ACC ~ Revelation 20 v1 - 3

OVERVIEW:

In Adam the devil had conquered man and held the human race in bondage, man’s various sins subjecting man to death (IRENAEUS, AUGUSTINE). That humanity might regain life through the destruction of death (IRENAEUS), Christ came with the Father’s power down into the flesh to wage war upon the devil (BEDE). By the sovereign power of his passion and cross (APRINGIUS, ANDREW OF CAESAREA), Christ bound the devil so that humanity might be set free (IRENAEUS) and the devil might be constrained in his power to seduce the elect (AUGUSTINE). In this way the Lord makes those who had been vessels of wrath into vessels of mercy (PRIMASIUS).

Those who serve in the office of ministry are called to bind the devil with the unbreakable bond of the divine judgment (APRINGIUS). During the “day of salvation,” which is the time of the Lord’s incarnation, the devil was unable to resist the Savior’s deity, and the demons feared that the Lord had come to torment them (OECUMENIUS). The binding of Satan in the “day” of the Lord’s incarnation continues in the “thousand” years of the church between the passion of Christ and his coming again to raise the dead and to render judgment (AUGUSTINE). During this time the preaching of the gospel will go into all the world calling all to mature into the fullness of Christ, the “perfect man” (ANDREW OF CAESAREA).

Since the devil is bound and restrained, idol worship is disappearing and pagan temples are being destroyed (ANDREW OF CAESAREA). Yet during this time the devil will also take a deeper hold upon unbelievers causing them to hate the church from the abyss of their hearts. The elect, however, although known to God alone, will not be seduced by the devil to the point of damnation, for God has chosen from eternity to rescue them from the power of darkness (AUGUSTINE). Rather, as though bolted down by the cross, the devil is free only to tempt the saints to the extent the Lord allows (APRINGIUS), and such temptation is not beyond what the saints are able to withstand (CAESARIUS OF ARLES). To be sure, the final assault of the devil against the saints will be fierce. Yet this assault will reveal how great is the victory of the city of God and how immense is the glory of its Liberator and Redeemer. None of the haters of the church, however, will convert to the faith during this time of trial (AUGUSTINE). As the devil and the antichrist pour out their venom of wickedness, may God save us from the punishment prepared for them and grant to us the eternal blessings made ready for those who did not fall (ANDREW OF CAESAREA).

20:1 | An Angel Came from Heaven

MINISTERS EXERCISE THE KEYS OF THE LORD. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: We must entreat the Lord more earnestly here, lest we consent in error concerning the number of the thousand years or through our own excess nurture error. Rather, [let us entreat the Lord] that he who is called “Faithful” and “True” might keep our faith safe. The Lord himself said at the beginning of this book, “I am the first and the last, and the living one although I was dead; and I have the keys of death and of hades.” By the key it speaks of him who bears the office of ministry, so that he might open the pit of the abyss. The great chain is the unbreakable bond of the divine commandment. It is in his hand, which means that he exercises it by work and deed. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.1.

VESSELS OF MERCY OUT OF VESSELS OF WRATH. PRIMASIUS: We understand the angel coming down from heaven to be our Lord, Jesus Christ, who is called the angel of great counsel. He visited the region of those who are mortal, for as one who is stronger he wished to bind the strong one, so that he might make vessels of mercy out of those who had earlier been vessels of wrath. And he accomplished this through that work that he had promised before when he said, “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his wares, unless he first binds the strong man,” that is, the devil. The key of the bottomless pit is the depth of the divine judgments, for “the judgments of God are a great deep.” Indeed, to him alone is it known who from the mass of sinners are to be called out into the full number of the elect. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.1-2.

CHRIST FREED THOSE BOUND BY THE DEVIL. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: This passage expresses the destruction of the devil that occurred through the passion of our Lord. For through his passion the one who is stronger than [the devil], namely, Christ our God, bound him who seemed to be strong and freed us, who were his spoils, from his hands and condemned him by throwing him into the pit. This is shown by those demons who pleaded that he not send them into the pit. The demonstration that the devil is bound is the disappearance of idol worship, the destruction of pagan temples, the abandonment of the defilement of altars and the knowledge of the will of God throughout the world. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.1-3.

CHRIST CAME TO WAGE WAR ON THE DEVIL. BEDE: Summarizing again from the beginning, the author explains more fully what he had earlier spoken: “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to perdition.” Therefore, possessing the power of the Father, the Lord came down into the flesh, for he was going to wage war upon the leader of the world, and when he had been bound, he was going to free his captives. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 20.1.

20:2 | The Devil Bound for a Thousand Years

THE DESTRUCTION OF DEATH IS HUMANKIND’S SALVATION. IRENAEUS: This is the reason that he put enmity between the serpent and the woman and her seed, with both of them maintaining the enmity: he, the sole of whose foot should be bitten, has power also to tread upon the enemy’s head; but the other bit, killed and impeded the steps of humanity until the seed came which was appointed to tread down his head. This was the seed who was born of Mary, of whom the prophet speaks, “You will tread upon the asp and the basilisk; you will trample down the lion and the dragon.” This means that sin, which was set up and spread out against man, and which rendered him subject to death, would be deprived of its power, along with death, which rules [over people]. The lion, that is, antichrist, who will be rampant against humankind in the latter days, will be trampled down by him. He shall bind “the dragon, that old serpent,” and subject him to the power of man, who had been conquered, so that all his might should be trodden down. Now Adam had been conquered, all life having been taken away from him. But the foe was conquered in his turn, and Adam received new life. The last enemy, death, is destroyed, which at the first had taken possession of humankind. Therefore, when man has been liberated, “what is written shall come to pass, Death is swallowed up in victory, O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?” This could not be said with justice, if that man, over whom death did first obtain dominion, were not set free. For his salvation is death’s destruction. When therefore the Lord vivifies man, that is, Adam, death is at the same time destroyed. AGAINST HERESIES 3.23.7.

CHRIST RESTRAINS SATAN’S POWER TO SEDUCE THE ELECT. AUGUSTINE: Our Lord Jesus Christ himself said, “No one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.” By “strong man” he means the devil, who was able to hold the human race in bondage. By his “goods” that Christ was to “plunder,” he means God’s future faithful ones whom the devil was keeping for himself because of their ungodliness and various sins. It was for the purpose of binding this strong man that John, in the Apocalypse, saw “an angel coming down from heaven … who bound [the ancient serpent] for a thousand years.” The angel, that is, checked and repressed his power to seduce and possess those destined to be set free.

Now, the “thousand years” can, so far as I can see, be interpreted in one of two ways. One interpretation is that this event is to take place in the sixth and last millennium (the sixth “day”), the latter span of which is now passing, and that when John spoke of the last part of this millennium as a “thousand years” he was using, figuratively, the whole to indicate a part. (After this “sixth day” will come the “sabbath” that has no evening, namely, the endless repose of the blessed.)

The other interpretation makes the “thousand years” stand for all the years of the Christian era, a perfect number being used to indicate the “fullness of time.” For the number one thousand is the cube of ten. Ten times ten equals one hundred, which is already a square, but still a plane figure. To give it depth and make it a cube, one hundred is further multiplied by ten to make a thousand. Now it is true that the number one hundred is sometimes made to stand for “all.” Thus, the Lord promised to anyone leaving all things to follow him, “he shall receive a hundredfold.” … How much more properly, then, does the number one thousand stand for the whole, since it is the cube, whereas one hundred is only the square of ten? In the same way there is no better interpretation of the text, “he has remembered his covenant forever: the word that he commanded to a thousand generations,” than to take “a thousand” as meaning “all” generations. CITY OF GOD 20.7.

THE CROSS IS THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ENEMY. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: In Greek letters, one thousand is designated with an “alpha.” In the alpha we have the beginning, which is Christ; in the name [of Christ] we have the cross, which is our victory and the destruction of the evil enemy. Therefore, both by the cross of Christ and by the authority of the cross he bound the enemy of the world who deceived those who dwell upon the earth. For to that eternity no time is added, and the eternity of his time will be enclosed by no end, nor will there ever be an end to the number of years. And so by the sovereignty of the Lord through the power of the cross he bound him in the abyss. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.2.

THE LIFE OF CHRIST IS THE DAY OF SALVATION. OECUMENIUS: The Revelation does not present to us the millenialism of the atheistic Greeks and the transmigration of souls and the Lethian water and I do not know what other idle talk and nonsense when it says that the devil will be bound for a thousand years and will again be loosed to deceive the nations. Stay away from such destructive teachings, which are suitable to the silliness of the Greeks. What, however, does it say? The prophet says, “For a thousand years in your sight, O Lord, are as yesterday which is past, and as a watch in the night.” Therefore, a thousand years in the sight of God is regarded as one day. And in his second letter, the holy Peter says the same thing when he writes, “But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” And this is so. Moreover, the holy Isaiah speaks of the entire incarnation of the Lord as a “day,” saying, “In the time of favor I have answered you, in a day of salvation I have helped you.” And, not only this, the psalmist calls this same “day” also a “morning.” For somewhere it says, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it,” speaking of the joy of our salvation. And somewhere else the psalmist says, “In the morning you will hear my voice; in the morning I will wait upon you and you will see me.” For our prayers have become worthy in the sight of God the Father and become acceptable through the mediation and reconciliation of the Lord. And moreover, it says concerning Jerusalem, “God will help her right early.” And so, the incarnation of the Lord was a “day” and a “morning,” since, as it were, the “sun of righteousness”—for Malachi speaks of him in this way—shone upon us, providing us with the “light of knowledge.” And Zechariah foretold of this divine light when he said, “Whereby the dayspring will visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.” And in agreement with this, the prophet said, “God is the Lord, and he has shined upon us; celebrate the feast with thick branches, even to the horns of the altar.” . . .

Since it says that the day is reckoned by God “as a thousand years,” and moreover since the sojourn of the Lord on the earth is called a “day,” it calls this day a “thousand years,” as though with God there were no distinction between one day and a thousand years. At this time, the time of the incarnation of the Lord, the devil was bound, not being able to resist the marks of the Savior’s deity. And, therefore, when they sensed that they were spiritually bound, the wicked demons cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of the living God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” And the Lord also made clear their bondage when he said, “Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.” Since, therefore, as it was indicated, we understand the incarnation of the Lord and his sojourn upon earth to be called “one day” and a “thousand years” without distinction in the holy Scriptures, such a number is used figuratively. Note, therefore, what the Revelation says. “I saw another angel coming down from heaven holding the key of the bottomless pit and a chain.” And it says, when he seized the devil, “he bound him and threw him into the bottomless pit.” That which is accomplished spiritually by the Lord is shown to the Evangelist as though on a painted tablet. For since John was a human being and could not see spiritual realities, that which occurred is depicted for him in material terms. … “That he should deceive the nations no more,” it says, “till the thousand years were ended.” It was necessary that the sojourn of the Lord on the earth have a somewhat greater support and protection, to prohibit the unclean demons from attacking it in the same way as they did against humankind before the time of the incarnation. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.1-3.

DURING THE TIME OF PREACHING. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: Also the great Justin says that at the coming of Christ the devil will first learn that he is condemned to the abyss, that is, to the Gehenna of fire. It is, therefore, possible also to understand the sentence of Christ against the devil in the words just spoken. The seer says that the angel administers this sentence, thereby revealing that [the devil] is weaker in power than the ministering powers and showing the vanity of one who insolently opposes him who has rule over all things. For our understanding, he speaks of a “chain,” meaning the work of restraining [the devil’s] evil. It is in no way good to understand the “thousand years” as referring to a thousand years as such. For when David says “of the word that he commanded for a thousand generations,” we ought not to understand this to mean a hundred years times ten. Rather, David means many [generations] taken as a whole. So also in this case, we regard the number “thousand” to signify either many or that which is complete. If we take it to mean “many,” then it refers to the preaching of the gospel into all the world and the sowing of the seeds of piety in the world. [Or] should it mean “complete,” then it signifies that during this time, having been released from the life learned from the law, we have been called to the “perfect man,” to the measure of the maturity of the fullness of Christ. Therefore, the “thousand years” are the time from the incarnation of the Lord until the arrival of the antichrist. Whether the matter is as we have interpreted it, or the thousand years are one hundred times ten, as some believe, or the thousand years are less than this, this is known to God alone, who knows how long his patience is beneficial to us, and he determines the continuance of the present life. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.1-3.

THE NAMES OF THE DEVIL INDICATE HIS WICKED WORKS. BEDE: The devil is interpreted to mean “flowing downwards,” although in the Greek it means “accuser,” while Satan means “adversary” or “deceiver.” Therefore, he is called “dragon” because of the wicked harm he inflicts; he is called “serpent” because of the cunning of his deception; he is called “devil” because of the fall from his previous status; and he is called “Satan” because of the stubbornness of his opposition to the Lord. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 20.2.

20:3 | Thrown into the Pit

THE DEVIL SEDUCES NONE OF THE ELECT TO THE POINT OF DAMNATION. AUGUSTINE: The devil was cast into the “abyss,” taken in the sense of the countless number of godless people whose bitter hatred of God’s church comes from the abysmal depths of their hearts. The devil was cast into those hearts, not in the sense that he was not there before, but because in proportion as he has been more and more shut out from believing hearts, he has taken still deeper hold upon unbelievers. It is bad enough to be a stranger to God, but gratuitously to hate God’s servants is to have the devil’s hold take even deeper root. … The words “closed it over him” mean that the angel rendered him powerless to escape, that is, forbade him to go beyond bounds. The further verb, “sealed,” means, I think, that the angel wants no one to know the secret of who is on the devil’s side and who is not. For to be sure, this secret division is absolutely unknowable in this world of time, inasmuch as we have no certainty whether the one who is now upright is going to fall, and the one who is now lying flat is going to rise to righteousness. The nations or people freed from the devil’s seductions, in virtue of this restraining and disabling chaining and imprisonment, are those whom he used to lead astray and hold captive but who now belong to Christ. For God chose, before the world was made, to rescue these from the power of darkness and to transfer them into the kingdom of his beloved Son, as Paul says. With respect to others not predestined to eternal life, the devil continues to this very day to lead these people astray and to drag them down into eternal damnation, as every believer knows. And these assertions are not shaken by the fact that the devil often seduces those people, too, who have been reborn in Christ and walk in the ways of God. For “the Lord knows who are his.” Of these chosen ones the devil seduces no one to the point of eternal damnation. For the Lord’s knowledge of his elect is a divine knowledge and perfect knowledge, wholly unlike the knowledge a person has of his fellow man. Even at the moment of looking, a man can hardly see another man, since he does not see his heart, and he has no foresight at all of how anyone, including himself, is going to turn out in the future. CITY OF GOD 20.7.

THE DEVIL IS FREE ONLY BY THE LORD’S PERMISSION. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: “And sealed it over him,” that is, placed upon it the bolt of the cross so that he might never regain his strength, nor any more seduce the nations, whom the resurrection will restore and make better. Nonetheless, to this explanation the following seems in opposition. “Until the thousand years shall be ended. After that he must be loosed for a little while.” However, one can understand this to mean to the extent that the will of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and his command allow. “For a little while,” that is, in a moment of time and by the power of the one who commands, [Satan] is dissolved into nothing and at the same time disappears. For if he is loosed so that he might be free, how then does he say, “I saw thrones?” This is similar to the most holy Daniel who speaks in the same sense as follows: “In that day your people shall be saved, every one whose [name] shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace, that they might eternally see.” For, how is he released from chains, if the resurrection is already celebrated and if the seats of judgment are seen? TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.3-4.

WHAT THEY ARE ABLE TO ENDURE. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: These thousand years are reckoned from the passion of Christ. During them it is not permitted to the devil to do whatever he wishes, for God does not permit his servants to be tempted beyond that which they are able to endure. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.3, HOMILY 17.

20:3 | Loosed for a Little While

THE FINAL ASSAULT OF THE DEVIL. AUGUSTINE: When he is let loose at last, there will be little time left, since, as we read, he and his [followers] will rage with the fullness of strength only for three years and six months. Moreover, the people upon whom he will make war are to be such people as will be beyond overpowering by his open attacks or hidden ambush. If he were never set free, the full measure of his malevolent power would never be known, nor would the full measure of the holy city’s staunchness under fire be put to the test. Likewise, we would not have a full view of the good use to which almighty God puts the devil’s great wickedness. For example, [we would not see] how God allows him, even though driven from the saints’ inmost hearts which cling to God in faith, to tempt the saints somewhat so that they may profit by these external assaults. We would not see how God, further, has bound him in those who belong to his camp, to make it impossible for him to spill out and set to work such quantities of his evil power as would topple down countless weak souls destined to increase and fill the church. These include already believing people whose constancy the devil would smash, and people destined to believe whom he would frighten from the faith. At last, God will loose him to the end that all people may see how mighty a foe God’s city had overcome—all to the immense glory of its Liberator, Helper, Redeemer. … However, it may be asked whether, during the last three years and a half in which the unleashed devil will stage his all-out offensive, any one of these haters [of Christians] is to turn at last to the faith he formerly spurned? Think of the text: “How can anyone enter the strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?” How can these words remain true if the devil can be dispossessed just as well when he is loosed? The text seems to compel us to believe that the brief interval in question will witness no new conversions to Christianity, but that the devil will do battle only with those who are already Christians at the time of his unleashing—and, of course, any whom he may win over to his side will not have been numbered among the predestined sons of God. CITY OF GOD 20.8.

THE TIME UNTIL THE CONSUMMATION IS SHORT. OECUMENIUS: “[The devil] must be loosed for a little while.” What does he mean by “a little while”? He means the time between the incarnation of the Lord and the consummation of the present age. When measured and compared with that which is past and that which is future, this is “little,” even though it should seem to be great. For if our Lord appears bodily at the “last” hour, indeed at the “eleventh” hour, as the faith of the holy writings claim, the time until the consummation is properly called “little.” After [this] the devil will again be bound, this time with an eternal and neverending bond. However, although he has been loosed, bind yet again, O Lord, his works of cunning against us. For you are our King, and it is proper to give you glory forever. Amen. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.1-3.

THE ALL-MERCIFUL GOD WILL SAVE US. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: After this, the antichrist will put the whole world into confusion, bearing in himself the activity of the evil one and pouring out upon humankind the wine of his venomous wickedness, since he knows that his torment is without end. Redeeming us from his works, the all-merciful God will save us from the punishment that has been “prepared for him and his angels,” and he will manifest those who partake of the eternal blessings that are being made ready for those who opposed him [antichrist] even to the shedding of blood. For it is proper to ascribe to him mercy for those who trusted him, and he is worthy of thanksgiving and worship from every holy power, together with the Father and the life-giving Spirit forever and ever. Amen. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.1-3.