Insertion into the Solar System – Part III – The Length of God’s Day

How long is the Lord’s day?  How does He measure time, at least as it is viewed by us on earth?  The ancient texts have several references to this and provide us with insight into both the dwelling place of God, the time of its reckoning, and the length of time of the Lord's day.

Time in the Pearl of Great Price:  The planet or star called Kolob evidently takes one thousand of our years for a single revolution.  From this we might surmise that the orb is extremely large.  We do know that it was the first of God’s creations and that it resides near where God dwells.

"Kolob, signifying the first creation, nearest to the celestial, or residence of God.  First in government, the last pertaining to the measurement of time..the measurement according to celestial time.."               

“The last pertaining to the measurement of time,” signifies that Kolob rotates, and its time is based upon, the celestial time of the heaven where God dwells. Not only is there a celestial time, that time, at least where Kolob's reckoning is concerned, is the same time as that of the Lord.  And Abraham tells us exactly how long that rotation is:

"One day in Kolob is equal to a thousand years according to the measurement of this earth..."     

Abraham was told, then, that a thousand years to us on earth is equivalent to one day in the rotation of Kolob, or the heaven near where God dwells.  Sperry considers that God had from the beginning a definite plan concerning man's existence on this planet, and that all the spirits that were to come here would do so in seven days, or seven thousand years, plus a little season.  And Doxey claims that the days of creation were after the time of Kolob where a day is one thousand years.

From this, one seems completely justified, by way of being explicit, in equating the Lord's day with one thousand years of earth time as we understand it.  Thus, it might be said, that one day to the Lord is the same as one thousand years to man on earth.  This is further verified in the Book of Abraham as he received the information directly from the Lord through the Urim and Thummim:

"And the Lord said unto me, by the Urim and Thummim, that Kolob was after the manner of the Lord, according to its times and seasons in the revolutions thereof; that one revolution was a day unto the Lord, after his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand years according to the time appointed unto that whereon thou standest.  This is the reckoning of the Lord's time, according to the reckoning of Kolob."

According to the Hebrew, Urim and Thummim means Lights and Perfections, or the shining and the perfect, signifying a light that shines in the darkness and provides a perfect understanding.  In the Septuagint it is rendered manifestation and truth, and St. Jerome interprets the term to mean doctrine and judgment. These were two stones or crystals worn in or attached to the breastplate of the High Priest when inquiring of God.

Time in the Bible:  Peter verifies Abraham's pronouncement as to the length of time for a day to the Lord. Regarding the time when the Lord would come again, Peter said, "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."   

Peter well understood the time frame of the Lord.  When God mentions a day, it is often related to his own reckoning near Kolob, that is, one day of His time equals a thousand years to us on earth.  Nor can we assume that this information was unique with Peter, for his answer was apparently sufficient to dispel further doubt in the minds of the disciples.  For though the Lord had testified to His disciples that He would return "quickly," Peter made it clear that this great "day" was not to be during their lifetime, for the Lord's time was not man's time. 

In addition to Peter's comment of a thousand years, the ancient Psalmist also gives us insight into the Lord's time frame of a day.

"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.  Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.  For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night."                         

That is, a thousand years to man is but yesterday to the Lord.

John, in Revelations, also equates a day to the Lord to a thousand years, when he talks about the thousand year millennium, that Satan would be bound for “a day to the Lord.”

Time in the Doctrine and Covenants:  Modern revelation is explicit in its reference to the Lord's time scale.  Particular significance is found in a discourse on the Sabbath Day, the millennium that is to follow the six days of the temporal existence of the earth.  In a series of questions and answers we find the following:

Question:  What are we to understand by the book which John saw, which was sealed on the back with seven seals? 

Answer:  We are to understand that it contains the revealed will, mysteries, and the works of God; the hidden things of his economy concerning this earth during the seven thousand years of its continuance, or its temporal existence. 

Question:  What are we to understand by the seven seals with which it was sealed? 

Answer:  We are to understand that the first seal contains the things of the first thousand years, and the second also of the second thousand years, and so on until the seventh . . .

Question:  What are we to understanding by the sounding of the trumpets, mentioned in the 8th chapter of Revelation? 

Answer:  We are to understand that as God made the world in six days, and on the seventh day he finished his work, and sanctified it, and also formed man out of the dust of the earth, even so, in the beginning of the seventh thousand years will the Lord God sanctify the earth, and complete the salvation of man.

(See the next post, “Insertion into the Solar System – Part III – The Length of God’s Day a for a continuation of the Lord’s Time)