For a Thousand Years Are Like a Day: Is There Time for Hashem?

Zechariah asks:

"Greetings. It is known that the concept of 'time' is only relevant to material things, meaning without matter, there would be no time (as explained by Rambam). My question is: if so, why do we say that 'one day' (a concept of time) for Hashem is equivalent to a thousand years? After all, time cannot be ascribed to Hashem as He is not material. Thank you for the answers!"

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Greetings and blessings, Zechariah, and thank you for your question.

Indeed, time is dependent on matter. Modern physics defines time as the motion of matter, so without matter, there is no time. Rambam explained this 800 years ago: "And time is among the creations, because time accompanies motion" (Guide for the Perplexed, Volume 2, Chapter 13).

Before the universe, there was no concept of matter, time, or even space (space means the void, thus before the appearance of matter there wasn't even space and gaps between different materials, literally 'nothing'!).

The first verse in the Torah revealed this incredible knowledge to us, preceding modern physics by thousands of years: "In the beginning, Hashem created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). Hashem created in the act of creation all the components of the universe from nothing: 'In the beginning created' - time, 'the heavens' - space, 'and the earth' - matter.

Ramban further explained that the entire universe was initially created in a very condensed form: "And it is the first matter, called 'hyle' by the Greeks, and after the hyle no new thing was created, but rather, everything made and fashioned was made from it".

Only in the past century did physicists discover that the entire universe is expanding, galaxies are moving away from each other, proving that in the past they were connected, all materials were concentrated in a tiny and highly dense point called by them the singularity... The most important scientific discovery of the 20th century was discovered thousands of years after the giving of the Torah!

Thus we learn that when Hashem created the universe, He created the concept of time along with matter. Hence the proof that the Creator of the world is not material and not limited by time, as He preceded these concepts and created them from nothing. Hashem is therefore spiritual (not limited by matter), infinite (not limited by space), and eternal (not limited by time), knowledge that is contained in His explicit name, "was, is, and will be" - eternal without beginning and without end.

You asked about the verse written by King David, may he rest in peace, in the Book of Psalms: "For a thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night" (Psalms 90:4).

This verse illustrates for us how great and mighty Hashem is compared to us, and unlike man in any way, as King David wrote at the beginning of the chapter: "Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God" (Psalms 90:2), and also said: "But you remain the same, and your years will never end" (Psalms 102:28).

The Bible teaches us that Hashem is eternal and not dependent on time concepts, and therefore sees from the beginning of the world to its end, as it is said by the prophet: "Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord—with the first of them and with the last—I am he"! (Isaiah 41:4). Hashem sees all generations from the beginning because He is not limited by the concept of time.

So why is it said "For a thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has just gone by"? This verse teaches us the lowliness of fleeting matter, as it is said further in the chapter: "All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan, Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away" (Psalms 90:9-10), and also said "The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field" (Psalms 103:15), so that we invest in eternity and not in what is transient.

Every verse has a plain meaning and a deeper, hidden meaning, and it is possible that I have found a more complex answer to your question based on the Talmud.

Perhaps it can be interpreted to mean that after Hashem created the concept of time, every era in human history hurriedly passes in His divine plan "like a day that has just gone by". By way of analogy: just as a person plans a week ahead, deciding what to do at the beginning and the end of the week, so does Hashem, infinitely distant from us, see to the end of all generations, and thus planned human history in advance for the upcoming thousands of years, divided into six eras. Thus, the expression "a thousand years" is intended to describe a very long period in our history, planned by Hashem in advance, each time period representing progress in human development.

It seems that the sages interpreted the verse in this way in the Talmud:

"Rav Ketina said: The world exists for six thousand years and is desolate for one thousand, as it is said: 'The Lord alone will be exalted in that day' (Isaiah 2:11).

Abaye said: Desolate for two thousand years, as it is said: 'After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence' (Hosea 6:2).

It is taught in accordance with the opinion of Rav Ketina, just as the Sabbatical year occurs one every seven years, so too does the world become desolate for one thousand years out of seven thousand, as it is said: 'The Lord alone will be exalted in that day', and it is stated 'A psalm, a song for the Sabbath day' - a day that is entirely Sabbath, and it is stated 'For a thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has just gone by'.

The school of Elijah taught: The world is to exist for six thousand years: two thousand years of void, two thousand years of Torah, and two thousand years of the days of the Messiah" (Sanhedrin 97a).

The Creator created the world in six days and rested on the seventh; the order of creation is also reflected in the history of the world, and in the processes by which Hashem advances humanity towards redemption - this process, too, is done in "six days", which are six thousand years. From this, it seems to say that the expression "a thousand years in Your sight" is deeply meant to describe the divine planning of history in stages, with each stage lasting two thousand years (as it says further in the verse: "or like a watch in the night").

Thus Ramban explained: "And know that there is still included in the word "to do", that the six days of creation represent all the days of the world, for its existence will be six thousand years (Rosh Hashanah 31a), and that is why they said (B'reshith Rabba 19:8) that the day of Hashem is a thousand years" (Genesis 2:3).

Hashem is thus the one who governs history and advances humanity towards its purpose. If we look at the history of the world, we see that the recognition of divinity indeed advances in planned stages towards complete redemption, with each step taking between one to two thousand years. In the days of Abraham the Hebrew, the nations of the world were still worshiping idols, but thanks to the revelation of the Torah, they, too, advanced to belief in the one Hashem. With the exile of Israel, the Torah was publicized worldwide, it is no coincidence that the Torah has become the most printed and influential book on earth, and that the Jewish people are today the most talked-about nation in the world. All nations were introduced to the people of Israel and the idea of the messiah and redemption, so that when the true messiah comes to the world to redeem Israel and build the third temple - the whole world may also advance to worship Hashem together (Zephaniah 3:9). Thus the prophets in the Bible prophesied that with the arrival of complete redemption, there will be world peace, all nations will recognize Hashem, exalt Israel and even bring offerings to the temple in Jerusalem.

This historical process occurs in stages advancing according to the divine will. All our history is, in the eyes of Hashem, like one week, each day of which lasts a thousand years in our world.