Three and a Half Year Eagles - Note in Rev. Ch12, vs 14 that the wings of a great eagle are given to the woman to nourish her for three and a half years. ( Probably the US. evacuating Israel and the end time church from that region.)
7. June 30th, 2004 - This is the actual date set for the return of the Iraqi Government to control of their country. Terrorism is expected to escalate as the date draws nearer. It just may be that God Himself has arranged for that date to be chosen. June 30th, 2004 is exactly Three and a Half Years into this new millennium. Wouldn’t it be surprising if God decided to use man’s way of telling time after all and this date turned out to be the beginning of the last half of the great tribulation?
I believe that we will not know the exact time of our Lord’s return. Only the Father knows the time. But, we can know HOW He will return.
It is all in the Holy Scriptures in plain sight, IF we know which dots to connect, and If He allows us to see things from His perspective.
In fact, it will be so clear after the fact, that we will wonder how on earth we missed it.
Submitted June 1st, 2004.