Eschatology

Dr. Timothy J. Davis Sr. ~ Hon. DE

eschatology n : the branch of theology that is concerned with such final things as death and judgment; heaven and hell; the end of the world.

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To understand really what is in store for us in the end times, we first need to get rid of the stuff we have seen on TV, read in fantasy books, heard from the "experts" about their theories and go straight to the source, Jesus Christ. There are many places in the Gospels where the Lord speaks of the end times but none as clear as:

• Luke 21:1 And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. 21:2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. 21:3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: 21:4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had. 21:5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, 21:6 As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 21:7 And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? 21:8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. 21:9 But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. 21:10 Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: 21:11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. 21:12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. 21:13 And it shall turn to you for a testimony. 21:14 Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: 21:15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. 21:16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. 21:17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. 21:18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish. 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls. 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21:21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. 21:22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 21:23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 21:26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 21:27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 21:29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 21:30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 21:31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 21:33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 21:35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. 21:37 And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives. 21:38 And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him.

What is eschatology?

The word "millenium" is an eschatological term which refers to a thousand years of fulfillment, described in Revelation, wherein Satan is bound and there is a reign of peace on the earth (Rev. 20:1-10). There are basically three variant views of what the thousand years signifies, when it will occur, and how this reign of Christ and the saints is to be achieved: pre-millenialism, post-millenialism and amillenialism.

*Pre-millenialism.*

Radically unlike the other views, pre-millenialism generally interprets the "thousand years" as a literal period of time which will occur after a culmination of specific, prophetic events in history. These events include multitudinous signs (such as natural disasters, wars, mass deception and apostacy), , a specific period of great tribulation, the rise of antichrist, and finally the second coming of Christ. The millenium occurs after all these dramatic, supernatural manifestations of good and evil have been resolved in history through these cataclysmic events.

Many premillenialists describe the millenium as a specific period of a thousand years which occurs after the second advent, when the saints rule with Christ on the earth, although much of the early church rejected this doctrine (condemned as the heresy of chiliasm, which is Greek for "thousand"). There are variations within the premillenial perspective regarding the order and meaning of the events, and the existence of a "rapture", whether the righteous dead will resurrect to reign along with the saints during this period or not, and other issues. At the end of the thousand years of peace comes the Final Judgement, and the entrance of the saints into New Jerusalem.

*Post-millenialism.*

Antithetical to the pre-mil view, the post-millenialist adheres to the notion that the thousand years is likely not a literal thousand years, but that the number is used symbolically in the Scriptures to indicate a lengthy period of time. The post-millenial position indicates the present reign and rulership of Christ through the church, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail.

Although the thousand years is not literal, usually, in the post-mil view, it is a finite length of time in which the presence of God's grace in space and time through the Church gradually overwhelms and minimizes the presence of evil in the world. The predominance of the good culminates and is fulfilled in the second coming of Christ, who puts all things under his feet as a process, as a process of conversion, through the grace that presently exists in the church.

*Amillenialism*

Like the post-mil view, the amillenial doctrine does not believe that the thousand years is literal, but unlike the post-mil view, amillenialists do not believe that the thousand years described in Revelation 20 indicates the rule of Christ on earth. Rather, those who have died in Christ, saved through His righteousness, reign with him in heaven, and finally in perfection after the Resurrection and the final judgement.

The amillenial doctrine posits the idea that both good and evil continue to exist in the world until the Resurrection and Final Judgement, as indicated in Christ's parable of the wheat and the tares. The kingdom of God is present in the Church, but is not progressing towards fulfillment. Christ rules His church, but He does not reign for any specific period in the world prior to his second advent.