Biblical Problems

-17- BIBLICAL PROBLEMS FR PAUL KARIAMADOM The Second Coming in the Year 2000?

"He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years"(Rev 20:2). "Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ...and they will reign with him a thousand years"(Rev 20:4-6).

The thousand years mentioned here is a problematic question to many and difficult to interpret. There are some who even believe, according to these Biblical statements, that the second coming of Christ will take place at the end of this millennium. Quite a number of people do not understand the true meaning of the thousand years mentioned in the book of Revelation and interpret it incorrectly.

In this book the reign of a thousand years is given great importance from an eschatological stand point. St John stresses the point that the persecution and oppression unleashed against the Christians by the Roman empire will one day come to an end. What rules this empire is the power of evil. In Revelation 17:1-8:24 we find the truth that God will destroy this power. Once these evils are destroyed, Christ's reign of a thousand years will come to pass (of 20:1-6).There are several interpretations regarding these thousand years.

Pre - Millennialism
From the time of St Augustine there have been various interpretations given to these thousand years mentioned in Rev 20:1-6. Some take it in a literal sense believing that Christ will come to establish this reign of a thousand years. Such people are called "Pre-millennialists". They believe that Jesus 'coming is to establish a material empire. At this time the Christians (the saints) will share in the glory of his resurrection. Over these the second death will have no power (Rev 20:6).Christ begins his reign of a thousand years by conquering Antichrist and binding Satan. After this Satan will try his wiles for the last time. But he will be cast into the furnace of fire. And the final judgement of all the dead will take place and a new heaven and a new earth will be created. This is the interpretation given by some fundamentalist evangelicals. Certain Fathers of the Church-Iraneus, Tertullian, Hippoclytus, Ambrose and Lactantius, for example, also held this view. They see the reign of a thousand years as the re-creation of Paradise. About God's reign of a thousand years there is no reference in the Old Testament or anywhere else in the New.

The influence of the trend of thought prevalent among the Jews can be seen in this interpretation. In the "apocalyptic" books there are references to the reign of the Messiah on this earth and the prosperity that obtains at that time. In the second book of Enoch the history of the world is divided into seven sections of one thousand years each. At the end of the last one thousand years, the judgement of God will take place. The same idea can be seen in the Talmud of the Hebrews and in the epistle of Barnabas. "A thousand years are like yesterday in your eyes" and like a watch in the night ," says Psalm 90:4.This statement and the seven-day description of the creation story in the book of Genesis, prompt several people to divide the history of mankind into seven periods of one thousand years each.

John Nelson Derby and his followers also divide salvation history into seven periods. These people are called "Dispensationalists". The sixth and seventh periods are very significant. We are now in the sixth period, the period of the Church and of the Holy Spirit, living in the expectation of the second coming of Christ. The seventh stage, which is the last, is a period of a thousand years of the establishment of God’s kingdom and of eternal life. The adherents of this opinion believe that at the end of this millennium the world will come to an end and then will begin the reign of Christ for a thousand years.

Post - Millennialism

After the resurrection of Jesus many will accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour as the result of the missionary work of the Church and the ministry of the world. Thus the thousand- year-reign of Christ will begin on this earth. Satan will be bound and his power destroyed. Nevertheless after one thousand years Satan will again try to destroy the Church. This will be a period of great persecution. With the second coming of Christ there will be an end to this persecution. At that time the dead will rise, Christ will judge the world and there will be a new heaven and a new earth. The belief in Post - millennialism had its origin and growth in the United states of America. It was Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) who spread this idea.

The teaching of the Church (Amillennialism)
According to the teaching of the Church, the above mentioned ideas that Christ will reign on this earth with believers for a thousand years before or after his second coming, are not acceptable. The Church does not consider the description in Rev.20:1-6 as a historical account of the events at the end of time. It is only an account of a spiritual conflict between the children of God and the powers of darkness. The view point of St.Augustine regarding Rev.20:1-6 is what the Church holds. The first resurrection was the rising from the death of sin to the life of faith. When Christ saved the world Satan was bound. His kingdom is the Church on this earth. In one sense Christians are sharers of the glory of Christ’s reign, as they conquer sin and death in Baptism. In the fullness of time Christ will come again and all the dead will be raised to life. And then will come the judgement and believers will enter eternal life.

The reign of Christ for one thousand years is not to be taken literally. It only indicates the fullness of his reign. Thousand is a perfect number (in ancient Israel it was the number of an entire military regiment).It does not indicate any historical age or a prescribed, limited period of time. There is only one idea expressed here - the idea of perfection, completeness and integrity . In Ps 50:10 and Job 9:3,'thousand’ is given such a meaning. Satan is bound for a thousand years. Likewise, the Christians reigning for one thousand years with Christ highlights their perfect and glorious victory over sin and their priestly ministry. The majority of non-Christians accept this interpretation.

Conclusion The teaching of the New Testament is that Christ’s second coming will occur at an unexpected moment. It will come like a thief (1Thes 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10;Mt 24:37-51;Mk 13:32-37;Lk12:35-47). Some of the early Christians believed the second coming of Jesus would take place shortly (1Thes 4:13-17;Jn 21:23 for example). But it did not happen so. This caused some to ridicule the very idea of the second coming (cf 2 Pet 3:4-5). The way the author of the letter reacts to this is noteworthy. "But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day" (2 Pet 3:8).The reason why the Lord does not come immediately is because he is patient and desires our good. "The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance"(2 Pet 3:9). Let us, therefore, keep our lamps trimmed and be prepared for his coming (cf Mt 25:1-13).