|
The UK Bible Students Website Christian Biblical Studies |
‘WHAT MANNER OF TIME’
Citations are to the King James (Authorised) Version
Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you.
– 1 Pet. 1: 10
–
_____________
UNDER THE
INSPIRATION of the holy spirit, the prophets looked to ages far in advance of their
own, a future represented to them dreams and visions, which they could not
always comprehend.
The Apostle Peter observes that they wondered ‘what manner of time’ was involved.
And not only they, but the angels also desired ʻto look intoʼ such matters, implying that they did not know, either (1 Pet. 1: 11, 12).
Paul notes that the prophets’ words were recorded especially for our generation, ʻon whom the ends of the world [age] are comeʼ (1 Cor. 10: 11).
Jesus hints at the impossibility of rightly understanding coming events when He said, with reference to His (then-future) Second Advent, ʻof that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father onlyʼ (Matt. 24: 34-36; comp. Mark 13: 30-33).
In saying this He distinguishes Himself from God, who alone is omniscient.
Likewise, after His resurrection, responding to a question from His disciples as to when He would set up His Kingdom, Jesus says, ʻIt is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own powerʼ (Acts 1: 7; emphasis added).
That there would be an indefinite hiatus between Christ's first and second Advents and a period of confusion on the part of the watching disciples, is suggested by Jesusʼ parable of the ʻpoundsʼ (Luke 19: 11-27).
The master of the household departs with an exhortation to his servants to ʻoccupy till I comeʼ that is, until I return (v. 13). Here the master is Christ.
The servants are His people, awaiting His Second Advent. We are to ʻoccupyʼ (ʻtradeʼ, so the Greek), with patient resignation, keeping ourselves busy in an attitude of joyful anticipation until He is made manifest, an expression rich with meaning.
The revealing of Christ is not a single, instantaneous event. Rather, it is a process of making it known to the ‘watchers’ that He is at work behind the scenes, until preparations for His earthly Kingdom are complete. At that point, the entire world will become aware of His presence.
Until that blessed event, the Kingdom remains both near and far off, a contradiction which the thoughtful will appreciate.
Striving to live in this present evil world requires one to live in daily hope of a practical, future deliverance, penetrating the intervening fog with trust in the declarations and prophecies found in the Word of God. Bible prophecy will not fail, though just how it is to be fulfilled in any given period is rarely made clear in advance.
There is much yet to come in the Divine plan, and opinions differ on how far along we are in the Time of Trouble now upon the world.
Nonetheless, the unambiguous indicator of how far things have progressed was the establishment in 1948 of the nation of Israel, the bellwether of God's plan, a straightforward fulfilment of biblical prophecy.
It is the life-or-death attack on that nation
which the Scriptures prophesy will be the precursor to the setting up of the
Kingdom. See Isa. 2: 2-4 and Zech. 14: 1-3. This singular event could be
many years away. As watchers we are well advised to give greater weight to the
signs of the times, rather than to dates.
________
July 2017