Photo by Sharon Co Images
Starting at age three, Kari Jobe has always had a passion for music. Holding a Pastoral Studies and Psychology degrees from Oral Roberts University, Christ for the Nations Institute and Dallas Baptist University, she accepted a position as Associate Worship Pastor at Gateway Church, herself a member of Gateway Worship. I talked about this band in my earlier review of Jennie Lee Riddle’s Revelation Song.
Speaking of Revelation Song, her performance singing Riddle’s hit song at the Christ for the Nations Institute catapulted her career in Christian music in the public spotlight in 2004.
She has five albums under her belt, including Bethlehem (2007), Kari Jobe (2009), Where I Find You (2012), Majestic (2014), and The Garden (2017). Her self-titled album was also released in Spanish under the name Le Canto. She has won four Dove awards, including Spanish Language Album of the Year (Le Canto/Kari Jobe, 2010), Special Events Album of the Year (Glory Revealed II: The Word of God in Worship, 2010), Worship Album of the Year (Majestic, 2014), and Recorded Music Packaging of the Year (The Garden, 2017).
As expected, her most popular and recognizable hit song is Forever, starting as a single and appearing on Majestic. It also happens to be the subject of this review. FYI: I am reviewing the live version.
Lyrics can be found in https://genius.com/Kari-jobe-forever-live-lyrics.
Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site! Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.
1. What message does the song communicate?
Jobe expresses vivid detail the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. He defeated death, is eternally praised and glorified, and lives forever. Short, simple, and to the point. Just the way I like it!
The end of verse 2 contains an unbiblical idea that Jesus’ work on the cross was not finished, that He had more work to do while dead.
Side Note: Bridge contains “we sing hallelujah” 18 times.
Score: 7/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
Almost all the lyrics agree with Scripture, though there is one instance of creativity and one in disagreement among Christians. I did not penalize for either instance.
However, the end of Verse 2 is not supported in Scripture.
[Verse 1]
Line 1: Creative license on Jobe’s part, describing a figurative weeping of God’s creation upon Christ’s death. Given the earthquake after Christ’s death in Matthew 27:51, it is not anti-biblical to think that the universe wept.
Line 2: Probably a reference to Jesus as the “Morning Star” (Revelation 22:16).
Line 3: That is, he descended into hell/hades (1 Peter 4:6).
Lines 4-6: Christ’s death paid the penalty for our sin (see Isaiah 53:1-12, Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 3:16, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:28, Romans 5:6-10, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:3-4, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 2:14, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 9:22, Hebrews 9:26, 1 Peter 1:17-21, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:1-2, and Revelation 5:9).
[Verse 2]
Line 1: That is, the last breath of Jesus before He died (see Mark 15:37 and Luke 23:46).
Line 2: This is a controversial statement. Some believe Jesus was abandoned by the Father, because Jesus became sin on our behalf (2 Corinthians 5:21) and the Father cannot look at sin (Habakkuk 1:13), combined with Jesus’ quoting Psalm 22:1: “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. However, if we read Psalm 22 in context, the Father does not abandon the son.
For example, Verse 11 says (emphasis mine), “Be not far from me, for trouble is near; For there is none to help.”
Again, Verse 19 says (emphasis mine), “But You, O Lord, be not far off; O You my help, hasten to my assistance.”
In both instances, this tells us that the Father is still near. He is not aloof. Based on the context of Psalm 22, the Father did not abandon David. He didn’t abandon Jesus either, although David felt that way. Hence, the statement “why have you forsaken me?” Jesus also showed the same feeling when quoting from Psalm 22, knowing that that Father never left Him.
Line 3: Darkness came during Christ’s crucifixion as Jesus quoted from Psalm 22:1 (Matthew 27:45-46).
Lines 4-6: I understand what Jobe attempted to communicate. This is meant to be poetic license to describe Jesus’ eventual defeat of death. However, it has the air of unfinished business. The Koine Greek term “tetelestai” literally means “paid in full”, found in the backs of 1st-century legal documents to indicate full payment of debt. It is also found in John 19:30 in the lips of the Lord Jesus right before He died and coincides with the “certificate of debt” nailed to the cross in Colossians 2:14.
If “it is finished”, then why is Jesus doing battle with death in the grave? Yes, Jesus took the keys of death and hell/hades (Revelation 1:18) and as we will read later, Jesus’ resurrection is His victory over death, conquering it. However, there is nothing in Scripture to support the idea that Christ did battle with it while dead. There is also a popular false doctrine that Jesus fought with Satan in hell while dead. This wording feeds into it.
[Pre-Chorus]
Line 1: Refers to the earthquake after Christ’s death (Matthew 27:51).
Line 2: The stone that sealed Jesus’ tomb had been rolled away upon Mary Magdeline’s visit (Matthew 28:2, Mark 16:4, Luke 24:2, and John 20:1). According to Matthew 28:2, an angel of the Lord was responsible for its removal.
Line 3: That is, overcome by death.
Line 4: Quoted from 1 Corinthians 15:54-57.
Lines 5 and 6: The resurrected Jesus conquers death, giving us hope (see Isaiah 25:8, Hosea 13:14, Luke 20:35-36, 1 Corinthians 15:24-26, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, 2 Timothy 1:10, and Hebrews 2:14).
[Chorus]
Lines 1 and 2: While there are lots of Scriptures describing God’s eternal praise and God’s glorification, Revelation 5:9-13 is specific to Jesus.
Lines 3 and 4: The resurrection of Jesus is permanent, giving us hope (see Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20, Acts 1:3, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
[Post-Chorus]
Lines 1-4: See Pre-Chorus, lines 3-6.
[Bridge]
Lines 1-3: A compound Hebrew phrase, with “hallelu” meaning “a joyous praise in song” and “jah” or “yah”, which refers to the Tetragrammaton YHWH. Put together, we are singing “we joyfully praise God in song”.
Line 4: See Pre-Chorus, lines 3-6.
Score: 7/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Any non-christian with a rudimentary understanding of Christianity will easily recognize “christian-eze” terminology replete throughout this song: Jesus, cross, blood poured out for us, Son of God, the stone rolled away, death’s sting, resurrection, and of course Hallelujah. One would have to purposely look past these to concoct a non-Christian interpretation.
The downside of such vivid Christian language is evangelisic effort. I advocate for everyday language over Biblical terminology; However, that is not Jobe’s purpose throughout these lyrics.
In regard to Jobe’s expression of Jesus’ grave battle, Those who are familiar with the Gospel will recognize its problems. Unbelievers who do not will miss it.
Score: 6/10
4. What does this song glorify?
Christ is risen! But, He did not fight Satan while dead.
Score: 7/10
Closing Comments
Kari Jobe’s Forever is an excellent worship song. Amassing clear-cut Christian lingo (try saying that five times fast), it proves itself Biblically sound, glorifying Christ’s defeat over sin and death. Unbelievers will find it hard to legitimize a “Jesus as my boyfriend” interpretation that plagues so much Christian music.
My only two criticisms are that Jesus did not fight death while dead and my own annoyance over the repeated “We sing hallelujah” mantra X18. It might be worth considering for a praise set with less refrain’s and gutting the secong verse.
Final Score: 7/10
Artist Info
Track: Forever (listen to the song)
Artist: Kari Jobe
Album: Majestic (live)
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)
Release Year: 2014
Duration: 6:50
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
Updates:
03/25/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement. I moved my commentary to a side note and lowered section 1’s score, to keep it consistent with other reviews. This did not affect the overall rating.
09/23/2020 – Added further justification as to why I downgraded the song based on Verse 2, line 2.
05/15/2019 – Commenter Andrew made an excellent point about Jesus’ war on death in the grave, that it might not have Biblical support. I prayed and thought about it and agreed with him. Therefore, I downgraded all the sections, causing me to rescore the entire review sharply, from 9.5/10 to 7/10.
Comments
Brandon
1 Corinthians 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
What does this verse, in context, telling us that the gospel is not the entire gospel without the resurrection do for our interpretation of her lyrics? While Jesus did say “It is finished”, we are told that without the resurrection, the gospel would not save us utterly like it does.
I’m not saying it couldn’t have been worded a little different. But he did lead captivity captive. If anything, it would have been a very one-sided battle for our Lord.
Jay
After watching an interview with Kari Jobe in the link below, I believe it’s clear to see that lines 4-6 of verse 2 are meant to state that Jesus was in Hell between the crucifixion and resurrection events. This is discussed at about the 1:12 mark in the video. “We talk about the death on the cross, and we talk about the resurrection, but that time in between was when Jesus was in Hell, rendering Hell, and ransacking Hell and defeating the enemy, taking those keys to death, Hell, and the grave, to be victorious over that when He rose from the dead.” – Kari Jobe
https://youtu.be/4gtkhnt2qi8
I realized after I typed the above text that someone else has already commented on the interview and added the quote just as I did! Anyway, you can still review the video in the link if you haven’t watched it already.
Michael Ramsey
My earlier comment was overlooked by many. I think it might be a misinterpretation of the line. I think is is saying that he took the keys of hell when he died. Like it says in Revelation Chapter 1 verse 17 and 18.
Michael Ramsey
Also Bethel released the song first.
Vince Wright
Michael,
Interesting! Thanks for letting me know.
-Vince Wright
Lila
I am wondering your thoughts regarding the last line of the first verse, “the weight of every curse upon Him”? He did not go to the cross because of the curse, but rather because of sin. Wouldn’t that be a better choice of wording?
Vince Wright
Lila,
Great question!
The word “curse” is a synonym for the word “sin”. Compare Galatians 3:13 to 1 Peter 2:24.
-Vince Wright
Cam
thanks for your honest review.
My church is going to sing this song this Sunday,
I saw the Nathan Pacheco cover, and when i discovered it was from Kari, I grew uncomfortable (her stance on gay marriage, NAR,).
“The moon and stars they wept” – this is inaccurate,
During the cruxifixion, the sun became black, “45 Now from the sixth hour6 there was darkness over all the land7 until the ninth hour.” – signifying judgement, NOT weeping
and when Jesus returns, the sun turns black in Judgement:
“Immediately after othe tribulation of those days pthe sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and qthe stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then rwill appear in heaven sthe sign of the Son of Man, and then tall the tribes of the earth will mourn, and uthey will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven vwith power and great glory.
12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, ithere was a great earthquake, and jthe sun became black as ksackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and lthe stars of the sky fell to the earth mas the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.
thanks for your fair review, I feel slightly better about singing it now, but good point you made about “it is finished”
Vince Wright
Cam,
Thank you for your comments and compliments! I am glad that my review eased your concerns about this song.
-Vince Wright
Judy Nottingham
I am leary of words in songs that do not line up with scripture. I fear many begin taking more stock in opinions of singers than God’s word . The teaching now is LGBTQ lifestyle is to be accepted because we are to love one another. I will not mistreat one but I will show them what God’s word states. The answer is love of self and greed. Money is worth more than the souls of man. “having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”
(2 Timothy 3:5 ).
Worshipismorethansinging
She did an interview about this song with worshiptogether.com
I have grave reservations about her Theology on one of the most important part of our Christian faith.
‘My favorite part of the whole thing is … we talk about the death on the cross and we talk about the resurrection,but that time in between was when Jesus was in hell rendering hell. And ransacking hell. And defeating the enemy – taking those keys to death and hell and the grave to be victorious over that when he rose from the dead’
Naive at best. Heresy at worst.
Since this song, Personally I have stopped listening to her music.
Vince Wright
Worshipismorethansinging,
Thank you for the back story! I appreciate that.
-Vince Wright
clicky
I want to do this song for our church’s upcoming Easter service.
I am thinking of changing the problematic line to “A battle to the grave”. What do you folks think? Regardless of Kari Jobe’s theological position on this (if we were to analyze the song based on the lyrics and not the artist’s intentions), my personal opinion is that the greater battle was on the cross (and not in the grave), and that it was Jesus’ death (with subsequent resurrection) that accomplished the victory over sin, death and hell. What do you guys think?
Vince Wright
clicky,
Thank you for your comments!
I don’t think that makes sense within its placement within Verse 2. The first three lines tell us that Jesus was already dead and “laid in darkness”. Lines 5 and 6 point to Jesus’ resurrection. It breaks the flow/continuity by placing a line about Jesus’ struggle on the cross in between these events.
Perhaps you could do “a RATTLE in the grave”? This coincides with the line “The ground began to shake” in Pre-Chorus and flows better in terms of positioning.
You’ll have to check to see if you’re allowed to change the lyrics though. This song is under copyright and I’m not a lawyer.
-Vince Wright
Nick Williams
The idea of Jesus doing battle against death is entirely orthodox belief. See here for example: http://ww1.antiochian.org/node/17684
The more problematic line, which is called out but not further discussed is “As Heaven looked away..” which supposes a much more troubling notion of Jesus being separate from the Father during the crucifixion (along the lines of the same issue in the even more popular Townend song “How deep the Father’s love”. This plays into a separation of the trinity. How could “the father/heaven turn away?”. The important difference comes when you see the cross as something God does *as* Jesus, not as something the “Father” does to Jesus.
in the review this line is being discussed as controversial but is not then given as a reason to downgrade the song. Instead the focus is on, as above, entirely orthodox belief about Jesus’ decent into Hades – something that is much neglected in more evangelical strands of the church.
Vince Wright
Nick,
Thank you for your comments!
I read through the link and haven’t found anything there that would challenge my assessment on Jesus doing battle with death “in the grave” based on Scripture. Perhaps you could explain the contradiction?
Also, the reason that I offered was that, based on Psalm 22, that the Father didn’t look away. I suppose I could have explained it in more detail.
I updated my review to offer a more detailed explanation.
-Vince Wright
7sawdust
New to your site. Excellent! you state:
The downside of such vivid Christian language is evangelisic effort. I advocate for everyday language over Biblical terminology
I don’t think that worship music has anything to do with evangelism. It’s for believers to do before their God and not something that the lost will understand nor should we make it so, unless that’s the purpose. And I think this is what has happened to our worship services. They have become a smorgy for goats to eat at, leaving the sheep hungry.
A “worship service” is just that, and not meant or aimed for those who don’t know God. It’s a love fest for the saved to express the inner feelings and thoughts about and to their Savior. Nowhere in this are the lost a part. But they have become the focus and the believer is left with simplistic lyrics and non-offensive songs washed clean of anything offensive to the unsaved sensibility.
So to rank a worship song on how the unsaved will like it or understand the lyrics I think is missing the point of worship songs in the first place. The lost do not understand the blood of Jesus until it is applied to them. The Cross is foolishness to them. So “vivid Christian language” is totally appropriate for use by Christians when worshiping their Savior.
Vince Wright
7sawdust,
Thank you for your comments!
My commentary regarding “The downside of such vivid Christian language is evangelisic effort. I advocate for everyday language over Biblical terminology” is aimed at section 3, which talks about unbeliever interpretation. My reviews of lyrics are based on the lyrics as-is, without any other context in mind, including church service. Believers and unbelievers alike may hear this song on the radio, on YouTube, or from their friends.
-Vince Wright
Steven
Personally, I think that Kari was making the point that the prophesy wouldn’t be fulfilled until Jesus arose. I’m with you that it wasn’t a battle, however I do understand why she made the point of it didn’t end at the cross, the resurrection still had to take place. Thanks for the review! I’m loving looking through at the songs we sing in church!
Vince Wright
Steven,
Thank you for your comments! Though we disagree on this point, I am happy to see that you’re examining the songs you sing!
-Vince Wright
Gordon Whyte
Given the quantity of new worship songs which focus on the singer and not the Saviour, it is always wonderful to have a song which solely points to the cross. I agree with the dodgy theology at the end of v2 but my biggest gripe about this song, and, sadly so many others, is the complete omission of the name of Jesus throughout the song. Not once is the name of Jesus uttered. There are many other songs sung in my church where I have to sing the name of Jesus myself in a song because of the exclusive use of You or He. There is power in the name of Jesus which this song denies us, no matter how profound some of the truths it declares. I would love for someone to help me think otherwise. I’m actually now beginning to view this as heresy rather than just lyrical styling. Thanks for reading.
Vince Wright
Gordon,
Thank you for your thoughts! I agree that the name of Jesus is powerful and I also think that more artists should use it. For me, so long as the attributes of Jesus are on full display, then I am OK with it. Yet, you and I are talking about a Romans 14 issue. If you prefer the songs that use the name of Jesus, then stick with only such songs. There are plenty to choose from!
We must be careful when using the word heresy. It carries a lot of weight and ought to be reserved for teaching that is contrary to the Christian faith. For example, salvation through faith and works is contrary to Matthew 5:20, Luke 18:9-14, Acts 13:39, Romans 3:20-30, Romans 4:1-7, Romans 8:3, Romans 9:16, Romans 9:31-32, Romans 11:6, Galatians 2:16, Galatians 2:21, Galatians 3:10-12, Galatians 3:21, Galatians 5:2-4, Ephesians 2:8-9, Philippians 3:3-9, 2 Timothy 1:9, Hebrews 6:1-2, and James 2:10-11, which teaches that salvation comes through faith, not works. Someone who teaches that salvation comes through faith + works is teaching heresy.
-Vince Wright
Wayne
to address “the battle in the grave” part of the Lyric. One must point to the Ephesians passage 4:9-10. There was work beyond the grave. What work? It had to be the fight for the keys of death and hell according to Rev 1:18. How did acquire these? He had to do work beyond the grave to acquire. It is my humble opinion, that Jobe may have understood this from her theology class and systematic theology at OR university. another citing would be 1Peter 3:18-20. this indicates Jesus “preached to the spirits in prison” in the context of death and resurrection. So in my estimation, battle in the grave is a good way of saying Jesus did these things.
tastywallet
Wayne,
I understand where you’re coming from, but I don’t get the sense from any of these passages that there is any fighting. I can agree that he descended and yes, he “preached to the spirits in prison” as 1 Peter 3:18-20 indicates. I also agree that both require work of some sort. But, Revelation 1:18 does not tell us that he fought for the keys of death or hades. It tells us that He once was dead, that He is now alive, and that He holds the keys of death and Hades. Insofar as I understand, these are not literal keys, but rather, authority over death and Hades.
The big question, therefore, is how did He attain this authority? I believe that Jesus received it from the Father. I offer John 10:17-18 in support of this position. Verse 18 explicitly states that Jesus received the command from the Father that He has the authority to lay down and take up His life again.
Keep in mind that I do not hold onto this position as doctrine, but rather an opinion. I believe that any doctrine should have at least three supporting passages and I only have one for this position. I could have cited passages such as Matthew 28:18, John 2:19-21, Matthew 12:40, but none of these are strong verses for this view.
-TastyWallet
Andrew
Thanks for your review, Tastywallet. I’m ok with Forever but one line that has puzzled me is “a battle in the grave”. Is that suggesting Jesus had more to do in the grave while “dead”? I always understood “It is finished” or “tetelestai” to mean that the work of redemption was complete. I realise there is conjecture as to whether Jesus preached to the dead saints, powers of darkness, etc – but this seems to hint that there is more to do while Jesus is dead. Or is that just poetic licence? And is that problematic?
Thanks again
tastywallet
Andrew,
You are welcome and thanks for commenting! You bring up a good point and I did not address this.
You are correct in stating that this line is problematic. There is nothing in Scripture to support the idea that Jesus did battle while dead, flying in the face of Jesus’ final words on the cross. Therefore, I updated my review and re-scored it.
-TastyWallet
Wayne
in the Koine Greek, the term “tetelestai” in most lexicons and commentaries the term is translated, actually, it is finished”. it does carry the “sense” of legal binding contract of debt payment. it also carries the understanding of the final tasks the Father gave him to do are actually complete. (see John 4:34) Also the fulfillment of the law which Jesus confirms in Matt 5:17. (which is Paul’s complete argument in the book of Galatians) … just some thoughts…
tastywallet
Wayne,
Thanks for your thoughts! That gives me a few things to think about.
-TastyWallet
stanlebron
It was during that time while the body was in the grave that he overcome death by taking the keys to death hell and the grave away from Satan. Revelation 1:18 and Hebrews 2:14. Hebrews 2:14 is where the writer of Hebrews proclaimed that Jesus defeated death and the one who had power over death the devil or Satan. So in understanding the word defeated means there was a battle or contest of some sort. So what I understood from Kari Jobe’s verse was that victory was not fully complete until Jesus rose from the grave which as Christians we should all understand that if Jesus was still in the grave there would be no victory we would still be killing bulls and lambs for sacrifice and that Jesus was just a man and not God incarnate also. It was pertinent for salvation and Grace for Jesus to rise from the grave. Read chapter 15 of 1Corinthians from beginning to end and you will find that the who battle was not over at the Cross or at the Resurrection where he defeated death and hell but the final victory comes at the end of time as we know it when Jesus destroys the second death which is the death of seperation from God. It will be the final battle and Satan will be totally and completely defeated. This is the reason we must rightly divide the word as Paul taught Timothy to understand scripture. Yes physical death was defeated and salvation by Grace was set in place and in saying that death was defeated meant that those who die in Christ have no fear of death because it actually brings true life upon their death here on earth but the first death is not physical death. Jesus called that sleep. But death as noted in the KJV was the first death and the second death. The first death was defeated on the Cross in that all who believe on Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection shall be saved from sin and the second death. The second death is to all those who reject Christ and his work on the Cross and the Resurrection and receive eternal damnation which is the second death. It is that death that must still be defeated because all will not be saved before Jesus comes back and those who are not will be eternally damned and at the end of Jesus’ thousand year reign on earth which Satan has been bound from being able to interfere with His Kingdom, Satan will be loosed for a short season to again try to deceive and He will raise a great army against Christ but Christ will ultimately defeat him and he and all who are with him shall be cast into the lake of fire for eternity so then Christ will have defeated the second death. So there was some kind of struggle that took place when Christ took the Keys of death and the grave from Satan. In which he was talking about the Resurrection of the Saints as in 1 Corinthians 15 which gives us a great understanding why the Resurrection is so important to our salvation.
Vince Wright
stanlebron,
Thank you for your comments!
I have a question. Do you have a Scripture verse for “So there was some kind of struggle that took place when Christ took the Keys of death and the grave from Satan”?
-Vince Wright
Michael Ramsey
I think you might be misinterpreting the line. I think is is saying that he took the keys of hell when he died. Like it says in Revelation Chapter 1 verse !7 and 18.