Why Jesus Had to Come at a Precise Moment in Spiritual History

 Acts 17:29-30 - King James Version <29> Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. <30> And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Romans 2:14-15 - King James Version <14> For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: <15> Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another; )

God provided that His commandments would be disseminated across the world in vessels appropriate to the cultures of the people concerned. These people were led to understand through various vessels that they were not to commit adultery, steal, murder, bear false witness, covet, or fail to support their parents in destitution, as also not to accuse but excuse the neighbour. These people also, like you or I, have consciences, as Paul makes expressly clear. With a conscience, it is possible to be born again. Without a conscience, it is not. 

Secondly, Emanuel, God-with-us, came at a very particular time in religious history. The Psalms specifically refer to that precise point in the following:

Psalm 119:126 - King James Version <126> It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law.

Let us see Jesus' blunt reference to this very thing during the Coming: Mark 7:10-14

Mark 7:10-14 - King James Version <10> For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: <11> But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. <12> And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; <13> Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. <14> And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:

As you can see, He refers directly to making void His law. He also says on another occasion and rhetorically in Luke 18:8

Luke 18:8 - King James Version <8> I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

The question is rhetorical because Jesus knows well about the absence of faith among the Pharisees and Sadducees and so refers to it. Elsewhere He as bluntly confirms this when He says that the Sadducees "err greatly, and know neither the scriptures nor the power of God".

In other words, "Rise, O God, for it is time for thee to work" indicates a precise sequence of events that must occur at exactly the time when what is called "night" happens, the time when His Church "make the word of God of none effect" and "there is no more faith on earth", that is in His Church, His people.

Isaiah 21:11-12 - King James Version <11> The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? <12> The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.

The "night" of the Jewish Church was the "morning" of Christianity. Both groups watched the God Man hanging on the cross, one mocking and rejecting and the other revering and accepting. These children of night and children of morning are referred to in numerous guises throughout the Bible.

In the Gospels alone the children of night are the rich man Dives (Judaism) and the children of morning the poor man Lazarus, who eats crumbs at Dives' house (Christianity). They are also the dogs (Christianity) that eat of the crumbs that fall from the children's (Judaism) table.

The Bible so abounds in references to the end of one group's vitality and the beginning of another's because this cycle recurs again and again in spiritual history.

It shows up as the pre-flood people who drowned and the people with Noah who survived. It shows up as the soldiers of Pharaoh who drowned in the Red Sea and the children of Israel who crossed the same on dry ground. It shows up as the deaths from intense heat of those Babylonian guards who put Shadrach Meshach and Abnednego into the fiery furnace. Again and again, this same night and morning receive mention.

And they receive mention because Jesus wants us all to understand the context of His coming into the world at a precise moment in the cycle of obeying His commandments and understanding His Word.