#34. Romans - Let's Talk About the Eons, Part III

   Part IV: God’s Conciliation, Confirmed

Here it is! In a mini-series called “Let’s Talk About the Eons,” I’m finally talking about them.

You may notice, right off the bat, that there are “five eons.” In the last part, we learned two things:

1)    there are “five worlds”

2)    “Five” is the number of grace

I would now like to share a verse that will help us greatly moving forward. Observe Eph. 2:1-2:

And you, being dead to your offenses and sins, in which once you walked, in accord with the eon of this world…

Huh. So clearly, “eons” and “worlds” have an inherent connection. It follows, then, that each time we have a world, we have a corresponding eon. Each eon, or period of time, implements a different world, or system, in which God carries out His purpose in Christ. 

With that in mind, discerning the eons and the worlds becomes a hell of a lot easier! The first eon is covered in the same verses that cover the first heaven and the first earth, as well as the “then” world. We do not know anything about this eon, other than its finale. That eon ends when there is a distinct disruption of the world – a flood. The first eon, then, ends with a cataclysmic event that results in the destruction of that world.

Now, if that were the entirety of the story, there would be no growth. No learning. It’s crucial that the next eons display two major qualities: first, we must see the climax of evil. Second, it’s crucial that we see the character of God in contrast to that evil. The perfect kosmos and subsequent disruption are incomprehensible to us apart from this.

The second eon deals with the same “ancient world” from 2 Pet. 2:5. You could, then, call this the “ancient eon,” as the Divine Calender displays. This covers the period from Genesis 1:3 to Genesis 8:23 – the “first ten patriarchs,” as many scholars call it, culminating in the flood of the ancient world. I’ll have more to say on this eon in the future, but for now let it be known that this was the celestial realm’s unstructured reign over the earth (Gen. 6:1-4.) Thus, we now have two eons with two corresponding cataclysmic events that ended them. You could call these cataclysmic events the “consummations” of these two eons – more on that in a moment.

The present eon we are in now is the “third world” system that is implemented. There are a hefty number of critical details that we know concerning this eon, as it is the crux (or “cross,” hehe) of the eons, in terms of how sin is dealt with. Paul calls this eon the “present wicked eon,” in Gal. 1:4. It began when Noah stepped off the boat and received the information we covered in the last section (Gen. 9.) The Tower of Babel is formed (completely reflecting man’s attempts to unite in the flesh at the end of the eon,) establishing the nations (Deut. 33:8-9.) Abraham is promised a great kingdom, and the Israelite nation is formed. The tragedy of their history is documented, as well as the history of the great dynasties that we know today. Most importantly, Christ descends, is crucified on the cross, and ascends.

Yes, if you’re wondering why you’re having a bad day, it’s because we are currently living in the same eon in which the Son of God died. As all of Scripture revolves around Him, as well as this third eon, my best advice to you in terms of learning about this eon is, “Read the Old Testament, and the New.” With few exceptions, Scripture is concerned with this eon, and Paul’s later exhortations, in Romans 12:1-15:7, concern us with our conduct during this third eon, while awaiting our expectation.

While Jesus was on earth, He proclaimed that believers would have “life eonian” (Matt. 19:28-29, Mark 10:30, Luke 18:30, John 3:16.) This is because, of course, this third eon is coming to an end. You may initially believe that the third eon ended when Christ was crucified. It’s a good guess, but considering Christ was preaching life eonian to Israel at that point in time, pertaining to the next eon (see the above references,) and faithful Israel has clearly not been vivified yet, it follows that the life eonian that He taught has not yet come to pass. This makes sense, considering the first two eons ended with worldwide natural disaster, and not individual disaster.

The third eon ends with the political and religious indignation unveiled in Revelation, from Unv. 4:1-19:21. This is a seven-year tribulation (Dan. 9:27.) This is the same indignation referenced by Paul in Rom. 1:18 and 5:9. So, thankfully, His saints that He operates through now will not be subject to this judgment. This is the consummation of “eon 3.” Observe Paul’s words in 1 Cor. 10:11:

Yet all this befalls [Israel] typically. Yet it was written for our admonition, to whom the consummations of the eons have attained.

The “consummations” (notice the plural) of the eons are the ends of eons 3, 4, and 5.

The fourth eon is documented throughout Revelation 20 (cross ref. Matt. 13:39-40.) It begins with the “former resurrection,” in which faithful Israel is brought back to life. During this eon, the kingdom that was promised to Abraham will finally come to pass, and we, through Christ, will be ruling and reigning celestially during this period of time (Rom. 5:17, 21, Eph. 1:21.) This fourth eon, you may notice, is the first eon that stands on the other side of Christ’s crucifixion, and thus contrasts the second eon. This reveals an intuitive symmetry of these eons. The second eon was chaotic, and full of evil, ruled with no iron club. In contrast, the fourth eon will be a righteous reign, a thousand years of perfect rule, with Israel’s law established, as well as Israel’s ability to follow the law (Jer. 31:33-34, Unv. 19:15.)

This eon also ends in a great, cataclysmic event. During this 1,000-year reign, Satan is bound in the lake of fire, being tormented. It will end when Satan is loosed, and he rallies up the nations against the New Jerusalem. A fire from God will descend on the nations, then, and eviscerate them.

The next event will be the Great White Throne judgment of all mankind (excluding His saints, you and me – we will be the ones judging them, per 1 Cor. 6:1-2.) This event contrasts and reflects the “disruption of the world.” This is where the principle laid out in Rom. 2:5-10 will be fully unveiled – everyone will be judged in accord with their acts. Some will be given life eonian, that is, life on the new heaven and the new earth, while the rest are cast into the lake of fire, which is the “second death.” (Rev. 20:11-15.) This sounds scary on the surface, and it is, if you think about it. However, it is not:

1)    An eternal damnation

2)    An impermanent torment

3)    An eternal fucking damnation

The text means what it says. It will be a death, that is, the absence of life. These people will be as dead as our oldest ancestors are now.

The fifth and final eon is, as I alluded to before, the “new heavens and the new earth.” You can see why this is indeed the “final eon,” because it is a new world administration, as well as a complete symmetrical contrast to the first heaven and earth, which was the first eon. This eon is usually referred to as “the eon of the eon,” per Heb. 1:8, or the “eon of the eons,” per Eph. 3:21 (and, for edifications’ sake, if you ever read a verse that states “eons of the eons,” such as Gal. 1:5, or Phil. 4:20, or 2 Tim. 4:18, you can know that this pertains to the final two eons, including the thousand-year kingdom and the new heavens and earth.) The new heaven and earth, as I’ve said before, are documented in Unv. 21-22. This eon will end with death being abolished (1 Cor. 15:26,) all being made alive and constituted just (Rom. 5:19, 1 Cor. 15:27,) and Christ giving the kingdom up to God, that God may be All in all (1 Cor. 15:28.)

This is the eonian calendar. The period before the eons is 1. The eons themselves are broken up into 5. The period after the eons is 1. This totals 7 – the number of perfection. As we go through Scripture, now, we are going to see discussion of the “eons,” both in the Old and New Testament. With this elongated understanding in mind, it becomes evident that, every time we see “eons” referenced, we can have a better understanding as to which eon is being referred to, per the context of a given verse. This will help us greatly in understanding both some deeply misinterpreted and troubling statements from Jesus (who, if not for the word “eon,” would otherwise be proclaiming that most are permanently discarded, though Scripture claims that every creature is ideal and nothing is to be cast away – 1 Tim. 4:4,) as well as some difficult passages to understand at all.

In the next section, I am going to break down, briefly, the “Twelve administrations” in the “Divine Calendar” that our brothers have created for us. This will further enlighten us on God’s structure in telling His story, as well as contextualize our understanding of Paul’s evangel and where exactly we stand on this eonian chart.

- GerudoKing