14.
An hour and a time for all men.
Now in so far as He was God and the Word
of the Father, He had no time; for He is
Himself the Creator of times
1448
. But being made
man, He shews by speaking in this manner that there is a time allotted
to every man; and that not by chance, as some of the Gentiles imagine
in their fables, but a time which He, the Creator, has appointed to
every one according to the will of the Father. This is written in the
Scriptures, and is manifest to all men. For although it be hidden and
unknown to all, what period of time is allotted to each, and how it is
allotted; yet every one knows this, that as there is a time for spring
and for summer, and for autumn and for winter, so, as it is written
1449
, there is a time to die, and a time to live.
And so the time of the generation which lived in the days of Noah was
cut short, and their years were contracted, because the time of all
things was at hand. But to Hezekiah were added fifteen years. And as
God promises to them that serve Him truly, ‘I will fulfil the
number of thy days
1450
,’ Abraham
dies ‘full of days,’ and David besought God, saying,
‘Take me not away in the midst of my days
1451
.’ And Eliphaz, one of the friends of
Job, being assured of this truth, said, ‘Thou shalt come to thy
grave like ripe corn, gathered in due time, and like as a shock of corn
cometh in in his season
1452
.’ And Solomon
confirming his words, says, ‘The souls of the unrighteous are
taken away untimely
1453
.’ And
therefore he exhorts in the book of Ecclesiastes, saying, ‘Be not
overmuch wicked, neither be thou hard: why shouldest thou die before
thy time
1454
?’
1448
De
Decr.
18, note 5.
1449
Eccles. iii.
2
.
1450
Ex. xxiii. 26
;
Gen. xxv.
8
.
1451
Ps. cii. 24
.
1452
Job v. 26
, LXX.
1453
Vid.
Prov. x. 27
1454
Eccles. vii.
17
.