- XIX. Does The Bible Teach Eternal Life In Hell?
(Continued)
- A. Does “Forever” Always Mean Never Ending?
- 2. What Is The Key
To There Unity?
- NOTE:
- In this section the original Greek or Hebrew
(in italics and parentheses) follows it’s english equivilant.
- Now to answer the question, Does
“forever” always mean never ending?
- Are the words “for ever” used in
the Bible where they have an understanding that is different then
“never ending, without ceasing”? Yes, “for ever” is
used where it has the obvious meaning of: lasting only as long as the
duration of the event or as long as the person lives.
- Consider this section of texts which give
some examples of the words “for ever” used with an obvious
alternate meaning.
- Jonah 1:
- 17 Now the Lord had
prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly
of the fish three days and three nights.
- Jonah 2:
- 6 I went down to the
bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for
ever (owlam or olam): yet hast thou brought up my life
from corruption, O Lord my God.
- NOTE:
- Notice that Jonah calls
“three days and three nights”, “forever.”
- 1 Samuel 1:
- 22 But Hannah went not up; for she said
unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and
then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there
abide for ever (owlam or olam).
- 28 Therefore also I have lent him to the
Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And
he worshipped the Lord there.
- NOTE:
- Hannah clearly explains what she
means by the term “forever” when she says in verse 28,
“as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord.”
- Deuteronomy 23:
- 3 An Ammonite or
Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to
their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation
of the Lord for ever (owlam or olam):
- NOTE:
- Here “forever” is
“ten generations.”
- 1 Chronicles 28:
- 4 Howbeit the Lord
God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over
Israel for ever (owlam or olam): for he hath chosen
Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my
father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over
all Israel:
- NOTE:
- “Forever” obviously is
as long as David lived.
- 2 Kings 5:
- 27 The leprosy therefore
of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever
(owlam or olam). And he went out from his presence a leper as
white as snow.
- NOTE:
- Leprosy lasted for Gehazi as
long as he lived.
- Exodus 21:
- 5 And if the servant
shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will
not go out free:
- 6 Then his master
shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or
unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an
aul; and he shall serve him for ever (ad).
- Deuteronomy 15:
- 16 And it shall be,
if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth
thee and thine house, because he is well with thee;
- 17 Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust
it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for
ever (owlam or olam). And also unto thy maidservant thou
shalt do likewise.
- Philemon 1:
- 10 I beseech thee for my
son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds:
- 11 Which in time past was to thee
unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me:
- 15 For perhaps he therefore departed for a
season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever
(aionios);
- NOTE:
- Studying the texts that use the
Hebrew word (owlam or olam) “ever” makes it apparent
that the meaning of the word is determined by the context in which it is
used. Compare the story of God guarding the tree of life with that of
Jonah in the whale. Eating of the tree of life clearly implies a life
without end while the story of Jonah clearly states that “for
ever” is three days and three nights. (see the two storys below)
- Genesis 3:
- 22 And the Lord God
said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and
now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree
of life, and eat, and live for ever (owlam or
olam):
- 24 So he drove out the
man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims,
and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of
the tree of life.
- Jonah 1:
- 17 Now the Lord had
prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly
of the fish three days and three nights.
- Jonah 2:
- 6 I went down to the
bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for
ever (owlam or olam): yet hast thou brought up my life
from corruption, O Lord my God.
- According to the examples in this section:
lasting only as long as the duration of the event or lasting
only as long as the person lived are alternate meanings to the word
“ever.”
- If one looks at the
definitions of the Hebrew and Greek words for “ever” it will
verify that these words do have more then one meaning.
- Let’s try substituting one of the Bible
interpretations of the word “ever” in Revelation 20:10 and see
if it helps to eliminate the conflict between the two list.
- Revelation 20:
- 10 And the devil
that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where
the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and
night for ever (aion) and ever (aion) (as long as they
last in the fire or until the fire has burned them up
completely).
- Now Revelation 20:10 can agree with Ezekiel
28:18 which states, “Satan will be brought to ashes on this
earth.”
- Ezekiel 28:
- 16 By the multitude of
thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and
thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the
mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering
cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
- 18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the
multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick;
therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it
shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the
earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
- This is a good example of letting the Bible
interpret itself.
Dwight Waterhouse is the compiler of this information. Please feel free to send your comments and questions. David Waterhouse is the Webmaster. You can reach both of us at the same E mail
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