The Second Coming and the Millennium: Three Views

This week in 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Paul speaks about the second coming of Jesus.  The events leading up to the second coming are further described in Chapter 19 and 20 of Revelation. In Revelation 20:3 John introduces the idea of a 1000 year period when Satan will be bound and Jesus will reign on the earth. Christians have come to call this "the millennium". Since the time of John, Christians have developed three views about how the millennium will take place. 

 Amillennialism:  this belief is that Jesus's death initiated the millennium when he conquered death and sin by his resurrection. They believe Jesus sacrifice is the event that bound Satan allowing the gospel to would spread on the earth until Christ's second coming.  Right before Christ's second coming, Satan would be loosed for a short period before being banished forever.  At Christ's second coming, everyone will be resurrected and judged. 

Postmillennialism:  This is similar to Amillennialism in the belief that Jesus will come at the end of the millennium, but in Postmillennialism, the millennium doesn't begin at Jesus resurrection.  Instead, as Christianity spreads, people begin to live like they are part of the Kingdom of God.  Once they are worthy, people live in love and peace for 1000 years before Satan is loosed for a short season and there is one last battle in which Satan is cast out and Jesus returns to welcome all who have slept in righteousness into his presence. 

Premillennialism:  In this theory, Christian's prepare for Jesus' second coming.  Life becomes difficult for them, but then Jesus comes  and claims his place as ruler of the earth.  Jesus reigns personally on the earth for 1000 years, during which people live in peace.  Then Satan is loosed for a short time before the final resurrection and judgement. 

In the Topics and Questions part of the website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the article about the Millennium suggests that church adopts the Premillennial view.  It states "When we speak of “the Millennium,” we refer to the 1,000 years following the Savior’s Second Coming (see Revelation 20:4; Doctrine and Covenants 29:11). During the Millennium, “Christ will reign personally upon the earth” (Articles of Faith 1:10)."

The Church also holds to the Lord's statement in Matthew 24:36 "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."  

The question in my mind is what will bring about the millennium.  One view is that the world will slowly get more wicked until it is ready for destruction.  Then the Lord will step in, destroy the wicked, and then the righteous will live in peace.  Another view is that people must become more and more righteous, preparing to receive the Lord as our sovereign.  Once we are righteous enough and worthy enough, Jesus will return and set up his kingdom.  I have heard both opinions hinted at in Conference talks.  

I personally hope it is the second scenario.  Some people talk as if the world is getting more wicked, yet there are a lot of key indicators that suggest that people in general are more righteous now than they were 50 years ago.  Racial prejudice is much less common, as is discrimination against women and minorities. Abortions are much lower than they were in the 80's and 90's, as are violent crimes. War related deaths have been way lower since 2000 than during any similar time period the 20th century.  

Yes, there are terrible things in the world, and people do wicked things. It may be that the world will take a turn for the worse and mankind will be saved from the brink of destruction by the advent of the Savior. No matter which scenario comes to pass, I think we are better off trying to continue to lead the world toward righteousness instead of just bemoaning its wickedness.

Paul's Prison Epistles

 This week for Come Follow Me we read two more of Paul's prison epistles.  When Paul first arrived in Rome his captivity wasn't too bad.  He was in house arrest and was able to receive visitors and live in relative comfort. Many scholars believe he was released after two years and had further missionary journeys, though these do not appear in the New Testament.  Then around 66 AD he was arrested again, put in a terrible prison, and eventually executed.  It is unclear whether the epistle to the Philippians came from the time of this second imprisonment, but many believe it did because he seems to be more resigned to his ultimate fate than in some of his other epistles.  He says, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain...For I am in a strait betwixt the two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." (v 21-24)

I have been thinking this week about Paul's life. One might think that Paul's imprisonment in Rome was a terrible thing.  From this passage we see that, at least in his letters, Paul didn't think so.  He actually felt that his imprisonment allowed the gospel to spread more easily (v. 12).  Of course, he was more right than he knew even then.  What if Paul had not gone to prison?  He seems to have written some letters to the saints in the different areas of his missions before he went to prison, but much of the second half of the New Testament is composed of letters that Paul wrote in prison.  Would he have written them if he was still out traveling around, teaching the gospel? 

His prison epistles have a similar structure.  He introduces himself, teaches the doctrine of Christ, applies that doctrine to specific problems his audience is having, and then closes with encouragement and salutations.  He is clearly writing the letters to be a kind of manual for the saints about what Christians believe and how to live the life of a Christians. If Paul hadn't written these teachings down, they probably would not have persisted into the future. If you don't believe me just consider how many of Peter's teachings we have in the New Testament. After the apostles' death the Christian church would probably have weakened and been absorbed back into the polytheism that prevailed in the Roman Empire.  Paul's epistles laid the solid, tangible foundation of the Christian religion among the gentiles which ended up being the group that carried the religion into the future. 

I must admit, one of the things that frightens me about being a follower of Christ is that there is a real possibility that God will ask me to do something really hard and unpleasant during this life.  I look at historical characters like Paul, Moroni, Joseph Smith and my own ancestors, Wilford Woodruff and Lorenzo Snow.  Their lives were not always (or even often) very happy. God asked them to do really hard things.  Of course, we have faith that they were amply rewarded for their sacrifice in the eternities.  I actually have that faith as well.  I truly believe that anything God asks me to do will ultimately be the best thing for me to do.  But that doesn't mean it doesn't scare me. It is a little bit like facing surgery.  Anyone who agrees to surgery does so because they believe it will be of benefit to them, but few look forward to it. Maybe as I age and mature spiritually, I will come to accept with more courage  God's plan for me, and face it with Paul-like joy.

The Armor of God

This week in Come Follow Me we were reading the book of Ephesians.  In chapter 6 is the famous passage about putting on the "whole armor of God". The podcasters I listen to, of course, spent a lot of time on this, and we talked about in my junior Sunday school class as well. As I read it I thought about my discussion last year about what people in ancient Israel associate with different body parts and how that is different from our modern associations.  I went back to look at my earlier posts, and realized that, although I paid attention to the meanings of different body parts all through the Old Testament, I only blogged about knees and feet.  So here is a more complete anatomy and how it relates to the Armor of God mentioned in Ephesians.

Head: We think of the head as the source of thought and intellect.  In Hebrew it symbolizes that as well, but even more often it represent government and self-control.  So when the scriptures say that Jesus is the head of the church, it is suggesting that Jesus is the government or controlling power of the church. This is why rulers were anointed on their heads.  The head is the place from which you rule. In Ephesians Paul tells us to take on the helmet of salvation (6:17).  Remember that in Hebrew the name translated as Jesus, Jeshua, means Jehovah Saves.  The helmet of salvation shows us that our head, our leader, Jesus is the source of salvation.

Chest or Breast: We think of the chest, or heart, as the source of emotion.  We might say, I love you with all my heart.  Not so in Hebrew. In Hebrew, the heart is associated with wisdom and understanding. (see Prov 2:10) Paul tells us to take on the breastplate of righteousness (6:14).  In other words, righteousness should guide our understanding and is the source of true wisdom.  

Loins/bowls: We think of the loins as being the source of lust.  There is some of that in Hebrew, but more broadly it is the seat of all strong emotions. In Colossians, Paul tells them to "put on bowels...of mercy, kindness, humbleness..." John uses the term "bowels of compassion" (1 John 3:17).  Paul tells the Ephesians to have their "loins girt with truth" (v. 14).  The message is that strong emotions should be tempered with truth.  We might say, "don't let your emotions run away with you."

Feet: The reference here in Ephesians, that "your feet shod with the preparations of the gospel of peace." (v. 15) is clearly referencing the passage from Isaiah 52:7 "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace."  He is suggesting it is time to go forth and proclaim peace, so you better get your shoes on.

Shield of Faith: This doesn't really refer to a specific body part, but everyone knows what a shield is for.  It is to protect us from attack. There were basically two kinds of shields that were used in this time in Rome.  There was the smaller round shield called a "parma" used in hand-to-hand combat. It was made to be light and easy to wield to parry the blows of an opponent. There was also the long shields of the infantry called "scutum."  It was used in a group attack.  Each man would hold his shield in front of his neighbor, while he was, in turn, covered by his neighbor's shield. As a result, the army had a kind of group armor that was pretty impenetrable to an attack from arrows. Since Paul talks about the shield of faith quenching the "fiery darts of the wicked" it seems that he is referring to the scutum shield.  It suggests that our faith helps both our neighbors and ourselves resist evil. 

It could be said that the development of the phalanx warfare using the armor and the scutum shields was the reason that Greece and, afterward, Rome was able to conquer the Mediterranean world.  Likewise, over the next three centuries, is was the faith of the Christians that enabled them to resist the persecutions of the Roman empire and eventually supplant it as the dominant force in the region.  In our day, it will be our faith that helps us endure trials and eventually overcome.