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The Kingdom of Israel

John Shepard

April 8, 2002

Didache

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The purpose of this article is to show the end-time viewpoint of the writer of the Didache.

The Didache was written around 60-100 A.D.

This book does not support the premillennial viewpoint (although premillennialists cite it as premillennial).

Analysis of this passage and conclusions

Didache

• Could refer to (1) the death of the believer or (2) the second coming of Christ.

• The phrase "in the last time" could refer to (1) at the final judgment when God confirms the faith of the believer or (2) at the death of the believer.
• In either case the emphasis is on the perseverance of the believer.

• The phrase "last days" appears to refer to a time future to the writing of the Didache. But it appears to have direct relevance to the first readers (rather than being written for people thousands of years later) so it must refer to the general apostasy that will plague the church over the centuries.

• This is merely a continuation of the previous verse in which the deception gets worse and worse. It does not necessarily imply that these events follow one another chronologically -- but rather, that the trend of apostasy is that it can get very bad. If we interpret this list of events as strictly chronological then we get a very weird result.

• Seems to refer to persecution and martyrdom. The ones who are offended are those who leave the faith under persecution.

• After this long period of time of persecution (lasting even until today) Christ will come in His second coming.

• Notice that only the deceased believers are resurrected to glory. The unbelievers are raised for judgment.

• The chronological sequence of events:
  
  (1) appearance in heaven (to deceased believers)
  
  (2) sound of the trumpet (to believers yet living)
  
  (3) resurrection (of all believers)
  
  (4) second coming of Christ
  
  
• There is no hint of the rapture or the 1,000 year millennium in these passages.

This is the end of the book.

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Analysis of this passage and conclusions

Premillennialists generally believe that the Didache supports the premillennial viewpoint but I don't agree. Some key things to notice:

• In verses 6 - 8 there is no mention of a 1,000 year millennium.
• In verse 8 the Lord comes on the clouds. For premillennialists, the image of clouds in conjunction with the coming of Christ is usually associated with the rapture. But notice that in verses 4 - 5 there is a description of a "great tribulation." If this refers to the great tribulation of the premillennialists (and I don't think it does) then the rapture would occur after the great tribulation -- thus the author of the Didache would support a post-tribulational rapture.
• In verse 5 the phrase "they who remain in their faith shall be saved" appears to refer to the phrase "found perfect in the last time" (verse 2). It seems that the Lord coming in verse 8 refers to the final judgment and the end of the world, not a 1,000 year millennium.
• Why does the Didache end with the second coming (rapture?) and not mention a 1,000 year millennium? The most obvious explanation is that the author had no concept of a 1,000 year millennium after the second coming.

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© Copyright 2007 by John Shepard