In order to account for the stories of history, mankind
created a structure called Time. Time did not exist pre-creation, nor does it
truly exist now. What is history and how might a modern historian fashion the
telling of it? (Davies, P., History of ancient
Israel, 2015). In Genesis 25:7, the Bible states that Abraham was one
hundred seventy five years of age when he passed away. In Exodus 34:7, Moses is
said to be one hundred twenty years of age when he dies (The Harper Collins
Study Bible, NSRV, 1989). The days of Noah were accounted at nine hundred and
fifty years (Genesis 9:29). How could ages vary so drastically throughout the
Old Testament? Upon further investigation, we find the Bible is fond of numeric
symbology and one will recognize a pattern of numbers used over and over again.
The story of creation alone is relative to seven days;
however the Bible later states that a day is like a thousand years and a
thousand years is but a day in the sight of the Lord (Psalms 90:4; 2 Peter
3:8). So we must inquire: what accounting of ancestral age is actually possible?
What purpose do the numbers truly serve? Biblical scholars, such as John Nelson
Darby, segregated the Bible into stages and used fine detail to do so. John Darby
even used his dispensational approach to predict the rule of the anti-Christ
and Armageddon (Wilkinson, P.R., 2008). How is any of this possible if time is a
creation of man and the perception of time has changed drastically since
creation?
Our approach to time has changed dynamically this century
especially in Western culture. The theory of accelerated time shows an internal
movement that controls our external flow throughout our daily activities. In a
search to attain more, we have more tasks to accomplish throughout our day,
limiting our quantum movement through time. This rapid internal and external
movement keeps us from respecting the moments we encounter throughout our day.
It also alters our notation of time as well as our remembering of time
(Collins, J., 2007).
As our perception of time changes, so does our
calculation of the structures of history. In retrospect, we use our own
perception of time to calculate the movement of time in tales of history. Historicity
is simply a noun that means the “authenticity of history” or “historical
actuality” (Merriam Webster). When the perception and recording of time has
changed throughout history; when the accounting of history is left the victor;
when money and power have sway in the telling of the tale; how does any
authentic philosopher account the science of ancestral age?
The Kabbalah is an ancient Jewish philosophy based in mysticism.
It branches into many different segments of its Tree of Life; however,
numerology and symbolism are at its very core. The Hebrew language is also tied
intensively to numeric value and I feel this bears enough weight to mention it
in the exegesis of timelines in the Bible (Matt, D.C., 1995). Being that there
is no actual way to clearly account for the timelines or ancestral age in the
Bible, it becomes inherent to recognize the patterns of numbers and the
symbology they might serve.
It is from this perspective we begin to recognize the
numeric patterns represented in the Bible. Seven days of creation. Revelation
prophecies state there will be a seven year reign of the anti-Christ. Three
parts are recognized in the Holy Trinity. Christ was in the tomb three days and
resurrected. The ark was floating for forty days and forty nights. The
Israelites were in the wilderness for forty days. We see that the numbers four,
twelve and forty-eight play a large role in Israelite history. I could continue,
but the point has been made.
So the question remains, what can we state with
confidence about an ancestral age? The historicity of the Bible has been
authenticated multiple times over the course of its tale. There are also many
stories that do not have historical verification. We must then trust that the
Bible is an analogy, a set of stories rooted deeply in mysticism, symbology and
parables to show us the right way to live our lives. “The modern secular
discipline of history is in tension with notions of sacred history, in which the
divine hand is perceived. (Davies, P.R., 2008, pg. 2)” We must then move
forward from the hope of providing an accurate historical timeline of the
Biblical tale. We must also let go of the notion that we may know the
geographical location of many of these Biblical tales. When we are able to set
ourselves free from this need to document the timelines of Biblical tales, we
may then move forward to fully appreciate the deep and poignant symbology the
Bible may serve in our daily lives.
So what then is an ancestral age? An ancestral age then
becomes a division but not one recognizable in time or space. An ancestral age
then becomes a division by sameness of message, spirit or continuity of the age
in question. For example the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is a personal God
that walks among His people. He is a fierce God, a God that demands worship. The
God of Moses is moving from the realm of walking among the people and becoming
a God one needs to reach for through priest or prophet. He is a jealous God. He
is a God of vengeance. There are then different natural divisions to an “age”
that have little to nothing to do with “time”.
We then later witness the God of the New Testament, the
loving father of the sacrificed Son. We see the Holy Spirit move among the Disciples
of Christ and miracles being performed. We see the outpouring of love from the
Christ to all people, even those who are outcast from society and those set
apart by the weight of their sin. We see the ultimate sacrifice being freely
given to save us from our guilt and sin. The entire story of the Bible is a
movement toward an end.
From creation to Revelation the eschatology of the Bible
is represented by the Kingdom within and the Kingdom still to come. The
resurrection of Christ represents not only the renewal of our physical beings
but the promise of the renewal of this physical earth (Yong, A., 2014). The
Bible is a penetrating tale of sin and forgiveness; love and sacrifice. With
Armageddon lurking in the book of Revelation, the tale of the Bible can be seen
in segregated passages leading up to this great war and the promise of a new
kingdom yet to come. Returning to the thoughts of John Nelson Darby and his
dispensational view of the Bible and man’s timeline, we are shown seven ages:
innocence, conscience, human government, promise, law, church and millennium.
If we choose to view ancestral ages in the same manner, we can see natural
segregation to the Bible that culminate this powerful story that supersede the
existence of time.
We may see then an age from Creation to the Fall (John
Darby). We may add the age from the Fall to the Flood. We would further
separate an age from the Flood to the call of Abraham. John Nelson Darby would
then show us an age from Abraham to Moses. Next would be an age from Moses to
the death of Christ. The last age that has taken place would be from the
resurrection of Christ to our current day. His final segregation represents the
future and is defined in the thousand year reign of Satan (Wilkinson, P.R.,
2008).
In conclusion, may we take the time to see the relevance
of the story. May we see the validity of the parable without the necessity of
historicity. May we recognize the ages as they naturally segregate within the
Biblical story. May we forget our notion of time and remember that God exists
without the man-made construct idealized to organize and define our lives. An ancestral
age then has a proclivity to become a story with continuity of purpose. It
represents an organization outside the confines of time. An ancestral age is a
segregation seen perhaps as a chapter in a book that represents the entirety of
a tale. An ancestral age holds poignant purpose in the telling of the tale. It
represents value in the dispensation of our progress as children of the Divne.
References:
Bassler, Jouette M.Meeks, Wayne A. (Eds.)
(1993) The HarperCollins
study Bible :New Revised Standard Version, with the Apocraphal/Deuterocanonical
books San Francisco, Calif. : HarperSanFrancisco,
Collins, J. (2007). Global Palestine: A
collision for our time. Critique:
Critical Middle Eastern Studies, 16(1), 3-18.
Davies, P. R. (2015). The History of Ancient Israel: A
Guide for the Perplexed (Vol.
347). Bloomsbury Publishing.
Matt, D. C. (1995). The essential Kabbalah: The
heart of Jewish mysticism.
Wilkinson, P. R. (2008). For Zion's Sake: Christian Zionism and the Role of John
Nelson Darby. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Yong, A. (2014). Renewing Christian theology: Systematics for a global
Christianity.
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