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The words eternal
and forever have different meanings in the
Hebrew and the Greek languages and we need
to understand their uses to understand each
author’s intended meaning.
The Hebrew
words owlam, and ʿôlam
have a wide range of meanings and are
usually translated as, “everlasting”,
“forever”, “eternity”; “from of old”,
“ancient”, “lasting”, “for a duration/cycle or age.”
[1]
Examples of things said
to be eternal, or last forever from the Old
Testament:
The Sabbath:
Exod. 31:13, 16, 17.
Circumcision:
Gen. 17:10-14.
Jewish Passover: Exod. 12:14,24.
Day of
Atonement: Lev. 16:30-31.
Feast of
Tabernacles: Lev. 23:41-42.
Feast of
Unleavened Bread: Exod. 12:17.
Tabernacle Candles: Lev. 24:2-4.
Tabernacle Showbread: Lev. 24:5-9.
Tabernacle work: Num. 18:22-23.
Priestly washings: Exod. 30:21.
Grain
offering: Lev. 6:15-18; 23:13-14.
Incense burning: Exod. 30:8.
Animal
Sacrifices: Lev. 7:36-38; Deut. 12:27-28;
Exod. 29:42.
Levitical
Priesthood: Exod. 29:7-9.
The
Old, Mosaic Covenant was made between God
and the nation of Israel alone at Mount
Sinai (Exod. 19-24; Lev. 26:46; Rom. 9:4).
The covenant was made up of three parts: the
Ten Commandments, the ordinances, and
Israel’s elaborate
system of worship, which included the
priesthood, the tabernacle, the offerings,
and the festivals (Exod. 19-23; 24-40; Lev. 1-7; 23).
In total, the Mosaic Law had 613
commandments covering every area of Hebrew
life and it served as Israel’s national
constitution.
The Ten
Commandments are specifically referred to as the
covenant that God made with Israel.
Exodus 34:28 says, “So he was there
with the LORD forty days and forty nights.
He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he
wrote on the tablets the words of the
covenant, the Ten Commandments.”
Deuteronomy 29:1 says, “These
are the words of the covenant that the Lord
commanded Moses to make with the Israelites
in the land of Moab, in addition to the
covenant he had made with them at Horeb.”
(CSB)
NOTE: “The
covenant in the land of Moab is a
reiteration of the covenant at Horeb (i.e.,
Sinai), and the laws are the same as were
given to Israel through Moses at Horeb. The
Moab covenant constitutes all the spoken
words of Moses in Deuteronomy.”
[2]
2 Chronicles 34:31 says, “And the king
stood in his place and made a covenant
before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and
to keep his commandments and his testimonies
and his statutes, with all his heart and all
his soul, to perform the words of the
covenant that were written in this book.”
NOTE: “Very few of the
kings of Judah promised to follow the Lord
as Josiah did. After David, only Joash,
Hezekiah, and Josiah made such public
commitments (see 2 Chron. 23:3; 29:10; 1
Chron. 17:7-14). They stand head and
shoulders above the other kings of Judah and
Israel. The terms commandments, testimonies,
and statutes were all technical terms
referring to the covenant (see Deut. 4:40, 45; 5:31; 6:1, 17).”
[3]
There was only one covenant that God
made with Israel on Mount Sinai, not two.
All 613 commandments, testimonies, and
statutes, were seen as a unit and
constituted the Mosaic Covenant.
The Bible tells us that the New
Covenant made the Old Covenant obsolete.
Hebrews 8:13 says, “When He said, “A new
covenant,” He has made the first obsolete.
But whatever is becoming obsolete and
growing old is ready to disappear” (cf.
Gal. 3:19; 3:24-25; Rom. 7:4-8; 10:4; 2 Cor. 3:3-11;
Heb. 7:12, 18; 8:13; Heb. 9:1-4; 10:9).
Many of the
commandments, regulations, and promises that God gave to Israel
do not apply to Christians living under the
New Covenant.
Everything
listed above that was said to be “eternal”,
“everlasting”, or “forever” in the Old
Covenant no longer serves any purpose in the
New Covenant. The New Covenant has removed
all of the ceremonial and ritualistic
elements of the Old Covenant law. The word
“eternal” is used in the “sense of a cycle
or age.” The object has served its purpose
and met its fulfillment.
Each covenant has its own
legal code that governs it.
Hebrews 7:11-12 says, “Now if perfection had been
attainable through the Levitical priesthood
(for under it the people received the law),
what further need would there have been for
another priest to arise after the order of
Melchizedek, rather than one named after the
order of Aaron? For when there is a change
in the priesthood, there is necessarily a
change in the law as well.”
Christians live under the New Covenant.
God brought the Old Covenant to an end
when Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah
and King. Jesus warned His disciples the
week before He died that the nation would
soon be destroyed because of their lack of
faith in Him (Jer. 12:14-17; 18; 26:1-6; Dan. 9:26-27;
Matt. 21:42-44; 23:37-39; Luke 13:34-35; cf.
1 Kings 9:7; Jer. 22:5; 1 Pet. 2:9).
Jesus brought the New Covenant into
effect by His death on Calvary’s cross
(Luke 22:19-22; Heb. 9:14-17).
The Mosaic
Covenant had served as a dividing wall meant
to separate Israel from the unbelieving
Gentiles (Eph. 2:11-15; John 4:22; 7:35;
Acts 14:1, 5; 18:4; Rom. 3:9; 3:29; 9:4, 5, 24;
1 Cor. 1:22-24). Christ abolished the
dividing wall by fulfilling it and removing
the law’s condemnation for those who believe
in Him (Matt. 5:17; Rom. 8:1; Heb. 9:11-14; 10:1-10).
When we are in Christ, we become a
new person, part of a new human race made in
the image of Christ, the second Adam (1 Cor. 15:45, 49;
Eph. 4:24).
The New Testament points out
many times that the New Covenant is the
fulfillment of the Old Covenant. By this
they mean that God brought to completion the
plan of salvation He had been working out
for the human race through the history of
Israel. All of the Old Testament prophecies
and promises about the coming messiah and
the salvation He would accomplish for us
were fulfilled in the life, death, and
resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ
(Deut. 4:25-31; Judges 2:13-16;
1 Kings 8:33-34; Ps. 81:7-10; 89:29-37;
Isa. 1:16-20; Matt. 5:17-18; John 1:45;
Acts 2:36-39; Rom. 3:21-26; 2 Cor. 1:20;
Eph. 1:9-10; 3:3-9; 5:32; Heb. 1:1-3).
The
New Testament teaches that Sabbath-keeping
and all of the other ceremonial requirements
of the Old Covenant Law were merely shadows
pointing forward to Christ and the work He
would do for us and are no longer
required under the New Covenant
(Matt. 11:28-30; 12:1-8; Acts 15:1-28; Col. 2:14-17; Gal 4:10-11;
Rom. 14:5-12; Eph. 2:11-16;
Heb. 3:7-4:13; 8:5; 10:1; 10:23-25).
Hebrew
and Greek word definitions for “eternal”,
“everlasting” or “forever”.
Hebrew:
ʿôlām / owlam:
A masculine noun meaning a
very long time. The word usually refers to
looking forward but many times expresses the
idea of looking backward. It may cover a
given person’s lifetime (Exod. 21:6;
1 Sam. 1:22); a period of many generations
(Josh. 24:2; Prov. 22:28); the time of
the present created order (Deut. 33:15;
Ps. 73:12); time beyond this
temporal sphere, especially when used
regarding God (Gen. 21:33; Ps. 90:2;
Dan. 12:2, 7). The term also applies to
many things associated with God, such as His
decrees, His covenants, and the Messiah
(Gen. 9:16; Exod. 12:14; Micah 5:2).
This word describes the span of time in
which God is to be obeyed and praised
(1 Chron. 16:36; Ps. 89:1; 119:112). In
the age to come, there will be no need for
sun or moon, for God Himself will be the
everlasting light (Isa. 60:19, 20; cf.
Rev. 22:5). [Complete Word Study
Dictionary, The Old Testament].
Greek: aiōn, aiōnios:
In the New
Testament, aiōn and aiōnios are often used
with the meaning “eternal,” in the
predominant sense of futurity. The word aiōn
primarily signifies time, in the sense of
age or generation; it also comes to denote
all that exists under time-conditions; and,
finally, superimposed upon the temporal is
an ethical use, relative to the world’s
course. Thus aiōn may be said to mean the
subtle informing spirit of the world or
cosmos—the totality of things. By Plato, in
his Timaeus, aiōn was used of the eternal
Being, whose counterpart, in the
sense-world, is Time. To Aristotle, in
speaking of the world, aiōn is the ultimate
principle which, in itself, sums up all
existence. In the New Testament, aiōn is
found combined with prepositions in nearly
three score and ten instances, where the
idea of unlimited duration appears to be
meant. This is the usual method of
expressing eternity in the Septuagint also.
The aiōnios of 2 Corinthians 4:18 must be
eternal, in a temporal use or reference,
else the antithesis would be gone.” [The International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia].
The Hebrew words
“eternal” and “forever” are used in the
sense of a “cycle or age” in the Old
Testament. It has served its purpose and has
met its fulfillment. This is how the New
Testament can say that something that was
said to be eternal, or everlasting in the
Old Testament has come to an end.
There are also many things the Bible says
God sanctified and declared
holy in the Old Testament that were also
fulfilled by Jesus Christ and are no longer
set apart for holy use under the New
Covenant (Gen. 2:3; Exod. 20:8; 30:22-38;
Ps. 65:4; 2 Chron. 7:16; 1 Kings 9:3; 8:64;
Exod. 40:9; Lev. 25:10; Ne. 3:1).
Each of the Bible’s covenants had
different laws that governed it
(Acts 15:1-28).
The only
laws God expects us to keep are the laws
given in the New Covenant because, “when
there is a change in the priesthood, there
is necessarily a change in the law as well.”
(Heb. 7:12).
References:
1. Mounce’s
Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and
New Testament Words: Hebrew: owlam and ʿôlam.
2. ESV Study Bible: Deuteronomy 29:1.
3.
Nelson’s NKJV Study Bible: 2 Chronicles 34:31.
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