Fullness of Time vs. Meridian of Time

05 May

Galatians 4:4 “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law.”

salt lake mormon temple 2Today we’re comparing two different phrases; the ‘fullness of time’, and the ‘meridian of time’. The former comes from God’s word, the latter from the imagination of Joseph Smith.

We want to know why God sent His Son at this exact time, and what impact it had on mankind, then and now.

Let’s take a look at what our Lord says beloved, so we can know more about Him!

Fullness of Time

Not long after I became a Christian, my Sunday school class was studying historical events at the time of Jesus’ life,

One of the things that fascinated me were the roadway systems connecting one country to another from Mesopotamia into Europe. The original intent for these ‘highways’ if you will, was for local commerce, which eventually turned into trade routes with the advent of the Roman Empire. As it turned out, the unintended purposes of easy traveling for the Romans, enabled the gospel to be spread relatively quickly.

We see how God’s purpose was working in the lives of mankind, from the dawn of creation to now.

This is just one of the signs showing it was the ‘fullness of times’. The other signs noted below were retrieved from GotQuestions.org and the Ligonier Ministry. By the way, this is super cool stuff!

GotQuestions.org

‘There was a great anticipation among the Jews of that time that the Messiah would come. The Roman rule over Israel made the Jews hungry for the Messiah’s coming.

While Rome had conquered militarily, Greece had conquered culturally. A “common” form of the Greek language (different from classical Greek) was the trade language and was spoken throughout the empire, making it possible to communicate the gospel to many different people groups through one common language.

The mystery religions of the time emphasized a savior-god and required worshipers to offer bloody sacrifices, thus making the gospel of Christ which involved one ultimate sacrifice believable to them. The Greeks also believed in the immortality of the soul (but not of the body).

Finally, Christ came when He did in fulfillment of specific prophecy. Daniel 9:24-27 speaks of the “seventy weeks” or the seventy “sevens.” …

A century ago in his book The Coming Prince, Sir Robert Anderson gave detailed calculations of the sixty-nine weeks, using ‘prophetic years,’ allowing for leap years, errors in the calendar, the change from B.C. to A.D., etc., and figured that the sixty-nine weeks ended on the very day of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, five days before His death. Whether one uses this timetable or not, the point is that the timing of Christ’s incarnation ties in with this detailed prophecy recorded by Daniel over five hundred years beforehand.”’

Ligonier Ministry

‘Note Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus. It lists four women who are foreigners and not especially “holy”: Tamar and Rahab the Canaanites, Ruth the Moabite, and Bathsheba the wife of a Hittite. At the very least, Matthew is saying the true descendants of Abraham are not selected simply on the basis of a genetic connection to Abraham. True Israel is not restricted by racial lines.

Instead, God chooses who belongs to Israel and incorporates foreigners into Israel, even into the royal lineage in which lies the hope of Israel. God had always intended that Israel become a universal people. This blessing of redemption and freedom is still being showered upon the nations as God continues to gather His people from the nations of the world. We are still living in the fullness of time, the time of the fulfillment of God’s promises!’

Meridian of Time

And now, let the guessing games begin!

To clarify, one should be made aware of the fact the meaning for the phrase ‘meridian of time’ was a made up phrase of Joseph Smith. There wasn’t then, nor is there now, a clear definition for it, and the best guess for it can be found in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism which resembles definitions from the Encyclopedia of Freemasonry.

Nothing is resolute, nothing is factual, and most noteworthy; nothing should be trusted.

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, pp. 891-892; “The word “meridian”suggests the middle. According to Old Testament genealogies, from the Fall of Adam to the time of Jesus Christ was approximately 4,000 years. It has been nearly 2,000 years since Jesus’ birth. The millennial reign will commence “in the beginning of the seventh thousand years” (D&C 77:12). After the Millennium there will be a “little season,” the exact length of which is not revealed, but it could be several hundred years. In the context of these events, the Lord’s mortal ministry took place near the meridian, or middle, of mortal time (DS 1:81).” [emp. mine]

Listed below are a half dozen LDS ‘scriptures’ found in their canon. The main thing anyone should do with this info is to ask questions while reading over it.

Does this revelation provide, or do, any of the following?

  • Help grow my faith in Jesus?
  • Teach something new about Jesus not already personally known?
  • Point exclusively to God?
  • Point exclusively to God’s word?
  • Glorify the Lord?
  • Encourage a relationship with Jesus?
  • Answer questions about Jesus’ life and purpose?

When a person realizes the answer to all the questions above is ‘no’, we highly encourage a speedy exodus from living in the shadows of this false prophet and his false god!

This doesn’t resemble the truths we’ve seen in the Bible on this subject. As noted earlier, we can see where God has been an active participant in the lives of His creation. Most importantly, He’s loved us enough to provide a Kinsman Redeemer to save us from ourselves!

While online gathering info for this subject I came across a Q&A site where they were discussing  the importance of the timing for Jesus’ birth. And no, this site isn’t something I’d particularly recommend, thus my intentional move on not including the URL. If the reader feels they need to have the site’s addy, e-mail me, and I’ll gladly send you the info!

Here’s an excerpt of what these Mormons said;

‘The reason for Christ’s life was to perform the Atonement, but I can’t imagine the particular timing of it mattered much since it was an infinite atonement.

Another effect of the atonement is that it enabled missionary work in the spirit world as well as performing temple ordinances for them. Many spirits had to wait a few thousand years for this to happen. It seems like they might have preferred if Christ had lived earlier so that they didn’t have to wait so long…’

I’m not  posting this to mock, or bash this poor Mormon person, rather, I’ve done so to bring attention to what an ‘average’ Mormon knows about this subject. It’s very sad they don’t think there’s any importance in the timing. Their answer serves as an example of what the effects are of false teachings.

Please, don’t forget to pray for these dear people! And as promised, LDS references are listed below.

With Love in Christ;

Michelle

1 Cor. 1:18

D&C 20:26 Not only those who believed after he came in the meridian of time, in the flesh, but all those from the beginning, even as many as were before he came, who believed in the words of the holy prophets, who spake as they were inspired by the gift of the Holy Ghost, who truly testified of him in all things, should have eternal life,

D&C 39:3 The same which came in the meridian of time unto mine own, and mine own received me not;

Moses 5:57 For they would not hearken unto his voice, nor believe on his Only Begotten Son, even him whom he declared should come in the meridian of time, who was prepared from before the foundation of the world.

Moses 6:57 Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence; for, in the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who shall come in the meridian of time.

Moses 6:62 And now, behold, I say unto you: This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time.

Moses 7:46 And the Lord said: It shall be in the meridian of time, in the days of wickedness and vengeance.

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3 Responses to “Fullness of Time vs. Meridian of Time”

  1. Jake December 13, 2018 at 7:20 pm #

    Wow, what a bigoted blog! Good thing no one reads it!

  2. Jake December 13, 2018 at 7:21 pm #

    Wow, what a bigoted blog! Good thing no one reads it!

    • LifeAfter January 7, 2019 at 2:13 am #

      Ok Jake, How are we “bigoted”? – Melissa Grimes

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