This article sheds light upon how God in Scripture speaks ‘proleptically’; speaking of future events as though they had already taken place. The writer shows that because God possesses all knowledge, His intentions are sometimes recorded as having already taken place. This omniscience of God also helps us understand some passages which speak of salvation as having been already attained.
Past tense passages in John 17
Why did Christ say as recorded by John?:
- v2 “Thou hast given him (the Son) power over all flesh that he should give eternal life,” when the power to grant it would not become his until after his ascension?
Why did Christ say?:
- v4 “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do,” when he had not been crucified?
- v5 “Glorify thou me … with the glory which I had with thee before the world was,” when he had no previous existence before his birth?
- v9 “I pray for them (the believers) … which thou hast given me,” when multitudes were yet to be born?
- v11 “I am no more in the world,” implying that he had already departed?
- v18 “Even so have I also sent them (the apostles) into the world,” when it occurred after his ascension (John 20:21)?
- v22 “The glory which thou gavest me I have given them,” when believers, past, present and future are yet to be glorified?
These verses may seem problematic at face value, but if Christ and John were speaking ‘proleptically’, that is, “the representation of something in the future as if it already existed or had occurred”, then these texts become much clearer. In fact this principle has its origin with the Father, and Christ and the apostles merely followed His example. So the use of the past tense in John 17 and elsewhere needs to be considered in this light, because clearly they describe not what has already happened, but what was destined to happen in the foreknowledge of God.
“As I have purposed, so shall it stand”
In view of this when the writers of Scripture wanted to speak of something that was foreknown, it was not uncommon for them to speak about it as already existing. And since it was God who inspired these men to write this way, an understanding of this principle will lead to an appreciation of how the divine mind functions. So when God declares something will come to pass, even though its fulfilment is yet many years into the future, so certain is its accomplishment that it’s effectively done the moment He plans it. Thus, in Isaiah 14 we read, “Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand” (v24). Accordingly, from His perspective as Master of all creation, God alone is able to declare “the end from the beginning” (Isa 46:10). Hence, a person not yet born is spoken of as already existing or being known to Him: people like Jeremiah (Jer 1:5), Cyrus, king of Persia (Isa 45:1–4), believers (2 Tim 1:9) and especially Christ (John 17:5).
Since “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18), the following are examples of how He speaks about events that are still future. In Romans 4:17 we read, “As it is written, I have made you (Abraham) the father of many nations. He was appointed our father in the sight of God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and speaks of the non-existent things as if they existed” (Amplified Bible). In quoting Genesis 17:5, where the past tense is used of God’s promise to Abraham, Paul shows that with God the end of all things is known from the beginning.
Consequently, as far as God is concerned His faithful followers, currently dead, “live unto him” (Luke 20:35–38)! Yet in reality they will not be brought back to life again until Christ is in the earth and the judgment takes place (2 Cor 5:10). So, although Abraham is currently dead and buried (Gen 25:8–9), because God promised to make him “the father of many nations”, effectively, in His mind he is already alive and immortal and His promise fulfilled.
The prophetic past tense
Surprisingly, many writers of Scripture used the principle of prolepsis more than we might appreciate. This unique use of the ‘verb tense’ became known as the ‘prophetic past tense’ or ‘the prophetic perfect’ and the following verses are examples of its widespread use.
In Genesis 15:18 God says to Abraham, “Unto thy seed have I given this land.” The remarkable thing about this promise is that Abraham was childless when God spoke those words! How could “Abraham’s seed” possess the land when in reality they were yet to be born? Because the appointed end of all things is known to God, He can speak from this perspective!
God spoke to Jacob, “And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee will I give it” (Gen 35:12). However, Abraham and Isaac were only ever “strangers and sojourners” in Israel (1 Chon 29:15), so neither possessed it during their mortal lives; nevertheless this promise will be fulfilled in the Kingdom Age (Acts 7:5). So again, divinely planned future events are described in the past tense as if they had already come to pass.
In Isaiah 53:6–8, 12 there are several examples of the ‘prophetic past tense’ regarding the Lord’s suffering and crucifixion, events that were some 700 years away. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth… He was taken from prison and from judgment….For he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken….he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors”. So why was this prophecy written in the past tense? Since Christ played such a principal part in the Father’s plan to redeem mankind, God speaks ‘proleptically’ about him – he “was foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Pet 1:19–20).
In John 8 Christ said to the Jews, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am” (v56–58). Clearly this was about pre-eminence and not about time and pre-existence – Christ’s mission transcended that of Abraham.
Pre-mature claims to being saved
In Romans 8:29–30 we read, “For whom he (God) did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” So God “foreknew” precisely who would be saved. He also “predestined” them, meaning: “to pre-determine, to decide beforehand” (Strongs). God’s foreknowledge allows Him to foretell who will be faithful. But believers do not have this foreknowledge, hence they cannot prejudge their own salvation. In Romans 8 the past tense is used of the salvation of the redeemed saying they are already “justified” and “glorified.” Moreover this was written some 2000 years ago and subsequent believers are also described as being justified and glorified! How can this be? Because in God’s eyes the whole process of our calling, justification and glorification was known to Him from the foundation of the world, before our birth: He “hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling….which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Tim 1:9).
Salvation is a promise
The Bible uses three tenses when it speaks about salvation. We have been saved in the past (Eph 2:5, 8), we will ultimately be saved in the future (Rom 5:9), and we are being saved in the present. This last tense is illustrated in such passages as, “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:46–47 NIV). We have salvation now in the sense that it is a promise which God will honour in the day appointed (Acts 17:31). So the promise is certain (1 Jn 2:25). However salvation is an ongoing process and it is possible for us to fall from grace (Heb 6:4–6), but “he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matt 10:22).