HOW LONG IS “ETERNAL”?
SOME weeks ago, I was listening to a taped message which was sent to me from a good friend overseas. The speaker is, as far as I am aware, fairly well known in Identity circles, although I have never met him in person. As I listened to the message, it became very apparent that the speaker subscribed to the doctrine of “Universal or Ultimate Reconciliation” a doctrine that is held by many people, both within and outside of the Identity movement. This doctrine, as its basic principle, teaches that everyone that was ever born, irrespective of their acceptance or rejection of our Lord Jesus Christ, or the Laws of God, and including Satan himself, will ultimately receive “Everlasting Life”, albeit through an unspecified period of time of punishment and ‘rehabilitation’.
So from the outset, let me make my position quite clear, in that I do not personally subscribe to this doctrine, nor do most Identity believers with whom I am in regular contact. This fact, in itself, does not make me correct and the others wrong, nor does it make the others right and me wrong. It simply highlights the existence of a difference of opinion regarding this particular subject. But what I have noticed is an ever increasing incidence and intensity in Identity writings of the teaching of this doctrine, especially by accepted leaders within the overall Identity movement.
My remarks are not directed at individual people, most of whom I hold in high regard, but at the teaching itself, and especially at one particular argument that was put forward by the speaker mentioned above to allegedly support this point of view. He referred to the word “Eternal”, and made the statement that when the word “Eternal” was used, that it didn’t mean “Eternal”. Quite correctly, he pointed out that the word in the original text means; “age lasting”. Because of this, it was claimed that when the phrase “eternal punishment” was used, it only applied to an unspecified period, or age, which would at some future period of time come to an end, after which those who had been undergoing this rehabilitation period would themselves receive everlasting life, the same as the rest of us. In fact, two writers on this subject, in separate publications, were quite emphatic as to the fact that we were to be very careful about how we criticised the ‘enemy’ – one writer adding the word “anti-Christ” after the word ‘enemy’ – as at some time in the future they would become our brethren in Christ. Well, everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but I thought it time I examined this matter of “Eternal” and “Everlasting” in order to see what the Bible had to say on the matter.
This particular doctrine is merely a restatement of the doctrine of “The Immortality of the Soul”, which is a cornerstone of Freemasonry (to which I belonged for about 14 years before I woke up to what it really is, so I ought to know), and I am given to believe is supported in the Talmud.
So the intent of this writing is to give what I consider to be “Scriptural Proof”of the error of this teaching. In doing this I fully realise that this will bring immediate charges of picking out suitable verses to prove my point. But consider for a moment. Doesn’t every teacher of the Bible adopt exactly the same principle? If we are teaching the Covenants which the Lord made with our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we select the relevant verses. If we are teaching about the redemption of God’s people Israel, we select the appropriate verses. And so it goes on. The problem does not lie in quoting supportive verses, but in quoting them out of context of the overall subject under discussion.
Whatever conclusion we arrive at, it must accord with every aspect of the subject contained in God’s Word, and cannot under any circumstances be based on a preconceived belief, attractive and desirable as it maybe. I would love to think that all my family members and friends would ultimately receive everlasting life, but that is not the criterion. The final criterion must accord with the principles set forth in the entire Scriptures, not on what we would like it to be.
So with these factors in mind, I intend to merely quote exactly what the Bible says in regard to four particular words and/or phrases, and compare their various usages. They are:
1) “For ever and ever”
2) “Evermore”
3) “Eternal”, and
4) “Everlasting”
The principle I have adopted is to print out every reading in the Bible relative to the particular word or phrase by using the “search” facility in my Quick Verse Bible programme. I have then checked the meanings of these words from such sources as Strong’s Concordance, Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary, the Companion Bible, and Dr. Bullinger’s Critical Lexicon and Concordance of the English and Greek New Testament. Naturally I have not reprinted every occurrence of every word, as the entire list comprised 36 pages of this size. For convenience, I have referred to those who inherit eternal life as the “righteous”, and those who have been promised punishment etc., as the “unrighteous”.
So we commence with the phrase:
“For Ever and Ever.”
This phrase occurs 46 times in 46 verses. The meaning from Strong’s #5703 is: “ad, ad, from H5710; prop. a (peremptory) terminus, i.e. (by impl.) duration, in the sense of advance or perpetuity (substantially as a noun, either with or without a prep.): -eternity, ever lasting – more), old, perpetually, + world without end.” Eliminating the technical aspects, it means “perpetually, eternity, everlasting, world without end.”
Vine gives the meaning as “From the distant past to the distant future”.
In the New Testament it always refers to “ages of the ages – eternal – immeasurable time.”
In all instances, whether in the Hebrew or Greek, the same original word is used, and has exactly the same meaning irrespective of the subject to which it applies. Let me quote a few examples.
Exodus 15:18 – “The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.”
Daniel 7:8 – “But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.”
Daniel 12:3 – “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”
But when we turn to Psalm 9:5 we read the following –“Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.”
In the New Testament we read in I Timothy 1:17 – “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
On the other hand, we read in 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 and ever.”
In all instances, the destruction or punishment of the “wicked” is quoted as being for exactly the same period of time as for the righteous saints, and the honour and glory of God!
“For Evermore”
This word is used 26 times, and in every instance has the meaning of “eternal, everlasting, world without end, etc.” It is never applied to the unrighteous. As an exarnple we quote:
I Chronicles 17:14 – “But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.”
And from the New Testament:
Revelation 1:18 – “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore.”
The original Greek reads “to the ages of the ages.”
I included this phrase because of its support for the never ending nature of both God and His promises, using exactly the same terminology as for the other words and phrases quoted.
“Eternal”
This word is used 47 times throughout the Bible, only two of which are in the Old Testament.
These two refer to “The Eternal God”, in Deuteronomy 33:27, and to His “Eternal Excellence” as found in Isaiah 60:15.
The word in the original Greek means, according to Strong’s; “166. aionios, ahee-o ‘-nee-os; from G165; perpetual (also used of past time, or past and future as well): eternal, for ever, everlasting, world (began).”
Dr Bullinger, whilst giving a great deal of detail regarding the various parts of speech used grammatically, defines the word as generally meaning “the unbounded time past and future, immeasurable time, constant, abiding, eternal, always existing, perpetual”.
Space only allows us to select a few pertinent verses, where this word is used. For instance:
John 10:28 – “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
Romans 1:20 – “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”
These references mean specifically “always existing, perpetual”. Then we have Hebrews 5:9 –
“And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;”
But the very same words are used in Mark 3:29; and Hebrews 6:2;
“But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:”
“Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.”
The same can also be said of both I John 3:15, and Jude 1:7 – “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”
“Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
“Everlasting”
Because of the limitation of space, I only intend quoting a few relative verses under this heading, in order to demonstrate the manner in which the word is used. It occurs 97 times in 91 verses appearing several times in the one verse. Strong’s Concordance gives the word almost the same as “eternal”, i.e., “to the vanishing point, continually, perpetually, world without end, etc.” On the positive side we read:
Psalm 145:13 – “Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.”
Isaiah 45:17 – “But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.”
2 Peter 1:11 – “For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
But in regard to the wicked, or unrighteous, we read where in Jeremiah 20:11 they will have “everlasting confusion.” Jeremiah 23:40 speaks of them as having “everlasting reproach”. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 speaks of them as being punished with “everlasting destruction”. But let us look finally at the following which mention the two opposing groups in the very same verse:
Daniel 12:2 – “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt“.
Matthew 25:46 – “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into life eternal.”
Now personally, I cannot for the life of me understand how these phrases or words can mean one thing when applied to the wicked, and an entirely different thing when applied to the righteous. As I see the situation, there are only two alternatives.
Firstly, if the length of the sentence upon the wicked, or unrighteous is exactly the same as that upon the righteous, then the wicked shall endure their punishment for the same period of time as the righteous experience their everlasting life.
But the altemative really scares me. Because it would mean that the “everlasting life” to which we aspire will have the same time limit imposed upon it as that applicable to the wicked. “Everlasting”, or “Eternal”, would become a limited period of time, as would our “everlasting life”, because exactly the same expressions are made of both parties.
Is this really what God intends for those who love and serve Him? Personal explanations of the meaning of such phrases as “the second death”, or “fire and brimstone” cannot under any circumstances be applied to support our “private interpretation” in such a way as to alter the basic principles of the overall doctrine. In all things we must be consistent with the basic established facts. So, what do you think? Does our “Eternal Life” last for only as long as the sentence passed upon the wicked, or does the sentence passed on the wicked last for as long as our “Eternal Life”? What is your decision?
