Previously, I referenced Alma 40:8 when I asked Does God live within time? In this post, we will keep our focus on Alma 40:8. It reads;

Now whether there is more than one time appointed for men to rise it mattereth not; for all do not die at once, and this mattereth not; all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men.

This verse can get quoted out of context. In fact, the phrase often gets quoted out of context of the verse. Within verse 8, we get a strong clue that Alma is using the word time like, “If you do that one more time, then …” Notice how time references an event, not a space between two events.

In Alma 40, the word time appears on 20 occasions. I have listed the general phrases and which verses contain the phrase.

• ’this time cometh’ (verse 4)
• ’time which is appointed’ (verse 4)
• ‘one time, or a second time, or a third time’ (verse 5)
• ’time of death’ (verses 6,7)
• ’time of the resurrection’ (verse 6,7, 14)
• ’time appointed for men to rise’ (verse 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 21)
• ’time is only measured unto men’ (verse 8)
• ’the time of death and the resurrection’ (verse 8)
• ‘space of time’ (verse 9)
• ‘God knoweth all the times which are appointed unto man’ (verse 10)

Alma’s times

There are only a few references that have any potential to be referencing time as a duration instead of an event. The first is Alma 40:8, which I quote above, and the second is verse 9. Notice that there is the specific word space that qualifies time. So it looks like Alma uses the phrase space of time to describe duration.

Therefore, there is a time appointed unto men that they shall rise from the dead; and there is a space between the time of death and the resurrection. And now, concerning this space of time, what becometh of the souls of men is the thing which I have inquired diligently of the Lord to know; and this is the thing of which I do know.

Finally, in verse 10, Alma tells us that God knows all the times. It says;

And when the time cometh when all shall rise, then shall they know that God knoweth all the times which are appointed unto man.

So, does time mean something different than times? I don’t think they are different. We could read this phrase as saying, ‘God knoweth all the events which are appointed unto man.’ Then we need to reconcile the apparently contradictory statements in Alma 40:8 and Alma 40:9. How can time only be measured unto men yet God knows all the times which are appointed unto man?

The appointed times

God can know all the ordered events, or times, that will happen to a man. We read about these ordered events and experience many of them ourselves. We are born, we live, we die, then we resurrect. I suppose there are many other events, or times, that we will understand during our eternal journey after the resurrection. Alma is telling us that we will have the privilege to know about these events and that God has eternally known about these events that can happen to each man on their journey to exaltation.¹

The measured times

Then what does the phrase ’time is only measured unto men’ mean? Could Alma be stating a specific type of time that is only measured unto men? God measures days or spaces of time between identifiable events. However, he may not measure the hours or minutes within a day or between significant events. Russel M. Nelson shared a pertinent quote in the April 2000 General Conference about time as it relates to identifiable events.

The physical Creation itself was staged through ordered periods of time. In Genesis and Moses, those periods are called days. But in the book of Abraham, each period is referred to as a time. Whether termed a day, a time, or an age, each phase was a period between two identifiable events-a division of eternity.

How the events of man are ordered is known unto God. He measures time as a period between two identifiable events. However, the process of measuring time within these events is a hobby of man. For a God with an infinite amount of time, He does not preoccupy himself with those measurements. This concept reminds me of a conversation from the movie “In time” from 2011. A man that has immortality (unlimited time) is asking Will Salas what he would do if he had “all his time.” I imagine this conversation could happen in a more holier setting as follows

God: If you had as much time as I had … what would you do with it?
Mortal Man: I’d stop measuring it.

Conclusion

Thus, God knows all the appointed events that man can choose to receive in his path to exaltation. We also know that we measure time differently than God. However, Alma 40 does not say that God exists outside of time. President Nelson and D&C 130:4-5 clearly state that God lives within an ordered time. He does not live outside of linear or sequenced time.

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