ETERNAL, ETERNITY. These words are often taken for a long time, and are not always to be understood rigorously; Gen. xlix. 26. & Deut. xxxiii. 15.for example, we find eternal mountains, so called to denote their antiquity. God promises a throne to David, an eternal Kingdom, a posterity which will never be extinguished; that is to say, that his and his sons empire will be of a very long duration; that it will be even eternal, if hereby we understand the kingdom of the Messiah. Thus the righteous shall never be moved. Thou shalt be our guide from this time forth and for ever, &c. that is to say, during our whole life.
But Eternity when God is the subject in question, always denotes a real Eternity. Exod. xv. 18. Deut. xxxii. 40.Dominus regnabit in æternum & ultra. And elsewhere, I will lift up my hand to heaven, and swear, saying, I live for ever, eternally. The blessed will enjoy eternal life and happiness, and reprobates be cast into Matth. xxv. 46.eternal fire. The Son of God is called Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech. His Gospel, the Eternal Gospel. The Redemption Psal. cx. 4 Rev. xiv. 6. Hebr. ix. 12. Hebr. xiii. 20. 2 Cor. iv. 17.which he has procured for us, Eternal Redemption: his blood which he shed for us, the blood of the eternal covenant: the glory and reward which he hath merited for us, an Eternal weight of glory; Æternum gloriæ pondus. The mystery of his incarnation and our salvation, Mysterium temporibus eternis tacitum; the mystery which was kept secret since the world began: it was revealed indeed to the Patriarchs and Prophets, but in an obscure and hidden manner. Eternal tabernacles, or Luke xvi. 9.tents, are the habitations appointed by God in heaven for the predestinate. Wisdom is Eternal, ab æterno ordinata sum: it is Prov. viii. 23. Wisd. vii. 26.brightness reflected from eternal light, &c. Candor lucis æternæ.