Reading Holy War and Station Eleven made me interested in Christian prophecies of the end of the world; and, during the COVID quarantine, I pulled my Ignatius Press large-print Bible off the family shelf with hopes of carefully reading Apocalypse. Other reading opportunities distracted me from doing so. Thus, I was excited to read Apocalypse—along with the Gospel accounts of the end of the world—for this class. As I read through these narratives, I attempted to keep track of the various events and synthesize them into a coherent whole. This blog post is my first stab at doing so.
The end of the world will be catalyzed by the loosening of the seven seals on the book to the right of the enthroned Jesus Christ (Apocalypse 5:1–5, 6:1–17). On Earth, the loosening of the seals will bring about a chain of events that culminates in the second coming. There will be false prophets (Matthew 24:5, Mark 13:6). Sorrow will follow, in the form of war, pestilence, earthquakes, famine, and the persecution of Christian believers (Matthew 24:7, Mark 13:8, Luke 21:9–12). The Book of the Apocalypse presents that sorrow in the allegorical terms of the four horsemen, who are emblematic of war, famine, pestilence, and death (9:18). In the thick of sorrow, “many false prophets shall rise, and seduce many” (Matthew 24:11). They will have ample opportunity to deceive, because people will be so distraught by God’s wrath that they will be open to alternatives to Him. But, of course, only those who stick with God will enjoy His eternal kingdom.
Following sorrow will be “the great tribulation” (Matthew 24:21), “such tribulations” (Mark 13:19), “great distress” (Luke 21:23). A seminal event in this sequence will be Jerusalem being “trodden down by the Gentiles” (21:24). “[T]he holy city they shall tread under foot two and forty months” (Apocalypse 11:2). This conquest will be undone, however, by “lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and . . . a great earthquake” (16:18): “[T]he great city [will be] divided into three parts; and the cities of the Gentiles” will fall (16:19).
Bridging the period of sorrow with that of tribulation will be Saint Michael’s expulsion of the dragon—Satan—from Heaven (Apocalypse 12:9). The dragon will empower the beast (13:4), i.e., the antichrist, who will presumably be among the “false Christs and false prophets” who emerge during the period of tribulation (Matthew 24:24).
Enter Christ. He will arrive in the now-familiar form of the majesty, “coming in the clouds of heaven with much power” (Matthew 24:30; cf. Mark 13:26, Luke 21:27). During the second coming, Christ’s “eyes [will be] as a flame of fire, and on his head [will be] many diadems” (Apocalypse 19:12). He will defeat the beast and his armies, throwing the former straight into “the pool of fire” (19:19–20). Then, an angel will throw the dragon—Satan—into a bottomless pit (20:3). There Satan will remain for a thousand years, the period of Christ’s government on Earth (20:5). Constituting Christ’s holy administration will be “the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus” (20:4). However, there will be no general resurrection at this juncture, with the “rest of the dead liv[ing] not” (20:5).
Satan will be released from the bottomless pit after a thousand years and allowed to prepare for battle with Christ, only to be thrown into the pool of fire in the cosmic defeat of the ages (Apocalypse 20:7–9). There, he will “be tormented day and night for ever and ever” in the company of the beast (20:9).
After defeating Satan, Christ will resurrect everyone—both the saved and the damned. “Filled out with flesh, alive with limbs,” “this untold clutch of creatures [s]hall come before their Creator, a multitude [o]f men and women, all made young again” (Christ III, p. 347). “[T]hey will be born again at the perfect age of thirty years” (Mâle, pp. 374–75).
Following sorrow will be “the great tribulation” (Matthew 24:21), “such tribulations” (Mark 13:19), “great distress” (Luke 21:23). A seminal event in this sequence will be Jerusalem being “trodden down by the Gentiles” (21:24). “[T]he holy city they shall tread under foot two and forty months” (Apocalypse 11:2). This conquest will be undone, however, by “lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and . . . a great earthquake” (16:18): “[T]he great city [will be] divided into three parts; and the cities of the Gentiles” will fall (16:19).
Bridging the period of sorrow with that of tribulation will be Saint Michael’s expulsion of the dragon—Satan—from Heaven (Apocalypse 12:9). The dragon will empower the beast (13:4), i.e., the antichrist, who will presumably be among the “false Christs and false prophets” who emerge during the period of tribulation (Matthew 24:24).
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| The second coming of Jesus Christ. |
Enter Christ. He will arrive in the now-familiar form of the majesty, “coming in the clouds of heaven with much power” (Matthew 24:30; cf. Mark 13:26, Luke 21:27). During the second coming, Christ’s “eyes [will be] as a flame of fire, and on his head [will be] many diadems” (Apocalypse 19:12). He will defeat the beast and his armies, throwing the former straight into “the pool of fire” (19:19–20). Then, an angel will throw the dragon—Satan—into a bottomless pit (20:3). There Satan will remain for a thousand years, the period of Christ’s government on Earth (20:5). Constituting Christ’s holy administration will be “the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus” (20:4). However, there will be no general resurrection at this juncture, with the “rest of the dead liv[ing] not” (20:5).
Satan will be released from the bottomless pit after a thousand years and allowed to prepare for battle with Christ, only to be thrown into the pool of fire in the cosmic defeat of the ages (Apocalypse 20:7–9). There, he will “be tormented day and night for ever and ever” in the company of the beast (20:9).
Why would Christ release Satan in the first place? Hugh of St. Victor’s On the Sacraments suggests that Satan’s final defeat will demonstrate, once and for all, the sheer magnitude of Christ’s power—allowing Satan to “see how great an adversary the City of God has overcome with great glory to its redeemer, helper, liberator” (p. 452). Compounding Satan’s eternal torment, then, will be endless embarrassment.
After defeating Satan, Christ will resurrect everyone—both the saved and the damned. “Filled out with flesh, alive with limbs,” “this untold clutch of creatures [s]hall come before their Creator, a multitude [o]f men and women, all made young again” (Christ III, p. 347). “[T]hey will be born again at the perfect age of thirty years” (Mâle, pp. 374–75).
The enthroned Christ will place some of this “untold clutch” to His left and the remainder to His right, with the basis of His assessment being the state of each person’s conscience (Matthew 25:33; On the Sacraments, p. 464). Then, to those on His left, Christ will say, “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41, cf. Apocalypse 20:14–15). “[T]he fearful, the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars” will “have their portion in the pool burning with fire and brimstone” (Apocalypse 21:8). Worse yet for the damned, though, will be the knowledge that they will spend eternity separated from God.
On behalf of the saved, Christ will bring about the end of the world, instituting in its place a “new heaven and a new earth” (Apocalypse 21:1). He will bring from the heavens to Earth a jeweled “holy city Jerusalem” (21:10), which will have streets of “pure gold, as it were transparent glass” (21:21). However, much like the worst part of Hell is not the fire but the absence of God, the best part of the New Jerusalem will be its residents’ ability to see the face of God (22:4), and not ‘merely’ through the human visage of Christ (On the Sacraments, p. 454). “[W]e shall love and we shall praise,” forecasts Hugh of St. Victor (p. 476).
The obligation of every Christian is to ensure that he is ready for the last judgment. As Christ put it, “[w]atch ye . . . because you know not the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:13). Life is the only opportunity we have to win ourselves a ticket to Heaven; and, if the parables of the ten virgins and the talents make anything clear, it is that we should avoid squandering our chance at salvation.
On behalf of the saved, Christ will bring about the end of the world, instituting in its place a “new heaven and a new earth” (Apocalypse 21:1). He will bring from the heavens to Earth a jeweled “holy city Jerusalem” (21:10), which will have streets of “pure gold, as it were transparent glass” (21:21). However, much like the worst part of Hell is not the fire but the absence of God, the best part of the New Jerusalem will be its residents’ ability to see the face of God (22:4), and not ‘merely’ through the human visage of Christ (On the Sacraments, p. 454). “[W]e shall love and we shall praise,” forecasts Hugh of St. Victor (p. 476).
The obligation of every Christian is to ensure that he is ready for the last judgment. As Christ put it, “[w]atch ye . . . because you know not the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:13). Life is the only opportunity we have to win ourselves a ticket to Heaven; and, if the parables of the ten virgins and the talents make anything clear, it is that we should avoid squandering our chance at salvation.
— DMH
Not having tried to make a full chronology of Revelation before, I can only say, this seems to me to be accurate! What I note, however, is that the biggest timing difficulties come from Revelation 20, which you rightly note Hugh also noticed. Why imprison Satan for a thousand years only to release him? It is this timing that has exercised most calculations over the centuries: are we living in the time when Satan is bound? Clearly not—we seem to be surrounded by the effects of the Four Horsemen. So is there a time of Christ's reign still to come? Or will the Second Coming be the Judgment as well? It would be interesting to do a study of exegesis on book 20, to see how the different timelines have been calculated over the years. And yet: should we be trying to calculate at all, when only the Father knows the hour?!
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