Insertion into the Solar System – Part II – The Lord’s Reckoning

Ancient texts are replete with indications that the Lord's time of reckoning is quite different than that found on earth.  To us, a day is one full rotation of the earth, a period of 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.09053 seconds.  Actually, the earth's rotation is so precise, scientists claim that it is off only one second in 5,500 years.

According to Abraham, he was instructed how time was reckoned throughout the heavens when he received the principle by which worlds revolve: 

"And the Lord said unto me:  Now, Abraham, these two facts exist, behold thine eyes see it; it is given unto thee to know the times of reckoning, and the set time, yea, the set time of the earth upon which thou standest, and the set time of the greater light which is set to rule the day, and the set time of the lesser light which is set to rule the night."                

There is little question that the sun rotates on a different scale, the moon yet different than that, and both different than the earth.

"Now the set time of the lesser light is a longer time as to its reckoning than the reckoning of the time of the earth upon which thou standest."                                          

As we go further out, each planet in our solar system has a different time of reckoning, or revolution, and their days are different in length from that of the earth:

"And where these two facts exist, there shall be another fact above them, that is, there shall be another planet whose reckoning of time shall be longer still;"

   Planet                                                 Earth Days                                                       Earth Years

Mercury                                 58 days, 15 hrs, 36 mn                        0.24

Venus                                   243 days                                                  0.62

Mars                                       24 hrs, 37 mn                                        1.88

Jupiter                                      9 hrs, 55 mn                                      11.86

Saturn                                     10 hrs, 40 mn                                      29.46

Uranus                                   17 hrs, 14 mn                                      84.00

Neptune                                 16 hrs, 7 mn                                      164.8

Pluto                                         6 days, 9 hrs                                    248

"They give light to each other in their times and in their seasons, in their minutes, in their hours, in their days, in their weeks, in their months, in their years--all these are one year with God, but not with man" (D&C 88:44)

Nor does it stop here.  We learn from Abraham that stars, solar systems, galaxies, clusters, and superclusters have set times by which their rotation is measured, and each orbiting body has a different time for its rotation.

Abraham said: "And thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one planet above another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob..." (Abraham 3:9); And the Lord has said: "There is a law unto all things, by which they move in their times and their seasons; and their courses are fixed, even the courses of the heavens and the earth" (D&C 88:42-43). In addition Moses said: "millions of earths like this" were created by God.

In this sense, each planet or system would measure a day differently, based upon its revolution.  When Abraham saw his vision, he was told that a certain number of orbs "are the governing ones," meaning that these great, governing bodies control all others in their revolutions, or are the centers around which the others revolve. By example, within our solar system, the "day" of each planet varies as it spins upon its own axis, and its revolution determined as it revolves around our sun, which governs the revolutions of each heavenly body in the solar system (see table above).  Then our own sun revolves around a center, and that center revolves around another or governing planet or star which, with its attendant systems of suns and worlds revolves, and so on until we come to Kolob. 

Galaxies, Super Galaxies, String, Nebulas and Clusters--billions upon billions of stars in the Universe. Moses said, "Were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations"

In addition to its rotation time, every heavenly orb spins on its axis at its own speed.  As an example, the earth revolves at the rate of 18.5 miles per second while Pluto's speed is 1.5 miles per second.  The hierarchy of this universal law, which the Lord saw fit to instruct Abraham upon, stretches throughout the entire universe and embodies every heavenly orb.  It would also appear from Abraham's instruction that every earth organized for inhabitation by God's children is given the same reckoning of time.

"Which Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lord's time; which Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all those planets which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.  And it is given unto thee to know the set time of all the stars that are set to give light, until thou come near unto the throne of God."      

It should be kept in mind that while modern science has verified this concept of the different times of rotation of different orbs that can be measured, this idea was unknown in Abraham’s day, nor was it known in the day Abraham’s ancient writings were translated in 1830. And, too, according to Flavius Josephus in the Antiquities of the Jews, Abraham went down into Egypt, where he taught the Egyptians this concept, who later taught the Greeks, who later taught the Romans.

(See the next post, “Insertion into the Solar System – Part III – The Length of God’s Day,” to see how the lord reckons time based upon the scriptural record)