The last chapter of the Book of Daniel (12:4) is one of several prophecies which are said to be \u201csealed<\/i>\u201d, \u201cuntil the time of the end<\/i>,\u201d when, among other things, \u201cknowledge shall increase<\/i>.\u201d Sometimes it seems that we might today be getting very close to the unsealing of those prophecies, for a number of reasons.<\/p>\n
The \u201cnature of the Godhead\u201d has been a source of conflict, division, and even war for the better part of two millenia at this point. Is He \u201cthree persons\u201d, or only One? \u201cFully God and fully man,\u201d or can we even wrap our minds around the distinction? This author has long stated that I will not \u201cbreak fellowship over mathematics,\u201d whether one has difficulty with differential calculus, or, more to the point, even how 3 == 1<\/i>. After all, the Hebrew word echad<\/i>, as in, \u201cYHVH our Elohim, YHVH is <\/i>echad<\/b><\/i>,\u201d (Deut. 6:4) can mean the cardinal number \u201cone\u201d, or even \u201cunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is there a way to reconcile what seems totally contradictory? Or to begin to at least establish a picture of something now that might have eluded description in a way mere mortals could comprehend for centuries? I suggest that as \u201cknowledge has increased,\u201d that might be more achievable now than it has ever been. And while no analogy, or metaphor, is ever quite perfect, our familiarity now with computers, computer languages, hardware, operating systems, and even computer GAMES may now give us a bit of insight into that mystery that has divided believers since certain ‘creeds’ were written \u2013 and too often enforced at the point of a sword.<\/p>\n
How can YHVH be \u201coutside time\u201d as we know it? How did He (Gen. 1, and later, John 1:1) speak<\/i> the world into existence? We know that the \u201cpower of the tongue,\u201d is immense, and that our vows really matter. Now we even know that computer languages, and programs written in them, can be likewise used for great good, or tremendous evil. It is no longer a giant leap to imagine a programmer ‘speaking’ (or writing) a whole virtual<\/i> world into existence. \u00a0 It is what game designers do.<\/p>\n
When the designer(s) [it takes more of us, clearly, to do something far less sophisticated, and infinitely less complex than His creation!] sit down to create a new adventure-type game, a number of things must happen. The torah, or instruction, about how the game is to be played, and what the rules are for that particular virtual universe, must be laid out. What kinds of creatures populate the world? What are their strengths and weaknesses?\u00a0 What are the “Laws of nature” there?\u00a0 How does one \u201cwin\u201d?<\/p>\n
And all of that follows other, \u201clower-level\u201d aspects of the design, everything from the nature of the operating system to the type of graphics system and computer hardware required. The first step truly might be likened to something analogous to \u201clet there be light,<\/i>\u201d after which the rest of the creation follows.<\/p>\n
Once the \u201cYah as Game Designer\u201d metaphor is clear, certain other pieces begin to fall into place. How can the Creator be \u201coutside of time?\u201d That one’s easy: He just hits the ‘pause’ button. Those who populate His universe never know any difference. He can look \u201cforward\u201d or \u201cbehind\u201d in time just as easily, run \u201csimulations\u201d, or do any number of things with His world that earlier theologians cannot have imagined, and modern ones might find disturbing. Thankfully, our Elohim has made it clear that He does NOT like to \u201cbreak the rules\u201d that He Wrote; He is in fact, the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow, whether we understand His notion about \u201ctime\u201d or not.<\/p>\n
How might such a Designer choose to interact with those inside His creation? An array of choices present themselves, both in Scripture, and now, even our imaginations. He might choose to talk to them in dreams and visions, or via ‘messengers’ (malakim), or even from within a burning bush or a thundering mountain. But the form that would be most familiar to people who have ever played a modern \u201cadventure\u201d game would be to enter into His creation as a player, just like those within that universe. Would that character be both \u201cfully man\u201d and yet echad<\/i> with the Designer Himself? Certainly it could truthfully be said that He \u201cdoes the will of the One Who sent Him.\u201d And just as certainly, it would be true that ‘no one has seen Him’ \u2013 indeed, those within that virtual world have no real conception of what the Creator might be, other than perhaps the knowledge they were somehow ‘created in His image.’<\/p>\n
Finally, how could such an incredible Designer even begin to describe Himself to the inhabitants of the world He created?\u00a0 That, too, should be obvious.\u00a0 In terms, and with concepts, from His\u00a0 ‘game’ itself; including by describing Himself as a Father, or King, or Master, or Husband.<\/p>\n
Certainly, no analogy is perfect, and the most sophisticated virtual universe men have ever assembled pales in comparison to what YHVH has created for us.\u00a0 And yet the imitations, limited as they might be, are now good enough — in movies, or flight simulations for example — to be real enough for training, or even for propaganda and deception.\u00a0 That, too, is something that fits with any number of Biblical prophecies.<\/p>\n
It may very well be that as “knowledge has increased,” we find ourselves more able to at least conceive of how some of the Scriptures which once seemed confusing and even contradictory can really reflect a better, albeit still limited, understanding of the nature of our reality, and what YHVH is teaching us.\u00a0 That, in turn, might help us to focus on the ‘weightier matters<\/i>‘ of His Word, rather than disputing among ourselves over “doubtful things.”\u00a0 If time does indeed draw short, and\u00a0 the kind of tribulation we can see coming is only the ‘beginning of sorrows’ — then we’ve all got far more important things to do than “argue about the math.”<\/p>\n
\u00a0Postscript:<\/strong><\/p>\n An audio teaching on this topic from Mark Call is available at this link —<\/p>\n Tetzaveh 2014<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" YHVH as Game Designer Continue reading