Charles Cooper talks about the Millennium. This presentation was given last October in O’Fallon Missouri at an eschatology forum.
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I have written about this subject in the past, but I think it is worth noting again.
Many Pretribulationalists have wrongly assumed that the six seals are God’s wrath and thus part of the Day of the Lord. This is simply assumed and necessary for the Pretrib system because they cannot allow any prophesied events to unfold before the rapture because that would undermine imminency.
The seals are not God’s wrath but precursors to the Day of the Lord. The following is not meant to be an exhaustive explanation of this supposition, but an outline of salient points.
First, the Cosmic Disturbances of the sixth seal announce God’s wrath upon the ungodly, “The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” (Joel 2:31) And this is what we have at the sixth seal.
Second, both the responses from the martyrs in the fifth seal and the ungodly in the sixth seal reveal that God’s wrath is soon to come–they have not viewed it already in the past. The fifth seal martyrs are asking when God will pour out his wrath; and the ungodly in the sixth seal are running to the caves and crying out about the impending wrath.
Third, the fact that there are two groups of people, one group being sealed and the other delivered, just before the seventh seal suggests strongly that they are being sealed and delivered from something looming that will come upon the whole world.
Fourth, the nature of the events in the first four seals are “natural” (but intense) catastrophes (wars, famines, etc.) carried out by “horsemen.” This is in contrast to when the seventh seal (supernatural contents) is opened up and the unmistakable wrath of God is mediated directly by angels via the trumpet and bowl judgments against the ungodly. (By the way, a fourth of mankind is not killed in the fourth seal; there is only, “power over a fourth of the earth.”)
Fifth, the first five seals in Revelation chapter six parallel Jesus’ teaching about this being the “beginning of birth pangs” in Matthew 24:5-8.
Sixth, obviously the fifth seal is not God’s wrath because it specifically speaks of the martyrdom of believers. And since believers are promised protection from the Day of the Lord’s wrath, to argue that the fifth seal is God’s wrath is contradictory.
Seventh, when the seventh seal is opened, immediately it says that there was silence in heaven for about a half an hour. The most plausible explanation for this silence is for all the members of the heavenly court to observe the grave and profound significance of the event that is to follow: The Eschatological Day of the Lord’s wrath. Immediately after this silence it says,
“Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.”
This unprecedented dreadful opening act of God’s wrath is then followed by how the Old Testament prophets characterized the Day of the Lord: fire and destruction. And this is realized in the trumpet and bowl judgments.
Eighth, pretribulationists argue that the sixth seal indicates that God’s wrath already started in the past, thereby proving that the seals are God’s wrath. For example, Mal Couch writes:
[I]n Revelation 6:16-17, the world cries out…”Hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the WRATH of the Lamb; for THE GREAT DAY OF THEIR WRATH “HAS ARRIVED” (Aorist Tense…) and who is able to stand [up under it].
Couch invokes the Greek tense called the “Aorist” suggesting that God’s wrath has already been happening. That understanding of the aorist tense is in error. In Greek there is a common tense called the “aorist” which we do not have in English. Contrary to popular thought the aorist tense is the least significant tense in Greek. Strangely one will hear pastors often preaching and making a big deal about this or that word in the “aorist.” I personally think this misunderstanding is due to the fact that it is not found in the English grammatical system so it seems mysterious to those who do not know Greek.
Let me demythologize the aorist tense. The aorist does not denote “past time” as some commonly understand it; and it does not denote a “once-for-all action.” Some wrongly believe that it is a past tense because it can often be found in a past action context. Though it is commonly in past action, it can also be an action in the present, future, or just timeless. Only context — not the fact it is aorist — tells us what time the action occurs.
The aorist is what is called the “undefined” tense. It does not tell you the type of action such as specifying its duration, nor again does it tell the time that the action takes place.
The aorist is often known as the “background” or “snapshot” or “summary” tense (there are some nuances to those notions). Sometimes it is thought of as the “default” tense in Greek, but that may be too much of an understatement of its function. An author would choose the aorist tense to represent the action of the verb as a complete whole — i.e. stating an undefined action without giving specific information of the type of action such as focusing on the beginning, duration, or ending of the action, or whether it is repeated or not. That information about the action of the verb can only come through lexical, grammatical, or other contextual indicators, and not its tense.
So going back to Couch’s claim that the wrath of God has been unfolding because “has come” (ἦλθεν, elthen) is simply in the aorist tense is fallacious and does not account for context that indicates that the ungodly are fleeing to the caves because of the impeding wrath of God.
The aorist tense-form is used frequently in “impending or ingressive action” contexts. A few good examples that context determines the meaning of this tense:
The same exact verb in the aorist tense is used in Rev 19:7, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come (ἦλθεν, elthen) and His bride has made herself ready.” Here, the context is that the marriage of the Lamb is about to happen (ingressive aorist).
As well in Rev. 14:15b, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come (ἦλθεν, elthen), for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”
Another example where the exact same word in the aorist is found with the idea of an ingressive or impending action,
In Mark 14:41, Jesus says, “the hour has come (ἦλθεν, elthen); behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” The context clarifies that Christ is speaking of impending or ingressive action.
Context determines meanings, not an isolated use of a tense-form.
There are a minority view that thinks that Antichrist’s rule will only be limited to the region of Israel and its proximity. I have argued recently here that this is in error. Further, it is a dangerous premise since it lulls the universal Church into thinking that they will not be persecuted by Antichrist during the Great Tribulation.
I want to add some more Biblical reasons why the “Regional” position lacks Biblical support.
First, Revelation 11:15 reads:
“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.””
This verse is in the context of the blowing of the seventh trumpet and consequently there is a celebration of the certainty of the Lord’s kingdom defeating the current world kingdom.
The only antagonist kingdom that is in view in Revelation is the Satan-inspired Beast’s (Antichrist’s) kingdom. And given the fact that a directed portion of the trumpet and bowl judgments are against the Beast’s kingdom, it is clear that the celebration of defeat is over his kingdom. Further, it should be noted that it is in the singular, and it has the definite article noting a particular kingdom. The article can be considered in the Greek category of articles as “Well-Known” or even the “Par Excellence.”
Also, it is important to note that the Greek word for “world” in this verse is kosmos, which is a term that denotes primarily a “universal” sense. This is a salient fact because those who believe in the “Regional” view argue that kosmos is never used to refer to the Beast’s rule. But this instance of kosmos that refers to the Beast’s kingdom undercuts that claim.
Second, Paul warned the Thessalonians of the coming Antichrist and his persecution, thus his exhortation to stay faithful. Where was Thessalonica located? That’s right, in Macedonia, which is part of modern day Europe! The Antichrist’s rule will reach Europe according to the logical inference from Paul.
Third, the scope of Revelation is global, not local. This fact is denied by those who limit Antichrist’s rule. There is nothing that they point to in Revelation that proves this, they can’t. What they do is they go back to Daniel and cite selective passages about how past empires were limited to the Near East and argue that since inhabitants of the Near East used “world” to describe their phenomenological surroundings, therefore Antichrist’s rule must also be limited to a particular region.
In response, no one denies that often when the ancients used the term “earth” or “world” it was limited to their geo-political surroundings. But it would be a mistake to ignore the innumerable instances in which they used those same terms to refer to all that existed in the world, even though they themselves were not aware of all the world in its entirety.
When Genesis 1:1 says that God created the earth, are we suppose to believe that God only created a region of the earth? Indeed Near Eastern Ancients conceived of the earth of mostly their surrounding nations and demarcated oceans. But from our vantage point we can see that Genesis 1:1 encompassed much more than the environs of the Near East!
Also, it is a false deduction to read those limited regional instances into contexts such as Revelation, a book that portrays for us a global, cosmic perspective.
Fourth, John writes:
“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18).
In this verse, one of the things he warns us is that Antichrist is coming. Then later he writes:
“and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world [kosmos] already.” (1 John 4:3).
We are told that the spirit of Antichrist already has a reaching kosmos. The Greek uses the combination of the terms nyn (now) and ede (already) stressing that his kosmos presence has already begun. The combination of these terms is significant because it is connecting what is happening at the moment (kosmos domain of the spirit of Antichrist) with what will also be the case of a future Antichrist (a kosmos domain).
In other words, John is saying, do not wait to be vigilant for the future kosmos presence of Antichrist, his spirit is already in the kosmos.
This text is incongruent to the notion that the future Antichrist’s realm will be limited to one particular region.
Fifth, John writes:
“We know that we are from God, and the whole world [kosmos] lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19).
Here John states that Satan’s realm is global. And we are informed by Paul that the Antichrist will be controlled by Satan:
“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders” (2 Thess 2:9).
Since Satan’s power encompasses the entire world, and since the Antichrist will be controlled by Satan, it is consistent to understand that Antichrist’s domain will cover the entire world.
There is a view that asserts that Antichrist’s rule will be regional, not global. There is faulty reasoning to reach this conclusion. Here is my response:
It is said about Antichrist:
. . . and all the world wondered after the beast . . . And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him . . .” (Revelation 13:3,8)
Those verses support the view that the beast will rule over the whole world. The Greek word translated ”world” and ”earth” is gē (γῆ).
The most authoritative lexicon is A Greek – English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature (BDAG). It gives six domain ranges of meaning for this word:
1. surface of the earth as the habitation of humanity, earth
2. the inhabitants of the earth, people, humanity
3. portions or regions of the earth, region, country
4. dry land as opposed to sea, land
5. earth-like surface that forms the bottom of a body of water, ground, bottom
6. earth w. ref. to limited areas and the material that forms its surface
The term is used innumerable times in the New Testament under the first and second senses. It is even used 82 times in the book of Revelation, most of those usages are in a global sense:
Rev 1:5, 7; 3:10; 5:3, 6, 10, 13; 6:4, 8, 10, 13, 15; 7:1-3; 8:5, 7, 13-9:1; 9:3-4; 10:2, 5-6, 8; 11:4, 6, 10, 18; 12:4, 9, 12-13, 16; 13:3, 8, 11-14; 14:3, 6-7, 15-16, 18-19; 16:1-2, 18; 17:2, 5, 8, 18-18:1; 18:3, 9, 11, 23-24; 19:2, 19; 20:8-9, 11; 21:1, 24
The context supports a global sense of the term:
“One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.” (Rev 13:3).
“Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” (Rev 13:7-8).
The book of Revelation is not about a local region — but the cosmic, universal world. The phrase “all nations, tribes, peoples, and languages” has a universal thrust in the book of Revelation and there is nothing in this context to suggest that this is an exception limited to “tribes in proximity to Israel.” To list a few references:
“And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,” (Rev 5:9).
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands” (Rev 7:9).
“And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”” (Rev 10:11).
“Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.” (Rev 14:6).
Further, there is a contrast of the symbolism between the second beast rising out of the earth with the first beast rising out of the sea (Rev 13:1). The same term is used in a similar context of previous beasts who arise out of the earth to attain power: “These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.” (Dan 7:17). This is an expression that indicates an emergence into power that was not previously possessed. It does not require a meaning of a particular region.
Next, the lexicon, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, lists gē as a synonym with kosmos, a word that has primarily a “universal” sense.
Some argue:
“The third kingdom of brass which would bear rule over ”ALL THE EARTH” is the Grecian Empire of Alexander the Great. A map of the Grecian Empire will reveal that it DID NOT rule the whole world but only extended from Macedon in the West to the Indus River which is the border between India and Pakistan. It did not even extend to Western Europe. Now if the third kingdom which would bear rule over ”all the earth” did not rule the whole world, is it not incorrect to believe that the fourth kingdom which shall bear rule over ”all the earth” will not rule the whole modern world but only a portion of it?
What this fails to see is that the future Antichrist’s empire is not going to be limited by borders, as if the future Antichrist is going to be limited to chariots and spears.
It also fails to note Daniel 2:35, which uses the same term, “whole earth”: “But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” (Dan 2:35). According to this reasoning then, the Lord’s kingdom in this verse will only be limited to the middle east, not a literal whole earth.
Finally, it may be asserted that another word such as οἰκουμένη oikoumenē cannot have a global sense, but only a:
“portion of the inhabited earth inhabited by the Greeks in distinction from the lands of the barbarians.t does not refer to the globe or the entire planet as the word kosmos. The word is sometimes used in connection with the Roman Empire and its subjects.
But the word, οἰκουμένη, oikoumenē, does in fact have a meaning according to the Greek New Testament lexicon, BDAG: “the whole inhabited earth.” How can anyone understand the following verses to be limited to only the Greek region:
“because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”” (Acts 17:31).
“And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world–he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” (Rev 12:9).
“And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”” (Heb 1:6).
“Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.” (Heb 2:5).
“For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.” (Rev 16:14).
Sound exegesis does effect real-life practical theology.
Pretribulationsts are teaching that the Church will not experience the Great Tribulation; and Preterists are claiming that the Church will not be in the Great Tribulation in the future; and some who argue that the universal Church will not be included in Antichrist’s realm since it will only be local.
But difficult times are coming upon the universal Church. God will call the last generation of the universal Church to experience the wrath of Antichrist. We need to be prepared with good teaching, and a blameless heart.