What Christ Actually Said
Adherents of Little Seasonism, like those of Full Preterism, place a great deal of emphasis on verses in Scripture in which they believe Jesus declared that He would return during the lifetimes of those to whom He was speaking. These they cite in support of their view that He did, in fact, return in the first century.
An accusation that it pains me to see hurled so often from that side of the field against those on the other is "If you don't believe that Jesus already returned, then you are calling Him a liar". Such is a strong allegation to be made by one Christian against another. It strikes very close to the heart of a believer's faith in Jesus.
In this chapter, we will examine several popularly cited verses in depth to see whether the Little Seasonists and Full Preterists are really justified in making such judgments or perhaps have reason to reconsider their position.
Verses in which Jesus indicated the moment of His coming only in terms such as "quickly", "shortly", or "near", we will not go through here. The notion of immediacy is subjective on its own. Whether or not the apostles and others inferred, purely from Jesus's expressions of immediacy, that He would personally return during their lifetimes has no bearing on whether that is what He actually meant or did.
We are reminded in 2 Peter 3:8-9 that Jesus's perception of the passage of time is drastically different from ours and that what some people regard as delay is not delay from His point of view. So, there is neither warrant for, nor strength in, citing such verses as proof of His return within any timeframe that might satisfy a human sense of immediacy:
"But beloved, do not let this one thing be hidden from you, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay the promise, as some esteem slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but all to come to repentance."6
6 [ 2 Peter 3:8-9 (Berean Literal Bible)]
My overall format below will be to quote each relevant verse from the King James Bible followed by its Koine Greek source text and then to examine the meanings of the Greek words to arrive at a literal translation (wherever meaningfully different from the KJV). We will then see whether the verse actually conveys the meaning that is so often claimed it does.
Preliminary Note: The subjunctive mood of verbs in Koine Greek is generally used to state what might happen.7
7 [ "Subjunctive mood," Koine Greek Wiki | Fandom, accessed May 3, 2025, https://koine-greek.fandom.com/wiki/Subjunctive_mood]
Matthew 10:23
"But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come."
"ὅταν δὲ διώκωσιν ὑμᾶς ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ φεύγετε εἰς τὴν ἄλλην· ἀμὴν γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν οὐ μὴ τελέσητε τὰς πόλεις τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου"8
8 [ ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 10 Stephanus Textus Receptus 1550, https://biblehub.com/tr/matthew/10.htm]
Notes:
- The verb τελέσητε (telesēte) is subjunctive9 but in an emphatic negative future sense.10 Therefore, its meaning is "certainly will not finish".
- The verb ἔλθῃ (elthē) is subjunctive.11 Its meaning is "might come".
9 [ Matthew 10:23 Interlinear, https://biblehub.com/interlinear/matthew/10-23.htm]
10 [ "Koine Greek: Verbs - Subjunctive," WikiChristian, https://www.wikichristian.org/wiki/en/index.php?title=Koine_Greek:_Verbs_-_Subjunctive ;
Rodney J. Decker, Reading Koine Greek: An Introduction and Integrated Workbook (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014), 492. https://archive.org/details/koinegr/mode/2up?q=%22%CE%BF%E1%BD%90+%CE%BC%CE%AE+++aorist+subjunctive%3A+the+strongest+way+to+say+%E2%80%9CNo%21%E2%80%9D%22 ;
William Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar. 3rd Edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009), 295. https://archive.org/details/basicsofbiblical0000moun_h2k8/mode/2up?q=%22The+construction+%CE%BF%E1%BD%90+%CE%BC%CE%AE+followed+by+the+aorist+subjunctive+is+a+strong+negation%22]
11 [ Matthew 10:23 Interlinear, https://biblehub.com/interlinear/matthew/10-23.htm]
Literal translation: "But whenever they persecute you in the one city, flee to the other, for verily I say unto you, Ye certainly will not finish the cities of Israel, till the Son of man might come.
Analysis: The clear meaning is that the disciples will not complete the spreading of the gospel to the people in every city of Israel before the moment that the Son of Man comes. The subjunctive mood of "come" does not indicate doubt as to whether that coming will occur but, rather, reflects the uncertainty about the precise moment of its occurrence.
Matthew 24:34
"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."
"ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη ἕως ἂν πάντα ταῦτα γένηται"12
12 [ ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 24 Stephanus Textus Receptus 1550, https://biblehub.com/tr/matthew/24.htm]
Notes:
- The verb παρέλθῃ (parelthē) is subjunctive13 but in the emphatic negative future sense. Its meaning is "certainly will not pass away".
- The verb γένηται (genētai) is subjunctive.14 Its meaning here goes no further than "might begin / emerge / come into being". See the comments in the analysis below.
13 [ Matthew 24:34 Interlinear, https://biblehub.com/interlinear/matthew/24-34.htm]
14 [ Ibid.]
Literal translation: "Verily I say unto you, This generation certainly will not pass, till all these things might begin."
Analysis: Jesus is speaking about the presently living generation of people.
Note that γένηται (genētai) is the etymological root of our words "gene", "genesis", and "generate". It should be apparent that the real essence of its meaning is the concept of origination or beginning (notice how even those two words contain the "-gin-" root of its initial form, γίνομαι (ginomai)). The translation of this word to one such as "fulfilled", which conveys the opposing concept of termination or ending, is a real stretch unless there is a grammatical justification for interpreting it, at best, as "completely having come into being". We do see such a justification in Revelation 21:6, where the word is in its perfect tense, Γέγοναν (gegonan), but there is no such justification here.
The idea expressed by the verse is that all of the things mentioned in the relevant preceding verses might, or should, begin to manifest within the lifetimes of those in that generation.
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"Impossible" Architecture
From the premise of the Little Season theory that centuries of phantom time have been added to the historical timeline, it follows that many architectural masterpieces conventionally understood to have been created at certain times during the Middle Ages were actually made more recently, during the millennial kingdom that ended only about three centuries ago.
The concept bears similarities to the Tartarian conspiracy theory46, which also proposes that a distortion of the historical timeline was carried out to suppress knowledge of an old-world era and points to the remarkable complexity and skill of such architectural marvels as proof of their having been constructed by people who used techniques that are a mystery to us today. However, the Little Season theory diverges in that it naturally focuses on Christian architecture and art, and it credits the magnificent craftsmanship to divine influence rather than to advanced technology that is now unknown.
46 [ "Tartarian Empire," Wikipedia, accessed April 25, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartarian_Empire]
In light of the above, let us examine one architectural wonder of Christian history which is often put forth as an example of such extraordinary structures: the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres.
I initially thought to examine two churches here, but it occurs to me that one example will be enough if the description of the millennium supplied by Scripture is relied upon. Scripture characterizes the prophesied millennium as being under the overarching dominion of Jesus Christ, populated exclusively by a class of saved believers who have already proven their faith to the point of death or under the severe threat of it,* and completely absent of Satanic deception. Therefore, the state of all things on Earth during the period is expected to be in alignment with Christ's spirit and will. The state of one church should suffice to tell the whole truth of the character of the period in which it came into existence.
* Explained in the chapter, "Satan's Little Season: A Scriptural View"
Let us keep in mind that we are deliberately ignoring here the architectural masterworks of any other religions that were produced during the same era, as though they were immaterial to the question at hand; however, in reality, they cannot be ignored, as their construction during the prophesied millennium would be a contradiction in terms. But let us continue…
The Chartres Cathedral in France is undeniably exquisite. The question is: Does the character and construction of this building reflect the divine influence of Christ such as might be expected if it were created during the prophesied millennium?
Chartres Cathedral, High Gothic - view from south-east47
47 [Attribution: Olvr, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Notre_Dame_de_Chartres.jpg]
The original church on the site where Chartres Cathedral would stand was, according to many historians, a Druidic temple built to honor "the virgin birth" before Christ was born.
In The City of Chartres Its Cathedral and Churches, Henri Massé asserted:
"ALL the chroniclers of the Middle Ages seem to have accepted without any questionings the fact of the foundation of a church at Chartres before the birth of Christ. [emphasis added]"48
48 [ Henri Jean Louis Joseph Massé, M.A., The City of Chartres Its Cathedral and Churches (London: George Bell & Sons, 1900), 11. https://archive.org/details/cityofchartresit00massuoft/page/10]
Chassanæus (Barthélemy de Chasseneuz49), in his 1571 Catalogus Gloriæ Mundi, wrote:
"Is it not known among the French that the church of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Chartres was built in honor of the Virgin who was to give birth before the coming of Christ? [emphasis added]"50
49 [ "Barthélemy de Chasseneuz," Wikipedia, accessed April 26, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barth%C3%A9lemy_de_Chasseneuz]
50 [ D. Bartholomæi Cassanæi, Burgundij, Catalogus Gloriæ Mundi. Opus in Libros XII Divisum (Venetiis: 1571), 264 (3rd column from left [i.e., 1st column of right-side leaf]). https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_zCLFksdsC8YC/page/n543. "[Original Latin:] Nonne est apud Francos notum est quod ecclesia beatissimæ Virginis Mariæ Carnotensis fuit ante Christi adventum ædificata in honorem Virginis parituræ?"]
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Saintly Art and Halos
The Last Supper, 168567
67 [ Attribution: Simon Ushakov, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Simon_ushakov_last_supper_1685.jpg]
Adherents of the Little Season theory may point to Christian artwork produced during the Middle Ages and Renaissance as evidence that the millennial kingdom was established on Earth at that time.
We are all familiar with the sort of paintings in which Jesus and the Christian saints are depicted with halos around their heads. This leads Little Seasonists to assert that, rather than being merely artistic representations of the apostles and other persons who have been celebrated as pious believers in Church history, these likenesses were more like portraits of the immortal glorified saints who were residing on Earth with Christ for the duration of the first thousand years of it.
Regrettably, this notion―like the perception that the extravagant cathedrals from the same period attest to the establishment of Christ's millennial kingdom at that time―is rooted in confusion about what distinguishes the holy from the profane.
Emperor Justinian I and his retinue. Detail of Byzantine mosaic decoration, completed by 54768
68 [ Attribution: Giustiniano I. Meister von San Vitale in Ravenna, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meister_von_San_Vitale_in_Ravenna.jpg]
In the account of Jesus's transfiguration to His glorified body in Matthew 17:2, we are told that "He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as the light."69 From this, we can understand that His whole body took on a radiant glow. We might safely infer, from a synthesis of the statements in 1 Corinthians 15:52 and Philippians 3:21, that the saints' bodies are glorified in the same manner at the moment of their being changed at Christ's second advent at the last trumpet.
69 [ Matthew 17:2 (Berean Literal Bible)]
The Handbook of Christian Symbolism, authored by the brothers William and George Audsley, who were the architects of numerous churches and synagogues in England,70 defines the terms "nimbus" and "aureole" in Christian religious iconography and the difference between them:
70 [ "W. & G. Audsley," Wikipedia, accessed April 28, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._%26_G._Audsley]
"... it is not uncommon to hear the word "glory" used to express the nimbus, while the word "aureole" is very seldom used at all.
The aureole is a most important attribute in Christian art : it is, in fact, an extended form of the nimbus, but is not used instead of it. The nimbus encircles the head or other portion of the body; the aureole encircles the whole body [emphasis added], and envelopes it in a field of radiance and splendour. …
Sometimes the aureole takes the form of the body and clings closely to it, appearing as a fringe of light;"71
71 [ W. & G. Audsley, Handbook of Christian symbolism (London: Day & Son, Limited, 1865), 9. https://archive.org/details/handbookofchrist00auds/page/8]
The authors added that the nimbus is more frequently seen in historic Christian artwork than the aureole because the aureole was introduced later and discontinued much earlier, but that it is the use of both the nimbus and the aureole together that signifies "glory". They wrote that "a person represented with the nimbus investing his head and the aureole surrounding his body is said to be glorified [emphasis added] or in glory."72
72 [ Ibid., 21. https://archive.org/details/handbookofchrist00auds/page/20]
So, the visible glory of Jesus's transfigured body, as it is described in the Bible―with reference first to the radiance of his face and then to that of his body, can be seen to meet both of the above criteria and would be properly referred to and represented in Christian art as a nimbus combined with an aureole.
By contrast, what we typically see in such old artworks depicting Jesus and the saints is only a nimbus encircling the head, which we commonly refer to as a halo. Regardless whether an artist in every case was actually aware of the differing significance between the two symbols, the use of the nimbus alone was the prevailing tradition, though it was not a signifier of glorification on its own. Therefore, as far as most of these paintings are concerned, from the perspective of Christian iconography, the saints are not portrayed as glorified.
The use of the nimbus symbol reveals something deeper than that, though: It has been confirmed by numerous scholars―Christian, secular, and occultist―that the nimbus, or halo, encircling the head is originally a pagan representation of the power of the Sun and the Sun god.
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Satan's Little Season: A Scriptural View
Satan's little season is described in Revelation 20:3. It commences after the millennium. The prophesied millennium begins after the battle at Armageddon described in Revelation 19:19, which is the final act in the outpouring of the 7th vial of the wrath of God at the 7th trumpet of the 7th seal. The events of this 7th seal conclude with the capture and disposal of the first beast and False Prophet in the lake of fire (which is the "second death" of the unsaved323) and the extermination of the surviving recipients of the mark of the beast and those worshipping his image.324
323 [ Revelation 21:8]
324 [ Revelation 19:19-21]
Once these servants of Satan have been disposed of, Satan himself is captured and imprisoned in the abyss for a thousand years, in order that he might not further lead the peoples astray until the thousand years might be completed, after which it is necessary for him to be released for a short period of time.325
325 [ Revelation 20:2-3]
For the duration of the thousand years, a particular group of saints is said to live and reign with Christ on earth. Contrary to the prevailing belief, not all deceased Christians are resurrected and gathered at Christ's second advent, as will be demonstrated further. It is important to be clear about the identity of the saints and their location in the millennium in order to properly ascertain the identity of the others, called the ἔθνη (ethnē), whom Satan tries to deceive when the millennium is over. It will be shown that the correct identification of these two groups of people eliminates any support for the notion advanced in Little Seasonism that the present inhabitants of Earth are living in Satan's little season.
Revelation 5:9-10, speaking of those whom Jesus redeems for God by His blood from among every tribe, tongue, people and nation, refers to the saints, collectively, as "kings" or a "kingdom" (varying among different Greek manuscripts326) and "priests". This closely mirrors the term "royal (or) kingly priesthood" used in 1 Peter 2:9 to describe Christians in general. Revelation 5:10 then states that they will reign on the Earth.*
326 [ Revelation 5:10 Greek Text Analysis, https://biblehub.com/text/revelation/5-10.htm]
* There are discrepancies among various Greek manuscripts as to the wording of Revelation 5:9 and 5:10. In 5:9, some have "redeemed/purchased us (ἡμᾶς)" whereas "us" is absent in others.327 In 5:10, the 1550 and the 1894 Stephanus Textus Receptus manuscripts both say "made us (ἡμᾶς) kings and priests" and "we shall reign (βασιλεύσομεν)", whereas many other manuscripts say "made them (αὐτοὺς) kings and priests" and "they shall reign (βασιλεύσουσιν)". The majority of the nine manuscripts on BibleHub.com that I use for reference have "shall reign", while three328 of them have "we reign/are reigning (βασιλεύουσιν)" even following "made them kings and priests".329 As the four beasts and 24 elders are said in 5:8 to be bearing the prayers, or oratory, of the saints, I think it can be reasonably understood that, whether they use first-person or third-person pronouns in their speech, their words are meant to represent the perspective of the saints.
327 [ Revelation 5:9 Greek Text Analysis, https://biblehub.com/text/revelation/5-9.htm]
328 [ Westcott and Hort 1881, Westcott and Hort / [NA27 and UBS4 variants], and Greek Study Bible (Apostolic / Interlinear). See Revelation 5:10 Greek Text Analysis, https://biblehub.com/text/revelation/5-10.htm]
329 [ Revelation 5:10 Greek Text Analysis, https://biblehub.com/text/revelation/5-10.htm]
For a reason that will shortly become clear, the Earth―first, the present one; then, the new (or perhaps renewed330) one―is said to be the setting of both the millennial period and the final state of New Jerusalem that succeeds it.331
330 [ This seems plausible, given the statement in Revelation 21:1 that the sea no longer existed, possibly implying that it had existed before in this same place.]
331 [ Revelation 21:1-3]
The Greek text of Revelation 20:4 can be translated literally as follows:
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them, namely[*] the souls of those having been beheaded by way of the testimony of Jesus and by way of the word of God, and whosoever did not prostrate themselves in homage to the beast nor the image of him and did not receive the mark on the forehead and on the hand of them, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years."332
332 [ Revelation 20:4 Interlinear, https://biblehub.com/interlinear/revelation/20-4.htm]
* There is no repeated instance of the phrase "and I saw" in the Greek text of Revelation 20:4 such as is rendered in the King James version. The word "καὶ" here should be translated as "namely/even" rather than "and", as it is clear from the grammar that John proceeds to distinguish two classes of saints who are both on the thrones.333
333 [ Revelation 20:4 Greek Text Analysis, https://biblehub.com/text/revelation/20-4.htm]
First mentioned here are those who have been put to death because of their obedience to the word of Yahweh and their profession of faith in Jesus Christ―a fitting description of all of the martyrs of the Old† and New Testament periods. Second mentioned are those who have managed to survive without having bowed to the beast or his image or taken his mark, which can only refer to those existing during the time of the first and/or the second beast, which is during the New Testament period.
† We must not forget the ordeals of Daniel and his countrymen in Babylon when they were commanded to bow down in false worship under the threat of death, nor be so naïve as to think that they were the only faithful followers of Yahweh who ever underwent such religious coercion, or that all others who did survived it as they did.
The martyrs are distinguished from the survivors by the mention of the death penalty in connection with the former but not with the latter. Certainly, though, the class of survivors includes but is not limited to those who are still alive at the moment of Christ's second coming, as it would also account for believers who live through the trials of bestial persecution with their faith intact but die from causes other than martyrdom.
As both classes of believers are characterized in Revelation 20:4 as faithful overcomers of severe persecution―either unto death or under the threat of death, these two classes combined obviously comprise only a subset of Christians, as the vast majority of Christians throughout history cannot be said to have undergone that.
Note that, whereas Revelation 5:10 does indicate that Christians in general will reign on the Earth, 20:4 indicates that it is only the members of this collective group, i.e., those who overcome intense persecution for the sake of their faith, who will reign with Christ during the thousand years. The martyrs and other deceased Christian overcomers of persecution belonging to this group are contrasted with the "rest of the dead" who are said not to live until the thousand years are concluded.
Furthermore, it is this group of dead and surviving overcomers that is said to be granted immunity to the second death (based on their having faithfully endured the mentioned trials):
"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."334
334 [ Revelation 20:5-6 (KJV)]
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