Time Limitations

You had mentioned in one study that all physical beings are bound by time and that therefore we, being physical,could only look backward and not see into the future. I do not believe Satan can see the future or he would never have allowed our Lord to be crucified. Can you give me any insights?

Q. Fabulous teaching! Thank you. You had mentioned in one study that all physical beings are bound by time and that therefore we, being physical,could only look backward and not see into the future.

I’ve always been taught that Satan cannot know the future, yet I believe he is spirit, and therefore, according to you and I guess Einstein, he should also not be bound by time. Yet I do not believe Satan can see the future or he would never have allowed our Lord to be crucified. Can you give me any insights? Thank you!

A. Time is a physical property affecting beings with mass. That means we can’t know the future. But it doesn’t mean that all spiritual beings can. Neither Satan nor any of the angels is permitted to know the future. They learn it by observing us. (1 Peter 1:12)

And you’re right about the Lord’s death. Paul said exactly that in 1 Cor 2:6-8. “We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

Satan, being the god of this age (2 Corinth. 4:4) is prevented from knowing the future axcept as it’s been revealed in God’s Word.