Revelation 8-9 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

941 942was given to them that they should not kill them, but rather so that they will be tormented for939(...continued)“seal” might be meant. However, in the context of chapter 7, there can be no doubt that it isthe “seal of God” that is meant.940For this matter of the sealing of the people of God on their foreheads, see Revelation7:1-8, where it is made clear that “the purpose of sealing is that of protection” (Aune, p.530). Swete comments, “The power to hurt...is to be exerted only upon...those whose foreheadshave not been marked by the seal of God (7:3ff.). As Israel in Egypt escaped theplagues which punished their neighbors, so the new Israel is exempted from the attack of thelocusts of the Abyss.” (P. 116) See Ezekiel 9:3-8, and Psalms of Solomon 15:4-9.Ironically, John's vision pictures these monstrous creatures of the underworld as beingused by God to bring judgment upon the enemies of God's people. We should understandthis as saying that while Rome with her provincial governors and soldiers may put the followersof Jesus to death by the sword and by fire, they and their leaders are letting loose a force inwhich all the demonic forces of the abyss will finally destroy them, themselves! And this samesymbolism can be applied throughout the centuries of Christian history, as the various demonicforces of Genghis Khan, or Adolph Hitler, or the Islamic Jihadists, or the Christian Crusaders,are let loose on their campaigns of terror, which ultimately will be self-destructive! Whatdo you think?941These abysmal, terror-engendering creatures do not act upon their own authority, butare under divine control (as difficult as that is to conceive, especially when we ourselves arewithin their evil grasp!). John emphasizes this point again and again, until we are convincedthat this is, in fact, a central theme of chapters 8 and 9! The God to Whom our prayers aredirected is none other than the God Who exercises authority over, and controls all the evilforces in history! This is “the impotence of persecuting power”!As Aune notes, “In 8:3-5, a series of statements is made using passive verbs (verse 3,evdo,qh, ‘was given’; verse 4, evrre,qh, ‘were instructed’; verse 5, edoqh, ‘was given’). Theseverbs are in the passive of divine activity, which is a circumlocution used for avoiding the directmention of the activity of God...” (P. 527)942The passive future verb âáóáíéóèÞóïíôáé, basanisthesontai, “they will be tormented,”is changed to the subjunctive form basanisqw/sin, basanisthosin, “they should (or‘might’) be tormented,” by Minuscules 1006, 1611, 1841, 2351 and the Majority Text (K).The noun basanismo,j, basanismos means "tormenting," or "torture." For occurrencesof this noun and related words in Revelation, see 9:5, 5; 11:10; 12:2; 14:10, 11; 18:7, 10, 15and 20:10. The original basano,j, basanos was a "touch-stone" that was used in testing coinsmade of silver or gold, to determine whether or not they were genuine.In Biblical Theology, the trials and sufferings that the people of God are called toendure, serve such a role–that of “testing" or "proving" the genuineness of faith. But these(continued...)439