Revelation 20 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

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2271 (...continued) they can easily return to the "abyss," placing themselves within reach of the adversary, and quickly succumb to its demonic attack? It is noteworthy that even in John's highly optimistic vision of the binding of the adversary for a thousand years, still, at the end of that long period, the adversary is released from his prison, and comes against the beloved city that is like a besieged camp--indicating that the power of evil, while broken and conquered, is not totally vanquished–it has been “curtailed” for a certain length of time, but it has not been destroyed. In symbolic language, that is a way of holding that the major victory over all the evil forces in human history has been won, but there is still human freedom, still decisions to be made, dangers to be faced, and battles to be fought with evil! Beasley-Murray points out that "...The image of the binding and imprisonment of the devil has a long and diffuse history in the religions and folk lore of the nations. The Zend religion of Persia has a clear relation to it, but from the point of view of the Revelation it is curiously topsy-turvy. In the Bundehesh it is related that the wicked serpent Azi-Dahaka is overcome by Thraetaeona and chained in a mountain for 9,000 years. He is released by the evil spirit Ahriman to reign for 1,000 years, but is finally slain, and the new world arrives... “Other parallels have been noted in the Egyptian myth of Osiris, the Mandaean traditions, and the Scandinavian and Germanic myths. Nearer at hand than these are the precedents in the Old Testament and in Jewish apocalyptic literature. [See Prayer of Manasseh 3, where the Lord God is described as ‘He Who bound the sea...Who closed the bottomless pit and sealed it by his powerful and glorious name’]... “The important thing to observe is that the symbolism common to these myths is made a medium by John for a message which was conveyed to him alike through the Old Testament prophets and by the apostolic traditions of the teaching of Jesus, namely, that the powers of evil are doomed by the word of God. The subjugation of the devil and his removal from the sphere of man's existence is characteristic of the biblical monotheistic religion of redemption, which cannot endure the notion that evil will be prevalent for ever. The removal of satan, therefore, is integral to the good news of Jesus Christ. It is a complement of that teaching which lies at the heart of the Christian gospel, that the kingdom of God comes through the Christ and will triumph in history through Him. The defeat of satan and the triumph of the kingdom are essential elements in the acts of judgment and redemption which God accomplishes through the Christ." (Pp. 286-87) Aune states that “The notion of ‘binding’ (dei/n), particularly when used of supernatural beings, is drawn from the world of magic...The metaphor of ‘binding,’ i.e., imprisoning satan or demons, particularly until the day of judgment, occurs frequently in Judaism.’” (P. 1082) For mentions of the "binding" of the adversary in Jewish non-biblical literature, see the following passages: 996 (continued...)
2271 (...continued) Tobit 8:2-3, Then Tobias remembered the words of Raphael, and he took the fish’s liver and heart out of the bag where he had them and put them on the embers of the incense. The odor of the fish so repelled the demon that he fled to the remotest parts of Egypt. But Raphael followed him, and at once bound him [kai. ev,dhsen auvto, kai edesen auto, language almost identical to Revelation 20:2] there hand and foot.” 1 Enoch 10:4-5 (before the coming of the universal flood in Noah’s day, the Lord says to Raphael), “Bind Azaz’el hand and foot and throw him into the darkness!”, following which Azaz’el is cast into a hole in the desert, over which is thrown rugged and sharp rocks, “in order that he may be sent into the fire on the great day of judgment”; compare verses 11-12 (the prison house of the angels / messengers, where they are detained forever); 13:1; 14:5; 18:16; 21:1-6; 88:1-3 (an abyss, narrow and deep, empty and dark, where the mighty stars are bound hand and foot, and thrown into the pits of the earth). Testament of Levi 18:12 (in its description of the glorious final priest, it is predicted that all evil deeds and persons will cease, the gates of paradise will be opened, the people of God will have access to the tree of life), “and Beliar shall be bound by Him. And He shall grant to His children the authority to trample on wicked spirits.” Compare Luke 10:19, and also see Jubilees 5:6; 10:7-11; 2 Enoch 7:2; 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 56:13. 2272 This phrase, "[for] a thousand years" occurs six times in Revelation 20, and then nowhere else in the entire book. The passages are as follows: 20:2, "...And he bound him a thousand years." 20:3, "...And he threw him into the abyss, and locked and sealed [it] over him, so that he should not any longer lead astray the nations until the thousand years should be completed." 20:4, "...And they lived, and reigned with the Anointed [King] a thousand years." 20:5, "...The rest of the dead people did not live until the thousand years should be completed." 20:6, "...They will be priests of God and of the Anointed [King], and they will reign with him a thousand years!" 20:7, "...And when the thousand years shall be completed, the adversary will be released from his prison..." Aune notes that “The first occurrence of ci,lia ev,th [‘a thousand years’] in verse 2 is anarthrous [without the definite article] as one might expect in the case of a new apocalyptic concept that the author assumes is unknown to the readers. The expression ‘a thousand years’ occurs six times...though in verse 4 the phrase is unexpectedly anarthrous, and in verse 6 the presence of [the definite article] ta, ta, is problematic.” (P. 1072) What this shows, we think, is that Aune’s rule concerning the use of the definite article, though oftentimes accurate, doesn’t always work. 997 (continued...)
Page 1 and 2: THE THOUSAND YEAR VICTORY OVER EVIL
Page 3 and 4: 2259 2260 2261 2262 2263 key of the
Page 5 and 6: 2264 2265 2266 2267 2268 2269 drago
Page 7 and 8: 2265 (...continued) serpent, places
Page 9 and 10: 2270 2271 2272 2273 / satan and he
Page 11 and 12: 2271 (...continued) Isaiah 24:21-23
Page 13: 2271 (...continued) “In that sens
Page 17 and 18: 2272 (...continued) 1 Chronicles 16
Page 19 and 20: 2274 2275 2276 2277 2278 and locked
Page 21 and 22: 2279 The verb plana,w, planao, "to
Page 23 and 24: 2284 (...continued) him to be loose
Page 25 and 26: 2289 2290 2291 2292 them; and the i
Page 27 and 28: 2289 (...continued) ed Neo-Babylon,
Page 29 and 30: 2289 (...continued) ed over to him
Page 31 and 32: 2294 2295 2296 2297 nor his image,
Page 33 and 34: 2299 (...continued) There is a conf
Page 35 and 36: 2304 2305 20.5 The rest of the dead
Page 37 and 38: 2307 (...continued) rection...Antit
Page 39 and 40: 2309 (...continued) ‘soul,’ on
Page 41 and 42: 2312 2313 2314 with him [the] thous
Page 43 and 44: 2317 2318 2319 released from his pr
Page 45 and 46: 2320 2321 2322 2323 2324 2325 four
Page 47 and 48: 2326 2327 2328 war -of whom their n
Page 49 and 50: 2329 2330 2331 2332 width of the ea
Page 51 and 52: 2333 (...continued) beloved city,
Page 53 and 54: day and night into the ages of the
Page 55 and 56: 2345 2346 2347 the face of Whom the
Page 57 and 58: 2348 2349 20.12 And I saw the dead
Page 59 and 60: 2354 2355 2356 according to their w
Page 61 and 62: 2354 (...continued) Newport well st
Page 63 and 64: 2363 2364 2365 2366 underworld were
Page 65:
2369 (...continued) earth. All thes
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Revelation 20 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

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