"Determinism" from the Perspective of Natural Revelation (Pt 2)
To me the most mysterious, abstract, curious and fascinating part of God's physical creation is the creation of Time which ironically is intangible and invisible. The question that I pose re this baffling wonder we call "time" is this: Is Man the Master of Time or is Man a Servant of Time? Perhaps a big clue as to the correct answer is in the old adage we're all familiar with: "Time and tide wait for no man." (Author of this quote is uncertain but some historians attribute it to St. Marher around 1225.) Or how many of us have thought throughout our lives the importance of being at the right place at the right time? Or how valuable time is, e.g. "Time is money", etc., etc..
Another huge clue is found in the central passage in scripture about this component of creation (Eccl 3:1-8). To save space I won't quote the entire passage but will make a simple observation: There are 14 pairs of time activities in this passage and the very first one states: "A time to be born and a time to die..." (v.2). Neither of these events involve man's will. God in eternity determined our time of birth and the exact number of our days. The rest of the passage covers activities in life that every human being experiences in between birth and death. And these events or activities can be expected or unexpected. But even in situations involving the former we ultimately don't control Time. We do not set the time or seasons for planting and harvesting, do we? Nor do we set the time for the raining seasons. We must submit to the "will" of Time...if we want to eat.
Therefore, Time has the First and the Last word in man's life; it is the Beginning and the End of man's life (v.2). Likewise, Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (Rev 22:13).
Another very important truth that we should not miss in this passage is that Time not only dictates to us WHEN things will occur but WHAT will occur.
But there's even more evidence about man's limitations regarding Time. None of us knows the Future (Eccl 7:14; 8:7; Jas 4:14), therefore, ultimately we have no control over what the Future will bring to any us. Nor do we have any power whatsoever to change, alter or modify the Past. What has been done has been done, and there's not a thing we can do to undo the activities of our Past. But one of the big values to the the Past is that it serves as a teacher for us so that we might learn from both our mistakes and our successes going forward.
Having said all that does not mean that man shouldn't or can't make any effort to manage his Time to the best of his ability, which of course can only be done through the very small window of Time we call the Present, i.e. "now" or "today". Furthermore, time "management" or "stewardship" is a biblical concept (Eph 5:16; Col 4:5). But even so...in the final analysis mankind functions in this world at the mercy of Time through which God soverignly brings his providence to bear upon our individual lives. And the following passage affirms this truth:
Eccl 8:5-8
5 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,
though a man's misery weighs heavily upon him.
7 Since no man knows the future,
who can tell him what is to come?
8 No man has power over the wind to contain it;
so no one has power over the day of his death.
As no one is discharged in time of war,
so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
NIV
This is a profoundly instructive passage. First of all, the "wise [God-fearing, pious] heart" will know the proper time and procedure for every matter. But fools (wicked)? Not so much.
It almost seems that Solomon was laboring hard to drive home the singular point of man's powerlessness. And this passage alone destroys FWT since FWers will vehemently deny their helplessness! FWers think they have the only resource they ever need to empower themselves, i.e. the efficacy of their "freewill". But the above text says:
1. No man has the power (ability) to know the future.
2. No man has the power over the wind to contain it (cf. Jn 3:8).
3. No man has the power over the day of his death.
4. No man is discharged in time of war, nor does he have the power (authority) to discharge himself.
5. Any man who practices wickedness (being personified here) implicitly has no power to release himself from it.
Therefore, all unregenerate practitioners of evil will not and cannot know "the proper time and procedure" for repenting of their sins and believing in Christ. They cannot understand that TODAY is the acceptable time of the Lord (Heb 3:7; 4:7). Eccl 3:8d proves beyond any shadow of doubt the absolute necessity and indispensability God's gift of a godly disposition of heart known as the Fear of the Lord (Jer 32:38-41) that compels God's elect to turn away from (shun, hate) evil (Job 28:28; Prov 3:7; 8:13).
The only being who has power over all these things and much more is God! And if a FWer denies that it's God alone who effectually breaks the dark, destructive, corrupting, enslaving, imprisoning power of sin (wickedness, evil), then he must also deny the other things over which man has no power (see 1 thru 4 above.) To be consistent, he must affirm that man does, after all, have the power to know the future, to contain the wind, over the day of his death, etc. And that man whose heart is full of evil and madness can nonetheless release himself from it in order to bear good fruit of repentance and faith; yet, it's only those who have received the gift of a "noble and good heart" (unilaterally promised under the New Covenant) who have this power hear the Word, retain it and persevere to bear good fruit (Lk 6:45; 8:15; Rom 7:18).
Then we have this final text that further affirms man's utter helplessness:
Eccl 9:11-12
11 I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.
12 Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come:
As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so men are trapped by evil times
that fall unexpectedly upon them.
NIV
Here's a few brief but very important observations, since this post is already long.
1. "Time and Chance" are what happen to all mankind, proving man is not in control of what or when anything will happen. Man will indeed make his plans in terms of races run, battles fought, the resource of food, obtaining wealth or great learning -- but at the end of the day, man is subservient to "time and chance" -- Time being governed by God. While "chance" is not a biblicial concept, Solomon uses it here to emphasize man's ignorance and natural limitations. Looking at life from strictly a horizontal perspective (everything "under the sun"), Solomon could liken the unknown and unknowable to "chance". And it would greatly behoove everyone to remember that Man is from below; God is from above. Man is under the sun (and the Son); God rules from above the highest heavens.
2. We should not miss the analogy Solomon makes between trapped animals and equally trapped mankind! Just as animals are powerless to free themselves from their traps or snares and require rescuing by an outside source, likewise so is fallen, helpless (Rom 5:6) mankind hopelessly trapped by evil times and cannot escape unless God graciously rescues them (Col 1:13; 1Thes 1:10, etc.). While a trapped animal most certainly has a strong instinct/will for survival to escape from it predicament, it nonetheless has NO POWER to do so! So man's hearts who are filled to the brim with evil and who are surrounded by an external evil environment is powerless to break free from his internal and external entrapment! To deny this truth, one would need to deny what Solomon said about trapped animals! It's no wonder at all that it's written that the Lord gives sight to the blind and sets prisoners free (Ps 146:7-8; 107:14; 142:7; Isa 61:1; Zech 9:11-12; Lk 4:18; Jn 8:36, etc.)
To summarize, then, we have seen that both Special and Natural Revelation bear witness to the fact that man's way truly is not in himself. That while man plans many things in his heart, at the end of the day it's the Lord's purpose that prevails (Prov 19:21.). Even from the very beginning, we are told in the creation account that God created the celestial bodies to govern times and seasons (Gen 1:14-18)-- times and seasons within which mankind exists. And so by extension man is governed by Time itself. Time is everyone's Master and we're all its Servants. We are slaves to our clocks, watches, calendars, itineraries, day planners, etc. from which we set our personal schedules. And guess what, FWers: Time plays "favorites"; for it does not treat all mankind the same -- not by a long shot! Life is so unfair, isn't it? We mere mortals are at the mercy of Time and Chance, just as we're at the mercy of God's love, compassion and grace.
One final thought: Sadly...very sadly many here cannot honestly say they share the Psalmist's sentiments in this text:
Ps 31:14-15a
14 But I trust in you, O LORD;
I say, "You are my God."
15 My times are in your hands...
NIV
But as for me and my household, we can heartily say, Alleluia and Amen and Praise the Lord!! Our times (lives) could not possibly be in better hands.
