Leviticus 23:41 (ESV): You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
Here’s an example found in Leviticus 23. The word in Hebrew for, forever is the Hebrew word. Strong’s Lexicon explains:
olam: long duration, antiquity, futurity
Original Word: עוֹלָם
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: olam
Phonetic Spelling: (o-lawm’)
Most often it means exactly “forever”. But ancient languages can have broad meanings. In this case it could also be interpreted “a long duration.” This of course is true for the Leviticus passage which pointed to the Feast of Booths. Since it celebrates the people’s salvation from Egypt, it was fitting for them to cease from work and to worship before the Lord. But it’s not an “eternal” celebration. How can one know when to interpret “olam” as eternal, or as (I like to say) “as long as God determines”? Well the context including the whole canon of Scripture is the infallible guide. In this case we refer to Paul in Colossians 2:16–17 (ESV):
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”
Thus it becomes clear that “olam” as used in Leviticus 23 likely means a long duration or some might say, “in the fullness of God’s time.”
I’ve written elsewhere on that here: https://jamesmaclellan.blogspot.com/2019/03/when-forever-doesnt-mean-forever.html
Blessing,
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