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is emphasized, for Satan is "the god of this age" (II Cor. 4: 4), opposing at all points the
development of the purpose of Jehovah, the God of the age. When the ages shall have
run their appointed course, and the purpose of God as Jehovah shall be finished, that
name, assumed only for the age, will be among the "former things" that shall be laid
aside.
The omission of the title, "the Coming One", from Rev. 11: 17 towards the close of
the age, is echoed in Exod. 3: 14, 15 near its beginning. There, the great emphasis is
upon the present I AM, and the other phases of the title, the One who was, and the
coming One, are omitted. I AM, as the covenant God of the fathers, is His name "to the
age", and this is His memorial "to generations and generations". The parallelism
between age and generation is fitting and unstrained, but the parallel between for ever
and unto all generations is not so clear. The close connection between the `age"
(translated "everlasting" and "for ever") and "generations", is worthy of notice, and we
give a few more references:--
"And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee in
their generations for an age abiding covenant" (Gen. 17: 7).
"Ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a
feast by an ordinance to the age" (Exod. 12: 14. See also Exod. 27: 21; Lev. 6: 18;
23: 14; Num. 10: 8).
Deut. 7: 9 seems to have the same view-point:--
"Know therefore, that the Lord thy God, thy Elohim, He is God, the faithful God (El),
which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His
commandments to a thousand generations."
A strong evidence that the word olam does not mean eternity is found in
Deut. 32: 7.
"Remember the days of old (olam). Consider the years of generation and generation."
The book that records the beginning of God's great purpose is pre-eminently the book
of generations. The literary structure of Genesis is completely punctuated by the
generations of the heaven and the earth, of Adam, etc. The same spirit that translated
age-time titles by eternal names and attributes is evident in such a passage as Eph. 3: 21,
where the A.V. reads, "unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all
ages, world without end. Amen."
The true rendering is found in the R.V. margin, "all the generations of the age of the
ages", which carries us forward, as Deut. 32: 7 carried us backward, and leads to the
grand consummation of the ages.
All this, and all that arises from it, we must forfeit if we retain the idea of the title of
Jehovah being eternal in its essence. The very glory of the title is seen in its age-time
character; the fact that it is temporary is revealed in Rev. 11: 17, and its greater glory is
that He who is to come, will come, and not as some have said, "He that ever is to come".
This great covenant name Jehovah is the memorial before God of His age purpose, and