Romans - Let's Talk About the Eons, Part II

  Part IV: God’s Conciliation, Confirmed

In this section, I am going to be talking about “The Times,” and “The Five Worlds.” There are three distinct “periods of time” that God works in. They are as follows:

1)    “Before eonian times”

2)    The Eonian Times

3)    “After the Eons”

Here we have another “3.” What’s the significance of the 3? Let’s ask E.W. Bullinger:

“Three… stands for that which is solid, real, substantial, complete, and entire. All things that are specially complete are stamped with this number three.

-       God’s attributes are three: omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence.

-       There are three great divisions completing time – past, present, and future.

-       Three persons, in grammar, express and include all the relationships of mankind.

-       Thought, word, and deed, complete the sum of human capability.

-       Three degrees of comparison complete our knowledge of qualities.

-       The simplest proposition requires three things to complete it: the subject, the predicate, and the copula.

-       Three propositions are necessary to complete the simplest form of argument – the major premise, the minor, and the conclusion.

-       Three kingdoms embrace our ideas of matter – mineral, vegetable, and animal.

When we turn to the Scriptures, this completion becomes Divine, and marks Divine completeness or perfection.”

– E.W. Bullinger, Numbers in Scripture, Part II: Scriptural Significance, ‘Three’

Thank you, sir. So it follows: there’s something before the eons, the eons themselves, and something after the eons. Not much is spoken of in Scripture concerning what happens “before” the eons, but let’s briefly discuss the verses that reference them here. Observe 2 Tim. 1:9:

[God] saves us and calls us with a holy calling, not in accord with our acts, but in accord with His own purpose and the grace which is given to us in Christ Jesus before times eonian…

Interesting. Spoiler alert: it’s not just that God justified us in faith now, but that He planned this in accord with His own purpose! This grace is given in Christ before times eonian. We did not exist at this time (we were “pre-expectant,” as Eph. 1:12 says,) but Christ did exist, as our allotment was only ‘foreknown’ in Christ Jesus. He must exist, literally, for us to have a pledge in Him (Eph. 1:4-5, 14.)

Understanding the verse aside, the phrase “before times eonian” clarifies for us that there is indeed something “before” the eonian times. This raises a few questions: what, exactly, is before the eons? The only answer that we have is, “God,” as well as “Christ” (John 1:1.) We don’t have any more than this. We can’t even be sure that “time” was a thing until the eons came along, so “before times eonian” may itself be a condescension from God to explain that there were “things” before time. There’s plenty of room for thought, there, but trying to dwell on it would be crazy. We simply don’t have a full answer, at this time. I don’t believe this will remain a mystery forever, but I’ll come back to that belief in a moment.

Now, as we know, the three heavens and three earths, being consecutive, are clearly enacted at the beginning of the eonian times, which is the second phase, there. How exactly did the eons come into play? Observe Hebrews 1:2:

...in the last of these days [God] speaks to us in a Son, Whom He appoints enjoyer of the allotment of all, through Whom He also makes the eons…

So, it’s through Christ (John 1:1, Unv. 19:13) that the eons are made. Follow this with John 1:10:

In the world He was, and the world came into being through Him, and the world knew Him not. To His own He came, and those who are His own accepted Him not.

And again, here’s Hebrews 1:10, concerning the Son (1:8):

Thou, originally, Lord, dost found the earth, And the heavens are the works of Thy hands.

God is giving a complete story through His Image, Christ. The entire story of the eonian times is bringing us into a full realization of the Son of God (Eph. 4:11-14.) For all of mankind, this requires being made in His Image (Gen. 1:26-27,) and subsequently being humbled by the experience of His opposite: evil, or, sin (Ecc. 1:13.) We live, we learn.

So, it is during these eonian times that the three heavens and three earths come about, and pass away. There are, as we discussed, 3 distinct “acts” to the eonian times, see? If we consider it like a story, we have:

1)    Act One – Introduction (First heaven and earth)

2)    Act Two – Conflict (Destruction of First Heaven/Earth, Second Heaven/Earth)

3)    Act Three – Resolution (Destruction of Second Heaven/Earth, Third Heaven/Earth)

Finally, this wraps up with God’s third “time,” which is “After the eons.” We know just as little concerning the period “after” the eons as we do “before.” Is there a structure to either of these times on par with the eonian times? No clue. Probably? Here’s one of the only verses we get concerning “after” the eonian times. Observe 1 Cor. 15:26, 28:

The last enemy is being abolished: death… Now, whenever all may be subjected to [Christ,] then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him, that God may be All in all.

“God may be All in all.” This is the beginning of the “after” the eons. What a trip! This is unfathomable to our mind, simply put. We will reach this point in our studies of 1 Corinthians, but for now, let’s realize that God is Love, and brings Light and Life. If death is abolished, well… you’re left with life. And with all subjected to Christ, the Image of the invisible God, and Christ subjected to God, then God becomes All in all.

*   *   *

There’s not much more to say on the topic of “the times,” for now, so let’s move on to “The Five Worlds.” As discussed previously, the word “world” is kosmos, and directly translates to “SYSTEM.” It does not concern “time,” exactly, but the order that is in place at a certain point in time. As we can see on the Divine Calendar, there are 5 different “worlds” that were in place at certain periods of time. We will go over them here.

Let’s take another look at 2 Pet. 3:5-6:

…there were heavens of old, and an earth cohering out of water and through water, by the word of God; through which the then world, being deluged by water, perished.

In 3:5, we witnessed the description of the heavens and earth from Genesis 1:1. However, if we look closer at 3:6, we see that the “then world,” perished by being deluged by water. The word world is used here to sum up the heavens and the earth. The first heavens and earth were, then, their own order. God had His own system of operation at that period of time, destroyed by the disruption of “the world.”

Which “world,” or “system,” took its place? That would be found in 2 Pet. 2:6:

…[God] spares not the ancient world, but guards Noah, an eighth, a herald of righteousness, bringing a deluge on the world of the irreverent…

Huh. Interesting that a new “system” is implemented between Adam and Noah! Diction matters. “Then” is not “ancient,” and the contexts are radically different. 2 Pet. 3:6 concerned an old heaven and old earth, cohering out of and through water. Here, there’s an “ancient” world that is “irreverent.” Clearly this ancient world was bad, man. So bad, in fact, that it led to the destruction of almost every living thing, by God’s grace (Gen. 7:21-24.) The context of this verse elaborates on that, but this will be long enough as it is. I’ll certainly get around to writing on this chapter at a later time. For now, let it be known that a “new system” was implemented at that time, and ended when a “deluge” flooded that world.

What “world” came after this? Well, it’s the one we are living in to this day. Here is a longer passage, but it accurately displays the “beginning” of this world. Observe Gen. 9:1-11:

Elohim blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase, fill the earth and subdue it. The fear of you and the dismay due to you shall come on every animal of the earth and on every flyer of the heavens, on everything that is moving on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hand. Every moving animal that is alive, shall be yours for food; as with the green herbage, I give to you everything. Only flesh with its soul, its blood, you must not eat.

“However I shall require your blood for your souls; from the hand of every animal I shall require it, and from the hand of humanity. From the hand of each man, as regards his fellow man, I shall require the soul of a human. Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human his blood shall be shed; for in the image of Elohim He has made humanity.

“As for you, be fruitful and increase, swarm in the earth and hold sway over it.”

Then Elohim said to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, “And as for Me, now I am setting up My covenant with you and with your seed after you, with every living soul that was with you, flyer, domestic beast and every wild animal of the earth that was with you, all that came forth from the ark, every animal of the earth. And I will confirm My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a deluge, and never again shall there be a deluge to wreck the entire earth.”

This is the beginning of the current “order” in which we live. God set the statute, right at the start, and now we dwell in it. Here, relatively, man is given “reign” over the earth (not that we have “free” reign, because the text does not say “free” will.) We have the ability to make choices, place who we deem fit in authority, having the “sword” in our hands, to give and take life. This is the statement God gives, telling us to… shoot our best shot, really. What is the best thing that man can do? As we know, sin dwells in man, so at this point, the story takes fifty-seven wild turns.

Not much time need be spent on this eon, as a) the vast majority of its history is documented from God’s perspective from Genesis 9 on. The other eons are discussed, but it is during this present world administration that we learn, not only of the previous worlds in brief (Gen. 1:3-Gen.8:22, 2 Pet. 2:5-6, 3:5-6) but of the later worlds as well (Unv. 20-22.)

Concerning this world, Jesus says, in John 8:22-23:

The Jews, then, said, “He will not kill himself, seeing that he is saying, ‘Where I am going, you can not be coming’?”

[Jesus] said, then, to them, “You are of that which is below; I am of that which is above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.”

Simply put, this makes our Lord a badass. He’s not of this world, or, this system. He is called “the word of God” by John in John 1:1, and Unv. 19:13. Moreover, He states that His kingdom is also not of this world, in John 18:36:

“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My deputies, also, would have contended, lest I should be given up to the Jews. Yet now is My kingdom not hence.”

It follows, then, that the following world, or system, will be His kingdom, promised to the Israelites. Here’s Matt. 19:27-28:

Peter said to [Jesus,] “Lo! we leave all and follow You. What, consequently, will it be to us?”

Yet Jesus said to them, “Verily, I am saying to you, that you who follow Me, in the renascence whenever the Son of Mankind should be seated on the throne of His glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

That word “rensascence” means regeneration. Its literal Greek elements are “AGAIN-BECOMING.” When again… what, exactly? This is not saying, “When again the Son of Mankind should be seated on the throne of His glory,” because we cannot currently see Him chillin’ in the nation of Israel, ruling in the Middle East. Sure enough, it may even be fitting to add a comma after “renascence.” “in the renascence, whenever the Son of Mankind…” The question is, what is this regeneration concerning?? The answer is simple – the regeneration of a world system. It is going to be regenerated into a new system, laid out all throughout Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel. The OT is proclaiming this coming kingdom, promised as early as Genesis 12.

The “new heavens and new earth,” finally, reflect the first “heaven and earth,” and are, once again, their own “system,” described in Revelation 22. To my knowledge, there is no explicit verse that says this is another “world,” but there is a reason that I think this, and I will elaborate in the beginning of the next section. For now, I will say, trust me, that there’s a proper Scriptural reasoning, here.

So! In summary, we have five worlds over the course of the eonian times. One is during the first heaven and earth. Three are on this heavens and earth. The final will be on the last heaven and earth. What is the significance of the number five? I will wrap this up by turning, one more time, to E.W. Bullinger, in his book, “Numbers in Scripture:”

“Five is four plus one (4+1)… [thus] we have a further revelation of a People called out from mankind, redeemed and saved, to walk with God from earth to heaven. Hence, Redemption follows creation. Inasmuch as in consequence of the fall of man creation came under the curse and was "made subject to vanity," therefore man and creation must be redeemed. Thus we have:

1.    Father

2.    Son

3.    Spirit

4.    Creation

5.    Redemption

These are the five great mysteries, and five is therefore the number of GRACE.

If four is the number of the world, then it represents man's weakness, and helplessness, and vanity, as we have seen.

But four plus one (4+1=5) is significant of Divine strength added to and made perfect in that weakness; of omnipotence combined with the impotence of earth; of Divine favour uninfluenced and invincible.”

– E.W. Bullinger, Numbers in Scripture, Part II: Scriptural Significance, ‘Five’

The study is sound. Five concerns us with grace, which is, ultimately, what the entire ‘eonian’ times is displaying, through Christ (Rom. 1:5, 7, 5:2, 5:21, 1 Cor. 15:22.)

- GerudoKing