Apocalypse. Millennium. Chiliasm and Chillegorism. Valeriy Sterkh
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to come>. For the Sabbath is also an image and likeness of the Kingdom of the saints which is to be revealed, even as John says in the Apocalypse – they will reign together with Christ after He comes down from heaven. Indeed, for the Lord one day is like a thousand years. So just as God created all things in six days, so six thousand years must be fulfilled. But they have not yet been fulfilled, according to John: «Five are fallen, and one is», that is, «the other is not yet come» (Rev 17:10). «The other» means the seventh day which will be the day of rest.
(24) But in any case, someone will ask: how can you prove that the Savior was born in the year 5500? Easily. What was written by Moses regarding the tabernacle of old, built in the desert, was an image and likeness of the spiritual mysteries. And indeed, with the coming of this very truth in the last days, i.e. with the coming of Christ, you can see all this fulfilled. [The Lord] commands him: «Make an Ark [of the Covenant] of shittim wood… thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about…two cubits and a half shall be the [length] thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof» (Ex 25:10—11). So, if you add it all up you will get five and a half cubits which stand for 5500 years – when the Savior, born of a Virgin, brought to the earth the Ark of His body, overlaid with pure gold on the inside, that is, with the Word, and with the Holy Spirit on the outside. And in such a way the truth and the ark were revealed. So, we must add 500 years to Christ’s birth, which remain until the completion of the six thousand years, and then the end will come. John confirms that the Savior came into the world bringing an imperishable ark, that is, His body, in the year 5500: «It was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour» (Jn 19:14). This indicates half a day. Since the day of the Lord is like a thousand years, half a day is five hundred years. He could not come before this time because the yoke of the law was still there, nor at the end of the sixth [millennium] – for this is when the baptism ceases – but [precisely] after five and a half [thousand] years so that the Gospel might be preached to the whole world in the remaining half the time. And then, after the sixth day, the present world would cease. And since the Persians reigned for 230 years, and after them, the Romans reigned with even greater glory for 300 years, it is, therefore, necessary that the fourth beast, who is stronger and mightier than all the former ones, should reign for 500 years. After this time, when the ten horns have grown out of this [kingdom] in the last days, the Antichrist will appear from among them. When he begins his fight against the saints and starts persecuting them, then we should expect the appearance of our Lord from heaven. Then He, the King of kings, will appear again, openly, and, as the Judge of judges, He will come forth with confidence and glory. In a word, everything that has already been set by God and announced through His prophets – all this will be fulfilled in due course.
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(55) The king that they set up [the Antichrist], worshiped by all, made himself the abomination of desolation to the world; he will reign for a thousand two hundred and ninety days. And, as Daniel says, the abomination of desolation will last for one thousand two hundred and ninety days. «Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days» (Dan 12:11—12). In fact, when the abomination sets in and begins its fight against saints, those who are able to endure its domination and persevere for the following forty-five days, until the end of Pentecost – only those will attain to the Kingdom of Heaven. After all, the Antichrist, intending to receive the inheritance together with Christ, will only remain for a part of this [i.e. final] Pentecost. That’s why Isaiah says: «Let the ungodly be taken away, that he see not the glory of the Lord» (Is 26:10 LXX). Paul says in the letter to the Thessalonians: «The Lord shall consume [the Wicked] with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming» (2 Thess 2:8). And the Kingdom will be inherited by the saints together with Christ (compare Dan 7:27; Mt 25:34; Rev 20:6).
Commodian of Gaza (3rd century)
Excerpt from «Carmen apologeticum adversus judaeos et gentes», also known as «Carmen de duobus populis»:
…The law and the prophets proclaim who is worthy of God’s heaven,
And reveal the secrets of the golden age.
[…]
In addition, he adds that we will be immortal,
To enjoy what the eye hath not seen before.
After the six thousand years have passed…
Excerpt from «Instructiones adversus gentium deos pro christiana disciplina»:
[…] A city will descend from heaven in the first resurrection.
And what shall we say about this heavenly creation?
We shall all rise who were faithful to Him.
They will be incorruptible, and life will be untouched by death,
There will be no more illness or sighing.
Only those will enter the city who were victorious in the times of the Antichrist
In martyrdom they have gained life forever and ever.
They will receive good things, for they have suffered through tribulations.
They will marry, and they will bring forth offspring
In the course of a thousand years, and earthly tributes will be given to them.
For the earth will bring them forth and renew them without end.
Shower rains will not come, nor will this golden fortress be touched by cold,
And there will be no siege, as it is now, nor robbery.
The city will not want the light of lamps,
For the Creator Himself will be its light, and night will be no more.
It will be twelve thousand stadia in length, width, and hight,
Its root will abide in the earth, and its head will rise to heaven.
And before the gates of the city, the sun and the moon will shine,
The evil one will be captured in anguish for the sake of nourishing the righteous,
For a thousand years God will keep him in chains. […]
St. Victorinus of Petava (230 – 303/304)
Excerpt from «On the Creation of the World»:
4. On the fifth day, earth and water yielded their fruit [see Gen 1:20—23]. On the sixth day, all that was still lacking was made. Because of this, God made the man out of the earth [see Gen 2:7] and set him as the ruler over all things that God created on earth and under water [see Gen 1:28]. However, before [man], God created angels and archangels, thus setting the spiritual principle above the earthly one. The light was created before the heaven and earth. The sixth day is called Friday [Paraskeva], or the preparation for the Kingdom [see Rev 5:10; 20:4]. God created Adam in His image and likeness [see Gen 1:26]. He created angels, as well as man, after finishing all His works so that neither man nor angels could claim to have been His helpers in the creation of the world.
5. On the seventh day, God rested from all his works, and He blessed and sanctified them [Gen 2:2—3]. This day we honor above all other days because on the Day of the Lord we partake of the Bread with thanksgiving. And Friday becomes our fast so that it would not seem as if we were observing the Sabbath together with the Jews, for the Lord of the Sabbath, Christ [Mt 12:8], said through the prophets that His soul hates the Sabbaths [Is 1:13—14] because He had fulfilled the Sabbath in His body. However, even before that, He had commanded Moses about the circumcision that should be performed no later than on the eighth day [see Lev 12:3], which often falls on the Sabbath as we read in the Gospels [see Jn 7:22]. Moses, seeing that these people are hard-hearted, lifted his hands and crucified himself in the battle waged by an enemy on the Sabbath [see Is 17:8—13], so that they would be captured and learn through the strictness of the law the doctrine which they had been neglecting.
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