Time

One day as Jesus approached Jerusalem, he looked, came to a sudden stop and just burst out weeping.

Through his tears Jesus said:

Luke 19:41–44 BSB

41 As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it 42 and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

I want to draw your attention to a striking comment Jesus just made:

He said that Jerusalem's soon coming destruction, pain, sorrow and collapse was all down to them not recognizing God’s timing.

This really intrigued me to i looked through scripture to see if this was a one time issue or if this is more common than I thought.

A group of Israelite decided to try and possess the land of Canaan the day after God told them the opportunity had passed. They were routed by the Canaanites.

Numbers 14:39–45 BSB

39 And when Moses relayed these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned bitterly. 40 Early the next morning they got up and went up toward the ridge of the hill country. “We have indeed sinned,” they said, “but we will go to the place the LORD has promised.” 41 But Moses said, “Why are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD? This will not succeed! 42 Do not go up, lest you be struck down by your enemies, because the LORD is not among you. 43 For there the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the LORD, He will not be with you.” 44 But they dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the covenant of the LORD moved from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah.

God had set an appointed time for them to attack. When that time had passed, the empowering had also passed.

I am suddenly struck how much God works not just in general but also in time!

Ecclesiastes 3:1 NASB 2020

1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every matter under heaven—

We need to understand the timings and seasons God ordains for our lives, ministries, cities and nations.

Too often we try to reap during planting season, plant during harvest, run when we should be resting and rest when it is time to run.

Doing even the right thing at the wrong time, well intention ed as it may be, will cause us to miss the train every time.

Our Example:

One of the tribes of Israel, the sons of Issachar, had an ability to discern timing:

1 Chronicles 12:32 BSB

32 From Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do: 200 chiefs with all their kinsmen at their command.

Notice that it was their ability to understand the times that gave them insight as to what to do.

Understanding God’s timing is often one of the keys to taking the proper action.

Which Date?

However, its not just as simple as checking the date on a calendar.

God is timeless, that is He exists outside of time. Time is part of creation not the creator.

God operates in time very different to the way we do and God teaches us this by using different words to describe time.

Creation Time: Chronos.

Chronos is the Greek word from which we get our English: Chronological.

This simply means the “passing” of time in seconds, minuets, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, millennia.

1 Peter 1:17 NASB 2020

17 If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;

When we speak about a point in Chronos we refer to it as a “moment”, as in “A moment in time”.

Creator Time: Kairos

Kairos is a completely different concept of time.

Kairos refers not to a “moment” but to an “Occasion”.

Let me explain the difference:

Birthdays:

16 August is just another moment in the billions of moments since time began.

However, that date to me is not a moment but an occasion: The occasion of the birth of my child.

The value does not come from the moment but from the occasion.

Christmas:

Every year: December is wrong, its pagan...

When i celebrate Christmas, its not the “moment in time” i celebrate.

Its the occasion! and the occasion is:

Matthew 1:21 BSB

21 She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

Examples of God’s Timing:

Mark 13:33 BSB

33 Be on your guard and stay alert! For you do not know when the appointed time will come.

2 Timothy 4:3 BSB

3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.

Hey is where the challange for us comes in:

We are not told when a Kairos Occasion is about to begin!

Jesus Himself said:

Acts 1:7 BSB

7 Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.

This is where our 3rd aspect of God’s Timing comes in:

The Perfect Time: Pleroo.

Pleroo or fullness refers to the intersection of the Kairos with the Chronos.

Galatians 4:4 BSB

4 But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

Ephesians 1:10 BSB

10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.

These are key and powerful moments in your christian walk, that we cannot afford to miss.

But: If you have not been keeping in step with the Holy Spirit duyring your Chronos Time - You will not be prepared when the Kairos Breaks out and you will not experience Pleroo Times Power.

Galatians 5:25 BSB

25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.

An analogy:

John 16:21 BSB

21 A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.

When a woman falls pregnant she enters into a 9 month Chronos Time.

When she goes into Labor she enters a Kairos time.

When the bible has been delivered she enters into a Pleroo, Fullness of Time.

Every moment of time matters!

The Importance of Chronos:

It is important to realize, however, that our actions and attitudes in the chronos times are what determine whether or not God can shift us into the kairos times.

It is in the chronos times that the necessary ingredients are added.

Summery:

Think of Chronos as: A Time of Preparation.

Think of Kairos as: A Time of Potential.

Think of Pleroo as: A Time of Promise.

Let’s look at some biblical examples to help us see this concept more clearly.

Abraham:

Abraham received a glorious promise from God that he would have a son through Sarah and that his descendants would be in number as the stars in the sky.

He then moved into a 24-year chronos season of having to persevere and walk by faith.

But true to His Word God Moves Abraham and Sarah from chronos to kairos. The new sprang forth from the old, and Isaac, the son of promise, was born.

Moses:

Another example can be seen in the process the Israelites went through in their journey to the Promised Land.

Israel was in a difficult chronos season of having to persevere and wait in Egypt.

Suddenly, the shift sprang forth.

When the time was right, God, in His great wisdom and power, moved quickly and said, in effect, “I am changing the season.”

As a part of the process, God came to Moses, who had ended up on the backside of a desert for his own 40-year chronos season, and told him He was about to shift things through him.

In a sad turn of events, these Israelites weren’t able to lay hold, by faith, of this kairos season, and they lost it.

They ended up in another chronos season, wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.

The next generation, who would eventually go in and possess the land, also had to wait through this difficult chronos period.

Suddenly, God came to Joshua and said that in three days they were to go across into the Promised Land.

God was creating the divine shift.

The wandering time was over, and He moved the nation into a new phase.

He quickly brought them from chronos into kairos.

Paul:

Saul, who later became the apostle Paul, received a divine visitation from God on the road to Damascus.

When the Lord revealed Himself to Saul, he experienced a dramatic conversion—a kairos time.

He then shifted into a routine chronos season where, for 12 to 13 years, God was transforming him and bringing great revelation.

This chronos time became kairos time as God released Paul into the fullness of his ministry.

The routine time wasn’t wasted.

It was all a part of the process of training and preparation for what God was going to launch him into.

Chronos shifted into kairos, and the world has never been the same since.

Conclusion:

Video Illustration.