Wrote Luke Kessler (who I cited in the previous chapter) in another posting (See here - emphasis mine):
"Sometimes aion is repeated twice and translated as “forever and ever.” When that is the case it is the Greek phrase “eis tous aion ton aion.” It literally says, “to the age of the ages,” depending upon whether the two forms of aion are plural or singular or various mixtures of the two. This phrase is used in every combination possible, plural and singular, singular and singular, and plural and plural. This makes the one phrase, “forever and ever,” miss the many nuances of what God is revealing. It would be better to translate them in their respective forms, such as, “to the age of the age,” or “to the age of the ages,” or “to the ages of the ages. The majority of times that the phrase “forever and ever” occurs it is in the double plural form, that is, “to the ages of the ages.”
Actually, the words "forever and forever" are redundant. Why the need to repeat? Is there a forever that comes after a previous forever? That is not tenable. That is another reason why "age" and "ages" are the best ways to translate the word in the singular or plural. "Forever and ever" is not the best translation as is "age" or "ages" of the "age" or "ages." That would be like saying "infinity plus infinity" or "one hundred and one percent."
Another verse to consider is this:
"To the only wise God our Saviour, [be] glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." (Jude 1: 25 KJV)
That however is not a good translation because the words "both now and ever Amen" are translated from these words of the text - πρὸ πάντος τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ νῦν καὶ εἰς πάντας τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν. There is no translation of "πρὸ" ("pro" meaning "before"), nor any translation of "πάντος" and "πάντας" (pantos meaning "all," or "every" or "each"), and "καὶ" (meaning "and" or "even") is used twice in the text but once in the KJV. And, above all, two forms of the word "aion" are used in the text and in two separate prepositional phrases, one singular and one plural, and yet the KJV sums it up with the single word "ever." The KJV also alludes to two points in time, and this is seen by the word "now" (Greek word νῦν), and in the word "ever," a word pointing to the future. But, the word "pro" is in the text and denotes what was before the ages, though the KJV omits including it in translation (though it is present in other English translations). The ESV translates as "before all time and now and forever. Amen." Those three words in bold letters show how three time perspectives are alluded to in the text. I would translate "before every age and now in the present age and unto all the ages of the ages."
What Makes An Age?
So what makes an "age" an "age"? Who or what determines the beginning or ending of an age? What is the purpose of God in dividing time into ages? As we have seen, aion represents any distinct age or period of human history as marked out from another by particular characteristics and by epochal events.
Vine's Dictionary of New Testament Words says that "aion" or "age" means, "Time viewed in relation to what takes place during that period."
By focusing attention on three specific ages that the new testament speaks about, and how they describe life in those ages, and observe how they are different and how are they the same, we will answer our question. I speak of 1) the antediluvian age (world before the flood), and 2) the present age, and 3) the Millennial age.
In many ways there are differences in those ages as well as similarities. The Lord Jesus spoke of how the present age is characterized by people living normal lives where they eat and drink, marry, and give in marriage, just as the antediluvian age. (Matt. 24: 37-39) But, in that pre-flood age people lived nigh a millennium and creatures were much larger (due to conditions on earth being different due to the canopy of water surrounding the planet and higher concentrations of oxygen and barometric pressure). Further, as we will see, life in the Millennium will be in some ways similar to life in the ages that preceded that coming age, but in other ways quite different.
The transition from each of these ages (eons), one to another, comes with changes to the "heavens and the earth," or to the "cosmos," as the bible shows and all who have studied this subject know. (See II Peter chapter three)
So, what makes an "age" an "age"? Well, first, the decree of God who has made and determined the ages. He determines when an age shall begin and end (for as Christ said he is "the beginning and the ending"), how long it shall last. He also determines what shall be the purpose for a particular age and time. He determines what shall be the character of the age, what shall be its distinguishing characteristic.
Lord Of The Ages (Eons)
Paul's descriptive title for God, “the King eternal” (I Tim. 1: 17), tō basilei tōn aiōnōn, is better translated as “the King of the ages.” The word aiōnōn is plural. If we keep the word "eternal" then we would translate as "the King eternals." Or, perhaps "the King doubly forever." It is best to read "the King of the ages." That translation is far more significant and revealing than "the King eternal." Or, to keep with how the KJV often translates the word, we could say "the King of worlds" (they often translated the word "aion" as "world"). Yes it includes the idea of everlasting or perpetuity in this context. One could even translate as "perpetual ages." But, all these translations omit the idea of all past ages. Is he King eternally in the past as well as in the future? The text also ends with the words δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων ("glory forever and ever" or better "glory unto the ages of the ages"). In fact, in this verse "aion" is used three times and all in the plural form. Only in the preceding verse is it in the singular "life eternal."
There is no age or time period over which Christ has not been the ruler, nor will there ever be. He reigns over both time and space, over the physical and spiritual worlds.
It is not easy to see how Christ could have been sovereign over ages which preceded his incarnation. It does not seem that "the man Christ Jesus" could have been Lord over the antediluvian age since he, as man, did not then exist. However, as the eternal Son of God, as God without beginning, he could and did rule, along with the Father and Spirit, over the ages which preceded the birth of Christ, when the human and divine were joined together in hypostatic union.
However, the incarnate Christ did in some sense exist before his incarnation. Who can deny that there were ancient prophecies of his coming and pre-incarnation appearances in the old testament?
Did Christ operate in past ages by a "time machine"? We have lots of movies on that idea, showing how it is possible for someone in the present to go into the past and into the future (such as in the movies "The Time Machine," "Terminator," "Back To The Future," etc.). Rather, I think that the Son of God, in eternity past, purposing to become the incarnate Jesus Christ, with a human body, soul, and spirit, actually had then what is called "the mind of Christ" (I Cor. 2: 16). So, we may say that the man Christ Jesus was always a part of the eternal Son of God.
Jesus said, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” (John 17: 5) Jesus also explicitly taught his preexistence (See John 3:13; 6:33, 38, 62; 8:23; 16:28). Christ said that he existed prior to Abraham’s birth, saying "before Abraham, I am." (John 8:58–59). Other texts which present Jesus as preexisting with his Father are these: Romans 8:3; 1 John 1:2; Galatians 4:4. Other passages identify Jesus as the Creator. (John 1:2–3; Colossians 1:16–17; Hebrews 1:2)
Further, there is a sense in which the Spirit of Christ did exist prior to his birth in the womb of the virgin mother Mary. So we read:
"Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow." (I Peter 1: 10-11 nkjv)
I don't think the "spirit" in the above words "the spirit of Christ" is the Holy Spirit but speaks to the fact that the message of Christ (the Messiah or promised Savior) and the comprehension of Christ was real to the prophets of that patriarchal age.
Most of the time, however, when the preexistence of Christ is referred to, it refers to him existing as the second person of the Holy Trinity, as "The Logos" and as "The Son." He is the "angel (Hebrew "malak") of the Lord," or "malak Yahweh." He is the one who spoke out of the burning bush to Moses and said "I Am That I Am." Other biblical teachers also speak of other times when the Son of God appeared in the Old Testament, even with a human body. These are called "theophanies" (Greek: theos = “God” + phaino = “appear”) or “Christophanies.”
So, not only is Christ the Lord and King of the ages, but he is the creator and governor of them. Notice that the writer of Hebrews affirms this very thing when he writes:
"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds (aions, ages)." (Hebrew 1: 1-2).
The ages (with all that they signify) were made, or brought into being, by the one who is Sovereign over all ages and worlds. The Trinity controls the march of history through the Son of God, both before his incarnation and after it. God is sovereign over history's timeline. He determines what ages shall come to be, and what shall be their length and character, and what shall be their purpose.
The Purpose of the Ages
Years ago I was discussing with an Amillennialist who had once been a Premillennialist and he asked me "What is the purpose for the Millennium?" That question caught me off guard and I did not answer it with the clarity I now can answer with. I might first respond with a question, such as "what was the purpose for the antediluvian age?" Or, "what is God's purpose for the present age?" In expanding upon this area of thought, let us notice these words of the apostle Paul:
"According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Eph. 3: 11 KJV)
Once again, the KJV is an inferior translation. The Greek reads this way:
κατὰ πρόθεσιν τῶν αἰώνων ἣν ἐποίησεν ἐν ⸀τῷ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν
kata prothesin ton aionon en epoiesen en to Christo Iesou to kurio hemon
Note that "purpose" is from the Greek prothesin and "ages" is from the plural of aion (aionon) and "purposed" is from the Greek word epoiēsen and should be translated as "he accomplished."
The sentence thus literally breaks down as κατὰ (according to) πρόθεσιν (purpose, or "a purpose," there being no definite article in the text) τῶν αἰώνων (the ages) ἣν ἐποίησεν ἐν (which accomplished he) τῷ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν (the Christ Jesus the Lord our).
I prefer this translation for these reasons: "according to the purpose of the ages which he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord." (LEB)
The KJV has the word "purpose" in the text twice (though different tenses) but they are not from the same word and is therefore not the best translation. The second ("purposed") is better translated as "made" or "accomplished." The tense of epoiesen is Aorist and it may denote what is still occurring and yet to occur. The word is from the root "poieo" which means to "make." So, we may say that it is through Christ that past ages, present age, and all future ages, see God's eternal plans carried out. Each age will reveal something about God, Christ, and his plans for eternity. The ages were conceived in the mind of God before all ages but his purposes concerning them are carried out in and by them. Recall how I cited this text in the preceding chapter:
"Now all these things happened to them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are coming." (I Cor. 10: 11)
I pointed out how in this text the word for "ends" is the plural of "telos" and "ages" is the plural of aion. By "ends" we are to think of "purposes," as when we ask "what is your end purpose"? What do you want accomplished in the time period? Also, the verb "are" is a futuristic present tense. The ends of the ages "are coming" in the future.
Something of the highest importance, however, has happened at the ending of the prior age (old testament) and at the start of a new age (new testament or church age). It is the incarnation of Christ, along with his life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. In fact, the coming of Christ marks the demarcation point between B.C. and A.D. Further, the cross (Hebrew tau) shows how the vertical line crosses the horizontal line, showing how it divides time between ages past and ages to come. It is wonderful to ponder how Christ died in "the last days" of "this present evil age." These considerations remind us of another important text for our study. Paul wrote:
"That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." (Eph. 2: 7)
This verse tells us that "the ages to come" will be characterized by knowledge of the gospel and of what Christ did in the age in which he appeared and did his redeeming work. All future acts of grace and kindness in the ages to come will be the result of Christ and his redemption. Notice also this text:
"8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in[b] God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Eph. 3: 8-11 ESV)
We should also cite another verse from Colossians that is similar, where Paul speaks of "...the mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from generations..." (Col. 1: 26)
I have already commented upon verse eleven and the words "according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus." The above translation of the Ephesian's text gives the prior verses and it is those that now require our attention.
God's purpose in creating a world where sin was possible, and actually foreseen, was in order that he might reveal things about himself to the angels and other heavenly beings, through both creation and redemption, and this lesson will be known throughout eternity in every age and generation thereof. The gospel and the story of Christ's descent from heaven and his conquering of sin and death will always be celebrated in every age and generation to come.
So, we conclude this chapter by saying that we believe that the ages of the cosmos, and the ages of eternity, were all created to glorify God in Christ and to reveal something about himself and his works. In the next chapter we will talk about eternal generations of the human race.
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