Everyday time specifications
We know many time terms from our daily routine, like hours, days, weeks or years. In the simplest form, these are clearly defined concepts of time that can be read on our clocks and calendars. However, this does not say it all. Even these simple terms know applications in a figurative sense.
- Hour
There is a figurative application, for example, when Jesus says “What have I to do with you, woman? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). Here “hour” is a symbol that Jesus was waiting for the “right time”. - Day
Both the Old and New Testaments frequently refer to the Day of the Lord. “Howl! For the Day of The Lord is near; it comes as a desolation from The Almighty! Therefore, all hands go limp, and the heart of every mortal melts. They are dismayed; cramps and contractions seize them, they writhe like a woman in labor; one stares at the other, their faces glow. Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, unmerciful, with fury and wrath, to make the earth a desolation and to destroy sinners from it.” (Isa 12:6-9). This is (among other things) a day of judgment, that is, a time of a certain character. Peter calls this day, but also still the following day of God: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night; then the heavens will pass away with a crash, but the elements will dissolve with heat, and the earth and the works therein will be burned up. Now that all this is dissolved, how much should you excel in holy walk and godliness, awaiting and hastening toward the coming of the Day of God, when the heavens will dissolve into embers and the elements will melt with heat!” (2Pt 3:10-12). - Week
The term “week” is used by the prophet Daniel in a broader sense: “Seventy weeks are appointed over your people and over your holy city” (Dan 9:24). Week literally means “sevens”, so that 70 sevens, namely 70×7 years are meant or periods of 490 years. It is a prophetic time statement here.
Many more examples and expressions can be given. Isaiah speaks, for example: “I said, In the middle of my days I shall go to the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the rest of my years”. (Isa 38:10). We are not talking about an exact time, nor an exact number of years. They are expressions with which the writer indicates his state in life and the rest of his life.
Other time terms
Apart from the time terms, which are known to us from the daily routine, there is also a multitude of words, which have a rather general application: Generations, times, periods, administrations and just – eons. All of these terms are time indications and they are used that way. Here are some examples, not exhaustively presented, as an indication of the diversity:
- Generations
“Awake as in the days of old, as in the generations of long ago. generations” (Isa 51:9) - Times
“And sure times you will have: Fullness of salvation, of wisdom and knowledge. The fear of the LORD, it will be his treasure.” (Is 33:6) - Deadlines
“He changes times and periods, he removes kings and sets up kings.” (Dan 2:21) - Administrations
“… For an administration of the completion of the terms” (Eph 1:10). “… For if ye have heard of the administration of the grace of God which is given unto me for you” (Eph. 3:2). - Eons (the “eternities”)
“Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might take us out of the present evil eon “ (Gal. 1:4). “Tell us, when will this be, and what is the sign of Your presence and the closing of the eon?” (Mt 24:3). “Now, in this term … And in the coming eon eonian life …” (Mark 10:30). “But they that are counted worthy to be partakers of that eon, and of the resurrection from the dead, they …” (Lk 20:35).
Time, not eternity
All these words are time terms. That now the Hebrew “olam” or the Greek “aion” should represent timelessness or endlessness is already refuted from the few quotations here above. Rather, these are also terms of time. There is a present eon, a coming eon, and when the present eon is completed, the next eon comes. Jesus speaks about this coming time in his famous “end-time speech” (Matthew 24-25), which hardly describes the end of time, but certainly the conclusion of the current eon.
The Hebrews were concerned with concepts of time, not endlessness. Aeons are ages. The coming age was particularly important. Jesus spoke of this coming age in the Gospels. It was the announcement of the messianic kingdom. The coming “Olam” or the coming “Aeon” is the outlook of the Gospels and it is the time of fulfillment of most of the promises to Israel. It is the messianic age. Everything that is called “eternal” in the Gospels has to do with this “Kingdom of Heaven“.
The establishment of this kingdom encompasses what is commonly seen as the “Millennial Kingdom” (although the kingdom lasts longer). It also includes the time after. What happens after that, however, is not explained in the Gospels. If we want to know what happens next, we must look to Isaiah, Peter and John, who all speak of new heavens and a new earth.
The book of Revelation does not have the last word. The Bible lets us look even further. Not everyone has the same insight, or the same view. Not everyone describes the end of all time. Sometimes it’s just about the conclusion of this current eon. Not the end of the world, but the end of the current course of time, the current age.
For the word that has been mistakenly translated as eternity is also a concept of time.
