1:3.
Christ as Light and Time: “The time is at hand.”
When we come to the word time in Revelation 1:3, we should go no further in interpretation until we understand the system of time within the larger framework of the writing and of the culture as a whole. It will not do to skip over to Revelation 20 and speak of millennialism without first dealing with the underlying concept of time.[3]
The Biblical view of Time is that Time is an offspring of Light, and, therefore, is a powerful and beautiful symbol of Christ. Jesus said: "I AM the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life," John 8:12. He is not only The Light of the World, but is also The Light of the Universe. In fact, He is the very Light that proceeded forth from God, the Father of Lights, Genesis 1:3, by which all things were created and through which all things consist and are united: "[God's Son] Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And He is before all things, and by him all things consist," Colossians 1:15-17.
Light was the "firstborn of every creature." After God had spoken Light in Genesis 1:3, He created Time by creating the great lights: "And God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years," Genesis 1:14. Now, in the Book of Revelation, Christ is revealed as the Perfection of that Light, Urim ve Thummim, Light and Time. The Book shows Christ in His full, universal, transcendent exaltation, fulfilling His role of Light. For a proper view of the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, we must see this relationship to time.
When we come to the word time in Revelation 1:3, we should go no further in interpretation until we understand the system of time within the larger framework of the writing and of the culture as a whole. It will not do to skip over to Revelation 20 and speak of millennialism without first dealing with the underlying concept of time.[3]
The Biblical view of Time is that Time is an offspring of Light, and, therefore, is a powerful and beautiful symbol of Christ. Jesus said: "I AM the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life," John 8:12. He is not only The Light of the World, but is also The Light of the Universe. In fact, He is the very Light that proceeded forth from God, the Father of Lights, Genesis 1:3, by which all things were created and through which all things consist and are united: "[God's Son] Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And He is before all things, and by him all things consist," Colossians 1:15-17.
Light was the "firstborn of every creature." After God had spoken Light in Genesis 1:3, He created Time by creating the great lights: "And God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years," Genesis 1:14. Now, in the Book of Revelation, Christ is revealed as the Perfection of that Light, Urim ve Thummim, Light and Time. The Book shows Christ in His full, universal, transcendent exaltation, fulfilling His role of Light. For a proper view of the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, we must see this relationship to time.
One of the
most profound metaphors for God is that of Light. "This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all."[1]
The concept of Christ as Light is
likewise clearly set forth in the Scriptures.[2]
The concept of Christ as Time, however, will be new and surprising, but if light and
time are synonymous, then Christ as Light means that Christ is also Time.
Time
Time and light cannot
be separated. When we escape earth’s shadow into outer space, light is
time and time is light. Light is time
measurable and time immeasurable, eternity. Being earthbound creatures, our
concept of time is earthbound, but the common denominator between earth and the
rest of the universe is light; so beyond earth’s shadow, we speak of time in
relation to the speed of light. Space is measured in our finite minds by light
years calculated by the distance in earthly miles which light can travel in an
earthly year.
As light is
the common denominator between earth and the universe, so Christ, as Light, is the Mediator between the spiritual heaven and
physical earth. As such, He enables us as earthly creatures to have some
comprehension of heaven. It can be said truly that Christ is the Perfection of
Light, All-comprehensive, All-dynamic, All-existent. While we all know about
light and time from intimate and constant experience, yet we hardly can place
them in any natural category. There is something of the ethereal about both
concepts.
The King And Time
The King And Time
In many
ancient pagan cultures the king was considered to be the god incarnate. As such
he was ascribed cosmic powers. In this role he was honored as the time-giver
and time was reckoned from the beginning of his reign. The anniversary of the
King’s ascension to the throne was their New Year’s Day, called “the Day of the King.” God’s people
ascribe this honor to Jesus by reckoning time
as “The Day/Year of the Lord.”
Ancient
history is dated by regnal years of this or that king. The early histories are
called “Chronicles,” from the word “chronos”
for time, often “Book of Days.” Our Biblical books called “Chronicles”
in translation are more literally translated “Words of the Days Aleph,” (A, or One, 1 Chronicles) and “Words of the Days Beth,” (B or Two, 2 Chronicles). These books record the deeds of the kings of Israel
and Judah.
The early
Christians refused to recognize the regnal year of the Caesars,[4]
as they considered Christ to be King and
that, therefore, time should be counted from His regnal year. (Indeed, that
time system has endured to the present moment as we say “The year of our Lord”).
To recognize the regnal year of the Caesars would have been equivalent to
calling him “Lord,” and Christians endured martyrdom rather than call the
Caesars “Lord.” Deissmann cites a document that recorded a martyrdom carefully
recording “the month, day, hour, names of the high priest and the proconsul,
and then in the place where one would expect the Imperial regnal year:…, ‘and
Jesus Christ reigning
for ever, to whom is the glory, honour, greatness, and an eternal throne from
generation to generation, Amen,’” In the pagan
cultures the regnal year was celebrated at a New Year’s festival that deified
the king. This kind of celebration was common from the time of Hammurabi in Babylon to the time of
the Caesars in Rome. It was called “The Day of ____(such and such a king.)” It was a time to recite the deeds of the king
as recorded in the book of days for the past year, (what we would now call the
histories. Indeed, this was perhaps the beginning of history writing, as such.)
By this means the accurate count of the days of the year could be
verified. The king, therefore, had a role as time-keeper and was deified
by the people as if he were a time-giver.
The idea of
kingship in Israel, however, was that Yahweh was their King, and Time-Giver. The Biblical idea was that the
New Year festival was “The
Day of the Lord,” the day to renew the covenant vow, to celebrate His
faithfulness and His magnificence and to “re-count” His marvelous works
and His mighty deeds. By these acts they proclaimed that the Most High God was
their King. Indeed, it was He Who kept a record of human deeds and
judged them and to Him every Man must give an account. It was He Who was
the Giver of Life and Light. To ascribe this role to a mortal king was a form of
idolatry.
The writing
of the Scriptures may, in a sense, be considered as the “Book of Days” of the
Lord God, King of kings, and Lord of lords, “His-Story.” As the song says: "O worship the King, all glorious above, and gratefully sing, His wonderful love."
[3] L. Hicks, “Time,” Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, (IDB) vol.4, (New
York, Abingdon Press 1962), 642-9. “More than any other writings, the
apocalyptic writings provide material on the concept of time.”
[4] Adolf Deissmann, Light from the Ancient Near East, trans. Linonel R. M. Strachan, (New York, N. Y. Doran Co., first
edition, 1909, translated 1927), p. 356.
[6] The work of such scholars as Mowinckel and Weiser on the Psalms in Israel's Worship has fallen into some
disfavor with more modern scholarship. I believe much of their work is valid,
although flawed by some false premises. They viewed the practices of the
heathen kingdoms as having been borrowed by Israel, when the opposite is more
probably true: Israel's worship reflected the original idea which the heathen
nations had perverted to a form of idolatry, the worship of a mortal king. Sigmond
Mowinckel, The Psalms in Israel’s Worship,
vol.2, trans. D. R. Ap-Thomas, (New York, Nashville Abingdon Press. 1962).
Artur Weiser, The Psalms., A Commentary,
trans. from the German Die Psalmen by
Herbert Hartwell. (Philadelphia, Westminster
Press, 1962).
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