and the ages of the ages.
"Now unto God and our Father be glory unto the ages of the ages. Amen." (Philippians 4:20).
"Unto the ages of the ages": an indeterminate number of aeons (endless cycles of time).
Revelation 1:18 and Revelation 11:15 associate the ages of the ages with:
1. The immortality of Christ (He was dead, and is alive unto the ages of the ages); and
2. The reign of Christ over the kingdoms of this world, commencing at the time of the seventh trumpet:
Jesus said, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive [zao] unto the ages of the ages, Amen; and have the keys of hades and of death. (Revelation 1:18).
Revelation 11:15 says, "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign unto the ages of the ages."
Jesus said, "I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the end,
the first and the last."
(Revelation 22:13).
THE BEGINNING AND THE END WRITTEN INTO
THE FIRST THREE AND THE LAST THREE CHAPTERS OF THE BIBLE
Open: Beginning of time - God's creation (Genesis 1:1-31).
Close: Christ makes all things new (Revelation 21:5).
Close: Only righteousness dwells in it (Revelation 21:27).
Open: Tree of life (Genesis 2:9, 16-17).
Close: Tree of life (Revelation 21:6; Revelation 22:1-2, 14, 17).
Open: Adam given dominion (Genesis 1:26-28).
Close: The dominion of the last Adam (Revelation 3:21; 20:4).
Open:
(a) Satan's deception of Adam & Eve (Genesis 3:1-7, 11-19).
(b) Death of Adam (the first death) - 930 years (Genesis 5:5).
Jesus said, "I am the Resurrection [anastasis]
and the (eternal) life [zoe]!" (John 11:25).
(c) Expulsion from Eden (Genesis 3:22-24).
Close:
(a) Satan's deception of the nations at the close of a thousand years (Revelation 20:7-10).
(b) Second death.
(c) Lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:8).
Human beings are very unlikely to believe what we do not understand, and we will never understand what we do not believe, but here follows an assertion:
When read without infusing any doctrinal bias into the meaning of the text, the Revelation links the commencement of:-
1. the thousand years (Revelation chapter 20); and
2. the binding of Satan (Revelation 20:1-3); and
3. the New Heavens and New Earth (Revelation chapters 21-22),
to a time immediately following the return of Christ
- but what we believe and understand about eternal life and immortality will cause us to interpret the first three and last three chapters of the Bible in such a way as to have it comply with our understanding, else we would suffer from cognitive dissonance.
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