1.14. "Suffering the Vengeance of Eternal Fire"
"Suffering the Vengeance of Eternal Fire"
Suffering: In modern thinking, the English word conveys pain and agony which would correspond to a condition of being in hot fire. This word, however, did not have that meaning in seventeenth century England. The English word in that time period meant "allow" or "let." The underlying Greek word in this passage is the word "hupecho," Strong’s number 5254. Strong’s definition of the word is "to hold under." Young’s Concordance has to "to hold up under." If Jude wanted to express pain or torture in this passage, he could have used many Greek words to express that, pathema, atimazo, pascho, are but a few examples. Clearly the problem here is the change in meaning of the English word "suffer" which meant "allow" in the seventeenth century which today has an entirely different meaning. This is a clear example of the need for Bible translations to convey the meaning of the original languages in clear present-day English. King James Bible English is just too archaic. This is also an example to show that current dictionaries offer little help and actually hinder the discovery of the true meaning behind original Greek and Hebrew words. A contemporary dictionary offers the meaning of words as defined by the present society. The meaning of a word today may be completely different from the same word used in a previous time period. This is very important to understand.
Vengeance: This English word conveys in the twentieth century an idea of "getting even, settling scores, an eye for an eye." Often it is synonymous with the word "revenge" as one will find out in Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Vindictive is the first definition in Webster’s under "vengeful." Clearly, this English word conveys the idea of retribution, a final getting even, or of someone finally getting what they deserve in the form of punishment, an "eye for an eye" justice, so to speak. In the Seedmaster Bible program, using its Strong’s numbering system, we find the Greek word used here for "vengeance" is "dike." The Thayer’s lexicon in this Bible program lists the following definitions for this word in the following order: 1. Custom, usage. 2. Right, just. 3. A suit at law. 4. A judicial hearing, judicial decision, esp. sentence of condemnation. 5. Execution of a sentence, punishment. 5a. To suffer punishment. 6. The goddess Justice, avenging justice. Please note that the primary definitions do not indicate a negative quality. It is not until we get to pagan concepts such as the "Justice Goddess" that we begin to see a vindictiveness in the definition. This word "dike" is also used in Acts 25:15 where the chief priests wanted a "judgment against" Paul. In the Greek, a word had to be added to "dike" to make it a "judgment against" Paul. Clearly, the word simply means "judgment" in both these cases.
Why do we often think in negative terms of His judgments? It seems that Christians have been taught that the Creator’s righteous judgments are without mercy, that heavenly justice demands "getting what you deserve." A recent book edited by William Crockett entitled Four Views on Hell will illustrate the point. One essay in this book is written by one of the leading spokesmen for the doctrine of a literal burning of literal bodies in an eternal fire. John Walvoord, former president of Dallas Theological Seminary, writes, "The problem for all is to comprehend the infinite righteousness of God that must judge those who have not received grace. The human mind is incapable of comprehending an infinite righteousness and must bow to the Scriptures and their interpretation when directly and faithfully set forth." He makes God’s righteousness almost appear as if it contradicted His mercy. We see in the natural all kinds of examples where our legal systems grant pardons, clemency, plea bargaining, lighter sentences, etc. The Creator’s mercy and love is far greater than the legal system of this world, yet we refuse Him the right to make the end of His judgment, mercy for all, jubilee! James says that mercy will triumph over judgment (James 2:13). James even warns that judgment without mercy is to those who show no mercy! This should serve as a strong warning to those who refuse to acknowledge that ultimately mercy will triumph over judgment.
Eternal: We have many tapes, booklets and tracts proving that the Greek word aion, translated by the KJV translators several different ways, cannot possibly mean "eternal." This King James Bible error is perhaps the most grievous of them all. Other popular Bibles have followed the tradition of the "Authorized Version" in perpetuating this error. The early revisionists of the KJV received (and still do) great persecution for correcting this error in dozens of places. Write and we will be happy to send you complete documented research proving that the Greek word "aion" when properly translated is a time word with a beginning and an end. The word "eternal" in this verse is the adjective of the word "aion." An adjective cannot have a greater meaning than the noun from which it is derived. The adjective "hourly" must pertain to the "hour," it cannot mean "weekly," "monthly," or "eternally." The Greek word "aion" means "age." It would be improper grammar to give the adjective "aionios" a greater meaning than its noun. Aions (ages) are made (Hebrews 1:2), there is before the aions (1 Corinthians 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:9), the end of the aions (ages) (Hebrews 9:26; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Matthew 24:3). There are at least five ages mentioned in the Bible: ages past (Colossians 1:26), present age (Luke 20:34), and at least two more in the future (Ephesians 2:7). Ages have beginnings and endings, they deal with time, space, and matter. Before He made the "ages, aions" our Father was still the "I Am." The King James Bible translated this word many different ways ranging from "world," "age," to "forever," "everlasting," and "eternal." Many recent translations have cleaned up much of the mess. There are a few dangling places where some translators refuse to be consistent. I am familiar with many translations which have consistently translated the word "aion" and its adjective "aionios" into English words pertaining to periods of time with beginnings and endings. Most of you who are reading this booklet realize these two words do not speak of eternity in its true sense. Therefore I will not spend any more time on the subject.