This month marks a major milestone in nerd/geek history. October 21, 2015, is the date Marty McFly and Doc Brown traveled into the future during the film Back to the Future II. Sadly, we do not yet have flying cars, instantly rehydrate-able pizzas, or those self-fitting jackets and shoes. I’m also still waiting for my fully functional hoverboard. I mean, come on science, we landed a probe on a comet! Let’s get our priorities straight.
Thinking about this momentous date poses a question that many people have pondered: What would you do if you had a time machine? You might pop back to ancient Egypt and see the pyramids being built. Or maybe you would travel to the future to see if we eventually get all those flying cars future people supposedly are going to have. In reality, you probably wouldn’t do any of that. You would go back and try to fix your problems in the past, or go forward and see your problems before they happen. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
Let’s not forget what happened in the Back to the Future series. Marty McFly and Doc Brown jumped in their time machine and caused a whole lot of trouble. Time travel probably sounded like a good idea, but the problems caused by messing around with time were pretty serious. Marty almost got erased from history, his mother ended up with another man in another timeline, and everybody almost died by driving a train into a ravine. Having a time machine makes for great drama, but it would be really, really dangerous and potentially catastrophic to actually use one.
Yet, we all wish we could see into the future—despite the paradoxical ramifications. Just look at our culture with its psychics, tarot cards, and horoscopes. People want to know what is going to happen to them. Why? So that they can anticipate what is to come and compensate for it. If you know what’s coming, surely you can avoid it.
There are many verses in the Bible that warn against “mediums,” “sorcerers,” and “necromancers,” who are basically people advertising the ability to tell the future or talk to the dead to get information they need about the past and the future. Leviticus 20:6, Leviticus 19:31, and Isaiah 8:19 are some good examples. Galatians 5:20-21 is clear that those partaking in this practice will not inherit the kingdom of God. Yet, in addition to this, there is another problem with trying to see the future.
Think about it. If you know the future, why would you need God? Knowledge is power, and knowledge of your own destiny would give you power over your own existence. You would be master of yourself and maybe even those around you. In your eyes, you would be a god. If we could travel to the beginning of time, we would see this is the original sin. Adam and Eve ate the fruit so that they could have knowledge only God had at the time. The serpent said to Eve, “…you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4b).
A relationship with God requires trust in Him. It requires dependence. Sure, we should still plan for the future in order to be good stewards of the time and resources with which God has blessed us (Proverbs 6:6-8). But when we seek to know our own future selfishly, we are essentially telling God, “I don’t want to have to trust you. I want to take care of myself.” I myself am guilty of this and I do not think that there is a single human on this earth who would deny feeling the same way at times. We have all sought out the future. We have all been guilty of seeking another power than God’s. We have all wanted to be “God.”
I think that this is why God wanted Israel to stay far away from people who could supposedly see into the future. Not only because they were influenced by Satan, but God desired his children to seek after Him and trust Him with their future. We should do the same.
And besides, who needs a time machine when you know the Creator of time and space?
