Divine schedule ?
the following "chialist" simple & straight-forward reading of Revelation was common, in early Christianity, under the persistent persecutions, of pagan Imperial Rome; numerous sources are citable:
'tis about That Time ?
For thousands of years, Jews (and hence Christians) have reckoned the beginning of Biblical time to circa 4000 BC. And, in the early Christian era, Jews & Christians reckoned that Divine Plan would unfold over circa 6000 years. So, in ancient times, Judaeo-Christians predicted that Doomsday would occur circa 2000 AD. For example, in the first century AD, the Apostle Barnabas wrote:
Tribulation lasted 300 years, End-Times to last as long ?
Circa 30 AD, Jesus' earthly ministry cast Satan down onto earth (Luke 10:18). And, the Tribulation period, from that moment (Rev 12:10) to the (first) defeat of the Devil via the victory of Christianity (Rev 12:12 = Rev 19), lasted only a "short span" in Biblical terms; but lasted several centuries (during which Christians were persistently persecuted) in human terms (cp. 2 Pet 3:8).
Similarly, the End-Times period, from the un-binding of Satan (Rev 20:7) to Doomsday (Rev 20:10), is Prophesied to last only a "little time" in Biblical terms. Qualitatively, "short span" seems similar to "little time". So, the End-Times is apparently Prophesied to last some similar span of time, i.e. "several centuries". And, the span of time, from the 15th to 21st centuries AD, is both crudely qualitatively similar, to the several centuries of pagan persecutions of Christians; and also points to the same present epoch, circa 2000 AD, as "about That Time".
the following "chialist" simple & straight-forward reading of Revelation was common, in early Christianity, under the persistent persecutions, of pagan Imperial Rome; numerous sources are citable:
Tribulation (Rev 12-17) = pagan Imperial persecutions of early Christianity (e.g. Nero, Domitian, Diocletian) (1st - 3rd centuries AD)
Fall of Babylon (Rev 18-19) = fall of pagan Empire of Rome (4th-5th centuries AD)
Holy Warrior (Rev 19) = Emperor Constantine (4th century AD)
Millennial Kingdom (Rev 20:1-6) = Byzantine Empire of Christian Constantinople
Satan un-bound (Rev 20:7) = conquest of Christian Constantinople (15th century AD)
End-Times (Rev 20:8-9) (15th century AD - present)
Doomsday (Rev 20:10)
Divine Victory (Rev 20:11+)
Fall of Babylon (Rev 18-19) = fall of pagan Empire of Rome (4th-5th centuries AD)
Holy Warrior (Rev 19) = Emperor Constantine (4th century AD)
Millennial Kingdom (Rev 20:1-6) = Byzantine Empire of Christian Constantinople
Satan un-bound (Rev 20:7) = conquest of Christian Constantinople (15th century AD)
End-Times (Rev 20:8-9) (15th century AD - present)
Gog & Magog = global international Communism et al.
Doomsday (Rev 20:10)
Divine Victory (Rev 20:11+)
'tis about That Time ?
For thousands of years, Jews (and hence Christians) have reckoned the beginning of Biblical time to circa 4000 BC. And, in the early Christian era, Jews & Christians reckoned that Divine Plan would unfold over circa 6000 years. So, in ancient times, Judaeo-Christians predicted that Doomsday would occur circa 2000 AD. For example, in the first century AD, the Apostle Barnabas wrote:
And, in the third century AD, Hippolytus of Rome wrote:He speaks of the Sabbath at the beginning of the Creation, "And God made in six days the works of his hands and on the seventh day he made an end, and rested in it and sanctified it." Notice, children, what is the meaning of "He made an end in six days"? He means this: that the Lord will make an end of everything in six thousand years, for a day with him means a thousand years ... So then, children, in six days, that is in six thousand years, everything will be completed. "And he rested on the seventh day." This means, when his Son comes he will destroy the time of the wicked one, and will judge the godless, and will change the sun and the moon and the stars, and then he will truly rest on the seventh day (Epistle of Barnabas, 15:3-5)
Also in the third century AD, Rabbi Kettina taught:And 6,000 years must needs be accomplished, in order that the Sabbath may come, the rest, the holy day "on which God rested from all His works." For the Sabbath is the type and emblem of the future kingdom of the saints, when they "shall reign with Christ," when He comes from heaven, as John says in his Apocalypse: for "a day with the Lord is as a thousand years." Since, then, in six days God made all things, it follows that 6, 000 years must be fulfilled (Hippolytus. On the HexaËmeron, Or Six Days' Work).
Other Rabbinical contemporaries concurred:In Rosh Hashanah 31a and Sanhedrin 97a, Kettina predictes that the world will exist for six thousand years, and then, in the seventh millenium, be utterly destroyed. His view is based on an interpretation of Isaiah 11:11, in which the word day is said to be reckoned by God as one thousand years. Psalm 90:4 uses a similar metaphor (Kolatach. Masters of the Talmud, p.244.)
Rabbi Kattina taught:
Six thousand years shall the world exist, and one thousand, the seventh, it shall be desolate, as it is written [Deuteronomy 15:1], "And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." ... Just as the seventh year is one year of release in seven, so is the world: one thousand years out of seven shall be fallow.
To which Rabbi Eliyyahu replies:
The world is to exist six thousand years. In the first two thousand there was desolation [no Torah]; two thousand years the Torah flourished; and the next two thousand years is the Messianic era, but through our many iniquities all these years have been lost.
(Sanhedrin 93b)
This tradition seems echoed, in "Maya 2012" and the "Prophesy of the Popes".R. Kattina said: Six thousand years shall the world exist, and one [thousand, the seventh], it shall be desolate, as it is written, And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day [Isaiah 2:11].
Abaye said: it will be desolate two [thousand], as it is said, After two days will he revive us: in the third day, he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight [Hosea 6:2].
It has been taught in accordance with R. Kattina: Just as the seventh year is one year of release in seven, so is the world: one thousand years out of seven shall be fallow, as it is written, And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day [ibid.]; and it is further said, A Psalm and song for the Sabbath day [Psalm 92:1], meaning the day that is altogether Sabbath; and it is also said, For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past [Psalm 90:4].
The Tanna debe Eliyyahu teaches: The world is to exist six thousand years. In the first two thousand there was desolation [no Torah]; two thousand years the Torah flourished; and the next two thousand years is the Messianic era, but through our many iniquities all these years have been lost.
(Sanhedrin 97)
Tribulation lasted 300 years, End-Times to last as long ?
Circa 30 AD, Jesus' earthly ministry cast Satan down onto earth (Luke 10:18). And, the Tribulation period, from that moment (Rev 12:10) to the (first) defeat of the Devil via the victory of Christianity (Rev 12:12 = Rev 19), lasted only a "short span" in Biblical terms; but lasted several centuries (during which Christians were persistently persecuted) in human terms (cp. 2 Pet 3:8).
Similarly, the End-Times period, from the un-binding of Satan (Rev 20:7) to Doomsday (Rev 20:10), is Prophesied to last only a "little time" in Biblical terms. Qualitatively, "short span" seems similar to "little time". So, the End-Times is apparently Prophesied to last some similar span of time, i.e. "several centuries". And, the span of time, from the 15th to 21st centuries AD, is both crudely qualitatively similar, to the several centuries of pagan persecutions of Christians; and also points to the same present epoch, circa 2000 AD, as "about That Time".
Last edited: