Apocalypse. Millennium. Chiliasm and Chillegorism

Chapter 34. The testimonies of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Daniel in favor of the opinion on the earthly Kingdom of the saints and a parable of the vigilant servants.

1. Isaiah clearly indicated that there would be incredible joy at the resurrection of the righteous: “Thy dead shall live, those who are in their graves shall rise, and those who are on earth shall rejoice” (Is 26:19). Ezekiel says the same thing: “I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves when I bring My people out of their tombs and put my spirit in you, and ye shall live; and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I am LORD” (Ezek 37:12—14). And also: “Thus saith the Lord GOD; I shall gather the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God” (Ezek 28:25—26). As mentioned above, the Church is the seed of Abraham. Therefore Jeremiah lets us know that the One who in the Old Testament gathers all those who are saved from every nation, will in the New Testament raise Abraham’s children out of stones: “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, the LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel (out of the land of Egypt; but, the LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country), and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land” (Jer 23:7—8). [The words in brackets must have been mistakenly omitted by scribes while copying Irenaeus’s works.]

2. All creation will enjoy great abundance according to the will (of God) so that it will produce and bear incredible fruit as Isaiah says: “And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and (the light of the sun) shall be sevenfold in that day when (the LORD) bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound” (Is 30:25—26). The words “stroke of their wound” point to the affliction with which the mankind was struck after Adam’s disobedience – death. God will heal it by raising us from the dead and restoring to us the inheritance of our fathers according to Isaiah: “Thou will hope in the Lord and He will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father” (Is 58:14). The Lord says the same: “Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants” (Lk 12:37—38). In Revelation: “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection” (Rev 20:6). Isaiah also announced the time when it would happen: “And I said,” he says, “how long God? Until the cities become empty, so that they will not be inhabited, and the houses will not be without people and the earth will remain empty: And after this, God will continue us people, and those who remain will multiply on the earth” (Is 6:11—12 LXX). And in Daniel: “Both the kingdom, and the authority, and the majesty of those who are under heaven, are given to the saints of the Most High God, and His everlasting kingdom, and all the authorities will serve Him and obey” (Dan 7:27). And so they don’t mistakenly conclude that the promise is about the present, the prophet hears the following message: “You also come and stand on your lot in the end of days” (Dan 12:13).

3. And that the promises were given not only to the prophets and fathers but also to the churches made up of those nations which the Spirit also calls “islands” – since they are set in the midst of unrest and storms of blasphemy while being a quiet haven for those in danger and a refuge for those who “love what’s on high (heaven)” trying to avoid the depths, i.e. delusions, – Jeremiah confirms by the following: “Hear the people, the words of the Lord, tell the distant islands, say that the Lord, who scattered Israel, will gather it and keep it, as a shepherd his flock of sheep; for the Lord has delivered Jacob and has made him out of the hand of his strongest. Therefore they shall come and rejoice in Zion, and shall come together to the goodness (of the LORD), to the land of the wheat, wine, and fruit, to flocks and sheep: and their soul shall be as a fruitful tree; and they shall hunger no more. Then shall the virgins rejoice in the assembly of young men, and the old shall rejoice: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and will lift up and delight the souls of the priest, the sons of Levi, and My people will be satisfied with My goodness” (Jer 31:10—14). As I have shown in my previous book [See 4, 8, 3], all the disciples of the Lord are Levites and priests – for they have broken Sabbaths in the Temple, yet are innocent. Such promises clearly show that a feast will be held in the Kingdom of the righteous for all those whom God Himself will serve.

4. Concerning Jerusalem and the Kingdom of God Isaiah also says: “Thus saith the Lord: ‘Blessed is he who has seed in Zion and servants in Jerusalem.’ Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment” (Is 31:9; 32:1). About the foundation on which it will be restored: “Behold, I will prepare for you carbuncles and sapphires for your foundations, and I will make thy fences of agates, and thy gates of crystals, and all thy borders of select stones. And all thy children (shall be) taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established” (Is 54:11—14). And also: “Lo, I create joy for Jerusalem and My people. And the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands” (Is 65:18—23).

Chapter 35. Continuation of the same topic.

1. If someone attempts to interpret the promises like these as allegory, they will end up contradicting themselves and will be exposed by the very meaning of these sayings. Such as, for instance: “Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate” (Is 6:11); “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the city and land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it” (Is 13:9); and also:”(The wicked man) shall be taken away so he won’t see the glory of God” (Is 26:10). And when this has come about, “God will extend the existence of man but those that remain will be multiplied on earth; and they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them” (Is 6:12). For all these and other (words) have undoubtedly been said about the resurrection of the righteous which will take place after the coming of the Antichrist and the demise of all the nations that subjected themselves to him. At that time, the righteous will be reigning on earth, multiplying while beholding the Lord, and through Him they will learn to be the vessels of the glory of God and will enjoy communicating and communing with the holy angels in His Kingdom and remaining in fellowship with the spiritual beings. And concerning those whom the Lord will find in the flesh awaiting His return from heaven, those who have suffered persecution but have been rescued out of the hand of the evil one, the prophet says: “And the rest will multiply on the earth” [Is 6:12]. Jeremiah also speaks about the believers who will, just as the Lord taught them, serve Jerusalem and the Kingdom of (Christ) so that those who remain will multiply on the earth: “O Jerusalem, look about thee toward the east, and behold the joy that cometh unto thee from God. Lo, thy sons come, whom thou sentest away, they come gathered together from the east to the west by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God. Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of mourning and affliction, and put on the comeliness of the glory that cometh from God for ever. Cast about thee a double garment of the righteousness which cometh from God; and set a diadem on thine head of the glory of the Everlasting. For God will shew thy brightness unto every country under heaven. For thy name shall be called of God for ever the peace of righteousness, and the glory of God’s worship. Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high, and look about toward the east, and behold thy children gathered from the west unto the east by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the remembrance of God. For they departed from thee on foot, and were led away of their enemies: but God bringeth them unto thee exalted with glory, as children of the kingdom. For God hath appointed that every high hill, and banks of long continuance, should be cast down, and valleys filled up, to make even the ground, that Israel may go safely in the glory of God, Moreover even the woods and every sweetsmelling tree shall overshadow Israel by the commandment of God. For God shall lead Israel with joy in the light of his glory with the mercy and righteousness that cometh from him”. [These words are not in Jeremiah but in the deuterocanonical book of the Prophet Baruch (Bar 4:36—37 and chapter 5 to the end)].

2. Such sayings cannot refer to the realm above heaven because it says: “For God will shew thy brightness unto every country under heaven” (Bar 5:3). They refer to the times of the Kingdom when the earth will be restored by Christ (to its primitive state) and Jerusalem will be recreated in the image of the heavenly Jerusalem, concerning which the prophet Isaiah says: “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me” (Is 49:16). In the same way, the Apostle also says in Galatians: “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all” (Gal 4:26). He says this not about some wandering Eon or some force that may have emanated from Pleroma and Prunica but about the Jerusalem written on the hands (of God). And this (heavenly Jerusalem) John saw coming down to the renewed earth in the book of Revelation [Rev 21:2, 10]. For after the times of the Kingdom, “I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them”. He tells us about the universal resurrection and judgment: “I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Rev 20:11—14). This place is called hell; the Lord calls it eternal fire (Mt 25:41). “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15). Further, John says: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Rev 21:1—4). Isaiah says the same thing: “There will be a new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in it” (Is 65:17—18). The Apostle testifies to the same: “For the fashion of this world passeth away” (1 Cor 7:31). Likewise, the Lord also says: “Heaven and earth pass” (Mt 5:18). With the passing of these two, the new, heavenly Jerusalem will come down to earth, according to the words of John, the disciple of the Lord. It will be adorned like a bride for her husband, and this is the Tabernacle of God in which He will dwell with His people. This (heavenly) Jerusalem was foreshadowed by the former earthly Jerusalem in which the righteous are prepared for incorruption and salvation. Moses saw a copy of this Tabernacle on the mountain, and nothing in this can be taken allegorically – everything is real, true, and essential, having been created by God for the enjoyment of the righteous. For just as surely as there is a God who raises the dead, so will every man truly rise – not allegorically, as I have repeatedly shown. And just as surely as he is raised from the dead, he will also be prepared for the incorruption and will grow and become stronger during the times of the Kingdom so that he will be able to receive the glory of the Father. After the renewal of all things, he will surely live in the city of God. For (John) says: “And he that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, it is done” (Rev 21:5—6). This is how it should be.

Chapter 36. All people will surely rise from the dead; the world will not be destroyed but there will be different abodes for the saints according to their dignity. And all things will be subject to God the Father, and he will be all in all.

1. Since people are real (people), the place of their abode must be just as real and not reduced in any way. And this place of abode must prosper. For neither the substance nor the essence of creation is destroyed – the One who made it is faithful and true. It is the “fashion of the world” that is passing (the sin was committed in it) because this is where man has fallen. And therefore this “fashion” was temporary according to God’s foreknowledge of all things, as I have already explained in my previous book [See 4, 5, 5 (?)] where I attempted to show the reason for creating the temporary things of the world. When this “fashion” passes away and the mankind is restored and strengthened enough to be ready for incorruption so that they would not decay anymore, then there will be a new heaven and a new earth in which the new man will abide forever, ever conversing with God about new things. Isaiah says that this will go on forever and ever: “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain” (Is 66:22). And, As the elders say, those who are found worthy of the heavenly abode will at that time go there, that is, up to heaven, while others will enjoy the pleasures of the Paradise and some will enjoy the beauty of the city. Yet God will be seen everywhere as long as those who dwell there are worthy to see Him.

2. Besides, (they also say) there is a difference between the abodes of those who bore fruit a hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold (Mt 13:3—8); some of them will be taken up to heaven, others will abide in Paradise, and others will dwell in the city. Therefore the Lord says that the Father has many mansions (Jn 14:2). For everything belongs to God who provides all with decent abodes, just as His Word says that everything is distributed by the Father according to who we are or what we deserve. And this is a table around which those invited to the wedding feast will recline. According to the elders, the disciples of the Apostles, such is the distribution and the order of salvation for those who are being saved, and through such a gradual course they are perfected: they ascend to the Son through the Spirit, and then through the Son to the Father, because the Son will hand over all His works to the Father as the Apostle says: “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death”. For, during the times of the Kingdom, a righteous person on earth will forget how to die: “But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Cor 15:25—28).

3. So, John clearly foresaw the first resurrection of the righteous and their inheritance in the Kingdom on earth. The prophets spoke of this Kingdom as well. The Lord taught the same, promising his disciples to drink of the new cup with them in the Kingdom to come (Mt 26:29). And the Apostle said that the creation itself would be liberated from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the sons of God (Rom 8:21). And in all this and through this, the same God and Father who created man and promised the fathers their earthly inheritance reveals Himself, bringing the creation out (of its slavery) and into the resurrection of the righteous, fulfilling the promises in the Kingdom of His Son, and then, out of His fatherly compassion, granting that which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man (1 Cor 2:9). For the one and only Son who accomplished the will of the Father, and the one human race in which the mysteries of God are being unfolded – the mysteries “which the angels desire to look into” (1 Pet 1:12) – cannot comprehend the wisdom of God through which His creation is being perfected. For the creation has been conformed to the image of the Son and united with Him through His body so that the firstborn Word of God descends into the creature, that is, into the (bodily) creature, and is embraced by it. On the other hand, the creature receives the Word and ascends to Him, rising above the angels, and gets conformed into the image and likeness of God [Grabe and others suppose that the conclusion of St. Irenaeus’s work is missing, and has probably been lost.].

Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215)

After all, not only our spirits but also our character, life, and body must become holy. For how else should we understand the words of Paul that the unbelieving wife sanctifies her husband and the unbelieving husband sanctifies his wife? [1 Cor 7:14] Did not the Lord give a similar answer to the one who had asked him about divorce that Moses had given them permission to divorce? The Lord said that it was done because of the hardness of heart. Did you not hear what God had said to the first man: “They shall become one flesh” “Whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, committeth adultery”. But after the resurrection from the dead, “they neither marry, nor are given in marriage” [Mt 19:3—9; 22:30]. About food and stomach we read the following: “Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them” [1 Cor 6:13]. So he condemns those who think that they can live like goats and bulls doing nothing but eating and having sex. But if they have really attained to the resurrection state, as it is claimed, and for this reason they do not marry, then why do they not also refrain also from eating and drinking? After all, the Apostle indicated that food and stomach will not exist after the resurrection. If they have already been risen, then why are they still experiencing thirst, hunger, and physical pain – everything from which the full resurrection in Christ must set us free? What is the problem here? After all, even some idol worshippers will fast and abstain from sex. But it says: “The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink”. Even sorcerers can by their sheer willpower abstain from wine, meat, and sex, and yet they worship angels and demons. Just as moderation is a form of humility which does not involve castigation of the body, so asceticism is a spiritual virtue practiced privately, not for a show (Stromata, 3,6, 47—48).