Rapture: The End-Times Error That Leaves the Bible Behind (48 page)

Josephus goes on to suggest that “had the Romans made any longer delay in coming against these villains, that the city would either have been swallowed up by the ground opening upon them, or been overflowed by water, or else been destroyed by such thunder as the country of Sodom perished by, for it had brought forth a generation of men much more atheistical than were those that suffered such punishments; for by their madness it was that all the people came to be destroyed” (
WJ
, V, 13:6).

This remnant,
loipos
, remained defiant to the very end. Josephus tells us that, yes, “all the birds were gorged with their flesh” (19:21).

With this description of the judgment of Christ’s enemies in 70 A.D., St. John has completed all the events surrounding that year. In the timetable, we referred to these as past events. In Chapter 20, we leave the past (70 A.D.) and enter the present (the time from the destruction of biblical Judaism until the eschatological end of time). Verses 1 through 6 describe the situation in the present, from Jerusalem’s destruction until Christ returns in glory.

We are still within the timeframe of Daniel’s final vision, which also starts with the victory of Christ in 70 A.D. and ends in eternity with Daniel’s final judgment. We live today between those two points; this is a description of our time. Daniel’s week (seven decades) of covenantal transition are over. The six blessings that the Messiah gained for us during Daniel’s seventy weeks are being bestowed. Remember them? Daniel predicted that Christ was coming in His first advent “to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy” (Dan. 9:24).

This time of Church blessing is also known as the Millennium:

Then I saw an angel coming down from Heaven, holding in his hand the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were ended. After that he must be loosed for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped 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. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with Him a thousand years (20:1–6).

The highly symbolic language in this particular vision is striking. St. John continues the symbolism borrowed from Ezekiel that we witnessed in “the great supper of God” (19:17). That context should never be ignored.

Intractable problems arise when we attempt to interpret this vision too literally. First of all, what kind of chain would be able to hold an entirely nonphysical spirit such as Satan? What kind of seal would hold Satan in a pit? Can a pit really be bottomless?

St. John is clearly using symbolic language to describe a spiritual reality, but for some reason, people forget the nature of apocalyptic literature when they approach this vision (GR5, 6). This vision continues the story of the victory of Christ begun with “the great supper of God.” Not only will the beast, the false prophet, and the remnant of evil men be cast into the lake of fire; the dragon behind it all will not have free reign to deceive as he has up until this point. But this is not a permanent situation. After one thousand years, “he must be loosed for a little while” (20:7).

The “thousand years” is mentioned six times in seven verses. Remember, St. John is writing at the end of an apocalyptic book filled with visions that are not chronological. His repetition of a time reference should catch our attention. For at least these few verses, chronology
is
on the author’s mind. Obviously, he is now addressing a long period that follows on the heels of the previous visions of Jerusalem’s destruction. After many chapters of recapitulating visions, he is breaking new ground chronologically. Then, after these six verses, he makes clear that he is discussing a time
after
the thousand years are ended. “When the thousand years are ended …” (20:7). These six verses stand alone chronologically.

This raises the question: What does St. John mean by this thousand-year period? Does he mean there will be a future, earthly Kingdom distinct from the present Church age? More than one devout Catholic or Protestant has told me, “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” This principle has a certain ring and a strong emotional appeal to it. And it sounds very holy. But unfortunately it begs the very question under consideration.

The question is not what is written: we can all read. The question is, what does it mean? Did St. John mean literal, 365-day years, or was he pointing to something symbolic (GR3)? I suggest the immediate context is highly symbolic.

So is the number itself.
One thousand
is ten cubed, a very complete number. Ten cubed has a reflection in the physical reality that ten to the fourth or fifth power does not have. Ten cubed is a reflection of an object with ten for its height, length, and depth.

One thousand
is repeatedly used in the Bible to imply a large, but symbolic amount. For example, God owns the “cattle on a thousand hills” (Ps. 50:10). No one thinks to ask which hills are a part of the thousand, nor should we assume that God does not own the cattle on the hills not included in that thousand. He owns all the cattle on all the hills (and in all the valleys), which number far more than a thousand.

One thousand cubits
is used symbolically four times as the depth of water flowing from below the threshold of the Temple (Ezek. 47:3–6). This chapter of Ezekiel is very important as a basis for the last three chapters of The Apocalypse (as we will see shortly). It is not at all a stretch to assume that the thousand years reflect the thousand cubits of water in Ezekiel. We will encounter this thousand cubits of water toward the end of this vision.

In addition to these two references, there are many more symbolic uses of
one thousand
in the Old Testament (Deut. 7:9 and Ps. 84:10; 90:4; 91:7; 105:8). The Davidic kingdom itself was said to last a thousand years, signifying a number too large to warrant counting.

St. John certainly understood this symbolism. To claim that this passage teaches that the kingdom of Christ must exist for exactly one thousand years makes no more sense than to ask how a chain could bind Satan. Numbers have a different role to play in apocalyptic literature (GR2). St. John uses a thousand years to signify a large, complete time. The time will extend past the lifetime of even someone’s great-grandchild’s great-grandchild. Christ’s Kingdom will endure on earth at least as long as even King David’s.

So what do we know so far? Following the public vindication of Christ, Satan is kept from “deceiv[ing] the nations” for an extremely long period, figuratively spoken of as a thousand years. At present, he is restrained by God’s power; “after that he must be loosed for a little while.” This is the same chronology as St. Paul noted, although he told us specifically that the Church was living during the time of the “restraining” of Satan (2 Thess. 2:6).

St. John includes a description of the activities of Christ and His Church during the Millennium. The Church “
reigned
with Christ a thousand years” (20:4). Lo and behold! This is a description of the Kingdom that was established as a result of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection. This Kingdom was mentioned all the way back in the initial vision before any of the seals. “Thou wast slain and by Thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made them a
kingdom
and priests to our God” (5:9–10). This Kingdom was won on the Cross, was proclaimed at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came, and was vindicated when Christ judged the Sanhedrin by destroying their Temple.

Rapturists disagree. They claim that these six verses are the clearest enunciation of a still-future Millennium in the Bible. This paragraph is not only their clearest hope of a biblical basis for their theology; it is their only hope. This concept, so important in American Protestantism, is mentioned nowhere else in Scripture!

In these few short verses, rapturists claim to find the cornerstone for their belief in premillennialism. They believe that at this time the Church will have been secretly raptured. (Even though this event is never mentioned, they insert it at the beginning of The Apocalypse.) Then the Jewish people will endure the Great Tribulation and finally recognize their Messiah. Then there will be a thousand-year reign of Christ here on earth, the Millennium. They cite these brief verses as support for this scenario, claiming that they teach:

    1. All Christians will have a reigning role in Christ’s future earthly Kingdom.

    2. All Christians will be resurrected in their glorified bodies at the start of this thousand years.

    3. Christ will be physically present on earth, reigning from the throne of David in Israel.

But look at these verses carefully. Not one of these three statements is actually taught in this vision. By looking at what is
not
taught here, we should get closer to a clear understanding of what
is
taught in this part of the vision of the end.

♦
Point 1: All Christians will reign
. “All Christians will have a reigning role in this future Kingdom.” Actually, two groups of people are mentioned as ruling in this Kingdom. First, those for whom thrones had been “committed” (20:4). This seems to be an obvious reference to the Apostles, who had been promised this role by Jesus Christ before His Passion: “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on His glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones” (Matt. 19:28).

The other group who rule are those martyrs who died during the battles with the beast, those “who had not worshiped the beast” (20:4). We know these people! They have already been mentioned in The Apocalypse. Most notably, they were under the altar in the initial vision (6:9–10). In that passage, they petitioned for justice to be served on their oppressors. They are not only given justice now, but also participate in dispensing it. They are given the opportunity to reign with Christ, alongside the Apostles.

Notice that it is “souls” who are mentioned as ruling (20:4). Nowhere are we given the slightest justification for assuming these are souls with bodies. They are not. The resurrection of all people for their final judgment has not occurred yet. Not until the resurrection of all humanity will souls be given their glorified bodies like Christ (20:12).

These martyrs are the saints who rejoiced at the defeat of “Babylon” (18:20). They do reign. They are given the opportunity to affect history. We saw that already. The prayers of the martyrs affect events on earth. This is not sometime in the future; this occurs right now. These reigning souls are the saints in Heaven right now, the Church Triumphant. Catholics make requests of saints in Heaven for just this reason: they are present with Christ in a ruling role. If they take up our cause before Christ, it will more likely be accomplished (James 5:16). This Millennium is a present reality with benefits bestowed through the victory of the Lamb during the week of covenantal transition.

We would be remiss not to note how these Christians reign: “They shall be priests of God and of Christ.” Rapturists adamantly maintain that there is no role for the sacerdotal duties of the priest in the New Covenant. But St. John states simply that this is their primary function. The Millennial Kingdom is the present ecclesiastical one. The fact that St. John feels no need to justify the statement makes it all the more significant. He assumes that, although his readers may need to have the meaning of the first resurrection explained (as we will see in a moment), they certainly would not question the need for and role of the Church’s priesthood in ruling with Christ. The reason is simple: St. John was a priest himself.

Nowhere does this passage teach that all Christians will be involved in ruling during this thousand-year Kingdom of Christ. Actually, the very fact that two distinct groups are mentioned specifically implies that
not
all Christians will be given the opportunity to rule during this time.

Of course, a well-informed Catholic already knows that, during this period, there are two groups of Christians not ruling from Heaven. The Church Militant is a name for the Christians on earth during this time. You and I find our place with this group, sometimes also called the Pilgrim Church. The other group of Christians during this time is the Church Suffering, who are in the process of purification in a place traditionally known as Purgatory (
CCC
, pars. 1030–1032).

So, the best understanding of these six verses is that they describe the present state of affairs, what some call “the Church age.” The Church Triumphant in Heaven assists the Church Militant on earth through prayer. The Church Militant, in turn, can help the Church Suffering through prayer.