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Sabbath of the holy rest of the saints
According to Blessed Augustine:
“Those who … have suspected that the first resurrection is future and bodily, … as if it were a fit thing that the saints should thus enjoy a kind of Sabbath-rest during that period. … And this opinion would not be objectionable, if it were believed that
the joys of the saints in that Sabbath shall be spiritual,
and consequent on the presence of God;
for I myself, too, once held this opinion. But, as they assert that those who then rise again
shall enjoy the leisure of immoderate carnal banquets, furnished with an amount of meat and drink such as not only to shock the feeling of the temperate, but even to surpass the measure of credulity itself,
such assertions can be believed only by the carnal.”
Chapter VII
The evangelist John has spoken of these two resurrections in the book which is called the Apocalypse, but in such a way that some Christians do not understand the first of the two, and so construe the passage into ridiculous fancies. For the Apostle John says in the foresaid book, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven. . . . Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power;
but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” Those who, on the strength of this passage, have suspected that the first resurrection is future and bodily, have been moved, among other things, specially by the number of a thousand years, as if it were a fit thing that the saints should thus enjoy a kind of Sabbath-rest during that period, a holy leisure after the labors of the six thousand years since man was created, and was on account of his great sin dismissed from the blessedness of paradise into the woes of this mortal life, so that thus, as it is written, “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day,”
2 Peter 3:8
there should follow on the completion of six thousand years, as of six days, a kind of seventh-day Sabbath in the succeeding thousand years;
and that it is for this purpose the saints rise, viz., to celebrate this Sabbath. And this opinion would not be objectionable, if it were believed that
the joys of the saints in that Sabbath shall be spiritual,
and consequent on the presence of God;
for I myself, too, once held this opinion. But, as they assert that
those who then rise again shall enjoy the leisure of immoderate carnal banquets, furnished with an amount of meat and drink such as not only to shock the feeling of the temperate, but even to surpass the measure of credulity itself,
such assertions can be believed only by the carnal. They who do believe them are called by the spiritual Chiliasts, which we may literally reproduce by the name Millenarians. It were a tedious process to refute these opinions point by point: we prefer proceeding to show how that passage of Scripture should be understood.
“The righteous shall reign in the earth, waxing stronger by the sight of the Lord: and through Him they shall become accustomed to partake in the glory of God the Father.”
Here is an example of a saint who believes that “the joys of the saints in that Sabbath shall be spiritual.” St. Irenaeus of Lyon does not at all assert that “those who then rise again shall enjoy the leisure of immoderate carnal banquets, furnished with an amount of meat and drink such as not only to shock the feeling of the temperate, but even to surpass the measure of credulity itself.” He says that “at that time the righteous will reign on earth, growing from the vision of the Lord and through Him accustomed to receive the glory of God and will enjoy in the kingdom conversion and communion with holy angels and communion with spiritual beings.”
Chapter XXXV. 1.
…
in
[the times of]
which
[resurrection]
the righteous shall reign in the earth, waxing stronger by the sight of the Lord: and through Him they shall become accustomed to partake in the glory of God the Father, and shall enjoy in the kingdom intercourse and communion with the holy angels, and union with spiritual beings;
and
[with respect to]
those whom the Lord shall find in the flesh, awaiting Him from heaven, and who have suffered tribulation, as well as escaped the hands of the Wicked one. For it is in reference to them that the prophet says: “And those that are left shall multiply upon the earth”
(Isa 6:11-13),
And Jeremiah the prophet has pointed out, that as many believers as God has prepared for this purpose, to multiply those left upon earth, should both be under the rule of the saints to minister to this Jerusalem, and that
[His]
kingdom shall be in it, saying, “Look around Jerusalem towards the east, and behold the joy which comes to you from God Himself. Behold, your sons shall come whom you have sent forth: they shall come in a band from the east even unto the west, by the word of that Holy One, rejoicing in that splendour which is from your God. O Jerusalem, put off your robe of mourning and of affliction, and put on that beauty of eternal splendour from your God. Gird yourself with the double garment of that righteousness proceeding from your God;
place the mitre of eternal glory upon your head. For God will show your glory to the whole earth under heaven. For your name shall for ever be called by God Himself, the peace of righteousness and glory to him that worships God. Arise, Jerusalem, stand on high, and look towards the east, and behold your sons from the rising of the sun, even to the west, by the Word of that Holy One, rejoicing in the very remembrance of God. For the footmen have gone forth from you, while they were drawn away by the enemy. God shall bring them in to you, being borne with glory as the throne of a kingdom. For God has decreed that every high mountain shall be brought low, and the eternal hills, and that the valleys be filled, so that the surface of the earth be rendered smooth, that Israel, the glory of God, may walk in safety. The woods, too, shall make shady places, and every sweet-smelling tree shall be for Israel itself by the command of God. For God shall go before with joy in the light of His splendour, with the pity and righteousness which proceeds from Him.”
See also
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