Who’s Watching Us?

In regards to the “cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1), and your oft-repeated assertions (to which I also hold) that in eternity, we will be able to visit the history of the world to watch events unfold before us, do you think that there are in fact saints around each of us today, watching our lives as we live?

Q. In regards to the “cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1), and your oft-repeated assertions (to which I also hold) that in eternity, we will be able to visit the history of the world to watch events unfold before us, do you think that there are in fact saints around each of us today, from the “future”, watching our lives as we live? Could not I, in eternity, go back to visit myself as I type this, and then in fact as I type, my future “self” would be here with me?

A. This is a fascinating question. The writer to the Hebrews is referring to the testimony of countless lives, especially those he’s featured in chapter 11, to the justification of belief by faith. While I believe that Scripture tells us that there are angels among us now, I think that observation by departed saints is more detached, as if viewing a movie for example. My assessment of the Millennium is that yes, since we will have the capability of traveling back and forth in time, then what we see will have to include our own participation in history. Again, I see this as unseen observation from a distance. None the less, I’m looking forward to the experience. Sounds like you are, too.