Yes, but we have the witness of Scripture that “forever” doesn’t always mean time without end. The heart of the issue here is the Biblical meaning of the words 'for ever', 'everlasting' and the various forms of 'unquenchable', 'not be quenched' etc... Most people misunderstand the Biblical concept of these terms which sometimes do and sometimes dont equate to our modern meaning of "forever". In todays usage these terms mean 'for the ceaseless ages of eternity' for the most part though not exclusively. For example:
A married couple: they tell each other I'll love you 'forever' but we all know that people die. What they are truly saying is 'they love each other until death', so we can see how even today, 'forever' doesnt necessarily mean the ceaseless age of eternity. We see this in many verses, lets look at some...
1 Samuel 1:22
But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever.
Jonah 2:6
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.
Clearly neither are there today, so its not ceaseless ages as we can see. So, lets look at what the Bible writers concept of forever was:
Genesis 43:9 - I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:
This was pre-incarnate Jesus talking to the Father in regards to mans sin. Now, will Jesus bear the blame forever, no. The day will come when there is an end to sin. So the meaning here is clearly meant as 'until it is done'.
We see much the same in this text..
Genesis 44:32 - For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.
and here we find more...
Exodus 21:6 - Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.
Would it be possible for a servant or master to live forever, no. Is a man still a servant to another after death, no. So this clearly means that the servant would be a servant for the rest of his life and not the ceaseless ages of eternity.
Exodus 27:21 - In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
Did the earthly tabernacle and its ceremonies last forever, we know the answer is no. So again, we find the meaning of 'for ever' to mean 'until it is done'. And in the case of man, this means 'as long as he lives' or 'until death.' Here is a good study on this... What the Bible says about Forever and Ever
