As I read 2 Samuel 7, I was struck by the repetitive use of the word 'forever.' It is found eight times in the KJV, three times in the Lord's words to David (see verses 13 and 16) and five times in David's response to the Lord (see verses 24, 25, and 29).
I've previously posted about this important word
here. Stisa posted about the significance of the underlying Hebrew ('ad olam')
here.
Regarding the word 'forever' I don't actually have much to say other than this is clearly a covenant term. It's no coincidence that the word 'forever' shows up so often in connection with God's promises to the king of His people, and also in the king's reply.
My study branched out this time into a broader context. I'm currently reading a book about the ancient symbolic worldview, which I'll certainly be posting much more about in the near future, and that has caused some concepts to crystallize for me. The rest of this post will discuss these concepts.
The modern understanding of 'forever'
It's really hard to wrap my head around the ancient way of thinking about the cosmos. In modern days, we are born into a forensic, materialist worldview, where factual accuracy is considered most important. It's really important to us to know when, where, and how the various actors and objects in a story moved about and precisely what was said, etc. When we read the flood narrative, we feel the need to estimate the height of the tallest mountain and the volume of water needed to cover it. When we read of the parting of the Red Sea, we can't help but wonder what natural phenomenon might explain it.
Likewise, the modern sense of the word 'forever' is essentially just a really long span of time, so long that it goes on without ever ending. This way of thinking about 'forever' fails to capture the essence of the ancient way of thinking about time.
How did the ancients consider time? In his book
The Language of Creation, Orthodox Christian writer Matthieu Pageau describes three fundamental differences between the ancient and modern notions of time:
- Time is the cosmic cause of change -- "the influence that carrie[s] reality from one point to another."
- The type of change brought about by time is specifically cyclical transformation. In other words, time changes day into night, summer into winter, life into death, etc.
- Time and space are essentially opposites. (I'll explain more about this in a future post.)
Pageau points out that the first two days of creation are fundamental to this understanding of the relationship between time and space. In the first day, with the creation of light and darkness, God created cyclic time. On the second day, space was created.
The creation of time and space is essential to allowing for a transformation of mankind to occur. Alma teaches this plainly in his sermon in Ammonihah:
24 And we see that death comes upon mankind, yea, the death which has been spoken of by Amulek, which is the temporal death; nevertheless there was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead.
25 Now, if it had not been for the plan of redemption, which was laid from the foundation of the world, there could have been no resurrection of the dead; but there was a plan of redemption laid, which shall bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, of which has been spoken.
26 And now behold, if it were possible that our first parents could have gone forth and partaken of the tree of life they would have been forever miserable, having no preparatory state; and thus the plan of redemption would have been frustrated, and the word of God would have been void, taking none effect. (Alma 12)
"The fall brought death upon mankind" is another way of saying -- "with the fall came an opportunity for transformation." The probationary state occurs in a realm of space and time, where mankind has the opportunity to manifest heavenly truth on the earth.
I'll open up this concept more in my next post.