Olam in the Hebrew has several meanings, it can mean everlasting: hid or hidden: time, or specified time, also, perpetual.
From the beginning to the end, that which has been hidden is either uncertain or else has not yet been defined. Olam more often refers to future time and is always defined from the nature of the thing itself.
From the fall of Adam and Eve until Abraham, the following had been hidden by God from man’s understanding. But when the time was right,
Jehovah said to Abraham,
Genesis 17:8, “I will give unto thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting (Olam) possession; and I will be their (the Jews) God.” Then the LORD would repeat it many times over so there would be no doubt concerning this prophesy.
Genesis 48:4, “And (I) will give this land (Israel) to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.”
This was one of the great mysteries hid in God until it was time to reveal it to Abraham. Also, the mystery of the Gentile church was kept secret until the apostle Paul was chosen to reveal it to the world.
From Genesis 12 forward, God began to reveal things to the prophets concerning the Nation of Israel in great detail. He spoke to Isaiah of king Cyrus 100 Years before his birth. To others He prophesied of the destruction of the Temple, the coming of the Messiah, the cross, resurrection, and ascension. And when the time is right, God will give men the knowledge to understand what remains of the sealed prophesies.
In the book of Daniel, God spoke of 4 great future empires, of kings, their reign and future destruction. In other Old Testament books He spoke of the Jews dispersion, and of their return in the latter days to their land, this fulfilled on May 14th 1948. God has prophesied of a coming future world leader, of the antichrist who would one day rule the earth, this followed by the return of the Lord Jesus.
There have been secrets hid in God that have been written in scripture, but only now to be understood. To reveal these secrets to men before their time would make no sense. These are great treasures having been laid up for future generations.
Daniel was told in Daniel 12:4, “shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”
Again, in Daniel 12:8-9, Daniel asked, “What shall be the end of these things?”
Daniel heard but did not understand. And the angel said, “Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.”
“Sealed till the time of the end.” Are the fulfilments of God’s decrees mere arithmetical problems which only the skilled in mathematics and computers can calculate? No! they are all holy enigmas to stimulate those who study His word.
A holy enigma is a closed book, a mystery, a secret known only to God. Daniel was told to “seal the book till the time of the end.” Thus, parts of Daniel’s book had been sealed until recently. But now I feel the seal has been removed and the Holy Spirit of God has been slowly revealing the last mysteries hid in scripture. Why? because we are living in the last days, or the “time of the end.”
Throughout history, the wicked have continued to do wickedly, for they hate the Light, and come not to the Light because their deeds are wicked. These stumble at the word, but the wise, they understand.
God’s wisdom is timeless and wisdom is the Word of God, is Jesus Christ. The LORD governs and communicates wisely His wisdom through His written word in a timely fashion.
It’s time that allows for change in response to any and all new information God chooses to reveal to us. God’s knowledge is information of which He alone is aware. He alone understands the future and uses wisely His time and His knowledge to make correct judgments and decisions.
Amos 8:11-13, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.”
The vast majority of the world will be without God and without hope when Jesus returns. The primary application of the “increase in knowledge” in Daniel is in reference to believers understanding the prophecies, however it would also apply to an increasing knowledge of science, medicine, travel, and technology.
Buckminster Fuller created the “Knowledge Doubling Curve”; he noticed that until 1900 human knowledge doubled approximately every century. By the end of World War II knowledge was doubling every 25 years. Today things are not as simple as different types of knowledge have different rates of growth. Example, nanotechnology knowledge is doubling every two years and clinical knowledge every 18 months. But on average human knowledge is doubling every 13 months. According to IBM, the build out of the “internet of things” will lead to the doubling of knowledge every 12 hours.
Neuroscientist Jeff Lichtman is attempting to map the human brain, having calculated that several BILLION petabytes of data storage would be needed to index the entire human brain. The Internet is currently estimated to be 5 MILLION terabytes of which Google has indexed roughly 200 terabytes or just .004% of the brains total size. The numbers are astounding especially when considering the size of the human brain and the number of neurons in it. What is a neuron?
A neuron is an electrically excitable cell that receives, processes, and transmits information through electrical and chemical signals. These signals between neurons occur via specialized connections called synapses. Neurons can connect to each other to form neural pathways, and neural circuits. Neurons are the primary components of the central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord, and of the peripheral nervous system, which comprises the autonomic nervous system and the somatic nervous system.
Man is planning for the future, a leading-edge computer technology that will be combined with artificial intelligence allowing collective problem-solving on a larger scale and the creation of vast amounts of data.
Yes, the LORD has prophesied correctly this phenomenon. Therefore, we Christians can be assured that all future prophesies will be understood and then accomplished, for our LORD is from everlasting to everlasting.
Phillip Laspino seekfirstwisdom.com