Revelation 20 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

More documents

Recommendations

Info

2352 2353 life; and the dead people were judged out of the things having been written in the scrolls, 2350 (...continued) But again, it is obvious that John has no such doctrinal precision in mind--he says nothing concerning a "resurrection" at this point, nor does he say anything concerning separation of soul and body, followed by bodily resurrection. John simply states that the dead people are seen standing before the throne. It is only much later, when theologians seek to state exact, precise doctrines, that such teachings are read into these ancient texts. We think that this is a misuse of these texts, which are intended to impart warning and hope, but which are not intended to be, and are not, precise, doctrinal statements, enabling a clear vision of future events. 2351 rd The 3 person plural aorist passive verb íïß÷èçóáí, enoichthesan, “were opened,” is changed to the active form of the same verb, hv ,noixan, enoiksan, “they opened,” by Minuscules 1854, 2030, 2329, the “Majority Text” (K) and Ambrose (who died 397 A.D.). Read in this way, the verb has no subject, but perhaps implies the heavenly servants of God. The variant reading does not change the meaning of Revelation. Another variant reading, hvnew,|cqh, eneochthe, “it was opened,” the singular instead of the plural, is read by Sinaiticus, but this is obviously a mistake since the subject of the verb is plural, not singular. Aune comments that “This is an allusion to a particular aspect of the judgment scene in Daniel 7:10, kai. bi,bloi hvnew,|cqhsan, ‘and books were opened.’ The plural in both Daniel 7: 10 and here probably reflects the early Jewish tradition of two heavenly books, one for recording the deeds of the righteous and the other for recording the deeds of the wicked (Psalm 56: 8; Isaiah 65:6; Jeremiah 22:30; Malachi 3:16; Daniel 7:10.” (P. 1102) See 2 Esdras 6:20. But do these biblical passages actually say “two heavenly books”? They mention a book where one’s tears are recorded, and the fact that it is written that YHWH will repay His enemies’ sins, and that a man is to be recorded as childless, and a book of remembrance of those who tremble in awe before YHWH, and the opening of books, but no specification of how many. We think that Aune, somewhat like Walvoord, is attempting to read precise details into these less than clear, less than exact biblical prophecies. 2352 Beasley-Murray comments that "The joint testimony of the books of men's deeds and the Lamb's book of life...gives a final expression to that duality of religious conviction and experience which sees God as sovereign in His guidance of history and man as responsibly free in his action. In the judgment God's justice and grace are neither divorced from one another, nor set in conflict with each other, but are harmonious, uniting in a single voice in their declaration of the destiny of every child of man." (P. 302) 2353 The phrase ôïò âéâëßïéò, tois bibliois, “in the scrolls,” is changed to read tai/j bi,bloij, tais biblois, “in the scrolls” (biblos is feminine), by Sinaiticus. The variant does not change the meaning of Revelation, but simply substitutes another way of saying the same thing. See the following related passages: 1040 (continued...)
2354 2355 2356 according to their works. 20.13 And the sea gave (up) the dead people, those in it; and 2353 (...continued) Exodus 32:32-33, "But now, please forgive their missing of the mark--but if not, then blot me out of the scroll (ôò âßâëïõ, tes biblou) you have written." YHWH replied to Moses, "Whoever has missed the mark against Me I will blot out of My scroll." Psalm 69:28, "May they be blotted out of the scroll of life and not be listed with the rightly-related!" Daniel 12:1, "...At that time Your people--everyone whose name is found written in the scroll (ô âéâëß) --will be delivered." Philippians 4:3, "Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the good news, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the scroll of life (âßâë æùò, biblo zoes)." Revelation 3:5, "The one who conquers in this way will be dressed in white robes, and I will not erase his name out of the scroll of the life (ôò âßâëïõ ôò æùò, tes biblou tes zoes); and I will confess his name before My Father and before His messengers / angels." Revelation 13:8, "And they will worship it [the beast], all those who live upon the earth, the one whose name has not been written in the scroll of the life (ô âéâëß ôò æùò, to biblio tes zoes) of the Little Lamb..." Revelation 17:8, "...Those who live upon the earth will be caused to marvel, those whose name has not been written in the scroll of the life (ô âéâëßïí ôò æùò, to biblion tes zoes) from the world's foundation, as they see the beast..." Revelation 20:15, "And if anyone was not found having been written in the scroll of the life (ô âßâë ôò æùò, te biblo tes zoes), that person was thrown into the lake of fire." Revelation 21:27, "And everyone who is common (that is, ‘unclean’) and the one who makes a detestable thing and a lie, shall not enter into it--only those who have been written in the scroll of life (ô âéâëß ôò æùò, to biblio tes zoes) of the Little Lamb." Newport comments that "It means that...judgment is not arbitrary but based upon the evidence written by the life of every person. Literature often treats the motif of character becoming destiny. In Dante's Divine Comedy men are seen permanently fastened to the central meaning which they have given to their lives." (P. 303) Beasley-Murray holds that "The symbol of books in heaven, wherein men's deeds are recorded, reflects the practice of certain oriental monarchs (notably the Persians) to keep such records of the activities of their subjects. It embodies the idea that no element in a man's life, whether good or evil, is forgotten by God, and in pronouncing according to such a record it is revealed not alone that God is just, but also that a man prepares his own destiny." (Pp. 301- 02) 1041
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 and 14: 2271 (...continued) “In that sens
Page 15 and 16: 2271 (...continued) Tobit 8:2-3, Th
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: 2348 2349 20.12 And I saw the dead
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
show all

Revelation 20 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?