God’s Time

Church Educational System

Alma said that he did not know if there was more than one time appointed for the resurrection of men, but that it did not matter because “all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men” (Alma 40:8; see also Abraham 3:4, 5:13). Our Father in Heaven has a different perspective of time than we do here in mortality. The Prophet Joseph Smith revealed that where God dwells all things “are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord” (D&C 130:7). The Prophet also said that the Lord

“contemplated the whole of the events connected with the earth, pertaining to the plan of salvation, before it rolled into existence or ever ‘the morning stars sang together’ for joy; the past, the present, and the future were and are, with Him, one eternal ‘now’”

(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 220).

The tenure of mortal man in the finite world has brief and temporary limits attached to the whole of its scope, but God is eternal and unlimited. Paul said:

“Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:

“They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;

“And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail”

(Hebrews 1:10–12).

Book of Mormon Student Manual (1996 Edition)

References