1 Timothy 6:15

1 Timothy 6:15. Which in his times. The words qualify the expectation just expressed. He leaves the times and the seasons in the hands of the Great Ruler.

The blessed and only Potentate. The word for ‘blessed' is the same as in 1 Timothy 1:11. That for ‘Potentate' is used in Luke 1:52; Acts 8:27, of men in authority. In classical poetry it is applied to the stars as the rulers of the firmament (Æsch. Agam. 6). Here only in the New Testament is it applied to the Divine sovereignty. The ‘only' need not be explained as referring to any Gnostic scheme of dualism. It was the word which in the mouth of every true Israelite connected itself more than any other with the Divine Name.

King of kings and Lord of lords. Here, there can scarcely be a doubt, the words are applied to the Eternal Father, who has placed the seasons in His own power (Acts 1:7). The corresponding but not quite identical terms are applied in Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16, to the Logos as the Son of God. Few facts could illustrate more clearly the strength of the belief of St. John that all the attributes of the one Divine Person are shared by the other.