How Does God Look at Time?

Creation or evolution?

We can look at two aspects dealing with this topic. One concerns the beginning of everything, and the other has to do with the end. Certainly, God perceives time differently than we do. We are people, and what for us can seem like a long period of time, such as the length of a life, to Him could be just a moment. When we come to the end of our days, all the time seems like a moment to us as well because, in fact, it is. What we need to do, though, is to utilize it in the best way possible; I mean to live as much as we can for a godly purpose, for what has to do with godly life and eternity.

“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15, 16)

In the same way, what for us is considered a short period of time, such as a day or an hour only, is examined to the least detail by Him. What we overlook and esteem as a short and insignificant time is carefully seen by Him and, in a way, is a longer period of time for Him.

“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8, emphasis added).

As we see by this verse, God is not looking at time as we do. He is above it and out of it, and at the same time, is deeply involved in each moment of it.

Let’s look at the first of the aspects that have to do with time.

Creation

We all have heard of creation. We all have seen the wonders of it around us. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead….” (Romans 1:20) and “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1).

People who believe in God believe firmly in these verses too. They know He is the Creator of all. Other people who don’t believe in God prefer to believe in the evolution theory. However, there might be some people who are believers who still support the theory of evolution. To me, personally, it’s never been a huge issue. Since God convinced me one day of my sins and His existence and presence, I don’t worry too much about how exactly it happened, and anything someone can prove cannot shake my faith and convince me to the opposite since the conviction of God is stronger than any idea, any thought, or logic. It's stronger than my logic, too. And I support the creation, meaning that God created everything as the Bible says – in 6 days.

There has been, however, always an argument about how everything happened. As a believer, I obviously believe that God was the one creating our planet that is only as a grain in the sand compared to all the rest of the creation He has made. In Genesis 1:1, we read: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

By the end of chapter 1, we see how God created everything in six days. Throughout history, many arguments have been made about this passage and how everything happened. Often, people don’t believe what this chapter says because it doesn’t fit into their minds, and therefore, they don’t want to believe in God. But we need to know we cannot comprehend God with our mind because our mind is limited. Other people, some of whom are believers, explain this chapter, saying those days would probably mean a much longer time. I would agree, but there is nothing that supports this theory. Some people even put a “gap” of time somewhere between verses one and three. This, according to them, explains the evolution theory. I repeat that even if someone proves some of these theories, it won’t shake my faith because I know God is real, and I have a relationship with Him in my heart. There I know He is real.

According to scientists, there are some 8.7 million species on the earth. Such a variety. So many of them. It is difficult for scientists to explain how all this came into existence. Therefore, here is where the theory of evolution comes from. According to them, there had to be a long time so that all of these species could come to light developing from an inferior kind, etc. They still don’t have a valid proof for this, but it sounds pretty logical to people. Obviously, persons of faith believe all this variety was created. There wasn’t any coincidence in it, as all of them are placed perfectly where they must be. They all collaborate perfectly to fulfill the food chain and the equilibrium in nature. Yes, people say all these species had to adapt to these conditions, but then who made them so intelligent to do it, and who placed this mindset in their genes so that this can happen? Let us see something in the Book of Job, chapter 39:

“Do you know the time when the wild mountain goats bear young? Or can you mark when the deer gives birth? Can you number the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they bear young? They bow down, they bring forth their young, they deliver their offspring. Their young ones are healthy, they grow strong with grain; They depart and do not return to them.

Who set the wild donkey free? Who loosed the bonds of the onager, whose home I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwelling? He scorns the tumult of the city; He does not heed the shouts of the driver. The range of the mountains is his pasture, And he searches after every green thing. Will the wild ox be willing to serve you? Will he bed by your manger? Can you bind the wild ox in the furrow with ropes? Or will he plow the valleys behind you? Will you trust him because his strength is great? Or will you leave your labor to him? Will you trust him to bring home your grain, And gather it to your threshing floor?

The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork’s? For she leaves her eggs on the ground, and warms them in the dust; She forgets that a foot may crush them, or that a wild beast may break them. She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; Her labor is in vain, without concern, because God deprived her of wisdom, and did not endow her with understanding. When she lifts herself on high, she scorns the house and its rider.

Have you given the horse strength? Have you clothed his neck with thunder? Can you frighten him like a locust? His majestic snorting strikes terror. He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength; He gallops into the clash of arms. He mocks at fear, and is not frightened; Nor does he turn back from the sword. The quiver rattles against him, the glittering spear and javelin. He devours the distance with fierceness and rage; Nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet has sounded. At the blast of the trumpet he says, ‘Aha!’ He smells the battle from afar, The thunder of captains and shouting.

“Does the hawk fly by your wisdom, and spread its wings toward the south? Does the eagle mount up at your command, and make its nest on high? On the rock it dwells and resides, on the crag of the rock and the stronghold. From there it spies out the pray; Its eyes observe from afar. Its young ones suck up blood; And there the slain are, there it is.” (Job 39)

Here in this chapter, as in chapter 38 of Job, we see the explanation of the behavior of animals and other events that someone would logically explain as natural events or something natural as how the formation of the snow and the rain happens and how the morning and the dawn take place. Nevertheless, we see God involved and that He stands behind all these apparently “natural” events. Yes, scientists may explain that nature causes the behavior of certain animals, but in fact, God is that “nature” Himself and much more than that at the same time.

Otherwise, who would give that intelligence, impart that nature in them, that it seems much more than a simple causality or an accident? In Job 39:16, 17, we read: “She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; Her labor is in vain, without concern, because God deprived her of wisdom, and did not endow her with understanding.“ It speaks about the ostrich and how God deprived it of intelligence. On the other hand, He made it very fast.

We can see how some species have less intellect than others, and others have more but less strength. We can, therefore, see the variation of the different species and their purpose. Don’t you think they would be pretty much in the same way in the case of evolution because, supposedly, all of them were going to develop and grow? It would be more like something mechanical or automatic, meaning that all this would happen without any thought or intention. If the creation developed by itself with the pattern that many think—through evolution- then we would probably see other species developing at least similar to how we do. (I don’t want to diminish the other species with this.)

But instead, we see how God gave each creature its particularity. To some of them less, to some more intellect, and others more strength, according to their needs and purposes, all for His glory. It kind of reminds me how God sets each member of the body of Christ according to their need, all for His glory. (1 Corinthians 12:4-31)

And yes, there are some believers that also support the evolution theory. To me, of course, the most important thing is that those people had accepted Jesus in their lives, and then even if they don’t understand something now (as none of us understands everything), one day, they will. Many of us don’t understand many things. It is important to know that God was the one who started everything. He is the beginning. Therefore, for this reason, I mean for the complexity of the creation, people put that time gap in Genesis 1. But let’s see a verse in 2 Peter 3:8.

“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

Here we see something very important. And this is that God doesn’t live within the same time limits as we do. He counts and looks at time differently. For Him, a thousand years is like a day, and a day is like a thousand years. My opinion is that a thousand has been just placed as a number there, and it doesn’t necessarily need to be taken literally, even if it can also be done in some cases, which means that a thousand is just an expression for a lot. Some people even get to count some days literally in the Bible as a thousand years, meaning that if there were two days, that’s 2000 years, etc. It depends on the case, but I don’t think this passage has to do only with the exact number of years. As God is omnipotent and all-powerful, we don’t just limit Him to a certain extent of time or years. Therefore, a day to Him can be more and also less than that. All this means that not only does a long period of time pass quickly for Him, but also a short period can pass very slowly. He can split that day into a thousand pieces and more.

With all this, we want to say that for a day, He can create many more things than any other person could do if, for example, we say and assume that someone can be in His position. So many species were created just for a day, and why not if He is the God Almighty, and He can do it? Just imagine if you had that same ability as Him, even if we know this is impossible. How many things were you going to be able to create then? Even if you had a factory on your side and other people helping you, you still wouldn’t accomplish the same results, especially with all these details. Still, God had all the time on His side as He could even slow down the time itself and break a day into a thousand pieces (years) or more in His Greatness and have the ability to be omnipresent and all-powerful. It seems like a day to us (I am talking about a literal day), but to Him, the same time can be much more. What do you think now? Do you still think that He, having all these qualities, couldn’t do this?

I mean that just a literal day could be a long time for Him, as He is God, and the space of time is different for Him. For us is just a day, but it could be much more for Him.

A long time could be short, and a short time can be long for Him. He doesn’t look at time as we do.

That’s why just a single day is so important for Him. The Scripture tells us in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” and Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Ephesians 4:26 tells us, “Be angry and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath.”

He who is so great gives such importance to every single day. We don’t, instead. But for Him, many things can happen in a day. That’s why we need to appreciate every day as a gift from Him and live it to its maximum for Him.

Many facts also show that the earth is not actually as old as it appears. Why don’t people admit it? Because it won’t fit with the evolution theory that everything created itself alone. But it is not in this way when God is involved in the picture. The One who goes beyond time and breaks all its limits.

Therefore, what scientists state to have happened for millions of years actually occurred in days because God was involved in it because He is all-powerful, and in a day, He did something that someone else would do in millions of years if he obviously had the same ability to create.

End times

The concept of time is not always taken in the right way, as the Bible says, speaking about the last times as well. Some people say we are in the last times already, some others that it hasn’t happened yet. What we know is that throughout history, we’ve seen God accomplishing His prophesies and promises. Slowly but surely. Well, to us, it looks slow, but He is marching toward it. What about chapter 24 of Matthew or the seven seals that need to be opened, as the book of Revelation says from chapters 6 to 8? Do we think that none of those prophesies have come to be accomplished yet?

Many people think in this way because at the moment they see part of those prophesies are being accomplished, they expect the end to come tomorrow’s day. When it doesn’t come, they reject the occurrences as false alarms. But what if some prophecies regarding the end times have happened already and even a time ago, and just the way God looks at the time and at the last times is different from our way of seeing it? We think that the end time prophesies will probably happen in 5, 10, or 15 years, but for God, that time could be completely different and take longer as He looks differently at the time. As for us, a hundred years is a long period; for Him, this is almost nothing. The thing is that many times we’ve been so impatient regarding those end-time prophesies. Maybe we saw some, but when we didn’t see the end coming soon after that, we just took it as a regular occurrence because nothing unusual happened. See that not knowing how God measures and looks at the time can confuse us. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that He is patient, not wanting anyone to perish.

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

If He, therefore, looks this way at the time, then the end time signs probably started already a long time ago. It took around 100 years (or slightly less) from when Noah was warned about the flood until he built the ark. All those years were the last times for that era, and we can assume that he was warning the people to get ready, but as they probably saw that nothing unusual happened so soon, they disregarded his warnings. In the same way, there is probably a time between an opening of a seal and another. People often are impatient and want to see things happening quickly. When they don’t see them, they get discouraged and disappointed.

“Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Peter 3:4) is what people ask. But the Scripture says: “But beloved, do not forget this one thing that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.“ God looks differently at time.