Times Time
Times Time [1]
Time has been described as 'the measure of motion,' as seen in the movements of the heavenly bodies; or as 'the duration of periods,' of which we can conceive a beginning and an ending. It stands in contrast to Eternity, of which no beginning and no ending can be conceived.
Christians are exhorted to 'redeem the time.' Ephesians 5:16; Colossians 4:5 . This does not mean 'to make up for lost time'; but to seize every favourable opportunity. In Daniel 2:8 the king said that the wise men sought 'to gain the time': that is, obtain a delay in the hope that the king might relent, or that something might happen that would save them.
As to the various events foretold by God that have yet to come to pass, it is not for the Christian to know "the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power." Acts 1:7 . But, on the other hand, when two events have been foretold, the one of which must take place before the other (as the 'rapture' of the saints before the day of the Lord when He will return with His saints), Christians are expected to know about them, for the apostle Paul writes "Of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." 1 Thessalonians 5:1,2 . It is further explained in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10 , that the day of the Lord could not come before the revelation of the Antichrist, etc. Still as to the when of this and of the 'rapture' of the saints, we are not to know, but are to be always ready for the latter.
Of the children of Issachar it is said that they were men "that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do." 1 Chronicles 12:32 . They understood the mind of God, namely, that David should be king of the whole of the twelve tribes. So the Holy Spirit can direct the saints to the particular line of truth most suitable to the period in which they live, and teach them what they ought to do ; as, for example, a line of truth and action for the present state of the church is pointed out in the Second Epistle to Timothy, agreeing, as it does, with the later addresses to the Seven Churches in Revelation 3 .
The word 'time' is used in Daniel 7:25; Daniel 12:7; Revelation 12:14 , for a 'year': hence "time, times, and a half " signify three years and a half. See Seventy Weeks. The expression in Revelation 10:6 , "time should be no longer," is better translated "there should be no longer delay."
