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The True, Scriptural Meanings of “Forever,” “Everlasting,” and Hell

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The word “forever,” or “everlasting,” in the Bible has been used and interpreted by men wrongly, instilling people with the hurtful and blasphemous doctrine of “eternal torment.” This writing, taken from Is the King James Authorized Version the Perfect Word of God?, gives the true meanings of these words, and opens the door of understanding to the much higher and greater purposes God intends for His creation.

Perhaps the greatest harm of all that the KJV and other translators have committed is in their translation of the Greek word “aion” to “eternal” or “everlasting,” in the sense that we use those words, that is, “time without end, ever.” In other words, ten trillion years from now, if there is an “everlasting hell,” and I go there, I am only beginning my stint; I will never escape; I will never be with God, ever. The plain truth is that the word “aion” does not mean an indefinite span of time. It is an age, and “aionian” is “age-lasting,” or “to an age.” The Hebrew word “olam,” translated “everlasting” is also obscured in its true meaning. Many are the examples where “everlasting” does not mean what we think, or how we use the word today. This, from an article by Gary Amirault:

Now let’s discover how long the ‘eternity’ REALLY is in many leading ‘selling’ English translations:

Sodom’s fiery judgment is ‘eternal’ (Jude 7) – until… God ‘will restore the fortunes of Sodom’ (Eze. 16:53-55).

Israel’s ‘affliction is incurable’ (Jeremiah 30:12) – until… the Lord ‘will restore health’ and heal her wounds (Jeremiah 30:17).

The sin of Samaria ‘is incurable’ (Micah 1:9) – until… Lord ‘will restore the fortunes of Samaria.’ (Ez. 16:53).

Ammon is to become a ‘wasteland forever’ and ‘rise no more’ (Zephaniah 2:9, Jeremiah 25:27) – until… the Lord will ‘restore the fortunes of the Ammonites’ (Jeremiah 49:6).

An Ammonite or Moabite is forbidden to enter the Lord’s congregation ‘forever’ – until… the tenth generation (Deuteronomy 23:3).

Habakkuk tells us of mountains that were ‘everlasting’, that is – until… they ‘were shattered’ (Habakkuk 3 3:6).

The Aaronic Priesthood was to be an ‘everlasting’ priesthood (Exodus 40:15), that is – until… it was superceded by the Melchizedek Priesthood (Hebrews 7:14-18).

Many translations of the Bible inform us that God would dwell in Solomon’s Temple ‘forever’ (1 Kings 8:13), that is – until… the Temple was destroyed.

The Law of Moses was to be an ‘everlasting covenant’ (Leviticus 24:8), yet we read in the New Covenant the first was ‘done away’ and ‘abolished’ (2 Corinthians 3:11,13), and God ‘made the first old’ (Hebrews 8:13).

The fire for Israel’s sin offering (of a ram without blemish) is never to be put out. It shall be a ‘perpetual’ – until… Christ, the Lamb of God, dies for our sins. We now have a better covenant established on better promises (Leviticus 6:12-13, Hebrews 8:6-13).

God’s waves of wrath roll over Jonah ‘forever’ – until… the Lord delivers him from the large fish’s belly on the third day (Jonah 2:6,10; 1:17).

Egypt and Elam will ‘rise no more’ (Jeremiah 25:27) – until… the Lord will ‘restore the fortunes of Egypt’ (Ezekiel 29:14) and ‘restore the fortunes of Elam’ (Jeremiah 49:39).

‘Moab is destroyed’ (Jeremiah 48:4, 42) – until… the Lord ‘will restore the fortunes of Moab’ (Jeremiah 48:47).

Israel’s judgment lasts ‘forever’ – until… the Spirit is poured out and God restores it (Isaiah 32:13-15).

The King James Bible, as well as many others, tells us that a bondslave was to serve his master ‘forever’ (Exodus 21:6), that is – until… his death.

He continues:

Here then is absolute proof from the Scriptures themselves that an aion is an AGE or a PARTICULAR PERIOD OR INTERVAL:

• There was time BEFORE the aions (1 Corinthians 2:7, ‘BEFORE the eons’). Therefore, NOT eternal.
• God MADE the aions (Hebrews 1:2, ‘MAKES the eons’). Therefore, NOT eternal.
• There were aions in the PAST (Colossians 1:26, ‘hid FROM eons’). Therefore, NOT eternal.
• This PRESENT age is called an aion (Galatians 1:4, ‘the PRESENT wicked eon’). Therefore, NOT eternal.
• This PRESENT age will come to an END (Matthew 24:3, ‘The END [or conclusion] of the eon’). Therefore, NOT eternal.
• There is coming another aion AFTER this present aion (Luke 18:30, ‘the eon TO COME’). Therefore, NOT eternal.
• There are, in fact, coming multiples or FUTURE AIONS (Ephesians 2:7, ‘the ONCOMING AIONS’). Therefore, NOT eternal.
• Some aions are even contrasted with OTHER AIONS (Ephesians 3:21, ‘the eon OF the eons’). Therefore, NOT ETERNAL.
• All aions will come to all their ENDS (1 Corinthians 10:11, ‘the CONSUMMATIONS [plural] of the eons [plural].’) Therefore, obviously not possible to be eternal!!

Now there is Scriptural proof. We don’t need Webster’s Dictionary and we don’t need Strong’s Lexicon. The Scriptural usage of the words ‘aion’ ‘aions’ and ‘aionios’ prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Greek ‘aions’ are NOT English ‘eternities.’

[It has been said that] the Hebrew ‘olams’ NEVER, EVER mean ‘age.’ That statement is NOT Scripturally true. Numbers 25:13 speaks of the priesthood of Aaron, and we read this: ‘And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an EVERLASTING [Heb. ‘olam’] priesthood….’ We now know for a Scriptural FACT that this priesthood was NOT ‘everlasting,’ but rather lasted for an ‘age’–a long period of time having a beginning and an ending. We see in the book of Hebrews that this very priesthood NO LONGER EXISTS! The temple is gone and the tribe of Levi is gone. And so, it was an ‘age-abiding’ or ‘eonian’ priesthood, not an ‘everlasting’ one.

Another word we find in the KJV translation that is limiting, if not offensive to understanding, is the word “Hell.” The translators used the one same English word for three different words in the original tongues…Tartarus, Gehenna, and Hades (Sheol in Hebrew). I have learned that oftentimes several English words can fall very short of expressing even one word in the Greek or Hebrew. Here, one English word presumes to take on three at once! The true meanings are then hidden.

The purpose of the translators of the “Amplified” version was to attempt to address that problem that occurs not only with this case but in much of the translating. They tried to expand on the essence of the original language words. For example, while the KJV uses the simple word “believe,” which has a simplistic meaning to us today, not one that sufficiently informs us of what kind of belief is required for salvation, the Amplified expresses the Greek meaning of it as, “to cleave, trust, rely on.”

How many people have I heard say, “I believe in Jesus”? But what are they saying? What do they mean? Do they truly cleave to Him or are they simply saying they believe He existed and is the Son of God? What a vast difference there is between the two meanings, a difference between life and death, no less! Truly, the simple word “Hell” falls short for us when one studies the Greek and Hebrew words, the essences of which we have been “gravely” short-changed by the English translation:

As defined by Strong’s Analytical Concordance, the Hebrew word, “sheol”: “the world of the dead, including its accessories and inmates, grave, hades, hell, pit.”

The word, “Hades”: “unseen, the place or state of departed souls, grave, hell.”

The word, “Gehenna”: “the valley of Hinnom, a valley in Jerusalem, where they burned refuse and carcases, used figuratively as a name for the place or state of everlasting punishment.” (Keep in mind the proper meaning of “everlasting.”)

The word, “Tartarus”: “the deepest abyss of Hades, to incarcerate in everlasting torment.” (Keep in mind the proper meaning of “everlasting.”)

We see that there is more to “Hell” than the KJV is letting on, as there is with “everlasting.” How do we explain this? The translators knew their languages well. Why would they do this?

Here is one explanation: King James’ ambition and motive was to unify England, which in his day was divided and fragile along social, ethnic, geographical, religious and political lines. History records that he wanted to compromise, not elucidate or clarify. He wanted to preserve his own position as king.

King James sought, therefore, to please the Catholics, the religious hierarchy of the Church of England, the more moderate of the religious reformers (known then as the Puritans) and the government, and to mollify all actual and threatening factions. He instructed the translators to keep his intentions in mind. They in turn sought to maintain the status quo, supporting the standard interpretation of “everlasting torment,” which interpretation magnified the authority of the government/state church.

A fate too horrible to fathom awaited those who offended or resisted, so all were better off if they complied without question!

Victor Hafichuk

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Show me whom you follow, and I will know what manner of person you are or will become. If you do not know whom you are following, don't you think it is time to find out how and where you are being led? Do you think you will altogether escape the consequences because ignorant? Think again. You already suffer them. John Calvin was one of the most vicious of wolves ever to pose as a lamb of God. His supremely self-righteous spirit lives on in those who lionize and follow him, even unbeknownst to themselves. Truly, “that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”

永恆的地獄和上帝的愛是否相容?

English – Spanish – Chinese 我們收到了這封信: 維克多, 我的名字是丹尼爾,我也曾與菲利普會面並一起工作過。我正在閱讀你和保羅的電子郵件,我注意到您在哪裡說:「我知道,在『基督教』世界裡,有很多不好的文學作品,教導謊言,例如,那些沒有得救的人永受折磨教義。從未有過比這更醜陋的謊言。這是對上帝的本性和品格的誹謗。」您是在說您不相信地獄或永恆的詛咒嗎?我不明白您在說什麼。此外,在您給菲利普的電子郵件中,我注意到一種沮喪的語氣,幾乎到了責罵的程度。您認為這種語氣是一種愛和關懷,是對菲利普的造就和鼓勵嗎? 丹尼爾 我們憑信心而活,而不是憑眼見。 維克多和保羅的回覆: 嗨丹尼爾, 你來信的結尾 (「我們憑信心而活,而不是憑眼見」) 本質上就是我們告訴菲利普的。你認不出來嗎?我認為你發送該聲明是我們給他的信的結果。我可能是錯的,但如果是對的,諷刺的是你會把它發給我們。 我認為你相信一個永恆的、折磨人的地獄。雖然聖經清楚地表明地獄的存在,但不是在大多數新教或天主教圈子中所宣揚的地獄。大多數人發現或將發現自己身處的地獄是一種黑暗和晦澀的狀態,是死者的地方,他們「一無所知」(儘管他們可能認為自己知道)。他們在屬靈上對上帝是無意識的。 當然,在黑暗中,與上帝的靈隔絕,那裡有無知、懼怕、缺乏理解、拜偶像和束縛,更不用說折磨。但是在來世是否有字面的、身體上的懲罰之火?沒有。地獄會永遠存在嗎?不 (啟示錄 20:14)。有沒有像詹姆士王欽定版翻譯的那樣「永遠的詛咒,」即與上帝「永永遠遠」的隔絕?沒有。閱讀“永遠”、“永久”、和“地獄”的真正聖經含義。 只有上帝是不朽的,以及那些祂授予的人。永恆的詛咒和折磨是邪惡、異教思想的編造,試圖向人們灌輸恐懼,以控制他們。天主教會,從君士坦丁開始,使用這種可怕的教義,而新教徒繼續利用使用它。上帝不會通過恐懼來獲勝。 如果你看一下希伯來語和希臘語翻譯成英語的「地獄」和「永遠」這兩個詞,它們沒有提到一個沒有盡頭的狀態。關於這些問題,我有很多文章可以發給你。目前,閱讀我們《萬物的復興》的部分,你還可以閱讀惡魔般的教義;你應該特別閱讀永無止境的折磨。 你可能想(或不想) 閱讀的另一篇文章是:邪教的真實標記,並考慮你的立場。 丹尼爾,我懷疑當你幾乎還沒有觸及我們的著作時,你不會同意它們,但它們是真實的、符合聖經的、由上帝教導的,那些不同意這些教義的人不是上帝派來傳教的。他們是出於自己的公義和假定而宣講的,對他們聲稱代表的唯一的那個是一無所知。 判斷了我對菲利普說話的語氣後,你問:「您認為這種語氣是一種愛和關懷,是對菲利普的造就和鼓勵嗎?」對於這個問題,我的回答:「是的,」我很清楚你不會那樣理解上帝的愛。就在今天,我 (部分)寫信給另一個人: 「事實上,人將他人吸引到上帝面前的行為恰好是敵基督靈的一個顯著特徵。人假設他們在基督裡的,認為他們可以通過『在他們裡面的光』來『愛』人歸神,因此,他們以『能力作見證。』事實是,他們以他們的愛作證歸給自己,同時在宣告祂的名。舊約或新約都沒有記載聖徒通過愛他們贏得任何人到上帝面前…無處,甚至是與耶穌。這就是敵基督的靈。」 你可以閱讀的有關該主題的文章有: 虛假宗教人士喜愛那憎恨(拒絕)上帝 上帝只說出柔和的話語嗎? 竭力維護從前一次就全交給了聖徒的信仰, 維克多 丹尼爾,我是保羅。 我想補充一點。 有趣的是你在同一封信中詢問關於地獄和愛。我們經常發現那些指責我們沒有愛心的人,他們相信並宣揚全能和愛的化身的上帝,祂創造了...

Were Old Testament Saints Left in Hell?

From: Laurence To: The Path of Truth Sent: Friday, April 29, 2016 12:18 PM Subject: Confused. Hello sir. I am confused here. Is it true Jesus when crucified went down into hell to release the Old Testament Saints? My confusion comes from this. If Jesus had to go and release them, why did God put them there in the first place. I understand people tell me because the blood wasn't applied. But wasn't Abraham's salvation credited to him through his faith, without the blood? When the rich man died, didn't he look up into heaven and see Abraham ? Wasn't the poor man placed in Abraham's arms at his bosom? Why would Jesus have to go to that terrible place hell to release people who shouldn't be there in the first place? I am sure you will understand where i am coming from. Please don't tell me Abraham's bosom is a place. Thank You Laurence. From: Paul Cohen To: Laurence Cc: Victor Hafichuk Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2016 7:08 AM Subject: Re: Confused. Hi Laurence, No, it’s not true that Jesus went into Hell to release Old Testament saints. The Scripture you refer to says He went to preach to those who sinned at the time of the flood: 1 Peter 3:18-20 MKJV (18) For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, indeed being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit; (19) in which also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, (20) to disobeying ones, when once the long-suffering of God waited in...
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