Eschatology I

Some Background of Eschatology Interpretation

When I set out to study theology, around 1970, all focus was on something called Pretribulational, Premillennial, Dispensational Eschatology.  Everybody was toting a Scofield Bible.  Pretribulational referred to a rapture, which was to take place before a seven-year period known as the Great Tribulation, during which Satan takes control of the earth.  Premillennial referred to a thousand-year period following the Tribulation, during which Millennial Saints take control of the earth.  This Millennium is followed by heaven.  The time line looks like this:

Rapture — Tribulation — Satan Bound — Millennium — Lake of Fire — Heaven

Then this theory began to fall apart.  The prophetic schemes predicting the end of the world around 1984 all failed.  Numerous alternative schemes were invented: for example, mid-trib and distributed-trib, to name a few, thrived.  Older schemes like a-mil and post-mil revived.  The whole field of study was in chaos.

Of course, 1970 was not the origin of “Adventist” and “second blessing” theologies.  Pursuit of this extensive history is far beyond the scope of a short study like this.[1]

At my last study of this material, the hottest book out was Steve Gregg, Revelation Four Views, A Parallel Commentary (Nelson, Nashville, 1997: 528 pages).  Since that time, much work has been done, but I have not followed the material closely.[2]  To the best of my knowledge, much of this material and most, if not all of its predecessors, suffers from the same defect: namely, it considers the basic structure of the Book of Revelation as prophetic material: not prophetic in the sense of proclamation, put prophetic in the sense of prediction.  The ensuing discussion then debates which of these predictions is already fulfilled, and which remain unfulfilled.

Some Principles for Interpreting Eschatology

·         The study of Eschatology must not replace or supplant the proclamation of the Gospel.  The proclamation of the Gospel is and must remain the primary focus of the Church.  It’s about the Shed Blood of Christ.  It’s about the Great Commission.[3]  When Eschatology has ceased to be the handmaiden of the Gospel, it has outlived its usefulness, and must be abandoned in the interest of reasonable Biblical priorities.

·         It is not for us to know the times or the seasons.[4]  No theologian knows the ultimate explanation of these Scriptures, which God has reserved for Himself.  We struggle with this subject; it’s not something where we know the answers.  We do not know; we struggle.

·         The eschaton consists of many things that are not normally seen.  Angels, for example, are not normally visible to humans, even when present.  It is wrong to base our ideas about what is fulfilled and what remains unfulfilled when we cannot possibly see or know what is going on.

·         In the pursuit of exploring the eschaton, there is no substitute for an overall view of Scripture.  We need to read our Bibles through carefully and repeatedly from cover to cover.  Without this command of the overall picture, we are bound to miss subtle inferences made from other parts of Scripture.  We’re doing our best to explain Scripture exactly as it is written without adding anything to it or taking anything from it.  If anyone has a dispute, it’s not with us; it’s with the authors of Scripture.  We’re just messengers; our job is to stand and deliver.

·         Some of us are committed to the Received Text: for example, Η Καινη Διαθηκη, Novum Testamentum, The Greek New Testament (Dallas Theological Seminary).  We reject the text critical work of both Westcott-Hort (1881) and Nestle-Aland (1952) out of hand.  This Dallas Theological Seminary reprint of Η Καινη Διαθηκη is as close as we can get to the text published under the authority of the Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch.  We believe that Η Καινη Διαθηκη, preserved by Greek scholars for centuries is the correct text.  We do not understand overthrowing the faithful labors of scholars whose first language is Greek, in favor of scholars who only possess second-hand knowledge of Greek and whose language skills are necessarily inferior.  In Revelation, such textual evaluation is very difficult and we will not attempt it here: it is left to experts.

·         Interpretation of Scripture is based on the literal meaning.  We believe that Scripture is Theomorphic: that is, God talks baby talk to His people.  When talking with small children it is necessary to be extremely literal, figures of speech are far too difficult for small children.  The difference between colors and shapes takes a long time to grasp.  For a while, all balls are red and all blocks are blue.  The child has no way of knowing that you are describing the shape, not the color, even though he can mimic your words.  We will not dodge on this principle by saying, “literal where possible,” and then invent something because we don’t like what the text says.  If a figure of speech is necessary or obvious (as in parables), we will strive diligently to associate the figure with the literal denotative meaning, and not allow connotative meanings stray loosely everywhere.

Some Foundational Eschatology Structures

·         Many of the world’s religions express a cyclical eschatology.  One’s deeds result in karma.  Life proceeds from birth to death and then is repeated.  Bad karma results in reduced status in the next life, while good karma results in improved status in the next life.  The ultimate goal is to escape the reincarnation in to Nirvana or nothingness.  Many Christians get caught up in the romance of this idea without considering that the outcome is always extremely pessimistic.  Such religions have no hope.

·         Christian theologians rightly reject cyclical eschatology in favor of linear eschatology.  This is infinitely better.  Life proceeds from birth to death and then the individual faces God.  Death is a new state of life, without temporal limits, but the individual is still an individual.  Such religions are full of hope.  If individuals despair of hope it is because they have chosen to do so, not because hope was never offered to them.  This would be an excellent idea of the eschaton if it squared with Scripture, as many theologians think it does.  Life on earth is linear, but there is no reason to believe that things in the eschaton are, as well.

·         Life on earth is fairly linear.  We do not get to live our lives over repeatedly until we get it right.  It is appointed unto man once to die, but after that the judgment.[5]  We do not get to escape into a meaningless void; we have to face our Maker.  But this linear life on earth requires a timeline.  No such timeline exists in the eschaton, where everything is infinite: that is, beyond measure.  It is impossible to speak of time in a region where time has little or no meaning or possibly does not even exist at all, which is why, of course, that we call it eternity.  How can events be ordered linearly, or in any other way, in a region where time itself defies definition?  Jesus teaches that the kingdom of heaven is at hand;[6] He does not teach that it lies in the future.  At this point, we are simply forced to bow to the magnitude of the eschaton.  It is a mystery beyond human understanding.  Eye hath not seen, nor entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for His people.[7]  For want of a better term, we are going to speak of this as a spherical eschatology: for the eschaton is present with us, wherever we go, it is all around us, and as it is infinitely with us right now, so it was with us yesterday, it will be with us tomorrow, and forever and ever.

·         Because the eschaton is eternally established in time not only by Christ’s work on the Cross, but also by His eternal existence as the Son of God, His incarnation, His life, His presence on earth in His resurrection body, His ascension into heaven, His seating on the throne of David at the Father’s right hand, His heavenly reign, His request to the Father for the sending of the Holy Spirit to all believers, and His (in time) future coming in glory, we will also call it a realized eschatology.  He said, “It is finished.”  And, finished it is.

The Theological Nature of the Eschaton

No place in Scripture is as thorough in describing the theological structure of the eschaton as Paul’s description in Hebrews.  In this structure, we must not miss the fact that our Church is in heaven (12:22-24)

·         The Son is the Word of God, the Heir, the Creator (1:1-2)

·         The Son is the brightness of Glory, the exact expression of the Father’s Nature[8] (1:3)

·         The Son upholds all things by the command[9] of His power (1:3)

·         The Son Himself made purification[10] for sins The Son and is enthroned on high (1:3)

·         The Son is superior and greater in reputation than all the angels of heaven (1:4-7)

·         The Son receives an eternal throne and scepter because of His righteousness (1:8-9)

·         The Son changes creation as a garment and reigns over enemies and angels (1:10-14)

·         The Son elevates man in the eschaton (2:6-7)

·         The Son is the High Priest of the eschaton (2:17)

·         We are partakers of the eschaton (3:1)

·         The Son is greater than Moses in the eschaton (3:2-19)

·         The Son brings a superior rest in the eschaton (4:1-13)

·         The Son as the High Priest of the eschaton is resident in heaven (4:14-15)

·         The Son is on the Throne of Grace[11] (4:16)

·         The Son’s High Priesthood in the eschaton, after the priesthood of Melchizedek, is superior to Aaron’s high priesthood[12] (5:1-11; 6:19-7:10)

·         The Son is the anchor of the soul within the Oracle in the eschaton (6:19)

·         The Son’s Priesthood in the eschaton, after the priesthood of Melchizedek, is superior to the Levitical high priesthood (7:11-28)

·         The Son has the power of eternal life (7:16)

·         The Son is the guarantor of a better Covenant or Testament (7:22)

·         The eschaton has the true Tabernacle (8:2)

·         The Son has a more excellent ministry as mediator of a better Covenant established on better promises all in the eschaton (8:6-13)

·         The Holy Ghost signifies the way into the Oracle since the earthly copies are gone (9:8)

·         Christ comes to a more perfect Tabernacle with His own blood (9:11-12; 14-15)

·         Christ has entered into the eschaton in heaven (9:23-28)

·         The Law is a shadow of the eschaton (10:1)

·         Christ brings a better sacrifice completed on earth in time, but presented to the Father in the eschaton eternally (10:5-10; 12)

·         The work of the Holy Ghost changes our relationship to the Law (10:15-18), to the eschaton (10:19-20), to prayer (10:21-23), and to fellowship (10:24-25)

·         Our treasure is in the eschaton (10:34)

·         We have a better city, country, vision, and promise (11:10; 16; 27; 39-40)

·         We are come to a better mount, Church, and Savior (12:22-24; 28-29)

·         We are called by a greater voice (12:25-27)

·         We have a better altar, a new city (13:10; 14)

·         We have a better benediction (13:20-21)

The Worship Nature of the Eschaton

I believe what Paul lays out in theological structure in Hebrews; John lays out in worship structure in Revelation.  John makes this remarkable statement:

“I John, and also your brother, and fellow-member[13] in the tribulation, and in the kingdom and endurance of Jesus Christ, I was in the island called Patmos, because of the Word of God, and because of the testimony of Jesus Christ.  I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day,[14] and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last.  Write what you see in a book, and send [it] to the seven churches in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.’ ”[15]

In note fourteen, we detail the argument that John is observing a heavenly worship service, that he sees timeless events, which are going on in the heavenly Church eternally.  We believe that this worship construct embraces the whole of the book of Revelation.  This makes all temporal prophetic theories seriously flawed.

The Book of Revelation as a Book of Worship

If this worship construct makes any sense at all to you, dear reader, then some radical applications are necessary.

·         This is a worship service.  Our earthly worship services should be patterned after it.

·         This is a radical departure from the way we customarily think of Revelation, and we are now forced to reexamine and rethink all of our previous exposition.[16]

Even if you dislike the idea of a worship construct, many commentators have observed that roughly half the content of the book is devoted to hymns, many of which have found their way into hymnbooks and worship services.  Hence, half of the book is undisputed as worship.  Why not see all of it as a book of worship?

Revelation 7 and the One Hundred Forty-four Thousand

Two basic observations:

·         They are sealed.  This is commonly thought of as the work of the Holy Spirit.[17]  This sealing is considered to be in preparation for ministry, and is the latter part of a baptismal service.  They are sealed in their foreheads to protect their reasoning powers and other brain activities from the attack of Satan.  They are sealed in their foreheads so that they can think God’s thoughts after Him.[18]

·         They are clothed in white robes the standard garb of those being baptized.

These baptismal candidates are dead, and received into heaven as faithful witnesses.  John probably has in the back of his mind the multitudes of Jewish martyrs who perished in the persecutions of the first century.  But the timelessness of the eschaton assures us that this is not simply about them.  Rather, we are reminded that the Lord Jesus Christ baptizes, not with water, but with the Holy Ghost and with fire.  All Christians receive the Holy Ghost.  All Christians receive the baptism of the fires of tribulation.  “All who are godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.[19]  The scene that John observes, typifies all ages.  All Christians, from water baptism to this baptism of fire will know this experience.  It is an ageless event in that new believers are streaming into the Church every year.[20]

Does this have unfulfilled prophetic impact?  I don’t think it’s going to end any time soon.

What is the significance of the number 144,000?  God is able to raise up children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob from stones.  It signifies the replacement of the census of the unbelieving Israelites with true believing Israelites.  It signifies a people who will do what Israel/Judah refused to do, a people who will tell the world about the living God.  But the number is symbolic of a kind of infinity.  There is no expression of infinity in the Hebrew tongue.  One thousand is a very large number in the Hebrew idea of things, in time, forever.  Thousands of thousands is a practical infinity.[21]  Here, by twelve’s of thousands it is the perfect completion of Israel, but by extension it is the beginning of the people of every kindred, tongue, and nation promised to Abraham.  What a wonderful assurance to John to see this baptism, taking place before his very eyes.  People that John watched die are alive before him now.

We must not overlook the fact that the preparational sealing at the start of Christian life and the death burial/baptism in white robes are collapsed into one single timeless vision.  The white baptismal robes of water baptism and the burial shrouds are one and the same.  Doubtless this has something to do with people being buried in their baptismal robes, not a common practice nowadays.

However, there is no compelling reason to disassociate this baptism from Christ’s Crucifixion in 33 AD

Revelation 14 and the One Hundred Forty-four Thousand

Two basic observations:

·         In contrast to the seal on the forehead of chapter 7, here we have Christ’s Father’s Name on their foreheads.  Our memories automatically collect the promised names of chapters 2 and 3, which have now come to fruition.  In the eye of the eschaton, John is able to see past death to the outcome of Christ’s introductory sermon.[22]

·         These are firstfruits, possibly emphasizing their Jewishness, but not exclusively in an ethnic sense: for many from these seven cities were not Jews in body, but all are Jews in Spirit.  There is neither Jew nor Greek....[23]

The 144,000 of chapters 7 and 14 are not necessarily the same group.  We take the position that they are the same group, which makes chapters 7 and 14 linked physically.  John obviously envisions something ongoing, baptisms that will not stop any time soon.  If he were looking at a future millennia, that would make no sense to his listeners.  The message packs a timeless punch, but this is the start of the action not well into its development at some future date.  This idea does not at all contradict our remaining hope that many Israelites and Jews will yet come into the kingdom.[24]  It is simply difficult to equate the idea of firstfruits with our present hope.  The idea of firstfruits always indicates an abundant and immeasurable harvest to follow.  It never indicates an activity at the middle or end of harvest.

These 144,000 are now singing with the angels in the heavenly choirs.  The centrality of worship themes in both Revelation 7 and 14 further supports our introductory thesis.

What of the Millennium?

Basic observations

·         Satan is bound for a thousand years.[25]

·         Saints reign for a thousand years.[26]

The early Church associated these events as beginning with the Christ event: either with this incarnation, crucifixion, or some other significant milestone.  Since this only comprises a difference of around 37-years, no significant disagreement is at stake.[27]  If we take the start at the Crucifixion in 33 AD, we have a literal termination of the Millennium at 1033 AD.

Most commentators want to say that the Millennium did not end circa 1033 because there is no evidence that Satan was released to deceive the nations.  What is the sort of evidence that we might expect?

Satan was loose to deceive the nations prior to the Millennium.  There was no extraordinary appearance of Demons prior to that time.  People were deceived by widespread unbelief and idol worship.  Paul assures us that behind every idol there is demonism.  Among the Israelites and Jews there was also widespread unbelief, incredible social evil, and much loss of slavery.

After the Millennium, why would we expect conditions to be widely divergent from those before the Millennium?

Revelation appears to be arranged spatially, rather than chronologically.  If it is a worship service as we maintain, John is looking around the heavenly sanctuary and observing things that are going on all at the same time.  His attention is drawn from one thing to another, but not in chronological order.  There is nothing to prohibit the discussion of chapter 20 as beginning early.  We also saw that water baptism and death were compressed into a single topic.  There is no reason that such compression can’t be true here, with the end of the Millennium coming closer to the end of the book.

What evidence is there that Satan is released?  Since 1033 there has been endless deception and division among Christians.  The Great Schism took place in 1054 AD.  Today we have roughly 30,000 denominations.  Worse yet, many of these groups seem more inclined to protect their own selfish political interests that to pursue the cause of Christ.  If this is not an indication that Satan is released, we would be hard put to find a stronger one.  However, there are also numerous wars, and unbelievable selfishness among nations as well.  Outright criminal behavior in high-ranking business, church, and government officials would make the Julio-Claudians blush.

We conclude that there is really no compelling evidence to believe that the Millennium did not end circa 1033 AD, and that Satan is again loose among us.

What of the Great Tribulation?

Without attempting a proof, because no proof is possible, there is no good reason to believe that the seven years of Great Tribulation are not a literal seven years ending somewhere between 33 and 70 AD.  We did commit to sticking with the literal meaning of words.  But we would need to spend more time working with the details.[28]

Some commentators believe that the seven years of Great Tribulation is not coterminous with the thousand years of Millennium.  The seven years indicates that the period of suffering is complete and brief.  The thousand years of Millennium indicates that it is long and joyous.  This view is not impossible, but it is hardly literal.

666

The number 666 expresses considerable power and a threefold approach.  It speaks of a powerful king or emperor or governmental system, a powerful priest or religious system, and a powerful false prophet or source of truth.  The structure is copied from the Old Testament.  At first God was the Israelite-Jewish King.  However, the people rejected God; they wanted a king like the other nations.  Prophets brought the Word of God, Priests laid it up and officially applied it in the Tabernacle or Temple, The king oversaw and protected it.  In 666, we have a powerful system of false prophecy, false worship, and false leadership.  The consistent message of Revelation, regardless of how it plays out in time, is that 777 trumps 666 in every conflict.

A Few Curiosities

·         The Ark of the Covenant is not lost and cannot be raided.[29]

·         An earthquake is reported before the beginning of the siege of 70 AD.[30]

What Can We Possibly Do?

If Satan is already released as we suggest, still we are not hopeless.

“And then the lawless will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy with the breath of his mouth,[31] and will render powerless with his coming appearance.  Whose is coming according to [the] working of Satan in every lying power, sign, and miracle, and in every unjust delusion[32] in [those that are] perishing; because they did not receive the love of the truth, for them to be saved.  And on account of this God will send them a working of error, for them to believe the lie, that all may be judged who do not believe the truth, but delighted in unrighteousness.”[33]

We do not know that God does not intend to use us as instruments of the destruction of Satan’s lawless followers.  In any case, we have this hope, that we will cling to and proclaim this Word of God, by the power of the Holy Ghost until the end.  Who knows what God will be pleased to do?  No one knows.

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventism

[2] For example: Gentry, Kenneth L., Jr., Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation (Institute for Christian Economics, Tyler, TX, 1998) ; Sproul, R. C., The Last Days According to Jesus (Baker Books, Grand Rapids, 1998); Hitchcock, Mark L., A Defense of the Dormitianic Date of the Book of Revelation (PhD Dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, December 2005: 253 pages); Hanegraaff, Hank, The Apocalypse Code (Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 2007: 300 pages)

[3] Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15 where the Biblical imperative in these oft abused passages is not “go” but rather “make disciples” and “preach.”

[4] Matthew 24:3; Mark 13:4; Luke 21:7; Acts 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 — much foolishness has resulted from trying to figure out what we cannot know until the day when God unveils it.  The word “seasons” is likely a reference to the fourth day of creation.  God the author of creation is also the author of time.  We not only cannot know what month or quarter of the year it will be, we don’t even know the year of his coming.  God intends to, and certainly will succeed at surprising us.

[5] Hebrews 9:27 — this is an amazing statement considering that is is in the middle of a very eschatological book.

[6] Matthew 3:2, etc. — this phrase is so common in Scripture that it must be considered as some kind of a theme statement.  However, this theme is found in more than one book of the Bible, so it’s more of a life theme than a book theme.

[7] Isaiah 64:4; 65:17; 1 Corinthians 2:9

[8] ὑποστάσεως: hypostasis, or underlying nature

[9] ῥήματι

[10] καθαρισμὸν: catharsis

[11] The overwhelming picture is that the true Oracle of God, the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy Place is in heaven.  Christ has sanctified it with His own blood, and now sits on the Mercy Seat, the Throne of Grace, the lid, and covering of the Ark of the Covenant.

[12] All the things that Moses did, were copies of the heavenly reality that God showed him.  The heavenly realities became the pattern for the earthly models.  Now we are seeing what these heavenly realities are (8:5).

[13] Συγκοινωνὸς means more than companion.  It signifies the complete unity of the body-life of the whole Church, of which John is a member.  Everything about John’s demeanor speaks of his equality with the laity, who are his brothers and sisters, the fellow-members of the body of Christ.  We wish that some, who are puffed up in their office, would take note of this fact.  Though John is a very Apostle of the highest rank, he thinks of himself as no more than a humble layman.  The priesthood of all believers, for we are all prophets, priests, and kings, the priesthood of the laity is the highest rank in the Church on earth.  There is a collegiality of the fellowship.

[14] Κυριακῇ is the standard Greek term for Sunday.  John is where all believers belong on Sunday: namely, he is in faithful attendance at a service of Christian worship at his local church on Sunday.  Likely, John is the archbishop of that church, and in oversight of that worship service.  Very early in that service John experiences what some call the Beatific Vision.  This Beatific Vision is what we come to Divine worship to participate in; this is what Christian worship is all about.  We come to participate in the eschaton here and now, not in the future.  Tragically, we must depart from the heavenly Church: for us the service ends, and we must go on with our worldly lives.  But for a few minutes, we have our feet firmly planted on earth, while our heads are enjoying the eternity of heaven.  In this setting, John gets a full orbed and unusually clear view of the eschaton.  What he witnesses is the eternal heavenly worship service.  The events going on are not particularly prophetic, but are the normal activities of heavenly worship.  Since the eschaton is timeless it is difficult, if not impossible, to assign any special sequence of events.  These are events that go on normally all the time.

[15] Revelation 1:9-10 our translation

[16] This is a task far beyond the scope of this paper and we will be fortunate to touch on a few small points.

[17] Ephesians 1:13 for example

[18] 7:4

[19] 2 Timothy 3:12 — if our construct is correct, and Satan is released as we suggest is highly possible, then the ease and ungodliness of many churches is understood: for, Satan controls them.  Satan need not trouble those who no longer believe.

[20] 7:9

[21] See 5:11

[22] 14:1 — baptismal candidates typically receive a new name.

[23] 14:3-5

[24] Romans 11 — the issue is not especially when those that are cut off may be grafted in again.  The issue is that all may be grafted in whenever they believe.  The ethnic Israelite or Jew has no special standing with God.  Their cutting off does not exclude them either.  Whenever they believe, they are grafted in again.  Our hope is that all will come to the knowledge of the truth, take the cup of salvation (Psalm 116:12-15), and that myriads more will come back into the kingdom of God.

[25] 20:2-3, 7-9

[26] 20:4-6

[27] Nailing this down more accurately may be possible, but it is way outside the scope of this paper.

[28] Daniel’s prophecies appear to be accurate to the exact year.

[29] 11:19 — the earthly copy of the Ark was lost around 586 BC and since God ceased using it, according to Ezekiel, there is not nor ever has been any reality to the idea that it possessed extraordinary powers.  The powers were the exclusive property of the Shekinah Glory and the earthly Ark was His temporal throne.  This is the heavenly Ark, and yes, it is His eternal throne.

[30] 11:13 — see http://newjerusalemcommunity.blogspot.com/2011/01/earthquakes.html.  I’m sorry I don’t have the exact reference in Josephus.

[31] The Holy Scripture proclaimed by the Holy Spirit, usually through us

[32] Deceit or seduction

[33] 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12