📖 Ufunuo — Somo la Kina — Sehemu ya 12: Mitazamo Kuhusu Utawala wa Miaka Elfu — Postmilenia📖 Revelation Intensive — Unit 12: The Millennial Views — Postmillennialism

Maandiko: Ufunuo wa Yohana 20:1-6Text: Revelation 20:1-6

Postmilenia Inashikilia NiniWhat Postmillennialism Holds

Mitazamo mitatu mikuu kuhusu utawala wa miaka elfu wa Ufunuo wa Yohana 20 inapata majina yake kutokana na mahali inapoweka kurudi kwa Kristo kwa kulinganisha na ile miaka elfu. Sehemu hii inawasilisha mtazamo wa kwanza, na sehemu mbili zinazofuata zinawasilisha mingine; kozi hii inaiweka mitazamo hii kando kwa kando na haipendelei hata mmoja. Neno "postmilenia" (postmillennialism) linamaanisha "baada ya utawala wa miaka elfu," kwa maana katika mtazamo huu Kristo anarudi baada ya kipindi cha miaka elfu. Postmilenia inafundisha kwamba ile miaka elfu inaeleza enzi ya dhahabu inayokuja, au iliyokwisha kuanza na inayokua, ambamo Injili inashinda ulimwenguni kote kabla Kristo hajarudi. Kupitia mahubiri ya kawaida ya Injili na kazi ya Roho Mtakatifu, mataifa yataongolewa kwa wingi sana, na mvuto wa Kikristo utaenea ulimwenguni kote kiasi kwamba kipindi kirefu cha amani, haki, na kumjua Mungu kitatawala. Kristo anatawala sasa kutoka mbinguni kupitia Neno lake na Roho wake, na utawala huo utakua hadi ulimwengu utakapokuwa kwa kiasi kikubwa wa Kikristo. Ni baada tu ya enzi hii ya dhahabu ndipo Kristo anarudi yeye mwenyewe. Kwa hiyo postmilenia inatambulika kwa tumaini na ujasiri kuhusu mafanikio halisi ya Injili ndani ya kipindi hiki cha sasa cha historia. Inatarajia kanisa si tu kuendelea kuwepo katika ulimwengu wenye uadui, bali hatimaye kuushinda, kama chachu inavyolichachusha donge zima.The three main views of the millennium of Revelation 20 take their names from where they place the return of Christ in relation to the thousand years. This unit presents the first of them, and the next two units present the others; the course holds them up side by side and favors none. The word "postmillennialism" means "after the millennium," for in this view Christ returns after the millennial age. Postmillennialism teaches that the thousand years describe a coming, or an already-begun and growing, golden age in which the gospel triumphs throughout the world before Christ returns. Through the ordinary preaching of the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit, the nations will be so widely converted, and Christian influence will so pervade the world, that a long era of peace, righteousness, and the knowledge of God will prevail. Christ reigns now from heaven through His Word and Spirit, and that reign will grow until the world is largely Christianized. Only after this golden age does Christ return in person. Postmillennialism is therefore marked by hope and confidence about the real success of the gospel within this present age of history. It expects the church not merely to survive in a hostile world but at last to win it, as the leaven works through the whole lump.

Mpangilio wa MatukioThe Order of Events

Katika postmilenia mfuatano wa matukio ni hivi. Kwanza ni kipindi cha sasa cha Injili, ambamo ufalme wa Kristo unakua kama mbegu. Kipindi hiki kinakua na kuwa utawala wa miaka elfu wenyewe, enzi ndefu ya dhahabu ya ushindi wa Injili na mvuto wa Kikristo ulimwenguni kote, ambamo Kristo anatawala kiroho juu ya ulimwengu uliokuwa wa Kikristo na nguvu ya Shetani ya kuwadanganya mataifa inazuiliwa. Karibu kabisa na mwisho, wafuasi wengi wa postmilenia wanakubali uwezekano wa ukengeufu au uasi mfupi wa mwisho, yaani kufunguliwa kwa Shetani kwa muda mfupi. Kisha linakuja kurudi kwa Kristo kimwili, kukifuatwa na ufufuo wa jumla wa wenye haki na waovu pamoja, hukumu ya mwisho mbele ya kiti kikubwa cheupe cha enzi, na mbingu mpya na nchi mpya. Sifa moja ya pekee inayoupa mtazamo huu jina lake ni kuweka kurudi kwa Kristo baada ya utawala wa miaka elfu, pamoja na imani kwamba enzi ya dhahabu inaletwa kupitia njia za kawaida za neema badala ya kuwepo kwa Kristo kunakoonekana akitawala duniani. Katika mtazamo huu, utawala wa miaka elfu ni kipindi cha Injili kikichanua kikamilifu kabla Mfalme hajatokea. Katika picha hii, mwenendo wote wa historia unaelekea kwenye ushindi wa Kristo kabla ya kuja kwake, wala si kwenye maangamizi.In postmillennialism the sequence runs like this. First comes the present gospel age, in which the kingdom of Christ grows like a seed. This grows into the millennium itself, a long golden age of gospel triumph and worldwide Christian influence, during which Christ reigns spiritually over a Christianized world and Satan's power to deceive the nations is held back. Near the very end, many postmillennialists allow for a brief final apostasy or rebellion, the loosing of Satan for a little while. Then comes the bodily return of Christ, followed by the general resurrection of the righteous and the wicked together, the final judgment at the great white throne, and the new heaven and new earth. The single distinctive that gives the view its name is the placing of Christ's return after the millennium, and the conviction that the golden age is brought about through the ordinary means of grace rather than by Christ's visible presence reigning on the earth. The millennium, in this view, is the gospel age coming to its full flower before the King appears. The whole course of history, in this picture, bends toward the victory of Christ before His coming, and not toward ruin.

Hoja ya Kibiblia kwa Ajili ya PostmileniaThe Biblical Case for Postmillennialism

Wafuasi wa postmilenia wanajenga hoja yao kutokana na vifungu vinavyoahidi Injili mafanikio halisi yanayokua. Wanataja Agizo Kuu, ambamo Kristo aliyefufuka anadai mamlaka yote mbinguni na duniani na kulituma kanisa kuyafanya mataifa yote kuwa wanafunzi, akiahidi kuwepo kwake hata ukamilifu wa dahari (Mathayo 28:18-20). Wanataja mifano ya ukuaji usiozuilika wa ufalme, punje ya haradali inayokuwa mti mkubwa na chachu inayochachusha donge zima (Mathayo 13:31-33). Wanarejea zaburi za kifalme zinazompa Masihi mataifa kuwa urithi wake na milki hata miisho ya dunia (Zaburi 2:8; 22:27-28; 72:8-11; 110:1). Wanageukia manabii, walioona mbele mlima wa nyumba ya BWANA ukiinuliwa na mataifa wakiuendea kama mto, na dunia ikijaa kumjua BWANA kama maji yaifunikavyo bahari (Isaya 2:2-4; 11:9), na jiwe la Danieli linalokuwa mlima mkubwa na kuijaza dunia yote (Danieli 2:35, 44). Na wanataja neno la Paulo kwamba Kristo hana budi kumiliki hata awaweke maadui wote chini ya miguu yake (1 Wakorintho 15:25). Vikichukuliwa pamoja, wafuasi wa postmilenia wanahoji, Maandiko yanaahidi si tu mabaki yanayookolewa kutoka katika ulimwengu unaoshindwa, bali Injili ikishinda ndani ya historia kabla ya mwisho. Wanahoji kwamba haya si mistari ya ushahidi iliyotengwa, bali ni uzi mmoja unaopita kutoka Zaburi na Manabii hadi maneno ya Kristo na ya Paulo.Postmillennialists build their case from passages that promise the gospel real and growing success. They point to the Great Commission, in which the risen Christ claims all authority in heaven and on earth and sends the church to disciple all the nations, promising His presence to the end of the age (Matthew 28:18-20). They cite the parables of the kingdom's irresistible growth, the mustard seed that becomes a great tree and the leaven that works through the whole lump (Matthew 13:31-33). They appeal to the royal psalms that give the Messiah the nations as His inheritance and dominion to the ends of the earth (Psalm 2:8; 22:27-28; 72:8-11; 110:1). They turn to the prophets, who foresaw the mountain of the LORD's house exalted and the nations streaming to it, and the earth full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:9), and to Daniel's stone that becomes a mountain and fills the whole earth (Daniel 2:35, 44). And they cite Paul's word that Christ must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:25). Taken together, postmillennialists argue, Scripture promises not merely a remnant rescued from a failing world, but the gospel triumphing in history before the end. These are not isolated proof-texts, they argue, but a single thread running from the Psalms and the Prophets through the words of Christ and of Paul.

Jinsi Postmilenia Inavyosoma Ufunuo wa Yohana 20How Postmillennialism Reads Revelation 20

Wakisoma kitabu cha Ufunuo kwa kuzingatia ishara zake, wafuasi wa postmilenia wanaielewa ile miaka elfu kuwa kipindi kirefu kisichojulikana urefu wake, badala ya muda halisi wa miaka elfu kamili ya kalenda, ambamo Injili inashinda na Kristo anatawala kiroho juu ya ulimwengu uliokuwa wa Kikristo. Kufungwa kwa Shetani wanakuchukulia kuwa kuzuiliwa kwa nguvu yake ya kuwadanganya mataifa kadiri Injili inavyoendelea; yule mwenye nguvu amefungwa ili mataifa yasiweze tena kushikiliwa katika giza lililowashika kabla Injili haijaenea. Ufufuo wa kwanza wanauelewa kiroho, kama utawala wa roho za waaminifu pamoja na Kristo na ushindi wa jambo lao, badala ya kufufuka kimwili kutoka kaburini. Kwa usomaji huu, Ufunuo wa Yohana 20 unaonyesha kipindi cha sasa kikielekea kuchanua kwake kikamilifu, kisha Shetani anafunguliwa kwa muda mfupi, na baadaye vinakuja kurudi kwa Kristo na hukumu ya mwisho inayoelezwa katika mistari ya mwisho ya sura hiyo. Kwa postmilenia, utawala wa miaka elfu na kipindi cha kanisa ni uhalisi mmoja ule ule unaokua. Ile miaka elfu si enzi tofauti inayoanza tu baada ya Kristo kuja, bali ni kukomaa kwa kipindi kile kile ambamo kanisa linaishi sasa.Reading Revelation with sensitivity to its symbols, postmillennialists understand the thousand years as a long, indefinite period, rather than a literal span of exactly one thousand calendar years, in which the gospel triumphs and Christ reigns spiritually over a Christianized world. The binding of Satan they take as the restraining of his power to deceive the nations as the gospel advances; the strong man is bound so that the peoples can no longer be held in the darkness that gripped them before the gospel went out. The first resurrection they understand spiritually, as the reign of the souls of the faithful with Christ and the triumph of their cause, rather than as a bodily rising from the grave. On this reading, Revelation 20 pictures the present age moving toward its full flowering, after which Satan is loosed for a little while, and then come the return of Christ and the final judgment described in the closing verses of the chapter. The millennium and the church age are, for postmillennialism, the same growing reality. The thousand years are not a separate era that begins only after Christ comes, but the maturing of the very age in which the church now lives.

Watetezi na HistoriaProponents and History

Postmilenia ilistawi hasa miongoni mwa Wapuritani na katika karne ya kumi na nane na ya kumi na tisa. Jonathan Edwards alitazamia enzi inayokuja ya uamsho na kuenea kwa Injili; wanatheolojia wa Princeton, Charles Hodge na Benjamin Warfield, walishikilia mtazamo huu, kama walivyofanya viongozi wengi wa harakati kuu ya umisheni ya wakati huo. Mtazamo huu ulipendwa hasa katika karne ya kumi na tisa, kipindi kilichokuwa na uhakika kwamba ulimwengu ulikuwa ukisonga mbele na juu, na kwamba jamii ingeendelea kuboreka hadi hatimaye utawala wa miaka elfu ufike. Matukio mawili yalibadilisha hali hiyo katika karne ya ishirini. La kwanza lilikuwa kuenea kwa Scofield Reference Bible (Biblia ya Marejeo ya Scofield), iliyochapishwa mwaka 1909, iliyopeleka premilenia ya kidispensesheni katika nyumba na mimbari zisizohesabika. La pili lilikuwa Vita vya Kwanza vya Dunia, ambavyo kutisha kwake kulivunja uhakika rahisi kwamba ulimwengu ulikuwa ukiboreka kwa kasi ya kudumu. Kufuatia matukio haya, premilenia kwa namna moja au nyingine ilitawala sehemu kubwa ya Ukristo wa Kiinjili wa karne ya ishirini. Hata hivyo postmilenia haikutoweka, na imeona uamsho wa kisasa miongoni mwa baadhi ya waandishi wa mapokeo ya Kireformed ambao tena wanatazamia ushindi wa muda mrefu wa Injili ndani ya historia. Historia yake inaonyesha kwamba mtazamo huu wakati fulani ulikuwa tumaini la kawaida la sehemu kubwa ya kanisa, wala si jambo jipya la hivi karibuni.Postmillennialism flourished especially among the Puritans and through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Jonathan Edwards looked for a coming age of revival and gospel advance; the Princeton theologians Charles Hodge and Benjamin Warfield held the view, as did many leaders of the great missionary movement of that era. The view was especially popular in the nineteenth century, an age confident that the world was moving onward and upward, and that society would keep improving until at last the millennium arrived. Two developments changed that climate in the twentieth century. The first was the spread of the Scofield Reference Bible, published in 1909, which carried dispensational premillennialism into countless homes and pulpits. The second was the First World War, whose horror shattered the easy confidence that the world was steadily improving. In the wake of these, premillennialism in some form became dominant across much of twentieth-century evangelicalism. Postmillennialism did not disappear, however, and it has seen a modern revival among some Reformed writers who again look for the long-term triumph of the gospel in history. Its history shows that the view was once the common hope of much of the church, and not a recent novelty.

Pingamizi Zinazotolewa na WengineObjections Raised by Others

Wale wanaoshikilia mitazamo mingine wanatoa pingamizi kadhaa dhidi ya postmilenia, na haki inadai kwamba zisikilizwe. Kwanza, Agano Jipya linaonekana kuonya kwamba uovu na ukengeufu vitaongezeka, wala si kupungua, kabla ya mwisho: linazungumza juu ya nyakati za hatari katika siku za mwisho, juu ya wadanganyaji wanaozidi kuwa wabaya, juu ya ukengeufu mkuu na yule mtu wa kuasi, na juu ya siku zilizofupishwa kiasi kwamba, kama zisingefupishwa, asingeokoka mtu yeyote (2 Timotheo 3:1-5, 13; 2 Wathesalonike 2:1-12; Mathayo 24:9-13, 21-22). Pili, wakosoaji wanasema kwamba namna ya mtazamo huu yenye matumaini makubwa ilitikiswa sana na Vita vya Dunia na maovu mengine ya kutisha ya karne ya ishirini, ambayo yalionekana kupingana na matarajio ya ulimwengu unaoboreka daima. Tatu, wanaona kwamba ulimwengu hauonekani kuwa ukizidi kuwa wa Kikristo hatua kwa hatua. Nne, wanauliza kama usomaji wa kimafumbo wa ile miaka elfu na wa ufufuo wa kwanza una msingi, na kama kweli Maandiko yanaahidi enzi ya dhahabu kabla ya kurudi kwa Kristo badala ya baada yake. Wafuasi wa postmilenia wanajibu kwamba vikwazo vya muda havikanushi ushindi wa muda mrefu wa Injili, na kwamba enzi ya dhahabu iliyoahidiwa huenda bado iko mbele. Hatimaye, mjadala unategemea kama Maandiko yanafundisha kanisa linaloshinda kabla ya mwisho au mabaki waaminifu wanaolindwa katika dhiki.Those who hold other views raise several objections to postmillennialism, and fairness requires that they be heard. First, the New Testament seems to warn that evil and apostasy will increase, not decrease, before the end: it speaks of perilous times in the last days, of deceivers growing worse and worse, of a great falling away and the man of sin, and of days so shortened that, unless they were cut short, no flesh would be saved (2 Timothy 3:1-5, 13; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; Matthew 24:9-13, 21-22). Second, critics say the optimistic form of the view was deeply shaken by the World Wars and the other horrors of the twentieth century, which seemed to contradict the expectation of a steadily improving world. Third, they observe that the world does not appear to be progressively Christianizing. Fourth, they question whether the figurative reading of the thousand years and the first resurrection is justified, and whether Scripture really promises a golden age before Christ's return rather than after it. Postmillennialists reply that temporary setbacks do not disprove the long-term triumph of the gospel, and that the promised golden age may still lie in the future. The debate, in the end, turns on whether Scripture teaches a triumphant church before the end or a faithful remnant kept through tribulation.

Muhtasari na Neno la Haki kwa Pande ZoteSummary and an Even-Handed Word

Nguvu kubwa ya postmilenia ni mtazamo wake wa juu juu ya uweza wa Injili na utawala wa sasa na wenye kutenda wa Kristo, na tumaini lake kwamba Agizo Kuu kweli litafanikiwa ulimwenguni. Dai lake kuu ni kwamba utawala wa miaka elfu ni enzi ya dhahabu ya ushindi wa Injili inayokuja kabla ya kurudi kwa Kristo, ikiletwa kupitia mahubiri ya Injili na kazi ya Roho. Wakristo waaminifu, wacha Mungu, wenye imani sahihi wameshikilia mtazamo huu, miongoni mwao baadhi ya wanatheolojia bora kabisa wa kanisa, na kozi hii inauwasilisha kwa nguvu zake zote bila kuuidhinisha. Sehemu zinazofuata zinawasilisha premilenia na amilenia kwa haki ile ile, ili wanafunzi wapime mitazamo hii wao wenyewe mbele ya walimu wao na mbele ya Mungu wao. Kile ambacho mitazamo yote mitatu inashiriki, na kilicho cha muhimu kuliko yote, ni tumaini la hakika kwamba Bwana Yesu Kristo atarudi kwa utukufu, atawafufua wafu, ataihukumu dunia kwa haki, na atafanya vitu vyote kuwa vipya. Juu ya tumaini hilo kuu kanisa zima linasimama pamoja.The great strength of postmillennialism is its high view of the power of the gospel and the present, active reign of Christ, and its hope that the Great Commission will truly succeed in the world. Its central claim is that the millennium is a golden age of gospel triumph that comes before the return of Christ, brought about through the preaching of the gospel and the work of the Spirit. Sincere, godly, orthodox Christians have held this view, among them some of the church's finest theologians, and the course presents it at full strength without endorsing it. The units that follow present premillennialism and amillennialism with the very same fairness, so that students may weigh the views for themselves before their teachers and their God. What all three views share, and what matters most of all, is the certain hope that the Lord Jesus Christ will return in glory, raise the dead, judge the world in righteousness, and make all things new. On that great hope the whole church stands together.

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