In this article we will explore the distinctiveness of “kairos” time & “chronos” time; reviewing the differences between these two dimensions of time, examining certain scriptural patterns with regards to both, discussing the unique power of each type and how to harness that power for our current dispensing of the purposes of God.
Chronos is defined as literal clock time: seconds, minutes, hours, weeks etc. It is based in the motion of the sun-earth system. Due to the rotation of the earth we experience the phenomenon of day and night, which is subsequently broken down into discrete measurements whereby we determine the length of passages of what we call “time”. This idealism is called, in the Greek, chronos. From which we get the chronograph or clock. It is important to recognize some fundamental truths regarding the chronos.
First of all, the conventional subdivisions are artificial, based on an ancient system developed by the Sumerians called the sexigesimal system. Take for instance the 24 hour day which in turn defines the 60 minute hour. Why not a 20 hour day with 72 minute hours? Or a 30 hour day with 48 minute hours? Notice how easily we play with the chronos when we need more hours of sunlight in the winter. (A practice which is not global.) Second, the chronos is neither counting up or down. We can attempt to define the quantity of artificial passages of time as in calling this year 1999. But the date depends upon the calendar you use. Technically this is 1998 due to the skipping of the year zero between BC 1 and AD 1. By placing the death of Christ as the quintessential moment in earth history we have defined our current position as one being on the upward count. However, to the heathen of the 9th century BC this event was unknown.
Therefore they were counting up during a period that we now consider as counting down. These distinctions are also artificial. Third, the total amount of chronos time allotted to the earth is not statically determined. In other words there is not a fixed future date, according to man’s delineation, on which all things will end. The chronos is malleable, meaning that it has the inherent ability to expand and contract. Interestingly, the governing agent of that malleability is the other type of time known in the Greek as kairos time, which we will discuss later. Also of great importance is the reality that the chronos will eventually cease. Rev. 10:5-7 says this: “The angel whom I say standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever…that there should be chronos no longer, but in the days of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.” Some translations use the word “delay” instead of “time”, however the context bears out that the idea presented is the culmination of God’s purposes, or mystery, after which there should be chronos no longer.
Now then, if the chronos is artificial with respect to it’s earthly definition and is non-discrete as to it’s point of completion, just how do we accurately understand it’s purpose and nature? Let’s first understand that God has ordained a periodic aspect to His creation that will not cease as long as the earth remains (Gen.8:22). Periodicity is the key to understanding how to harness the power of the chronos. The nature of the chronos is linear, meaning that it functions on a straight line or continuum, and unidirectional. It is due to unidirectional periodic linearity that we are able to enjoy seedtime and harvest, or prophetic insertion for it provides a static plane upon which the dynamic events of this reality can be played out. It is also the power of these two aspects of the nature of the chronos that allows us to tap into the prophetic dimension and seize a word from God making it a captive to the chronos. The Lord utilizes the chronos to glorify Himself by displaying His omniscience and omnipresence. He speaks a word and then frustrates His enemy by causing it to come to pass; thereby showing forth that even given a platform of delayed judgment, the enemy cannot prevail.
One last piece of wisdom and then I will pull this all together. The concept of aging has always been associated with the passage of time. As we get older our physical bodies change. However, this idealism presupposes that physical metamorphosis is dependent upon the periodicity of the creation. This assertion however is false. The physical transformation of life towards a state of death is due to the infection of sin not the so-called passage of time. Chronos time doesn’t pass it merely forms the background upon which the mystery of God is unfolding. It is a statically determined substructure upon which the dynamic kairos time is occurring.
At this point you may be saying, “Yea but what does this all mean to me?” Much in every way. If we stop approaching the purposes of God from the perspective of the chronos we will begin to perceive the infinitely more important kairos. It is kairos time that accelerates the Kingdom and advances the purposes of God in the earth. However, if we perceive and utilize the chronos as a tool instead of seeing ourselves as being caught up into some unnavigatable stream we can harness its unique quality of predictability. We can sow the seeds of reformation into the hearts of many knowing that they will grow, flourish and ultimately perpetuate the finish. We can purposely insert certain principals that take on a transgenerational quality which move according to the kairos, unaffected by the chronos. We can take the quantum leap in our thinking and begin to realize that we are now in eternity – that eternity doesn’t start when this life completes. Death is no longer a discrete moment where one life ceases and another begins; rather it is merely a transitional point of departure from the finite effects of sin into the infinite realm of life. Eternity is now being defined as discrete moments of human interaction for God has momentarily suspended the instantaneous aspect of eternity for the purpose of revealing His glory: but we must not let the enemy place a veil of chronos dependency over our eyes. Before moving on to Kairos let me say a few closing things regarding the Chronos.
As I said previously, Chronos is defined as literal clock time inclusive of seconds, minutes, hours, weeks etc. It is based in the motion of the sun-earth system. Also let me restate the concept of periodicity that is often confused with the so-called passage of time. God has ordained a periodic aspect to His creation that will not cease as long as the earth remains (Gen.8:22). In fact we discover the institution of this reality in Gen. 1:14 where God made lights in the heavens – which is inclusive of sun, moon and stars – to “…be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years.” It is important to understand that God instituted the chronos as a static medium for the unfolding of His purpose. And His purpose is perpetuated, or advanced, not via the passage of time (chronos) but via the completion of discrete events in time – which is the essence of kairos.
Now then, lets examine this kairos. Kairos as a noun first appeared in the works of Hesiod and originally denoted right measure, correct proportion, that which is convenient, appropriate and decisive. It is from this basis that the word takes on the more focused meaning of being the decisive action at the deciding moment. So then the kairos is distinguished as a discrete moment in which an act is done that decides the outcome of a matter. It is the quintessential moment that must be seized or acted within in order to achieve a desired result. For instance, when the space shuttle returns to the earth there are discrete moments, called windows of opportunity, during which the craft must initiate it’s decent. If one is missed the crew must await the next – which is sure to come due to the periodic nature of the universe. In this example we see how periodicity works together with the kairos against the backdrop of the chronos. The shuttle could circle the earth, consistently missing it’s windows of opportunity, until the crews physical bodies succumb to the effects of sin and eventually die. Which, in a nutshell, is the current problem with the culmination of all things mortal. God has apportioned an expanse (chronos) during which Christ will sit at His right hand until the time (kairos) when His enemies are made His footstool. Notice also that this passage indicates the chosen vessel of God’s vindication in that the rod goes forth from Zion – which is the place of God’s presentness. Therefore, the power of the kairos lies in it’s being event oriented. In other words, if the specified action is done the kairos is completed. In which case another kairos begins that has it’s own unique completing action. And so on to the finish. So the importance now shifts from some future chronos moment to the “now” kairos moment, for it is this moment that truly advances the matters of life.
As Colin Brown points out in his N.T. Theological Dictionary, “The presence of the two etymological groups, associated respectively with chronos and kairos for the concept of time, suggests that the Greeks distinguished individual periods or points of time which can be effected by human decision (kairos) from the stream of time, whose progress is independant of any possible human influence (chronos).” And in his treatise “Physics” Aristotle makes the definition of the “Now” as: “The Now is the limiting factor; that which lies between the respective points of Now is time (chronos).” I offer these quotes not necessarily as ones of total accuracy but to reveal that even in the heathen mind of the day the realization of two distinct definitions for “time” existed.
Recently, I happened upon a passage in the apocryphal book Judith (and you thought Debra was rough) which is as follows – “Lord God, to whom all strength belongs, prosper what my hands are now to do for the greater glory of Jerusalem, now is the time to recover your heritage.” Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with this book it records the exploits of one Judith who is supposed to have lived c.150 B.C. The book is unfortunately replete with geographical and general historical errors which caused the denial of it’s cannonicity. Yet, when I read this passage it struck me so that I began to meditate upon it. Further study revealed that in the Septuagent (LXX), the Greek translation of the O.T., the word here used for time is the word kairos. What is so great about this is that Judith’s prayer immediatley proceeds her decapitation of one Holofernes who was an evil ruler. Notice the equating of it being the time, with her act of decapitation. The wisdom from this is that action precipitates the kairos. There are, of course, many scriptural references as well including: Deut. 1:9; Judges 4:4; 1 Chr. 21:28 and Dan. 12:1; with the Genesis passage mentioned above standing out due to the LXX translation of the word “seasons” as kairos. The Lord has fixed the kairoi (pl.) as well as the determining actions of their respective completion. There remains then merely the agent of completion – which is most assuredly man.
Of course the enemy does not want God’s people coming to a realization of their position with respect to the kairos. If he can keep us wrapped up in matters which only pertain to the chronos we will be as the shuttle crew which never reenters the earth’s atmosphere but spends its life counting the cycles of periodicity waiting for God to impinge His will on our world. In truth, His will is revealed through His people as they harness the power of the kairos by accurately identifying and expediently fulfilling it’s requirements. Remember, His eyes search to and fro across the face of the earth seeking one through whom He can show Himself strong. This one (or ones) will be tuned into His divine frequency, receiving His divine transmission and faithfully executing His purposes. He patiently awaits the generation that will usher in the end. And in fact, He has been very merciful to afford us several opportunities to do things right. Just think, if we did not have the chronos substrate coupled with the periodic nature of the universe our kairos moments would only occur once and then the judgment. (Hence the enemies problem.)
Therefore I exhort you to begin living from a kairos position not a chronos position. Quit living according to the cycles of periodicity and begin utilizing the chronos to unfold the kairos. Realize that eternity is now. Your actions and words, mixed with faith, produce dramatic results in the earth when executed from an eternal position instead of a temporal one. Be as David who served the purpose (gk. boule’: the determined counsel) of God in His generation, who foresaw the resurrection and reign of Christ, appropriating it’s reward to the escape of his own physical death after having sinned with Bathsheba. We must live and issue forth from an eternal dimension if we are to move mortality towards immortality. We must see the finish if we are to achieve it. Let this, which is the very Person of Christ Himself, be our consuming quest – and may we not be satisfied with anything less.
