Stephen Jones — Eschatology
b1 — Creation’s Jubilee
The Millennium Question and Premillennialism
Jones defends a premillennial position, characterised as “premillennial universalism”:
“The idea of a Sabbath Millennium is the earliest viewpoint of the known Christian leaders.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 1)
“The Tabernacle was divided into three areas: the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. […] the Holy Place typifies the Pentecostal Age and was 2,000 cubic cubits (10 x 20 x 10 cubits). The Holy of Holies typifies the Tabernacles Age and 1,000 cubic cubits (10 x 10 x 10 cubits).” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 1)
Interpretation: Jones uses the dimensions of the Tabernacle as typological evidence for a literal 1,000-year age (Feast of Tabernacles period).
The earliest church leaders as witnesses to premillennialism:
“In the Epistle of Barnabas, dated around 115 A.D., we read in chapter 13 […] ‘in six thousand years the Lord God will bring all things to an end. […] then he shall gloriously rest in that seventh day.‘” (Jones citing Epistola Barnabae, in Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 1)
Jones argues the millennium was lost through Greek allegorising:
“The most powerful adversary of millenarianism was Origen of Alexandria. […] He combated them expressly, and, owing to the great influence which his writings exerted […] millenarianism gradually disappeared from the ideas of Oriental Christians.” (Jones citing Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. X, 1911 ed., art. ‘Millennium’, in Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 1)
“St. Augustine finally held to the conviction that there will be no millennium… The first resurrection […] he tells us, refers to the spiritual rebirth in baptism; the Sabbath of one thousand years […] is the whole of eternal life.” (Jones citing Catholic Encyclopedia, in Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 1)
“It is ironic that the Roman Church repudiated Origen of Alexandria in the year 400 A.D. for his teachings on universal reconciliation, but they adopted his method of interpreting Scripture. This was how the teaching of the Sabbath Millennium was lost.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 1)
Three Resurrections (Barley / Wheat / Grapes)
Jones distinguishes three resurrection groups based on 1 Corinthians 15:22-28 and the three harvest festivals:
First resurrection — barley (overcomers):
“The first resurrection is limited to believers, for Rev. 20:6 says, ‘Blessed and holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection.‘” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 1)
“The first ‘squadron’ to be raised […] ‘anointed firstfruits.’ […] This is the first squadron of believers; those who are to inherit the first resurrection. Paul carefully chose this phrase to describe the firstfruits of the barley harvest, which was to be anointed with oil.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)
“It is not about citizenship in the Kingdom, but about rulership.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 1)
Second resurrection — wheat (believers + unbelievers):
“The second squadron of resurrected ones are ‘those who are Christ’s at His coming’ […] This is most clearly portrayed in Daniel 7 […] the second resurrection and includes both believers and unbelievers.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)
“NOT ALL Christians will be raised in the first resurrection. Some must remain in the grave until the second resurrection, otherwise the statements by Jesus and Paul would be incorrect.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 1)
“Paul offers a double witness […] ‘having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.’ (Acts 24:15) This can only be referring to the second, not the first resurrection.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 1)
Third group — grapes (enemies of Christ):
“And so, this third squadron represents the grape harvest. In order for God to obtain the wine, He must tread out the grapes, that is, He must ‘put all enemies under His feet.‘” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)
Aionios as Age-Period — Eternal Punishment vs. Temporary Judgment
Jones argues that olam (Hebrew) and aion/aionios (Greek) denote an age, not eternity:
“In this chapter we will attempt to prove from plain Scripture that God’s punishments are NOT endless. The English translations which use the term ‘eternal’ and ‘everlasting’ in relation to both divine punishment and life in the coming age are actually mistranslations of the original Hebrew and Greek.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 4)
On olam:
“This word means ‘to hide, keep secret, obscure.’ It is best expressed by the English word, ‘obscurity.’ In actual usage, the word refers to an INDEFINITE period of time, but NOT eternal. It is simply AN AGE.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 4)
Evidence that olam is finite (Ps. 45:6):
“This proves beyond doubt that olam itself cannot refer to eternity, because when the Psalmist wished to express eternity, he had to say ‘olam va ad,’ or ‘the age and beyond.’ [Ps. 45:6] ‘Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever [olam va ad, “the age and beyond”].‘” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 4)
On aion:
“And so we can safely say that aion is meant to convey the same meaning as the Hebrew concept of olam. […] One of the most obvious New Testament passages where aion refers to an age is found in Matthew 13 […] ‘the harvest is the end of the age [aion]’ (Matt 13:39-40).” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 4)
Augustine’s ignorance of Greek:
“Augustine was severely handicapped because he was virtually ignorant of the Greek language. Peter Brown tells us this in his book, Augustine of Hippo, page 36: ‘Augustine’s failure to learn Greek was a momentous casualty of the Late Roman educational system; he will become the only Latin philosopher in antiquity to be virtually ignorant of Greek.‘” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 4)
Scholars cited in Appendix 6 (aionios/olam as limited duration):
- Ellicott’s Commentary (Matt. 25:46): “the Greek word which is rendered ‘eternal’ does not, in itself, involve endlessness, but rather, duration”
- The Encyclopedia Dictionary of the Bible (Catholic), p. 693: “The Hebrew word olam […] means in itself no more than ‘for an indefinitely long period’”
- Dr. F.W. Farrar, Mercy and Judgment, p. 378: “aionios means, properly, ‘belonging to an age,’ or ‘age-long,’ and anyone who asserts that it must mean ‘endless’ defends a position which even Augustine practically abandoned twelve centuries ago”
- Hastings Dictionary of the N.T., Vol. 1, p. 542: “There is no word either in the O.T. Hebrew or in the N.T. Greek to express the abstract idea of eternity”
- Dr. Marvin Vincent, Word Studies of the N.T., Vol. IV, p. 59: “Neither the noun nor the adjective in themselves carries the sense of ‘endless’ or ‘everlasting.’ aionios means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time”
- G.T. Stevenson, Time and Eternity, p. 63: “it appears very improbable that the derived adjective aionios would indicate infinite duration, nor have we found any evidence in Greek writing to show that such a concept was expressed by this term”
- Dr. Nigel Turner, Christian Words, p. 457: “All the way through, it is never feasible to understand aionios as everlasting”
(All cited in Creation’s Jubilee, appendix 6)
Apokatastasis and Universalism
Jones defends apokatastasis on the basis of multiple Pauline texts:
1 Corinthians 15:22 — all made alive:
“For as in Adam all die, so also in [the] Christ all shall be made alive. […] Verse 22: It is evident that all mankind died in Adam—with no exceptions. In the same manner also shall all be made alive in Christ—with no exceptions.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)
Romans 5:18 — justification of all men:
“So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.” (Jones citing Rom. 5:18, in Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)
“If Adam’s sin affected all men, and Jesus’ righteous act affected only a tiny fraction of men, then Jesus could hardly be compared to Adam. Surely Adam’s power is not greater than Jesus’ power!” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)
Colossians 1:16-20 — reconciliation of ta panta:
“it was THE FATHER’S GOOD PLEASURE to reconcile all these things [ta panta] to Himself by the blood of Jesus. Can anything be clearer? This is not a hidden doctrine.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)
John 12:32 — helkuo (to drag):
“Jesus said in John 12:32 that if He would die upon the cross, He would ‘draw’ all men to Himself. The word ‘draw’ is the Greek word, helkuo, which means ‘to drag.’ […] John 6:44 says no man can come to the Father except the Father DRAG him. John 12:32 says that Jesus will DRAG all men to Himself.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)
Clement of Alexandria cited:
“‘And not only for our sins, that is, for those of the faithful, is the Lord the Propitiator does he say, but also for the whole world. He, indeed, saves all; but some He saves converting them by punishments; others, however, who follow voluntarily He saves with dignity of honour; so that every knee should bow to Him.‘” (Jones citing Clement of Alexandria, Commentary on 1 John 2:2, in Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)
“Clement of Alexandria summarized it all 1800 years ago (Stromata VII, 2:5-12) by saying: ‘All things are arranged with a view to the salvation of the universe by the Lord of the universe […] But necessary corrections, through the Goodness of the great overseeing Judge […] compel egregious sinners to repent.‘” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)
Jones summarises the book’s central claim:
“The purpose of this book is to reveal the secret of His will. This secret is that God will reconcile ‘The All’ of creation […] It is to be the Savior of ‘all men,’ as Paul told Timothy. It is to justify ‘all men,’ as Paul told the Romans. It is to make ‘all men’ alive […] It is that ‘every knee’ will bow and ‘every tongue’ will confess.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5, referencing Acts 3:21)
Hell and the Lake of Fire as Purification
Jones interprets the lake of fire as corrective judgment, not endless punishment:
“After the 7th thousand-year period (Sabbath millennium), God will kindle the lake of fire to purify the wicked. The believers will simply receive ‘few stripes’ or ‘many stripes,’ up to 40, according to Bible law (Deut. 25:1-3).” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 4)
“He will drag all them to Himself by means of judgment, that is, the lake of fire. He has both the power and the will to do this.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)
On the nations outside the New Jerusalem:
“There are many ‘nations’ living outside the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:24-27) who will begin to walk in the light […] These ‘nations’ are the unsaved peoples of the earth from all past ages. […] when they turn to Christ in repentance for their sins, they will be much like Christians today.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)
“This second death is the final enemy that must be abolished at the Creation’s Jubilee of the earth at the end of the final age. Paul says clearly in 1 Corinthians 15:26 that ‘the last enemy that will be abolished is death.‘” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)
Restoration of All Nations
Jones sees the restoration of all nations as a prophetic programme for the Millennial Kingdom:
“The day is coming when the Kingdom of God will replace the kingdoms of men. The earth will be ruled in righteousness by the laws of God.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 10)
On the Feast of Tabernacles and the seventy nations:
“The Feast of Tabernacles was prophetic of the work God would do with regard to all nations of the earth. […] Alfred Edersheim says on page 277 of his book, The Temple, ‘There were seventy bullocks, to correspond to the number of the seventy nations of the world.‘” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 10)
“All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord; and they shall glorify Thy name.” (Ps. 86:9) (Jones citing Ps. 86:9, in Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 10)
New Creation and Creation’s Jubilee
Jones connects the Jubilee to the eschatological endpoint of history:
“When all men have accepted Christ as Savior and King […] then He will present a perfected and completed Kingdom to His Father. […] This is truly a glorious destiny for the earth. This is the Creation’s Jubilee.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)
“Jesus will NOT reign forever as the Son. He will reign only as long as it takes to subject the whole earth under His feet. It will take BOTH of the coming ages to do this.” (Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)
“And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all.” (1 Cor. 15:28) (Jones citing 1 Cor. 15:28 as the conclusion of apokatastasis, in Creation’s Jubilee, chapter 5)