Across most of the United States, people moved their clocks ahead one hour last night and started Daylight Savings Time effective today. That means that most of us got one hour less sleep last night and woke up to a darker early morning than we had yesterday. This semi annual ritual of moving the clocks, either ahead or behind an hour, has become something of a chore at our home. We tend to be a little over the top when it comes to clocks and we probably have at least thirty timepieces, not including a myriad of watches, that need attention whenever we encounter a time change.
For years, when we moved to Indiana, we were very fortunate in that we never changed our clocks. While I really loved it for a variety of reasons, it really did mess with the TV schedule. By being on “Indiana” time, we followed the New York schedule for TV and news programming for half the year. Then, in the summers, we were on Chicago time – that resulted in all the programs being an hour earlier than we were used to in the winter months.
For some reason, the idea of DST really strikes a chord with people. Little children start school when it is darker but they get more playtime after school and into the evenings. This is especially popular during the summer vacation months. Here in Indiana, we actually still have daylight around 10:00 p.m. around the summer equinox but there are many times that I wish we would dispense with the changing times twice a year and just go back to the way we were when we moved here 42 years ago.
Another issue is those areas that are exceptions to the standard time zones. There are places around the world that don’t follow exact hour differences for time zones. In India, for example, time is 1-1/2 hours different from the time zone they are next to on one side and only 30 minutes different from their neighbor on the other side. How confusing! I actually remember back when I studied this in depth some time ago, there were actually mini time zones that were only 15 minutes different than a neighboring time zone.
And certain cities, near large metropolitan area, decide not to change time, so they can stay in lockstep with their neighbors. Chicago, on Central time, and northwest Indiana, for example maintain the same times, even though NW Indiana should technically be on Eastern time. Oh, well! It’s still strange to be heading north to Chicago and notice that the clocks change well before we cross over into Illinois.
There are many references to time in the Bible. We have the standard references to years, decades and even the Millennial reign of Christ (1000 years) before the beginning of eternity. Of course, there is no measurement of time for forever!
However, there are several confusing verses referring to time that really have not been translated accurately in many of our more modern versions of the Bible. For some reason, translators have been a little loose with the words “soon” and “quickly.” From the perspective of time, these words have completely different meanings. “Soon” is a word we have come to associate with being in the near future. If something is going to happen soon, we expect it today, tomorrow or shortly thereafter. But when we speak about something coming “quickly” it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will happen soon. It just means that when it happens, it won’t take long – it will happen with speed.
These verses tend to focus on the second coming of Christ. In many translations, we are told that this will happen soon. But in the original English translations, such as the King James Version, the real word used in the Greek text is “quickly.” For example, when the Rapture comes, and believers are transported to heaven, it will happen in the blink of an eye. That’s what quickly means.
Our verse for tonight is an example of this translation issue. John, the apostle who wrote the book of Revelation, gives us the words of Jesus Himself in Revelation 22:12, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” (KJV) In other words, when He comes back, Jesus will return quickly…
However, notice the same verse from John as translated in the NIV translation. In this case, John recounts the words of Jesus as, “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” See the difference? As is the case many times with the NIV and other more modern translations, the meaning isn’t the same as the original text in the Greek.
My encouragement this evening is that words are critical. It’s important to sit under strong teaching and to take the time to check several translations where there seems to be a difference in meaning. My prayer is that Jesus will return soon; and quickly! And I don’t care if it’s Daylight Savings Time or not – time doesn’t really have any importance once we enter heaven! Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…