Ephesians 5:16.

[pawnraider]

Ephesians 5:16 reads, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." My question is what exactly is meant by "Redeeming the time"? Is this to mean that we are not to be wasting our time with temporal matters and pleasures when we could be studying the Bible?

 

[dysert]

Ephesians 5:16 reads, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." My question is what exactly is meant by "Redeeming the time"? Is this to mean that we are not to be wasting our time with temporal matters and pleasures when we could be studying the Bible?

It's impossible to be studying the Bible 24x7. We must therefore find a balance of Bible study, going to church, serving others, investing in our families, taking time to rest, working, etc. Other versions translate "redeeming the time" as "making the best use of time" or "making the most of the time". I think the idea is to be deliberate about what we do with our waking hours. Are we going to be lazy and watch TV all the time? Are we going to be workaholics? Are we going to be so heavenly minded that we're no earthly good? Balance is the key, and being deliberate with how we use our waking hours is the thought behind this phrase.

 

[talitha]

"Redeeming the time" is a participial phrase that modifies something that came before it - so in order to understand what it means, it is necessary to look at the verse before. I prefer the NASB, which reads "making the most of the time", but it basically means the same thing. The verse before says you should "be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise," and then goes on to "making the most of the time, because the days are evil." This is how to walk as wise men - we should make the most of the time we have - not wasting a lot of time. The word translated "redeem" in the KJV is the same word where we get "exxagerate", to make much of something. Lit: ex:to get something out of.... agorazo: being in the marketplace. One dictionary says "buying up the opportunity". Our time is basically an opportunity to accomplish something - in this case, to demonstrate and expand the Kingdom of God.

 

[The Portuguese Baptist]

Ephesians 5:16 reads, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." My question is what exactly is meant by "Redeeming the time"? Is this to mean that we are not to be wasting our time with temporal matters and pleasures when we could be studying the Bible?

Here's my suggestion no. 1: whenever you cannot understand a specific verse in the King James Version, read a modern version. Seriously! I mean, you are reading a version that was written in 1611 and had only its orthography updated in 1789 — it was literally written so that people who spoke English four centuries ago could understand! Of course, you cannot understand!

Here is the same verse in other versions:

• NIV: ‘[...] making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.’
• ESV: ‘[...] making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.’
• NASB: ‘[...] making the most of your time, because the days are evil.’

It is clearer now?

We can do better, by following my suggestion no. 2: read the verse in context. Pick a modern version, locate the beginning and the end of the paragraph in which the verse is inserted and read it all. If necessary, read also the paragraphs before and after. If you try this in the New International Version, here is what you get (from verse 8 to verse 20):

‘For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible — and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said:

‘“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

‘Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’

I hope this has made it clearer. Paul is saying that we should use our time as much as possible for good, and not comply with the evil in this world — and he goes on to give examples of what we should and should not do.

Whenever you have done these things and still have questions, you can follow my suggestion no. 3: ask your question at the website gotquestions.org. This is an excellent website if you ever have questions about the Bible. I have tried it and it has proven to be a great blessing to me!

If you still have more questions about this, you can ask us!

 

[Gregory the NonTheologian]

Ephesians 5:16 reads, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." My question is what exactly is meant by "Redeeming the time"? Is this to mean that we are not to be wasting our time with temporal matters and pleasures when we could be studying the Bible?

Studying Scripture is not mentioned per se by Paul, but he does say that we "redeem the time" when we walk as wise men, understanding what the will of the Lord is (v.15,17). Certainly studying Scripture aids us in understanding the will of the Lord, but it is not the reading of Scripture itself (nor any other spiritual work) that redeems the time, but rather our understanding of God's will (and presumably our doing it). Paul echoes this guidance in his Epistle to the Colossians: Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time (Colossians 4:5, RSV)

This verse and the preceding verses (especially v.14, Awake, O sleeper ... Christ shall give you light, also pointed out by someone else on the thread) brings to my mind the Gospel passage,
[VERSE=Luke 11:34-35,RSV]Your eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is sound, your whole body is full of light; but when it is not sound, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness [/VERSE]

As for the word "redeem" and the other translations cited, the Greek word is eksagorazo. In addition to Colossians 4:5, it also appears in Paul's letter to the Galatians, where I think most versions translate it as redeem, regardless of how they translated Ephesians and Colossians:
[VERSE=Galatians 3:13, RSV]Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree”—[/VERSE]

[VERSE=Galatians 4:5, RSV]But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons[/VERSE]

The word is also used in the Septuagint to mean "gain time" (i.e. stall for time, Daniel 2:7-8 LXX) and was used by at least one Church Father (the writer of the Martyrdom of Polycarp) to mean "purchase".

 

[Mark51]

Paul was exhorting Christians to use their time wisely in caring for spiritual interests, but the principle can be helpful in many important activities of life. Since we can usually decide when to carry out a task, we will see better results and will get the job done quicker by choosing to start when the time is “opportune,” or most advantageous. This is a mark of “wise persons,” as the scripture shows.

Wise use of our time will also help us to make our days count before Jehovah. Unlike money that can be saved, time must be spent, or it will be lost. Every hour that passes is gone forever. Since there is always more to do than we can handle, are we spending our time in line with our objectives in life?

Wise use of our time comes only after we are keenly aware of its value. Aptly, Ephesians 5:16 urges us to ‘buy out the opportune time for ourselves,’ and this implies “purchasing” it, forgoing less important things. It means reducing time-wasting pursuits. Too much television viewing or surfing of the Internet, reading of unprofitable secular material, or the excessive pursuit of recreation and entertainment can leave us exhausted. Additionally, an inordinate accumulation of material possessions can consume the time needed to acquire a heart of wisdom.

Advocates of careful time management say: “It is impossible to make good use of your time without a set of well-defined goals.” They suggest five criteria for setting goals: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timed.

One worthwhile goal is to improve in our Bible reading. The first step is to make our goal specific—to read the entire Bible. The next step is to make our goal measurable. By doing this, we can chart our progress. Goals should make us stretch and grow. They must also be achievable and realistic. Personal abilities, skills, and available time must be taken into consideration. For some, more time may be required to accomplish the goal. Finally, our goal needs to be timed. Setting a date for accomplishing something may well increase motivation to get it done.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Ephesians 5:16 reads, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." My question is what exactly is meant by "Redeeming the time"? Is this to mean that we are not to be wasting our time with temporal matters and pleasures when we could be studying the Bible?

Change "studying" to "reading".
Then you're on.
Remember Jesus own word _ "she chose what is good - to sit at my feet and listen to Me".

Why "read" vice "study" ?

Look around, see what happens when so-called 'studies' are done ?

Do you think Jesus will lie to you ? Or EVER DID ? No. He spoke the Truth from the Father.

So, Listen to Jesus, as He says. This is "choosing what is good" according to Jesus. (let the whole world lie, God will not lie)

 

[bcbsr]

Ephesians 5:16 reads, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." My question is what exactly is meant by "Redeeming the time"? Is this to mean that we are not to be wasting our time with temporal matters and pleasures when we could be studying the Bible?

Just the thow my two cents in, you might want to interpret verse 16 in light of verse 15

"Be very careful, then, how you live— not as unwise but as wise"

 

[The Portuguese Baptist]

Change "studying" to "reading".
Then you're on.

Why should we reject studying the Bible? Studying the Bible is very important in deepening our understanding of God and his message for us.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Why should we reject studying the Bible? Studying the Bible is very important in deepening our understanding of God and his message for us.

Did you miss who Jesus said did what is good ?
>>
Remember Jesus own word _ "she chose what is good - to sit at my feet and listen to Me".

Or His other curses on scholars ? lawyers ? religious leaders ?

 

[The Portuguese Baptist]

Did you miss who Jesus said did what is good ?
>>
Remember Jesus own word _ "she chose what is good - to sit at my feet and listen to Me".

So, you think we should only read and that's it? Not study? Why? Jesus never argued against studying what he had said. Actually, studying God's words is held in high esteem in Scripture (as it should be clearly evident: if God has something very important to tell us, we should study it), in a few passages: Ezra 7:10, Nehemiah 8:13 and John 5:39.

Or His other curses on scholars ? lawyers ? religious leaders ?

Show me one verse which says that what they were doing wrong was studying God's Word.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Show me one verse which says that what they were doing wrong was studying God's Word.

What did Jesus say about them ?
John 5:39 - Bible Gateway
https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/John%205%3A39
BibleGateway.com
You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. ... And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren't willing to receive from ...

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

So, you think we should only read and that's it? Not study? Why?

If someone doesn't believe Jesus, what good does it do to study ?
Study comes later, in Christ, His Way, AFTER reading,
and most people have never even read the Bible, and even more have never been granted understanding.

 

[The Portuguese Baptist]

What did Jesus say about them ?
John 5:39 - Bible Gateway
https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/John%205%3A39
BibleGateway.com
You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. ... And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren't willing to receive from ...

It does not say that their wrong was studying the Scriptures. It says that their wrong was rejecting Jesus.

If someone doesn't believe Jesus, what good does it do to study ?
Study comes later, in Christ, His Way, AFTER reading,
and most people have never even read the Bible, and even more have never been granted understanding.

You must do both.

 

[Geralt]

its all in the context, a matter of priority by what the people of the 'light' should do in contrast to what the people of 'darkness' do. (v8)

it simply means to use your time wisely-> 'try to learn what pleases the Lord' as befits the people of the Light v10)

in contrast to those who do not use there time wisely, spending it to 'worthless things'

Eph 5:11 Have nothing to do with the worthless things that people do, things that belong to the darkness.

which concludes with the admonition:
Eph 5:15 So be careful how you live. Don't live like ignorant people [who do worthless things that belong to darkness], but like wise people [those who please the Lord and walk in the light].
Eph 5:16 Make good use of every opportunity you have, because these are evil days.

 

[Razare]

Ephesians 5:16 reads, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." My question is what exactly is meant by "Redeeming the time"? Is this to mean that we are not to be wasting our time with temporal matters and pleasures when we could be studying the Bible?

Not exactly. We're supposed to be earning heavenly rewards.

Read the rewards for the churches in Revelation. The church also has crowns we can receive from Christ:

All works are by grace, but we have to have faith to see grace work through us. And as we grow, we manifest more of Christ's glory so that in heaven we are more glorious should we have done things here which are spiritual in God's kingdom.

But you have to understand why heavenly jewels would be precious as a gift to a believer, according to the spirit. The secret is when that person God worked through you to save is in heaven forever, having a jewel on your crown or garment would represent that eternal friendship. And so a heavenly jewel is worth more than everything natural here.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

It does not say that their wrong was studying the Scriptures. It says that their wrong was rejecting Jesus.
You must do both.

GOOD! I agree. The point was that since many people haven't even been reading the Bible,
and won't often,
then telling them to study the Bible isn't exactly in their course of study or devotion, is it?
Secondly, but equally,
study without the Father's direction//revelation (following re-birth/ born again experience by the Will of the Father) , and perhaps without "the mind of Christ" , as it is written born again ekklesia have,
won't help anyone (as is written in Scripture more than once).

i.e. like "milk" of the Word is needed first, before deeper things, yet many refuse the milk and also refuse the Word !
or , from the op>>>

Ephesians 5:16 reads, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." My question is what exactly is meant by "Redeeming the time"? Is this to mean that we are not to be wasting our time with temporal matters and pleasures when we could be studying the Bible?

Those engaged in carnal temporal matters and pleasures of the flesh or of this world
are not (obviously) "good soldiers" and
not reading with delight and joy God's Word every day and not meditating on God's Word.

READING / DEVOURING God's Word , as in a believer's 'first love'(of Yhwh and Jesus),
comes before studying it can,
and God Willing, preferably sooner in God's Plan for a person's life,
they will indeed and in grace study God's Word devotedly,
not neglecting joyously delighting in reading His Word and Obeying/ Serving/ Worshiping God Daily.

 

[The Portuguese Baptist]

GOOD! I agree. The point was that since many people haven't even been reading the Bible,
and won't often,
then telling them to study the Bible isn't exactly in their course of study or devotion, is it?
Secondly, but equally,
study without the Father's direction//revelation (following re-birth/ born again experience by the Will of the Father) , and perhaps without "the mind of Christ" , as it is written born again ekklesia have,
won't help anyone (as is written in Scripture more than once).

i.e. like "milk" of the Word is needed first, before deeper things, yet many refuse the milk and also refuse the Word !
or , from the op>>>

Oh! Well, yes, I can surely agree with you on that! But OP is already a Christian, so he can study at will.