Verse 1

The Apparent Indifference of God“Why are times not appointed by the Almighty? Why do those who know him not see his days?

Referenced Verses

  • Acts 1:7 : 7 He told them,“You are not permitted to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.
  • Eccl 3:17 : 17 I thought to myself,“God will judge both the righteous and the wicked; for there is an appropriate time for every activity, and there is a time of judgment for every deed.
  • Eccl 8:6-7 : 6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, for the oppression of the king is severe upon his victim. 7 Surely no one knows the future, and no one can tell another person what will happen.
  • 2 Pet 3:7-8 : 7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day.
  • Eccl 9:11-12 : 11 Wisdom Cannot Protect against Seemingly Chance Events Again, I observed this on the earth: the race is not always won by the swiftest, the battle is not always won by the strongest; prosperity does not always belong to those who are the wisest, wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning, nor does success always come to those with the most knowledge– for time and chance may overcome them all. 12 Surely, no one knows his appointed time! Like fish that are caught in a deadly net, and like birds that are caught in a snare– just like them, all people are ensnared at an unfortunate time that falls upon them suddenly.
  • Isa 2:12 : 12 Indeed, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has planned a day of judgment, for all the high and mighty, for all who are proud– they will be humiliated;
  • Isa 60:22 : 22 The least of you will multiply into a thousand; the smallest of you will become a large nation. When the right time comes, I the LORD will quickly do this!”
  • Jer 12:1-3 : 1 LORD, you have always been fair whenever I have complained to you. However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. Why are wicked people successful? Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives? 2 You plant them like trees and they put down their roots. They grow prosperous and are very fruitful. They always talk about you, but they really care nothing about you. 3 But you, LORD, know all about me. You watch me and test my devotion to you. Drag these wicked men away like sheep to be slaughtered! Appoint a time when they will be killed!
  • Jer 46:10 : 10 But that day belongs to the Sovereign LORD of Heaven’s Armies. It is a day of reckoning, when he will pay back his adversaries. His sword will devour them until its appetite is satisfied! It will drink its fill from their blood! Indeed it will be a sacrifice for the Sovereign LORD of Heaven’s Armies in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.
  • Dan 2:21 : 21 He changes times and seasons, deposing some kings and establishing others. He gives wisdom to the wise; he imparts knowledge to those with understanding;
  • Matt 24:38 : 38 For in those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark.
  • Luke 21:22-24 : 22 because these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away as captives among all nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
  • John 17:3 : 3 Now this is eternal life– that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
  • Acts 17:26 : 26 From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live,
  • Rom 2:5 : 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed!
  • 1 Thess 5:1 : 1 The Day of the Lord Now on the topic of times and seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you.
  • 1 Tim 4:1 : 1 Timothy’s Ministry in the Later Times Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will desert the faith and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings,
  • 1 Tim 6:15 : 15 – whose appearing the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will reveal at the right time.
  • 2 Pet 2:3 : 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation pronounced long ago is not sitting idly by; their destruction is not asleep.
  • Gen 7:4 : 4 For in seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made.”
  • Gen 18:17 : 17 Then the LORD said,“Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?
  • Gen 18:20-21 : 20 So the LORD said,“The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant 21 that I must go down and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. If not, I want to know.”
  • Ps 9:10 : 10 Your loyal followers trust in you, for you, LORD, do not abandon those who seek your help.
  • Ps 31:15 : 15 You determine my destiny! Rescue me from the power of my enemies and those who chase me.
  • Ps 36:10 : 10 Extend your loyal love to your faithful followers, and vindicate the morally upright!
  • Ps 73:16-19 : 16 When I tried to make sense of this, it was troubling to me. 17 Then I entered the precincts of God’s temple, and understood the destiny of the wicked. 18 Surely you put them in slippery places; you bring them down to ruin. 19 How desolate they become in a mere moment! Terrifying judgments make their demise complete!