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CONCLUSION
In summary, the history of salvation is composed of five eras with a total of fourteen cycles (see Summary of Salvation History). Three eras take place entirely on earth1 and are subdivided into twelve cycles, which are surrounded by the era of the angels and crowned by the era of the Millennium. History is therefore not a chaotic sum of events following one another like the water of a torrent that precipitates downwards in a fortuitous and unpredictable manner. And the Christian hope laying in the return of Christ becomes quite real: St. Paul writes that the Christians would "of all men most to be pitied" if Christ was not truly resuscitated (1 Cor 15:17-19). This is closely associated with his return, for if Christ was not resuscitated, he would not have ascended to heaven and hence could not return to earth. It is precisely this return that one often casts doubt on. There are theologians who claim, for example, that the apocalyptic events already took place and that Jesus, surrounded by a celestial army beating "the kings of the earth with their armies" (Rev 19:11-21), returned with the fall of the Roman Empire and the establishment of the State Church. And the millennial reign would correspond, they say, to the reign of this State Church, which, best incarnated by the Holy Roman Empire, indeed lasted approximately one thousand years. But these events are obviously only prefigurations. There are others who, more maliciously, assert that the first Christians hoped for an imminent return of Christ and thus insinuate the naiveté of their faith, since he has effectively not yet returned after two thousand years. However, the steps of the history of salvation reveal that two thousand years are not abnormal. The era of the patriarchs lasted thousands of years and that of the Israelite people approximately 1700 years. On the other hand it is true that the majority of the first Christians probably expected the end of the world. What counts, however, is that in this attitude they were not sustained by biblical prophecies predicting such imminence. The cause for it was simply ignorance. They did not know when the end would come, since one cannot know it (Mk 13:32). Consequently, it can arrive at any given time. So it could also have arrived during their epoch. The logic of the cycles nevertheless allows the establishment of some proportions, with the result that it is doubtful that the end will still be delayed for thousands of years: the last two eras were composed each only of four cycles. And the prophecies indicate nothing that allows thinking that this structure will be different during the era of the spiritual kinship, in which we currently live. On the contrary, they also announce four cycles, of which the last one is already almost consummated, since present history goes to the end of the first phase, that is always considerably the longest as compared to the sin and judgment phases. This phase has hitherto lasted approximately one thousand five hundred years. As compared to this duration, the following phases will be very short, for Rev 12:14 and 13:5 predict a duration of persecutions, say a phase of sin, of three and a half years. This refers to the prophecy of the seventy weeks (Dan 9): like during the cycle of the Maccabees, the phase of sin will occupy the first half of the last week, at the end of which the Antichrist will have set up the disastrous abomination (see The four phases contained in the seventy weeks), however not in the temple of course, but in the churches this time. The other half of the week refers to the judgment, which will also last three and a half years and at the end of which Christ will return. According to Revelation, the week will probably begin with the murder of the two witnesses (Rev 11:3-13), for this beginning has to start with the murder of an anointed one (Dan 9:26). At the time of the Maccabees, this was the great priest Onias (see here). In our time, it is the Pope who is the great priest of the Church. Therefore he and someone from his entourage will be assassinated. In this case, the lost word of Dan 9:26 ("And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off, and shall have no...") would indeed be: "...successor". For it is evident that this pontifical succession will end before the return of Christ, who will come back at his own place, which he had confided to his successors – of which the first is St. Peter according to Mt 16:18-19 – during his absence on earth. So after this murder, the persecutions of the Antichrist will take place and last three and a half years according to Rev 13:5-7. At the end of them the disastrous abomination will be set up, that is the obligation of all people to adore the statue of the Antichrist (Rev 13:14). After that, the judgment will follow during another three and a half years. So the full time of tribulations will last seven years and be a time of war, already even during the persecutions according to Daniel 9:26-27, which describes the entire last week as follows: "And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war, desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week." The four years of World War I (1914-1918) and the six years of World War II (1939-1945) increasingly resemble these seven years of World War III. Seven years are relatively short compared to the first phase, which will have lasted centuries. This makes us think of what Jesus predicted of this "tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be. And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would be saved" (Mt 24:21-22). Hence the last week is shortened because of the survival of the Church. This means that proportionally it does not correspond at all to the sixty-nine preceding weeks. This is why it is not possible to calculate from the seven years, which are valid for the last week, the duration of all the seventy weeks. So one knows neither the beginning of the first week nor the one of the last week, that is to say the exact date of the end of the world. The only thing that one knows is that the war will last seven years. Unfortunately, it is nevertheless very probable that the generation of today will undergo this World War III, for since the Second War until today already more time has gone over than between the First and the Second War. Moreover, the means of massive destruction exist today. If all belligerent parties had disposed of nuclear arms during the last war, they would certainly have been used massively and the end would already have arrived fifty years ago. Today they exist in a growing number of countries. Consequently all seems to be ready for the end. The perspective of an end of the world is certainly dreadful and everyone who is healthy in spirit can only wish that it not arrives. There are however all kinds of false ideas that circulate concerning the end of the world. For example, it is not the belief in a worldwide destruction itself that will cause it. This is why it cannot be avoided in refusing to believe in it. If one is conscious of dangers one is certainly better prepared to avoid them than by voluntarily ignoring them. To refuse to believe in the end of the world mostly means to refuse all biblical predictions, religion in general, God or God as taught by the Bible and/or the Churches. Precisely this attitude will contribute to cause the end of the world. So one can assert that the end will help to arrive by refusing to believe in it. Finally, if one believes in the end of the world, one also believes in a life after it. It is like with a dying person: one tries all means to save the person but one is concious that everyone must die one day and hopes that dead is only a transition to a better life. Similarly, one believes that the end of the world is only a event among others and one hopes that all will finish well because salvation history will indeed end well. So there is no reason to sink into a nihilistic pessimism believing in the end of the world. Modern society consequently does not run towards a radiant future supposed to solve all its problems thanks to the continual progress of science and high technology. It does not distance itself at all from a so-called bygone time and a God presumed fictitious and constricting, but on the contrary goes to the encounter of God. He is at the other end of the tunnel and waits that all is accomplished as predicted: "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? |
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NOTE
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