I looked up the word Forever in the dictionary and here is what came up:
For all future time; for always.
Without ever ending; eternally.
When you see the term forever in the bible do you automatically think it means for all future time or never-ending for all eternity? Did you know that biblically that is not accurate?
In 1 Samuel Chapter 1 Hannah pledges her son Samuel to serve the Lord in the temple "all the days of his life" (verse 11) and that he is being lent to God "as long as he lives" (verse 28). In other words "for life." But verse 22 demonstrates that forever means for life. Obviously she realized Samuel would die one day so when Hannah says her son will abide in the temple performing service to God forever she meant until he died. Here are the verses I'm referring too:
1 Samuel 1:22 But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever.
1 Samuel 1:11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
1 Samuel 1:28 therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.
Now I'm going to show you a couple of things from Exodus regarding laws that were declared by God to be in place forever but were later abolished, which again proves that biblically forever does NOT mean for all future time. These involve the duties of the priests in the tabernacle. Keep in mind God knows the end from the beginning, so He knew the man-made temple was going to be replaced by the temple of the body... so when He said the temple services would be required forever He meant until a time appointed when they would be abolished. Let's see if the bible backs up what I'm saying. Here are 2 examples of God declaring temple services to be statutes forever:
Exodus 27:21 In the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall [cause the lamp to burn] from evening to morning before the Lord: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
Exodus 29:28 And it shall be Aaron's and his sons' by a statute for ever from the children of Israel: for it is an heave offering: and it shall be an heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the Lord.
God no longer requires either of those statutes to be performed anymore does He? Of course not, since He doesn't dwell in a temple made of hands anymore. And there are many other examples of statutes which we were told would be in effect "forever" that are no long valid found in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
So either forever means for all future time and God is a liar or forever really means for a limited amount of time which God determines.
Hebrews chapter 9 talks about those "forever statutes" from the Old Testament only being imposed on God's people until the time of reformation (when Christ died and the new covenant went into effect). Here it is in context:
Hebrews 9:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Hebrews 9:9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Hebrews 9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances [statutes], imposed on them until the time of reformation.
I believe I just showed you enough evidence that forever doesn't necessarily mean for all future time. But I also know it's very difficult to let go of longstanding beliefs so please pray on this if you are having trouble accepting this notion. Please keep in mind what our modern definition of a word means doesn't matter; what matters is what a word meant when the pen was put to the paper.
Now you might be saying to yourself what difference does it make? Well, if you are really searching for the truth about what the bible says with all of your heart then it matters because Christians should always want the truth.
Amen.
In some of my upcoming posts I will show where the bible says...
For all future time; for always.
Without ever ending; eternally.
When you see the term forever in the bible do you automatically think it means for all future time or never-ending for all eternity? Did you know that biblically that is not accurate?
In 1 Samuel Chapter 1 Hannah pledges her son Samuel to serve the Lord in the temple "all the days of his life" (verse 11) and that he is being lent to God "as long as he lives" (verse 28). In other words "for life." But verse 22 demonstrates that forever means for life. Obviously she realized Samuel would die one day so when Hannah says her son will abide in the temple performing service to God forever she meant until he died. Here are the verses I'm referring too:
1 Samuel 1:22 But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever.
1 Samuel 1:11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
1 Samuel 1:28 therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.
Now I'm going to show you a couple of things from Exodus regarding laws that were declared by God to be in place forever but were later abolished, which again proves that biblically forever does NOT mean for all future time. These involve the duties of the priests in the tabernacle. Keep in mind God knows the end from the beginning, so He knew the man-made temple was going to be replaced by the temple of the body... so when He said the temple services would be required forever He meant until a time appointed when they would be abolished. Let's see if the bible backs up what I'm saying. Here are 2 examples of God declaring temple services to be statutes forever:
Exodus 27:21 In the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall [cause the lamp to burn] from evening to morning before the Lord: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
Exodus 29:28 And it shall be Aaron's and his sons' by a statute for ever from the children of Israel: for it is an heave offering: and it shall be an heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the Lord.
God no longer requires either of those statutes to be performed anymore does He? Of course not, since He doesn't dwell in a temple made of hands anymore. And there are many other examples of statutes which we were told would be in effect "forever" that are no long valid found in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
So either forever means for all future time and God is a liar or forever really means for a limited amount of time which God determines.
Hebrews chapter 9 talks about those "forever statutes" from the Old Testament only being imposed on God's people until the time of reformation (when Christ died and the new covenant went into effect). Here it is in context:
Hebrews 9:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Hebrews 9:9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Hebrews 9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances [statutes], imposed on them until the time of reformation.
I believe I just showed you enough evidence that forever doesn't necessarily mean for all future time. But I also know it's very difficult to let go of longstanding beliefs so please pray on this if you are having trouble accepting this notion. Please keep in mind what our modern definition of a word means doesn't matter; what matters is what a word meant when the pen was put to the paper.
Now you might be saying to yourself what difference does it make? Well, if you are really searching for the truth about what the bible says with all of your heart then it matters because Christians should always want the truth.
Amen.
In some of my upcoming posts I will show where the bible says...
- People will burn in hellfire until they die, not for all of eternity.
- People do not go to heaven or hell right after they die but have to wait until they are resurrected by Jesus.
- People do not have immortal souls or live as disembodied spirits after they die; in fact they only go to heaven or hell when their physical body is resurrected.
- The word hell biblically means grave, not an eternally burning underworld as is commonly believed.
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