|
|
|
|
As
we have left behind another year we have started to use frequently a word
which is very new for us . The word is
‘’Millennium’’… When
we checked the roots of this
word, we
have noticed that it had been used in various sources which we even
could not think of. Etimologically,
the roots of this word come from the latin word
‘’Mille’’ which means one thousand.
The word millennium covers two basic meanings according to the
dictionary. It
is used first to express ‘a period of
one thousand years or
the one thusandth anniversary’. The
second usage is based on religious sources. In the section of the Bible
titled ‘’A revelation to John’’, we can see this word starting
from the second verse. Here,
a period of one thousand years is
being told. It is told that
Hz.Jesus would come down onto the earth the instant when the concept of
time would disappear and he would be establishing a kingdom on the world
based on justice. At the same
time all the saints would come back to this life again and take their
places by his side. During
those times everything against Allah would be demolished, even the Satan
would be made a slave. Following this phase he would be going to heaven
with those who had belief in him. The
expressions in the 20th Section, Verses 1-5 are as follows:- ‘’Then
I saw an angel coming down from the heaven, holding in his hand the key to
the bottomless pit and an enormous chain. 2.He seized the dragon, that
ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand
years 3.and threw him into the pit and locked and sealed it over him, so
that he would deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were
ended. After that he must be let out for a little while. 4.Then
I saw some thrones and those seated on them were given the authority to
judge. I also saw the souls of those
who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and the word of Allah.
They had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its
mark on their foreheads or their hands.
They came back to life and reigned with the Messiah a thousand
years 5.The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years
were ended.) This is the first resurrection. According
to this story Satan has been tied down and thrown into a bottomless well
for a thousand years. The saints would come back to life and would rule
together with Jesus during the millennium. At the end of this period the
Satan would be released from his ties for deceiving the nations and would
be defeated later on. All the
dead would be gathered for the last judgement. So, as can be seen from the
theology with Christian origin, the
millennium has been defined as the period of
one thousand years during which Hz.Jesus would come back and
establish his Kingdom of the World. The belief
in this kingdom of one thousand years is called as
‘’millenarianism’’. Among
the first Christians the millenarian idea had taken as a basis the expectation for the doomsday which had its origins
in the old Jewish thoughts implying that the Christians would be
approaching their worldwide victory. However,
the same concept comes to the fore in much more older works. For
example, it has been used in the works of the old Iranian Zoroastrianist
belief, in the Psalms of David and in the old works which had not been
placed in the Old Testament. In
the pages that had come to
the Nabi(s) and the Rasul(s) (700
B.C), indirect references were found regarding the kingdom of
the millennium. Many
books describe Jehova not as a god of revenge, but as a lord who would be
bringing peace and prosperity
for a period of one thousand years. In
the book of Hz.David,
all the influences of the
predictions about the doomsday have again been stated.
Hz. David had named the saviour who would be dominant all over the
world as the ‘’Powerful Messiah’’. We
can come across to milleniarism in old Jewish writings which had not taken
place in the old Testament. For
this we can give as an example 2
Esdradas 7:26-30. However,
the Jewish writers do not make any discrimination between the concepts The
Kingdom of the Messiah
and the latter days of the
world. The
milleniarist idea have been defended in the first churches by some priests
such as Papias, Justin, Martyr, Irenaeus and Tertullian.
Father Papias describes this period of luxury and prosperity by the
following metaphor :- ‘’At
that time a vine yard will have ten thousand branches. 25
bottles of wine would be obtained when one grape is squeezed. From
one grain of wheat ten
thousand wheat plants would grow.’’ It
is thought that these expressions have originated from the old Jewish
writings. The
Christians who believe that with
the second coming of Jesus Christ a
period of one thousand years full
of virtues such as truth
and honesty would begin, have been named as ‘’Premillenialists’’. The
other Christians known as the ‘’Postmillenialists’’ believe that
in the end Christianity would be accepted all over the world and with the
coming back of Hz.Jesus the truth, the virtues of
Christianity that have lasted for
one thousand years would reach a peak, all the saints would come
back to this life and the last judgement would take place. Many
different interpretations and explanations have been made regarding the
millennium. In
the general sense this terminology is used to state the hopes for
the material gains and joy that would be provided in the near
future. Ahmet
F.Yuksel
|
|
|
