Apocalypse. Millennium. Chiliasm and Chillegorism
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Chapter 25.
Similarly, the book of Revelation indicates a certain sequence of times which even the souls of martyrs learned to endure while crying out for vengeance and judgment from under the altar so that the world might first drink of its sufferings from the bowls of the angels, so that the harlot city would meet its doom together with the ten kings, and so that the Antichrist (Beast) and his false prophet would begin persecuting the church, and so that, after the temporary imprisonment of the devil in the abyss, the first resurrection would be announced from the heavenly thrones, after which (when the devil is finally cast into the fire), the judgement of the resurrection would be proclaimed according to the books [see Rev 6:9—11; 15:7; 16:1; 17:12; 19:19—20; 20:4—12]. So, since Scripture points out the order of the end times, connecting the whole fruit of Christian hope to the end of the age, it is clear that either everything that God has promised to us will be fulfilled at that time (and, therefore, all that the heretics promise to us on the earth is false) or – if the greatest of mysteries is our resurrection itself – that even in this case one can believe in everything predicted for the end of the world without in the least denying the above opinion. Moreover, since one resurrection is interpreted as spiritual, it follows that the other must be bodily, because if nothing had been proclaimed about the [end] times, then there would only have been one resurrection, that is, a spiritual one. But if there is a resurrection proclaimed for the end times, it must be a bodily resurrection, because no spiritual resurrection is predicted along with it. This spiritual resurrection would have to be either happening now, regardless of the difference in time, or then – at the end of the age. So, it is more fitting for us to defend the spiritual resurrection taking place at the point of our turning to faith, but we also recognize that the full resurrection will take place at the end of the age.
Excerpt from “Against Marcion”, book 3:
Chapter 24. About the millennial Kingdom on earth
1. “Certainly,” you say, “I expect from him what will be the evidence for the difference
2.
3. After all, we confess that we have been promised [the millennial] Kingdom on earth, but
4. Ezekiel also knew about this city [compare Ezek 48:30—35], and the Apostle John saw [compare Rev 21:2, 9—14] and confirmed the word of the new prophecy which abides with our faith so as to predict that the earthly copy of this city,
5. We say that this city was prepared by God for the saints who will dwell in it after their resurrection. They will be strengthened with every kind of abundance, which is, certainly, of a spiritual nature – to compensate for everything we have denied or left behind in this present age, for, after all, it is only just and fair for God to ensure that His servants are overjoyed where they were persecuted for his name. This is the meaning of the Kingdom
6. After the thousand-year Kingdom, during which the resurrection of the saints will be completed as they rise from the dead at different times according to the merits of each, and after the destruction of the world and the judgment of fire [Et mundi destructione et iudicii conflagratione commissa, demutati in atomo in angelicam substantiam <…> transferemur in caeleste regnum. Compare: Et istas ego receperim causas, <…> et illam quae in conflagratione nostris placet hoc quoque transferendam puto (Sen. Nat. Quaest, III, 29,2)], we shall change in the twinkling of an eye [compare 1 Cor 15:52: ev atomo] to an angelic state, being clothed with incorruptibility
7. Know now that this
8. One should finally consider the structure of the blessing itself. Indeed, with respect to Jacob who is a symbol of a later and a better people, that is, of our people, the first promise is the promise of the heavenly dew and the second one of the earthly abundance. For we are first invited to enjoy the heavenly blessings after we have rejected the world, and thus we subsequently prove that we have been predestined to inherit also the earth. And your Gospel [i.e. the Gospel of Luke distorted by the Marcionites] also testifies: “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and this will be added to you as well” [see Lk 12:31].
9. However, he first gives to Esau [Croymann’s conjecture. In the manuscript: “he first promises”] the blessing of the earth and then adds to it the heavenly things by saying: “Thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above” [see Gen 27:39]. In Esau, the Jews, who are firstborn by nature yet inferior to others in love, having been satiated through the Law with earthly blessings, are redirected towards heavenly blessings through the Gospel by faith. But when Jacob sees in a dream a staircase spanning the earth and heaven, and angels ascending and descending, and the Lord standing on it [compare Gen 28:12—13], will it be reckless to interpret it as pointing to the right way to heaven [Tertullian refutes Marcion who claimed that, according to Jewish beliefs, the dead remain in hell] through which some ascend, others descend, [Croymann assumes a lacuna here: “and since the Lord is standing above, both are done by the Lord’s decree”] as determined by the Lord’s decree?
10. Why did he, after waking up [compare Gen 28:16] and getting terrified at this place, immediately start interpreting his dream? Having said: “How dreadful is this place!” he adds: “This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” [compare Gen 28:17]. For he beheld Christ the Lord who is the Temple of God [see Jn 2:19—21] and the gate [see Jn 10:7],
11. For he says: “You shall be clothed in them like in a bride’s adornment” [see Is 49:18]. Thus the Spirit marvels at those who strive to enter the Kingdom of Heaven because of that ascension, saying: “They fly like unto kites [Neither the Septuagint nor the Vulgate mention kites. The Septuagint: ‘Who are these that fly (petantai) like unto clouds and like unto pigeons with their young (sun neossois)?’ Compare Job 5:7: "<…>, but the kite chicks (neossoi) fly (petontai) to high places”. The original: “as the sparks fly upward”], like clouds and like young doves fly to Me [see Is 60:8], that is, simply like doves. After all, according to the Apostle, we will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord [see 1 Thess 4:17], that is, the Son of Man [compare Dan 7:13] who treads on the clouds and about whom Daniel testifies. So we will always be with the Lord [compare 2 Col 5:8] as long as
12. And even if Scripture did not reach out to me this hand of heavenly hope time and time again, I would still have waited for this promise
13. But you argue that Christ is different based on the fact that He is proclaiming a new Kingdom. First, give me an example of the grace of
St. Hippolytus of Rome (c. 170 – 235)
Fragment from “Heads against Gaius”
(The text is quoted by Dionysius Barsalibi “Commentary on the Apocalypse” [Ms. Rich. 7185, f. 9v-10r]):
And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up and sealed the bottomless pit upon him, in order that he should not deceive the nations till the thousand years should be fulfilled: after that, he must be loosed a little season (Rev 20:2—3).
On this Gaius the heretic objected: that Satan is bound here, according to that which is written, that Christ went up into the strong man’s house and bound him, and spoiled his goods for us (Mt 12:29).
Hippolytus answered this and said: If the Devil has been bound, how does he deceive the faithful and persecute and plunder men? And if you say that he has been bound as regards the faithful, how did he draw near against Christ, Him who aid no sin? according to the text, The Prince cometh and findeth no sin in me (Jn 14:30). And if then he has been bound, how did the Lord teach us to pray, that we should be delivered front the evil one (Mt 6:13)? And why did he desire to tempt Simon and the Apostles (Lk 22:31)? And how was one who had been bound able to sift and trouble the disciples?
And truly for us the conflict is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world (Eph 6:12). If he had been bound, he would not maintain the conflict, or catch away the word which was sown (Mt 13:19), as is said in the Parable of the Seed. That He has bound the strong man; the meaning of it is this: that He has rebuked and cast scorn on those who did not come unto Him when He went against the Devil in order to purify them from his bondage and make them sons unto the Father.
And this is proved by what He said just after, that he that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad (Mt 12:30). Accordingly, in the end of times, the Devil is to be bound and to be flung into the bottomless pit (Rev 20:1—3), when the Lord comes; even as Esaias hath said, that the wicked shall be taken away in order that he see not the glory of the Lord (Is 26:10 [LXX, Syr. Hex.]).
And the number of the years is not the number of days, but it represents the space of one day (2 Pet 3:8), glorious and perfect; in which, when the King comes in glory with His slain, the creation is to shine: according to the text, The sun shall shine sevenfold (Is 30:26); while the righteous eat with Him and drink of His vine. This is the day which the Lord hath made (Ps 118:24 [Ps 117:24 rus]), which David spoke of.
Accordingly, when with the eye of the spirit John saw the glory of that day, he likened it to the space of a thousand years; according to the saying, One day in the world of the righteous is as a thousand years (2 Pet 3:8). And by the number he shows that day to be perfect, for those that are faithful.
But as for what he has said, that after the thousand years he [Satan] shall be loosed, and shall deceive the nations (Rev 20:7—8), it is this: that justly he is to be loosed, and to be cast into the burning, and to be judged (Rev 20:10); with those who from old time were gathered together with him, when he gathered the strangers of the kingdom, and Gog and Magog (Rev 20:8).
(Translated from the syriac: John Gwynn, Hippolytus and his “Heads against Caius [Gaius]”).
Excerpt from “On Christ and the Antichrist”:
(65) Daniel also speaks about the resurrection and the Kingdom of the saints: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan 12:2). Isaiah says: “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise… for thy dew is as the dew of herbs” (Is 26:19 LXX). The Lord says: “The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live” (Jn 5:25). The prophet says: “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (Eph 5:14). John says: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power. This is the second death – the lake of fire” (Rev 20:6,14). “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun shines in its glory” (Mt 13:43). He will say, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Mt 25:34). And what will He say to the wicked? “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Mt 25:41) by My Father”. John also says: “For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie” (Rev 22:15). Their part in the lake which burneth with fire (Rev 21:8). Similarly, Isaiah says: “And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh” (Is 66:24).
(66) Paul writes to the Thessalonians about the resurrection of the righteous: “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thess 4:13—17).
Excerpt from the “Commentary on the book of Daniel”:
Book 4.
(16) But someone will ask: when will it be? (Mt 24:3) When and at what time will this man of sin be revealed, and what is the day of the Lord’s coming? So the disciples wanted to learn the exact time from the Lord but He hid it from them in order to encourage them and all of us to look ahead into the future and expect the Bridegroom of heaven every day – so that they would not slack off, become careless, and, having fallen asleep, lose their eternal life on account of the Lord’s delay (Mt 25:5). “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come” (Mt 24:42; compare Mt 25:13; Mk 13:35). That’s why He says: “Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, my lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt 24:46—51). “Therefore be ye also ready” (Mt 24:44; Mk 13:37). This is what the Lord Himself states in the Gospels while admonishing his disciples. In the same way, after the resurrection, the disciples asked Jesus again: “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” He answered: “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Act 1:6—8).
[…]
(22) Why do you wish to know the time and day of the Lord’s coming if the Savior Himself has hidden it from us? Tell me, do you know the day of your death? Why then are you curious about the end of the whole world? If the Lord in His abundant mercy had not been patient, everything would have perished long ago. See what John also says in the Apocalypse: “I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for (the name of Jesus) [preaching the word of God], and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, (O Lord, our God), holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled” (Rev 6:9—11). So, even if martyrs who shed their blood for the sake of Christ are commanded to be patient, then why don’t you persevere so that [in this way] others might be saved and so that the number of the saints who are called might increase?
(23) But so that we do not leave [here] this question unresolved – for men are curious – we will speak out of our need and about something we should not be speaking of. By calculating time from the creation of the world and from Adam, we can easily find what we are looking for. The fact is that the first coming of our Lord in the flesh happened in Bethlehem, eight days before the January calends, on Wednesday, in the forty-second year of Augustus. It was the year 5500 from Adam. He suffered in the year 33, eight [days] before the April calends, on Friday, in the 18th year [of the reign] of Tiberius Caesar during the consulship of Rufus and Rubelion and
(24) But in any case, someone will ask: how can you prove that the Savior was born in the year 5500? Easily. What was written by Moses regarding the tabernacle of old, built in the desert, was an image and likeness of the spiritual mysteries. And indeed, with the coming of this very truth in the last days, i.e. with the coming of Christ, you can see all this fulfilled. [The Lord] commands him: “Make an Ark [of the Covenant] of shittim wood… thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about…two cubits and a half shall be the [length] thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof” (Ex 25:10—11). So, if you add it all up you will get five and a half cubits which stand for 5500 years – when the Savior, born of a Virgin, brought to the earth the Ark of His body, overlaid with pure gold on the inside, that is, with the Word, and with the Holy Spirit on the outside. And in such a way the truth and the ark were revealed. So, we must add 500 years to Christ’s birth, which remain until the completion of the six thousand years, and then the end will come. John confirms that the Savior came into the world bringing an imperishable ark, that is, His body, in the year 5500: “It was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour” (Jn 19:14). This indicates half a day. Since the day of the Lord is like a thousand years, half a day is five hundred years. He could not come before this time because the yoke of the law was still there, nor at the end of the sixth [millennium] – for this is when the baptism ceases – but [precisely] after five and a half [thousand] years so that the Gospel might be preached to the whole world in the remaining half the time. And then, after the sixth day, the present world would cease. And since the Persians reigned for 230 years, and after them, the Romans reigned with even greater glory for 300 years, it is, therefore, necessary that the fourth beast, who is stronger and mightier than all the former ones, should reign for 500 years. After this time, when the ten horns have grown out of this [kingdom] in the last days, the Antichrist will appear from among them. When he begins his fight against the saints and starts persecuting them, then we should expect the appearance of our Lord from heaven. Then He, the King of kings, will appear again, openly, and, as the Judge of judges, He will come forth with confidence and glory. In a word, everything that has already been set by God and announced through His prophets – all this will be fulfilled in due course.