Romans – God’s Timeline XII: ‘Forever’ or ‘For the Eon’?

 

“Eon,” Singular: For the Eon

The question on the table: can the phrase eis ton aion, with any inflection, mean “forever” in the Bible?

The answer, as I will now demonstrate, is a big, fat, no. Nowhere is this more evident than in the book of John, where the phrase “for the eon” must undeniably refer to the millennial kingdom, and not a never-ending amount of time. Let us look, first, at John 8:51 in the KJV, in the midst of one of Jesus’ classic smackdowns–

Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death.

*sigh* What a crock of shit.

Yeah, yeah, sorry, “not nice enough” for you. I just couldn’t help myself, man. If there were ever a more blatant example of editorializing, this is it – and I should know, because I’ve seen a lot of editorializing in all these translations I’m flipping through! Seriously, almost every other translation you look at says this! The Dearby. The New Inconsistent. The New ‘Merican. The Burrian. The Massage. The New Revisionists. None of them translate this as “for the age,” and it doesn’t seem as though this even crosses their minds. It’s supremely dishonest translational methodology, for there have been so many examples thus far which show us that this word cannot possibly have a “never-ending” quality to it!

The problem is especially horrific when you consider that this phrase – the phrase above, the never seeing death part – is directly in line with the very first jealous enticement from Satan toward our smexy protagonists:

But the serpent said to the woman: Not to die shall you be dying! For Elohim knows that on the day you eat of it, your eyes will be unclosed, and you will be like Elohim, knowing good and evil.

Now, you might say something like, “Well, sure, Gerudo, they sound similar, but one of them is clearly Jesus and the other is Satan. One is lying to draw one into sin, while the other is truth-telling to get you out of death.” But here’s the thing, Strawman: Jesus Himself understood the necessity for death in an individual (even in Himself, dislike it as He may,) and this is shown by the fact that Satan was willing to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if He would bow down and worship him (Matt. 4:8-10!) The same end goal as God, in such a scenario (which was to give all authority and judging to the Son,) but Satan was offering the shortcut, the removal of death. Jesus responds more forcefully in the cited passage than any other, saying, “Get thee hence, Satan,” or, “Get a Goddamn clue, sir.”

The secret here is that Jesus understood completely that death was not some scary thing that mankind worked itself into, but a necessary limitation imparted by its Creator, specially indicated as a penalty and designed to educate the whole race on the contrast between death and life, the disintegrating nature of evil with the necessary qualities of good. For Him to turn around and say, “Hey, dudes, I have an immediate way out of death for you” would be incongruent with the necessary story God is telling to bring about humility in man (Ecc. 1:13.)

Now that I’ve briefly covered the thematic issue on this verse, let’s talk now about the practical issue, namely that everyone from 2,000 years ago is dead, and only Jesus is still kicking back among the celestials. If the falsely translated verse were true, it would make Jesus a liar. If He meant that, figuratively, you’re still living in some heavenly place after death, then He is still a liar, by ignoring the very nature and quality of death (Gen. 2:7, 3:17-18, Ecc. 9:5, 10, 12:7.)

The thematic nature of this issue, the practical nature of this issue, in conjunction with the fact that we have now considered thirty nine other uses of the term in which “eternality” or indefinite duration would make no sense, means that a re-evaluation of the passage is due. Thankfully, not all hope is lost, for there are three (3) translations in which this verse is translated more coherently – The Young’s Literal (“to the age,”) The Dabhar Translation (“into the eon,”) and our darling Concordant Literal:

Verily, verily, I am saying to you, If ever anyone should be keeping My word, he should under no circumstances be beholding death for the eon.

Now we’re getting somewhere. Since all of the people who had kept His word at the time of His career are, as of yet, literally dead, it follows that this verse fits like a glove into the following eon. Those who kept His word are said to be resurrected at the beginning of the millennial kingdom, and take no part in the second death (Rev. 20:6.) This lines up with Jesus’ claim here, that these will not be beholding death.

Look, as far as I’m concerned, many translations are down for the count upon translating in accord with the theologian’s opinion, as opposed to scriptural revelation. There is no methodology to “forever” – the translators, intelligent as they may be to the masses, do not translate properly without perjuring themselves. There is no greater example, so far as I have seen, which truly demonstrates this, than in John. I say this especially because of the next verse. Check it out:

The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets, and you are saying, ‘If ever anyone should be keeping my word, he should under no circumstances be tasting death for the eon.’”

It is distinctly Pharisaic to ignore the context in which Jesus speaks, which is to His chosen people (Matt. 15:24,) of the evangel of the kingdom (Matt. 4:23.) The Pharisees had no understanding of this Divine Calendar, as studious in the text as they were. They mixed up this eon with the following. The problem is that Jesus would indeed be caught in a lie if both passages were translated as “forever,” or “everlasting.” But with the realization that the eon is being confused, the passage becomes crystal clear, and both Jesus’ statement and the Pharisees’ confusion is far more decipherable. May we pray for the wisdom to differentiate between these points, that we learn and not follow suite!

The same principle as in John 8:51 appears later in John 10:28, so I’ll mention it briefly here–

My sheep are hearing My voice, and I know them, and they are following Me. And I am giving them life eonian, and they should by no means be perishing for the eon, and no one shall be snatching them out of My hand.

As individuals have perished after following Jesus since He declared this, the passage cannot, once again, be referring to an “eternal” life. Nor could this phrase be referring to “this eon,” as individuals who follow Him are indeed perishing at present.

We may recognize, at this point, an overwhelming number of times in which the phrase eis ton aion could only mean “for the age,” or “for the eon.” Yet it seems that so many translators of our popular versions prefer Satan’s claim that you would “never die” than the actual written revelations. Yet, when we translate it properly, a light is shined on many confused passages – almost as if God’s claim in Heb. 11:3, that the apprehension of the eons adjusts us to the declarations of God, is an accurate statement! Take, for example, John 6:47-58, Jesus speaking to the crowd of Israelites–

Verily, verily, I am saying to you that he who is believing in Me has life eonian. I am the Bread of life. Your fathers at the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the Bread which is descending out of heaven, that anyone may be eating of it and may not be dying.

I am the living Bread which descends out of heaven. If anyone should be eating of this Bread, he shall be living for the eon. Now the Bread also, which I shall be giving for the sake of the life of the world, is My flesh.

The Jews, then, fought with one another, saying, “How then can this one give us His flesh to eat?”

Jesus, then, said to them, “Verily, verily, I am saying to you, If you should not be eating the flesh of the Son of Mankind and drinking His blood, you have no eonian life in yourselves. He who is masticating My flesh and drinking My blood has life eonian, and I shall be raising him in the last day, for My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.

“He who is masticating My flesh and drinking My blood is remaining in Me, and I in him. According as the living Father commissions Me, I, also, am living because of the Father. And he who is masticating Me, he also will be living because of Me. This is the Bread which descends out of heaven. Not according as the fathers ate and died; he who is masticating this Bread shall be living for the eon.” These things He said, teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum.

Elsewhere on this blog, I have discussed the context for John 6, thus will press on assuming you’ve read the breakdown already. There is a clear issue in the KJV, which expositors have had trouble reconciling for thousands of years. Jesus here claims, per the KJV, that “If any man eat of this bread he shall live forever,” per John 6:51. Yet later, in the same translation, the man who “eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Now, look, I’m no genius, but I’m pretty sure that, in order for someone to have eternal life, their life must have no beginning. Even if it were to say “everlasting” life, their life would have to have no end. In the case of Jesus’ audience, neither of these principles are true, for they were born in a womb, and died at a certain age. Not a single one of Jesus’ personal followers is alive today, thus cannot have received “eternal” or “everlasting” life. Further, Jesus would be a liar if He had, in 6:51, actually said that those who eat of this bread shall live forever. He would not say this, and then contradict Himself with the claim that those who have died will be resurrected at a later time.

Thankfully, we have the numerous examples which speak to the contrary, that aion is a definite length of time. If we keep the context in mind (the “last day” being the last day of the eon, in preparation for the millennial kingdom, per the context of Israel’s imminent resurrection,) then we find that the phrase “for the eon,” here again, fits like a glove in regards to the impending eon. That those who eat “this Bread shall be living for the eon” in v. 58 is not only in line with His prior statement in v. 51, but even in line with the prior considerations made in John 8:51.

Jesus once again affirms this truth over in John 11:26, speaking to Martha over Lazarus’ death–

Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who is believing in Me, even if he should be dying, shall be living. And everyone who is living and believing in Me, should by no means be dying for the eon. Are you believing this?”

As in John 6 and John 8, this cannot refer to the current eon, for many have lived and believed in Him, and have still died. Thus we have a safe contextual understanding of the passages, recognizing that they refer distinctly to the kingdom that will arrive in the future.

*   *   *

There are a few more uses of “for the eon” in John. The first use in John is found in 4:14–

Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who is drinking of this water will be thirsting again, yet whoever may be drinking of the water which I shall be giving him, shall under no circumstances be thirsting for the eon, but the water which I shall be giving him will become in him a spring of water, welling up into life eonian.”

Which, of course, can neither refer to this eon, or some perpetual period of time in which those who believe now “never” thirst again, considering those who were believing then definitely thirsted again (we are soil and need water, last I checked.)

We see the same principle once again in Jesus’ debate with the Pharisees, John 8:35–

Jesus answered them, “Verily, verily, I am saying to you that everyone who is doing sin, is a slave of sin. Now the slave is not remaining in the house for the eon. The son is remaining for the eon.”

This is a passage which, upon closer inspection, was a great consolation to me (this is an aside, not quite on the “eon” part yet, but I’ll get there. This is my journal, so I’ll say what I’d like.) See, one of the big “arguments” from the atheist crowd is that the Bible “doesn’t condemn slavery,” and this strawman has been beaten to death among their crowds. Yet, I look at this verse and I see a very clear and definite condemnation of slavery. It is so definite that Jesus doesn’t just say, “Oh, screw slavery! I wish that would stop!” but clearly affirms, “Yeah, this isn’t going to last.” I know we’re talking about “eons” and “forevers” and “eternals,” and this is an engaging topic to the honest truth seeker, but I do find it disheartening that so many among the atheist crowd fight so hard against scripture on a false premise, simply because of mistranslations like “everlasting fire.” Hopefully, if you’re agnostic, at minimum, the simplicity of this argument will at least enable you to re-evaluate the text, if not to “believe” it, to at least recognize that, yes, the Creator of the universe debars enslavement of other individuals, and, in His kingdom, He would not enforce such a notion.

Now, for you scripture nerds – yes, this is clearly for the kingdom, because slavery does still indeed exist today, so Jesus cannot be referring to this eon. If you’re still somehow part of the “forever” crowd after the prior evidence, you would probably be pointing at this passage as proof that the word “can mean eternal.” True as it may be that Jesus will last forever, as will all who are given eonian life, it is evidently not the thought expressed here, as the word “forever” in Greek is not used, but aion. The house in view in the passage is the sanctuary, where the priesthood will be dwelling in the coming kingdom, for it is destroyed now. If the first half of the phrase can only refer to a limited duration, then it would be a complete assumption on our end to assume that Jesus would magically mean unlimited duration in the second half. I reckon this one is so often fought for because it is believed that “forever” would prove Christ’s supremacy over creation, or perhaps indicate that He will live permanently. Yet there are other verses which attest this. Watch: Colossians 1:18, Romans 6:8-9. There! Keep your doctrine, but don’t change the word of God to create “more” evidence for something written elsewhere. The word of God only needs to proclaim something once for it to be true.

- GerudoKing