The “Final” Tribulation.

If we are to adopt the attitude of such preeminent Reformers like Martin Luther, Jean Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli, not to mention the other Reformers like Bodenstein and Oecolampadius, and indeed even the Council of Trent, Eusebius, Dionysius of Alexandria or Jerome, among many others, this entire concept of an horrendous final tribulation would be an easy thing to confront: it simply will not happen. Each one either had a careless attitude about the Book of Revelation, or was decidedly derisive toward it. There is no question that in usage the book did not received full canonical status until modern times despite its canonization by the Calvinist conventions and the book’s protection by an article of faith in 1643.

   Following Bodenstein’s concepts, the book remained the last in the NT. It didn’t have the dignity or practical use of the other books. But being placed last impressed those who read it today that it holds the events of the future, all the events that must happen before the resurrection of the dead. Mixing some of the terrible events described in Revelation in illustrative language with the apocalyptic chapters of Daniel and those of the synoptic gospels, and the whole concept of a final tribulation has come about as one of the biggest mental minhags of Protestant Christianity. Also, it is one of the most dreadful, considering how ambiguous the language of Revelation is. As a result, the concept has been subject to fantastic embroidering via interpretation. Hundreds of commentaries have raised hair on Christians in ways better than a horror novel. . .and all are expecting its events soon.

     Revelation’s first widespread use came with the Pentecostal movements of the late 19^th century, when a showy type of “revivalism” became so popular, spawning any number of “holy roller” churches as a result. Along with all the budding ideas of the time, like Communism and Evolution, Pentecostalism was a new idea that spread quickly, offering people a “new age”— the Millennium!  There was something about it that excited people. Pentecostalism took many things literally in the NT, and thus it sought (and not surprisingly found) people who could speak in “tongues”— some divine and dubious communication from heaven— prophets who looked more like mystics and crystal ball readers— people who could be bitten by snakes and not suffer the effects of their deadly venom . . .the list goes on. All the poetic and figurative Jewish language of the biblical age was taken literally. “Healers” were omnipresent— “Rainmakers,” if you will. “Signs and Wonders” people. God would speak to most anybody at the drop of a hat. Visions of Jesus could be found in every tree or cloud.

   Along with this there was also the beginning, just the beginning, of a rebirth of Gnosticism, spawned by excessive allegory over basic expressions and parables. A utopian atmosphere of 1000 years implied in part of the Book of Revelation fit with an atmosphere that was right for the Apocalypse of John (Revelation) to reemerge throughout the 20th century and finally dominate the scene in the very apocalyptic 1970s. The language it contained of a beast who was man with the number of 666 caused lay teachers and preachers to do numerology on contemporaneous world leaders. The vision of the beast rising from the bottomless pit (a steal from Daniel) with 7 heads and 10 horns caused many to propose that the European Common Market was the Beast. There was also supposedly a computer in Europe capable of controlling the world that had the number 666, and was even nicknamed by its operators as the “Beast.”  Because it was obvious that Revelation’s great whore Babylon was Rome, some postulated the Roman Empire would rise again, or that this “whore” that sat on 7 hills meant the Catholic Church would turn tyrannical again. Numerology was done on Popes’ names to see if one equaled 666. The 200,000,000 horseman coming from the east was interpreted to be a massive Chinese army, since only China could mass an army of 200,000,000 (though they could never feed them). Gog and Magog were always said to be Russia. Thus when Russia attacked Afghanistan in 1980, one junior high teacher declared to his class “They have made their move.” Armageddon was coming! The Russians would attack Israel and the United States, the eagle, would save the day!

   Well, Russia, the great and dreadful Gog and Magog, sank into the toilette. China couldn’t feed an army of 200,000,000 rabbits. The United States, typified by the Eagle, coming to save Israel in the last minute battle of Armageddon is a bloody joke. The world certainly thought it would be a long wait for Italy to become a major world power and fighting force again, so no one worried about Rome becoming a factor. We are left here today in the aftermath of all this apocalypticism, realizing the Common Market wasn’t the Beast, that Russia is only capable of assaulting a bottle of vodka, and that Arab terrorists have taken us into a new era of warfare completely unexpected by those drooling over Revelation in the now-halcyon 1970s.   

   Revelation’s object was the Roman Empire as it existed contemporaneous to the time of John the Elder and Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis. This is evident in several places in the book. One, Chapter 1 verse 3 immediately declares. “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” At the end of the book, in Chapter 22 it also declares: “And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.”

     The body of Revelation in between these verses is best reserved for review at Irrelevant Revelation. But for the purposes here it is best to highlight one chapter which clearly shows the book had a contemporary purpose for the 2nd century AD. This is Chapter 17 of the Apocalypse, where the “Whore” Babylon the Great is mentioned. Revelation 17:

 1: And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3: So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4: And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6: And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 7: And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 8: The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9: And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10: And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11: And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 12: And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13: These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 14: These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 15: And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16: And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17: For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18: And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth

   John plainly gives the interpretation of the vision here, making it obvious that he is speaking of Rome and her empire. Of the 7 kings, 5 have already fallen. At the time John would have been writing this, Hadrian could have been emperor. Since the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, Babylon was a common metaphor for Rome (since both had destroyed the temple).  John obviously felt this was very significant, and that those things spoken in Daniel would soon be coming to pass. So much so that he lifted them for his “vision.” (One note: despite modern impression, it was never a predominant idea in the church even through the Reformation that the apostle wrote this book; it was thought to be the presbyter until modern times needed to elevate the book’s authority.) At the time of Hadrian, 5 emperors had died since the temple was destroyed: Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Nerva, Trajan. The 6th currently was —i.e. Hadrian. One was yet to come. Historically that would be Antoninus Pius. In the very last verse John makes it clear it is contemporaneous Rome. “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”

     By the way, mention of 5 having already fallen and that the 6th currently is, helps one to date the Apocalypse to a much later date than usual, since Hadrian did not begin to reign until 117 AD. This raises the question whether this was John the Elder writing this or Papias, his disciple, writing this in his name. Over the early years of the church, there had been hints of information that Papias at the very least was the one who transcribed Revelation for John. (See Irrelevant Revelation) The totally different style of Revelation from the gospel and epistles of John was noted by all the ancient churchmen and apologists, adding certain credence to the idea that Papias wrote this in the name of his most respected master, John the Presbyter.

   The simple fact is that Rome did not fall after the reign of Antoninus. The 10 kings not yet to be never did come to pass and reign for a brief time with the “beast” and ravish Rome. Rome had far more than 7 emperors after 70 AD, and 10 nations did not rise up and sack Rome, if one wishes to use that symbolism. What would perhaps have been to John or Papias’ chagrin,  Rome turned Christian. Her fall in the West was a very nebulous event and something affixed only with hindsight. In 476 AD the Senate sent to Zeno in the East at Constantinople that there no longer was an imperial candidate in the West. Zeno was to regard himself as sole emperor. In 539 AD Justinian reasserted his control over Italy and Rome again by sending an army under Balisarius, which reoccupied Rome. Dominance by Constantinople was so strong, and the concept of the Roman Empire so sound, that even in 800 AD Pope Leo finally had to rig Charlemagne as Emperor of Rome to get the emperor at Constantinople off his back, and make the West (Charlemagne’s empire) once again independent of Constantinople’s hegemony. Though Charlemagne’s empire crumbled with his son, Louis of Aquitaine, in the East, Constantinople remained as a Christian bulwark against Islam until it fell in 1453 to the Turks.

   It is easier for modern readers to understand now why many early Christians were suspicious of the book. They could understand its illusions easily. Babylon was the standard metaphor for Rome, and Rome sat on 7 hills. By the time of Eusebius (260-339 AD) when Christianity became triumphant in Rome, the book was waning even more; and after Eusebius was able to show that Papias was the disciple of John the Presbyter at Ephesus and not the Apostle, the book continued its steady decline. It appeared certain that John the Elder had written the book. It was only the clumsiness of Irenaeus in 180 AD that had confused the Apostle and the Presbyter as one, which then allowed the material of Revelation to continue on under the guise of apostolic authority.

   Another reason why early Christians might have been skeptical of the book (before Irenaeus gave it apostolic authority) was the fact that the powerful church at Antioch had preserved the martyrdoms of the major apostles and disciples. John was listed in their calendar as having been martyred on December 27 in Jerusalem before the temple was even destroyed. There was only one John at Ephesus, and he was clearly the Presbyter John, who in 2 and 3 John even introduces himself as the Presbyteros. By the time of the 6th emperor from the temple’s destruction in 70 AD (Hadrian) there was no way that John the Apostle could have been alive. Very possibly the Elder was not alive either. But if Papias wrote it in his name, it was substantially based on the presbyter’s views of Daniel. 

   The fact there had been no resurrection with the destruction of the temple was so deeply upsetting on Christianity, that Daniel must have been examined anew. (See Apocryphal Apocalypticism) The result was the belief that it was still close at hand, but that these events had to happen first.

   With this notion came the idea of more than one resurrection. There also came the idea of a “millennium” in which Christ would come to earth and reign for 1000 years with many who were resurrected. This is called the first resurrection in the book. The 2nd resurrection isn’t exactly even mentioned. One frustrating reason, perhaps, why Luther condemned the book as a “dumb prophecy.”

   With the many illustrations and allegories of Revelation there exists a few time periods of affliction, more straight steals from Daniel. These time periods are 3.5 years or listed as 1,260 days.  Putting together two 3.5 year periods mentioned in Revelation, the majority of apocalyptic preachers and students believe in a final 7 year tribulation in which Satan is loosed. Another time period of more dubious credibility is “23 hundred evenings and mornings” (days) which constitute 6.4 years. It is in Daniel 8. One prodigious apocalyptic cult leader insists it is the final tribulation. He is so separate from Judaism that he doesn’t realize the “2300 evening and mornings” involve Hanukkah in 164 BC. (See Abomination of Desolation and Metaphorical Mephisto)

     Now, of course, it all depends on whether you are “Pre-Millennial,” Post-Millennial or A-Millennial as to when this tribulation will occur and if it is indeed even final. Most Christians are Pre-Mill, meaning they think the 1000 years is yet to come. The Post Mills think its already been, in some more metaphysical way, and the A-Mills don’t believe in it. They regard it as being symbolic of the church period, the dominance of Christianity. The loosing of Satan is therefore at its end, the “final tribulation.” Pre-Mills think that it can both be before and after the Millennium. Therefore it can be anytime now.

   Revelation 12 is a good example of the Devil being cast down.

7: And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8: And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9: And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10: And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 12: Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. 13: And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14: And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15: And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16: And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17: And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

   Michael the Archangel, time, times and half a time, are straight steals from Daniel. And they were meant to apply, as all Christians had taken Daniel to apply, to their present period just after the destruction of Jerusalem. The time, times, and half a time is  lamely interpreted today to mean 3.5 years instead of three eras. In Revelation 13 the dreaded Beast is described, and then in verse 5 it declares: “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6: And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7: And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8: And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9: If any man have an ear, let him hear.”

   In verse 10 there occurs the comment:  “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” Possibly a reference to vengeance on Rome for destroying the Temple, something Revelation eagerly anticipates.

   This 42 months was listed earlier in Chapter 11: “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 2: But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. 3: And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 4: These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.”

   There are two references to 3.5 years yet again: 42 months and 1,260 days. The interpretation is that they are the same as the others, and this just elaborates on what will be going on during those dreadful 7 years. Some interpret these signs literally, others figuratively. The more “holly roller” churches usually interpret to a great deal of literal fulfillment, whereas the more fundamental churches take it more symbolically. One heretical Calvinist Gnostic interpreted it allegorically (naturally since that is the path to esoteric gnosis), and proposed this represents the silence of the true gospel and the preaching of falsehood in all the churches where Satan now reigns spiritually. His particular kind of allegory has led him to believe that his radio ministry is the last true outlet of the gospel. He has had to come to this conclusion because his early teaching predicted the total silence of the true gospel. Since his 39 station strong Family Radio is still on the air (and in a time in which he says his numerology decrees the Final Tribulation has begun) he now interprets the passages to indicate only the church is corrupt, but that Family Radio is still able to preach the true gospel up until the second coming of Jesus Christ. He declares that the 2300 evening and mornings have applied since 1988 and that they are 23 years now since his original prediction that the world would end in 1994 bombed. Thus the Final Tribulation is ongoing right now. Only people in churches cannot be saved. People can only be saved outside of churches and through listening to Family Radio. His ever-changing allegories have led to the most dangerous use of the Book of Revelation, and has sired an entire apocalyptic Gnostic cult called Campingism. An article here (Metaphorical Mephisto) places this gross amateur at biblical study in context.         

   For the vast majority of other Christians, a literal fulfillment or, at least, a political fulfillment of the symbolic language is awaited. So here we are. The signs of the times would tell us whether we are near the “final” tribulation. Depending on your point of view of Revelation, it is either at the end of the world or at the beginning of the fanciful 1000 years in which Christ will rule physically from Jerusalem with those of the first resurrection, having destroyed Satan. No wonder Jews think that apocalyptic holy rollers are weirdos.

   Final Tribulation is, of course, never mentioned in scripture, nor is it implied. The apocalyptic chapters in Matthew, Mark and Luke speak of great tribulation coming on the land before Jerusalem would be destroyed. There had never been such tribulation upon the land, Christ said— “no, nor ever shall be.” There was nothing final about the tribulation that was to come upon Jerusalem and Judaea. It was the Book of Revelation, poor conflation of the synoptic sayings of the Second Coming and the apocalypse on Judaea that has so many goosed today to expect some “final tribulation,” some beast anti-Christ with the number 666 and a lot of other rot. Such a view is obviously not a very ancient one, since the Book of Revelation was not regarded as authoritative until recent times. Indeed, because the Reformers and early church squarely held certain books as 2 Peter questionable, there was really no apocalyptic tenor to be derived from the NT until such books won canonization in 1643.  True apocalypticism can only be derived from the Scriptures. And this implies that an ending of an age is coming. The evidence it has ended would be the rebuilding of the temple and the beginning of the Third Temple Period. No Gnostic bogeymen, no Beast of 666, no “Final Tribulation.” There may be great tribulation again, of the kind Daniel mentioned, but do not look for it through the eyes of 2000 year old Gnosticism and the anti-Roman allegory of an Asia Minor presbyter.