Times and Seasons

My posts might seem a little cryptic sometimes, and I would be telling a half-truth if I said that I don’t intend for them to be. The truth is that I love discovering things, and I love giving other people the opportunity to discover things on their own, too—to have lightbulb moments. I love those. And so, this post is just going to be kind of like a dot-to-dot—a bunch of little data points that, whether by themselves or altogether, might help someone discover (or reinforce) some truth, just as they did for me.

The Hebrew Fall Holy Days concluded recently, and, as usual, my mind has been filled with thoughts. I might even say that there are more than usual after taking a break from my blog to focus on and study autumn’s high holy days appointed in Leviticus. Every true and correct ordinance is intended to teach us many things about God and his work and glory, and the Fall holy days don’t disappoint.

Something that I find interesting about Yom Teruah, in particular, is the fact that many Jews celebrate it as the Hebrew New Year, when, in scripture, we find that it is ordained to be on the first day of the seventh month. There are also other non-scriptural traditions that some Jews believe about Yom Teruah that I find interesting, but I find it particularly odd that the New Year is celebrated in the seventh month and not the first. It is said that that started while the Jews were in Babylonian exile, but I wonder if there is more to it than that.

Tied closely to these holy days are thoughts I had a few weeks back while reading the book of Abraham. There has been a lot of controversy and skepticism surrounding the origins of the book of Abraham. Many of its contents have also been the subject of ridicule—a sad reflection of the people doing the ridiculing. It’s pretty sad how people have a tendency to focus on things that are superficial and of little value when things of much greater and deeper meaning are available if they would just dig a little deeper.

When you read chapter 3 of Abraham, it might be easy to think that it is little more than an astronomy lesson or a lesson about how many earth years comprise a day in God’s time. As important as that information may be, the Lord is using those things to teach Abraham principles that matter far more than the names of planets and stars.

While reading the book of Abraham, the words “times and seasons” stood out to me. It was actually in the footnotes, referring to the publication named Times and Seasons, and it only stood out enough for me to just quickly make a mental note of it. Continuing, I came across those words again in chapter 3, verse 4. 

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. (Abraham 3:4)

“Reckoning” is used quite a few times in this chapter, so I thought I would look it up. The first two definitions for this word in Noah Webster’s dictionary were interesting:

Reckoning: 1. The act of counting or computing; calculation.  2. An account of time.

I also looked up the word “reckon” and found the etymology of the word interesting, too:

Reckon: [L. rego, rectus, whence regnum, regno, Eng. to reign and right.]

After reading these two entries, my mind raced through the scriptures and recalled how periods of time are demarcated in them. It is generally done by making mention of the individuals (or groups of individuals) who govern. In the Bible, we see periods of time when the Israelites were ruled by the Pharaohs of the Egyptians, when Moses was leader of the Israelites, and when judges ruled in Israel. When kings ruled, time was measured from the time their reigns began to the time they ended, and the birth of an heir was noted as occurring in a year relative to the king’s reign. In the Book of Mormon, Nephi tells us about how and when he came to reign; a large section of that book falls under the reign of the judges; and it is easily seen that the decline of their civilization runs concurrently with an increasing lack of good governance—the breakdown of good governance and the separation of society into tribes. Examples of people using governance as a way to delineate periods of time can be seen outside of scripture as well—in everything from Chinese dynasties to the use of BC and AD in the way we number years (BCE and CE essentially meaning the same things, respectively).

So, there is this relationship that exists between periods of time and the governance that takes place during that period of time. With respect to time, governance is defining and specifying.

Now, let’s go back and look at the etymology and first definition of “time.”

Time: [L. tempus, tempora, the falls of the head, also tempest, &c. See Tempest. Time is primarily equivalent to season; to the Gr.wpa in its original sense, opportunity, occasion, a fall, an event, that which comes.]

1. A particular portion or part of duration, whether past, present, or future.

We are encouraged to look up “tempest,” and I’m not about to pass that up.

Tempest: [L. Tempestas, tempus, time, season. The primary sense of tempus, time, is a falling, or that which falls, comes, or happens, from some verb which signifies to fall or come suddenly, or rather to drive, to rush. Time is properly a coming, a season, that which presents itself, or is present. The sense of tempest is from the sense of rushing or driving. See Temerity and Temerarious.]

1. An extensive current of wind, rushing with great velocity and violence; a storm of extreme violence.

***Extra credit for looking up “temerity” and “temerarious.” :)

Finally, let’s look at “season.”

Season: Season literally signifies that which comes or arrives; and, in this general sense, is synonymous with time.

1. A fit or suitable time; the convenient time; the usual or appointed time.

I’ve written a lot about “names” on my blog. They are important and meaningful. And if Joseph Smith was the kind of person I think he was, names probably meant a lot to him, too. I think that the name of the publication, Times and Seasons, has great meaning. Something was afoot, and Joseph knew it.

D&C 121 is a great read in its entirety, but verse 12 mentions “… that God hath set his hand and seal to change the times and seasons…”. What does that mean, do you suppose? Do you think he is just talking about the marching on of time itself or the procession of the seasons through spring, summer, autumn, and winter? I don’t think so. If you read the rest of the section, you realize that the Lord is speaking about things that are much more meaningful in response to the initial prayers Joseph offered in a time of great suffering found at the beginning of the section.

Lastly, I’ll jump back over to the book of Abraham.

We are not to be oblivious to the idea that there are greater and lesser things. The Lord shows this to Abraham by way of the heavenly bodies:

5 And the Lord said unto me: The planet which is the lesser light, lesser than that which is to rule the day, even the night, is above or greater than that upon which thou standest in point of reckoning, for it moveth in order more slow; this is in order because it standeth above the earth upon which thou standest, therefore the reckoning of its time is not so many as to its number of days, and of months, and of years.

6 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.

7 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.

8 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;

9 And thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one planet above another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob, 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.

10 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. (Abraham 3)

There is a lot more to these verses than what I am addressing in this post, but the things to which this principle applies are innumerable:

11 Thus I, Abraham, talked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another; and he told me of the works which his hands had made;

12 And he said unto me: My son, my son (and his hand was stretched out), behold I will show you all these. And he put his hand upon mine eyes, and I saw those things which his hands had made, which were many; and they multiplied before mine eyes, and I could not see the end thereof.

13 And he said unto me: This is Shinehah, which is the sun. And he said unto me: Kokob, which is star. And he said unto me: Olea, which is the moon. And he said unto me: Kokaubeam, which signifies stars, or all the great lights, which were in the firmament of heaven.

14 And it was in the night time when the Lord spake these words unto me: I will multiply thee, and thy seed after thee, like unto these; and if thou canst count the number of sands, so shall be the number of thy seeds. (Abraham 3)

And spirits are not exempt:

15 And the Lord said unto me: Abraham, I show these things unto thee before ye go into Egypt, that ye may declare all these words.

16 If two things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them; therefore Kolob is the greatest of all the Kokaubeam that thou hast seen, because it is nearest unto me.

17 Now, if there be two things, one above the other, and the moon be above the earth, then it may be that a planet or a star may exist above it; and there is nothing that the Lord thy God shall take in his heart to do but what he will do it.

18 Howbeit that he made the greater star; as, also, if there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal.

19 And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all. (Abraham 3)

The remainder of chapter 3 is also suggested for study.