Time travel has fascinated people for generations, leaving them with the same questions: Has it been done? Can it be done? Is it being done?
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IMHO, the concept of time travel is not something I think will not happen at some point. .. although I love books that did amazing jobs discussing it such as
Timeline by Michael Crichton (including the film as well)
There've been other discussions on the dynamic before that may help with the concept you are discussing, as seen here:
In all seriousness, to me it seems that either time flows from eternity, becoming time as it encounters the creation or the moment we are in, the NOW, is the point where we, who are "inside" time, touch eternity. I doubt that makes any sense but my vocabulary is too limited to properly articulate what I mean.
according to Fr Hopko even in this world before the end, there is a relativity to how we experience time as well. if you go to a baseball game and you are behind home plate, you see the ball hit the bat right when you hear the crack. if you are way out in left field, you see the ball hit the bat, then you hear the crack a little later. the event happened at the same time, but is experienced at two different "times" because light travels faster than sound.
so time being experienced differently when we come before Christ is not so alien as we might think.
Gxg (G²);61450532 said:
I'd love to do the Marty McFly thing and observe what happened in the past with the potential to alter the future....and if the Lord allowed it, it'd be all good. However, as I do believe in the concept of predestination paradox ( a phenomenon in which an event of time travel can become part of events which have already occurred, and can even lead to the initial event of time travel in the first place..
debatable as that is), I do believe that any attempt to change the past would actually serve to see that it happened as was meant.
IMHO, Time travel may be possible....as in the (LXX) book of Daniel...
I think where most often struggle is time travel to the past. The scriptures, in addition to Daniel, note where such as happened before with going to the future /seeing things play out...and even as it concerns time slowing down/instant transportation (as it was with Philip in Acts 8/
Acts 8:37 after he was transported across a vast amount of distance to another location after seeing the Ethiopian Eunuch - something that should have taken days even though he got there quick as if no time was lost at all ).
I'm also reminded of Jesus and teleportation when they teleported 3 to 5 miles to the shore
John 6:19
"And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, and entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about five and 20 or 30 furlongs, they saw Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. But He saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. Then they willingly received Him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went."
But to go back into the past and change things is another issue altogether.
But traveling across time is not impossible....
I'm reminded of the concept of Communion with the Saints - and what Christ lived out when it came to the issue of Moses and Elijah, as
Matthew 17:2-4 and
Mark 9:3-10 / Luke 9:29-34 come to my mind when Elijah and Moses appeared before Jesus.
Matthew 17:2-4 / Matthew 17
The Transfiguration
1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three sheltersone for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.
5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.
7 But Jesus came and touched them. Get up, he said. Dont be afraid.
Luke 9:28-39/Luke 9:32-34 Luke 9
The Transfiguration
28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.
29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.
30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. 31 They spoke about his departure,[a] which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.32.
Interesting to see how Jesus was actively talking with Moses and Elijah who technically were not present in the temporal realm for centuries/thousands of years - and yet it seems that both were able to appear instantenously at the time Christ arrived at that point.
It's as if when Moses ceased to exist in the temporal realm, he went into Eternity - and then met with Elijah himself who experienced the same as Moses. In eternity, it'd seem they had just arrived even though centuries seperated them in their respective beginning and ending points and yet at the moment they met, they were brought to the future to meet personally with CHrist.
Technically, with Moses and Elijah, Elijah is a bit more distinct as a living time traveller - for with Moses himself, he experienced death (
Deuteronomy 34:5/
Joshua 1:1-3 / Jude 1:8-10 ) -
However, things differed for Elijah - for he was known to often teleport/be taken by the Lord to differing locations ( Like Philip who was moved by God to his next point of ministry (
I Kings 18:12,
46;
II Kings 2:16 ) - and Elijah was known to have been taken up into Heaven in a fiery chariot (
2Kings 2:11 ) ...and yet also was known to have written a letter as well after the event per
2Chronicles 21:12.
For more specifics, Elijahs chariot ride in chapter two comes between the reigns of two kings of Israel.
2Kings 3:1 says that Jehoram, son of Ahab reigned in Ahaziahs stead...and Ahaziah died of a disease not leaving a son, so his brother, Jehoram became the King of Israel (cp.
2Kings 1:15-18). The beginning of Jehorams 12 year reign coincided with the eighteenth year of the reign of Jehosaphat, king of Judah. This is important, because the kings of Judah and Israel were allies. Before going to war with Moab they consulted the prophets, but Judah and Israel were not united in their faiths. Only Judah worshiped the Lord. Therefore, Jehosaphat desired a word from a prophet of the LORD before going to war, and in this case we are told the great prophet was Elisha (
2Kings 3:11). Therefore, the time of this Scripture is definitely after Elijah ascended to
heaven in a fiery chariot (
2Kings 2:11). For many, the view is that it was either the case that Elijah came to give a word to the King AFTER he had died----verifying the concept of the departed giving messages at God's approval alone---or Elijah never went to Heaven before having to actually die first (more shared in
Is it True Elijah Went to Heaven? « Smoodock's Blog).
One can find more in
2 Chronicles 21:1..as Jehoram, the son of Jehosaphat, reigned in Jerusalem in the stead of his father. Jehosaphat was dead, but Elisha was the prophet of the Lord that Jehosaphat had consulted concerning the war with Moab. Thus, by this time in 2Chronicles 21, Elijah had already taken his chariot ride into the heavens which had to have occurred before Jehosaphats death.
Additionally, Jehoram the son of Ahab referred to in
2Kings 3:1 with whom Jehosaphat was allied is not the same Jehoram mentioned here in
2Chronicles 21:1. This Jehoram was king of Judah and son of Jehosaphat. He did not walk in the ways of his father but in the ways of the kings of Israel, for he had married Ahabs daughter and led Judah astray (
2Chronicles 21:4-6). When considering that context, again, it is interesting to note how
2Chronicles 21:12 shows that Elijah wrote a letter to Jehoram, the king of Judah, rebuking him for walking in the way of the kings of Israel.
2 Chronicles 21:4-12
Jehoram had forsaken the LORD, the God of his ancestors. 11 He had also built high places on the hills of Judah and had caused the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves and had led Judah astray. 12
Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet, which said: This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: You have not followed the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah.
When realizing that Elijahs chariot ride in II Kings 2 took place while Jehosaphat was still alive, one must wonder how could he write a letter after Jehosaphats death, if he was in heaven where God is. One would be logical to conclude that Elijah was still alive/earthbound....and at least opens up the door for supposing that it isn't necessarily the case that Elijah himself never died at a later date. As a man, his ministry as Gods main prophet was about done except for this letter to the king of Judah, Elijahs ministry ended with the fiery chariot ride up to the clouds and Elisha being the front man
But regardless of the paticulars, the dynamic of going back into the temporal realm seem rather apparent (IMHO) when it comes to the dynamic present in scripture - and thus, time travel is something that'll always stand out. And with Moses and Elijah, it does make you think.
In Eternity, all things have already happened - and so technically, from the perspective of the Lord, CHrist was ALREADY crucified since his sacrifice was done BEFORE the creation of the world .......and yet in the times Christ was living in, it had not been experienced yet - and for Moses and Elijah in Eternity, they still had to go meet Christ in the temporal realm.
There was actually an article I came across (seen here in
this article ) about a scientist that says time does not exist. This clicked with something I remembered studying about God and the saints existing outside of time, God being everywhere present always at once. ...and when the world ends there will be no time, or that after we pass away we exist outside of time.
