1.08. Everlasting
Everlasting
First let us look at the word translated "everlasting." The following few pages should clearly show that some English translators of the Bible have caused some serious problems for Christians and the rest of the world. It will be shown that a little four letter word can totally change the character of the Creator and our relationship to Him. May translations of the future be more faithful to the Greek and Hebrew languages and to the nature of the Creator of us all which is love, a love which the most eloquent of words cannot describe. This one little four letter word, mistranslated by many Bible translations, has tarnished His Character to where an earthly father’s love exceeds that of the Creator’s. After all, few earthly fathers would burn their children in a barbecue pit for even a few hours. Many modern Bibles portray the Father of all mankind torturing most of mankind not for just a few hours, but for all eternity. According to the majority view of church theology, He will not change His mind in this area, it is a finished deal. Let us see if the Greek and Hebrew texts bears this out. The word "aion" in the New Testament in Matthew 24:3 is translated "world" in the King James Version. As we can see from the other versions below, scholars now believe it should have been translated "age."
"Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and the end of the world?" (KJV)
"Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (New KJV)
"Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" (NIV)
"Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (NASB)
Why is it so important to differentiate between these two words, one might ask? Because there are many different "ages" according to the Bible, but our theological minds picture basically only two "worlds," the one that is and the one to come. It is this mistranslation of "aion" that has caused many people to rightfully say the Bible contradicts itself. The King James Version speaks of the "end of the world" (Matthew 24:3) and then talks about the same world "without end" (Ephesians 3:21; Isaiah 45:17). It speaks of "everlasting hills" (Genesis 49:26; Deuteronomy 33:15) which will one day no longer be "everlasting." Isaiah 40:4 tells us "every mountain and hill will be made low" and "all the earth shall be burned up" in 2 Peter 3:10. Revelation 11:15 speaks of Jesus as reigning "forever and ever" (a double use of "aion") while 1 Corinthians 15:25 says Jesus must rule "till He hath put all enemies under His feet." He then will deliver up a perfected kingdom to the Father who becomes "all in all." Does He reign "till" or "forever"? Exodus 21:5-6 tells us a slave will serve his master for "ever," when clearly death will end his servitude. Leviticus 24:8 says the Mosaic covenant is to be an "everlasting" covenant whereas Hebrews 8:7-13 speaks of the end of that covenant. The Aaronic priesthood is an "everlasting" priesthood in Exodus 40:15; Numbers 25:13, yet the book of Hebrews makes it very clear it is to be superseded by the Melchizedek priesthood (Hebrews 7:14-18). According to the King James Version, God would dwell in Solomon’s temple "forever," yet Solomon’s temple has long been destroyed. The Sabbath (Saturday according to the Old Testament) was to be observed for a statute "forever," yet Hebrews says it was just a "fleshly ordinance imposed until the time of refreshing." Animal sacrifices were to be offered "forever" (Exodus 31:16-17; 2 Chronicles 2:4; Leviticus 16:31), yet every Christian knows these all ended in the work of Jesus Christ. Circumcision was an "everlasting covenant" and this was before the Mosaic Covenant (according to Genesis 17:9-14), but 1 Corinthians 7:19; Galatians 5:6 tells us it is worthless!
It is this kind of confusion that has turned many sincere seekers away from the Bible. Here we have clear contradictions. The problem is not in the original languages of the Bible, the problem is with human error in translating the Greek and Hebrew texts into current languages. The tradition of the elders is difficult to break. Men and women have built power systems upon error. The love of power, money, and position make many leaders continue the errors. Many church leaders know these contradictions exist, but are unwilling to bring about correction. Their systems are built upon fear and ignorance. To reveal the truth would be the end of their kingdoms. Also keep in mind we, ourselves, often prefer to create our own image of God rather than the true one. We often project our corrupted view of things upon God. Now let us see if there are contradictions in the Greek and Hebrew languages. This word "aion" translated by the King James Bible as "age," "ever," "forever," "forever and ever," "never," "world without end," "evermore," "course," and "eternal," along with its adjective "aionios," has caused the world many serious problems. It has made the Creator a God whose mercy endures "forever," yet the King James Bible says there are sins that will not be forgiven in "this world or in the world to come" (Compare 1 Chronicles 16:34 with Matthew 12:31-32). The New King James and most other Bibles now translate this passage as: "in this age or in the age to come." This was spoken in the "law age." We are now in a different age and the scriptures clearly teach of ages to come. If Jesus wanted to refer to the world, he would have used the word "kosmos," but He didn’t. Therefore, when this scripture is correctly translated "age," the Bible does not contradict itself. There is still hope for the Pharisee who would not be forgiven under the "law age" nor under the present age, but there is still hope for him to receive mercy in the ages to come. For a study as to how many ages there are, study the following scriptures: The past ages (aions) - Colossians 1:26; the present age (aion) - Luke 20:34; future ages (aions) - Ephesians 2:7. It will become clear that there are at least five ages with no indication when the ages will end. This radically changes pet end-time eschatological schemes. This is one reason why many theologians do not want to look at this. They will have to dismantle some of their favorite fear-based doctrines. Can this word "aion" be consistently translated one way and make sense without bringing about contradictions in the Bible? The answer is yes! Can this word be consistently translated with words that indicate "eternity"? The answer is no! Let us see how the Bible would read if we translated this word "aion" into eternity in some passages where it appears. We would get some of the following kinds of reading:
"This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of eternity (aionios)" (2 Timothy 1:9). There can be no time before "eternity."
"According to the revelation of the mystery hidden for eternity (aionios) past" (Romans 16:25). If it was hidden in eternity, it can never manifest.
"Who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil eternity (aion)" (Galatians 1:4).
"The harvest is the end of this eternity (aion)" (Matthew 13:39). What then, another eternity?
"Who tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming eternity (aion)" (Hebrews 6:5). There is only one eternity, not past and future ones. As one can see, when we translated this word consistently with eternity, the scriptures make no sense. But if we translated that word "aion" age, and its adjective "aionios," of or belonging to an age, age-during, or age-abiding, then all the scriptures dealing with time and eternity begin to make sense without any contradictions whatsoever. What is even more exciting is that this lines up perfectly with all of our Father’s attributes. All seemingly hypocritical, or contradictory scriptures relating to our Father’s will, desire, plan, purpose, and power, vanish away. He finishes what He said He was going to do from the foundation of the world, draw all mankind unto Himself. So why don’t the translators change? Jesus said there was something more powerful than the Word of God. "You have made the word of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites!" (Matthew 15:6-7). All the systems of Christendom would have to dismantle, and I mean all of them. You can be assured, the heads of these systems have no intentions of giving up the little kingdoms you and I have helped them build. As we have seen earlier, many of the Bibles have cleared up some of the contradictions by translating more of the passages "age" where they used to put "world." Many Bibles today have even put in "age" or "ages" in some places where they used to have "forever and ever," etc. Some Bibles, written within the last 200 years, have become consistent all the way through the Bible and have translated the word "aion" and its adjective "aionios" age, eon, age-during, etc. Some of the Bibles that have been bold enough to buck the tradition of the elders are: Young’s Literal Translation, Rotherham’s Emphasized Translation, Concordant Literal Version, The Holy Bible in Modern English (Fenton), The New Testament in Modern Speech (Weymouth, 1910), The Twentieth Century New Testament, The New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Anointed, The Western New Testament, The New Testament - a Translation, Scarlett’s Translation, etc. Even many evangelical/fundamentalist Bibles are breaking from the "traditions of men." The Companion Bible, a King James Reference Bible, shows clearly in the footnotes and appendages, that the word "aion" and its adjective "aionios" was grossly mistranslated by the King’s translators. For further information on the subject of how many Bibles are changing for the better, write for the booklet, The Gates of Hell shall not Prevail.
Let us return to the subject of "aion." Many Bible scholars today are willing to concede that the noun "aion" means an age as opposed to forever or eternal, but they are not willing to concede that its adjective "aionios" means pertaining to an age, age-abiding, age-during or something like that. They say this word must mean "eternal, everlasting," etc. In doing so, they make themselves look very foolish. They break a rule in grammar found in every language of the world. An adjective must get its force from the noun from which it is derived. It cannot take on a stronger force. For example, hourly cannot pertain to a year, or month, or eternity; it pertains to the noun from which it came, that is, an hour. To say that "aion" means an "age," and then turn around and say its adjective means "everlasting," "eternal," "forever and ever" is breaking all the rules of language. Why would they do this? If they stay within the rules of grammar, they would have to concede there is no such thing as "eternal" punishment or "everlasting" death. Religious men usually will go into their graves before admitting their errors. After all, huge empires are built upon these two false doctrines. This noun "aion" occurs in the plural and the singular about 127 times. The plural form occurs over 60 times in the Greek text. May I remind you at this time that if the singular form means endlessness, absolute eternity, time without an end, forever, everlasting, then what on earth does the plural form mean? To top it all off, this word "aion" in the Greek shows up in forms such as this: "eons (plural) of the eons (plural)" (see Galatians 1:5; Php 4:20; 1 Timothy 1:17; 2 Timothy 4:18, etc.), "eon (singular) of the eons (plural)" (see Ephesians 3:21), and "eon (singular) of the eon (singular)" (see Hebrews 1:8). Clearly, because orthodox translators are stuck with their concept of "eternal" hell, they have butchered the Greek forms of this word "aion." Why? To maintain their long held traditions. It is quite obvious that you cannot have a plural of infinity or eternity. You cannot have a plural of "forever." You can not have "eternities of the eternities," "eternity of the eternities," and "eternity of the eternity." This is nonsense. But that is exactly what one would get if they translated "aion" and its adjective "aionios" into eternity in these passages. When we translate the word "aion" into its proper English equivalent "age," all begins to make sense. There is also a sense in the word indicating a flowing like streams flowing into rivers which find their way to the seas only to be draw up again to fall to become streams again. The ages are marked, but they cannot be determined until it has ended. The life of a man was an "olam," the Hebrew word translated into "aion" in the Greek. One could not measure a man’s life until he died. It is indefinite, but not infinite. In Ephesians 3:9; Ephesians 3:11; Ephesians 3:21, we have two Greek words "ton aionon." This is the genitive plural noun with the genitive plural article "ton." In the 9th verse in the KJV, it is translated "from the beginning of the world." In verse 11, it is translated "eternal" with the word "purpose." In verse 21, it is translated, "world without end." So here we have the Greek genitive plural with the article translated three completely different ways within the same sentence! It is quite obvious this is very poor translating.
If you want to see this word translated correctly in the King James, turn to Colossians 1:26. Here we find "apo ton aionon" which is translated "from the ages." Notice the reference to "age" and that it is in the plural form. The King James Bible was very inconsistent with this word. Fearing to break the KJV tradition, many orthodox Bibles have also wreaked havoc with this little four letter word, unfortunately to our misfortune. In 1 Corinthians 15:25, we have a very interesting verse. In fact, this whole context from 1 Corinthians 15:22-28 is very interesting. Verse 25 says, "For He must reign till He has put all His enemies under His feet." This passage is speaking about Christ Jesus. The word "till" has the same meaning as "until." The word "until" in the English and Greek means, "to the time of, up to, as far as, etc." It definitely limits the reigning of Jesus Christ until He puts every enemy under His feet. It tells us the last enemy to be put under His feet is death. This passage speaks of the end of "death." If there is a second "death" (Lake of fire), there is still death. Please note the scripture does not speak of "soul death," or "spiritual death," or "Adamic death." It simply states that death is an enemy of God which will one day be destroyed. Very simple. Let us keep it that way. One day there will be no more death. Then Jesus Himself becomes subjected that God may be all in all. The passage speaks of an end of Christ’s reign. But in Revelation 11:15 we read, "And the seventh angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying, ’The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign ’forever and ever.’" This passage clearly contradicts 1 Corinthians 15:25 in the KJV. Which will He do, reign "until" or reign "forever and ever"?
There are four places in the New Testament in which the adjective of "aion" occurs which proves beyond a doubt it cannot mean "endlessness," etc. These occurrences are: Romans 16:25; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2; Philemon 1:15. I will also try to show with the first of these verses that the leading translations of this century contradict each other regarding this word. This should cause one to seriously study this out. You will clearly see that most translators followed their creeds instead of the Greek when it came to this word. The 1901 American Standard, the first revision of the King James Bible, translates Romans 16:25 : "Now to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal ...." According to the way this verse is translated, the mystery has been kept in silence through times that are eternal. If it was kept secret in eternity, it can never be made manifest! But the verse tells us that now it is made manifest. This is total nonsense. The King James Bible says it was "kept secret since the world began" while the New International Version says "hidden for long ages past." Here we see how leading translators are not in agreement as to how to handle this word. We have "eternal," "world," and "ages." This should at least cause one to seriously study this out. After all, the reputation of our Father is at stake. Does He torture mercilessly forever, annihilate a creature He made, or correct until He accomplishes a perfect work in each of His children through love and patience? In 2 Timothy 1:9 and Titus 1:2, the 1901 American Standard reads "before times eternal." Now what on earth is that supposed to mean? If "eternal," an adjective means without beginning or ending, how can there be a "before"? This is a contradiction in three words! This shows that the translators obviously did not understand the clause which they were working with. If they had not been locked into their "eternal torment creeds," they might have been able to correctly translate the verse. The traditions of men do often blind us to obvious truth. The King James Bible in Philemon 1:15 says of the runaway slave, "For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever." The American Standard also says "forever." So according to these two leading translations, this slave will remain Philemon’s slave for all eternity. The New International has him back "for good." That makes more sense than "forever," but it is not correct. "Aion" never means "for good." This is paraphrasing of the most corrupt kind.
"Ages" have ends. All of the ages will one day end. To teach otherwise is to contradict scriptures such as 1 Corinthians 10:11 and Hebrews 9:26 which speak of the "end of the ages." The King James in Hebrews 9:26 speaks of the "end of the world," but the Greek word "aion" here is in the plural form "ton aionon." This is nothing short of just sloppy translating. In many other passages of scripture, the King James Bible does not pay attention to the number of the word, that is, whether it was plural or singular. The Bible clearly teaches a "pre-aion" period, at least 5 aions or ages, and a "post" aion period. There is a "before the ages," "times past," "present ages," "these ages," "future ages," and a "consummation of the ages." If the translators of some of the leading Bibles dropped their tradition of translating according to their doctrines and translated according to what the Greek and Hebrew languages say, we would not have apparent contradictions in our translations and we would clearly have a Bible that is in perfect agreement to all of the attributes of our Father, not just some of them. The scripture "Love never fails" would be true for every person born under the sun. Some denominations make Him to be clearly a "respecter of persons" which, again, forces the Bible to contradict itself due to people forcing their traditions into the Scriptures. Clearly, He is not a respecter of persons if we see the whole picture. Our problems have always stemmed from judging the end by what we presently see. We must be seated in "heavenly places" in order to see the beginning and the end.
Now let us go back to our study. We dealt with "aion." Now let us look at the word "destruction." The Greek word translated "destruction" in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 is "olethros." This word is a cognate of the Greek word "apollumi" (see Strong’s Concordance). This word "olethros" occurs in other scriptures that proves this word does not mean "destruction without hope of life." I will quote a scripture to show that this is true. "To deliver such an one to Satan for the destruction (olethros) of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 5:5, KJV). As this same Greek noun is used in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 and 1 Corinthians 5:5, it is clear that this kind of destruction, does not eliminate the possibility of future life.
If one studies the scriptures and reads 2 Thessalonians 1:9 and reads "everlasting destruction" they would assume the scriptures teach annihilation, but as we know, "aion" and "aionios" cannot mean endlessness, and "destruction" (olethros) cannot mean destruction with no hope of future salvation. Enough said.