Revelation 20:14 Komentář

This chapter is thought by some to be the darkest part of all this prophecy: it is very probable that the things contained in it are not yet accomplished; and therefore it is the wiser way to content ourselves with general observations, rather than to be positive and particular in our explications of it. Here we have an account, I. Of the binding of Satan for a thousand years (Rev 20:1-3). II. The reign of the saints with Christ for the same time (Rev 20:4-6). III. Of the loosing of Satan, and the conflict of the church with Gog and Magog (Rev 20:7-10). IV. Of the day of judgment (Rev 20:11, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 20 This chapter contains the binding of Satan, the saints' thousand years' reign with Christ, the loosing of Satan again, the destruction of him, and the Gog and Magog army, and the last judgment: the angel that is to bind Satan is described by his descent from heaven; by his having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand; and by the use he made of them, laying hold on Satan, binding him, casting him into the bottomless pit, and then shutting it up, and setting a seal on him; by all which he will be prevented from deceiving the nations for the space of a thousand years, Rev 20:1. After this thrones are seen, with persons on them, to whom judgment is given; who are said to be such as had been martyrs for Jesus, and had not worshipped the beast, or professed his religion; whose happiness is represented by living and reigning with Christ a thousand years, when others will not; the second death will have no power on them; they will be the priests of God, and Christ, and reign with him during the said term, having a part in the first resurrection, Rev 20:4. At the expiration of which term Satan will be loosed, and go out of prison, deceive the nations, and gather Gog and Magog to battle; who, being exceeding numerous, will cover the breadth of the earth, encompass the camp and city of the saints, when fire will come down from heaven and destroy them, and Satan will be cast into the lake of fire, where the beast and false prophet are, and be tormented for ever and ever, Rev 20:7. And next an account is given of the general Judgment; and the judge is described by the throne he sat on, a white cloud, and by his majesty, which is such, that the heavens and the earth flee from before him, Rev 20:11. And next the persons judged are described by their common state, the dead; by their age or condition, great and small, and by their position, standing before God; and then an account of the procedure, or rule of judgment; the books are opened, and the execution of judgment according to what is found in the books, Rev 20:12 in order to which the sea, death, and the grave, give up the dead in them, and the two last are cast into the lake, and with them those who are not in the book of life, Rev 20:13.

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire,.... Death cannot be taken properly, nor hell be the place of torment, for devils and damned spirits; since that is that lake of fire, for then the sense would be, hell is cast into hell; but either by these the devil is meant, who has the power of death, and is the prince of hell, were it not that the casting of him into this lake is mentioned before in Rev 20:10 or it denotes the destruction and abolition of death and the grave, that from henceforth they should no more have power over men, nor have any under their dominion, and in their hands; and so what has been promised will now be fully performed, Hos 13:14 see Rev 21:4 or rather the wicked dead, which they shall have delivered up, and will be judged and sentenced to eternal death, Rev 20:13 this is the second death; or the destruction of the soul and body in hell, which will consist in an eternal separation of both from God, and in a continual sense of his wrath and displeasure. The Alexandrian copy and the Complutensian edition read, "this second death is the lake of fire"; and so the Arabic version, "and this is the second death, even the lake of fire"; and not much different is the Ethiopic version, "the second death, which is the fire of hell".

It is right for us to be afraid of the second death, that which is full of weeping and gnashing of teeth and of groanings and miseries, that which is situated in outer darkness. But blessed shall be the faithful and the righteous in that resurrection, in which they expect to be awakened and to receive the good promises made them. But as for the wicked who are not faithful, in the resurrection woe to them, because of that which is laid up for them! It would be better for them, according to the faith that they possess, were they not to rise. For the servant for whom his Lord is preparing stripes and bonds, while he is sleeping desires not to awake, for he knows that when the dawn shall have come and he shall awake, his Lord will scourge and bind him. But the good servant, to whom his Lord has promised gifts, looks expectantly for the time when dawn shall come and he shall receive presents from his Lord.

In this verse, “hell and death” stand for the devil (together with the entirety of his followers) inasmuch as he is the author of death and of the torments of hell.

There is also a total death for a person, a death of body and soul, namely, when a soul, abandoned by God, abandons the body. In this case, the soul has no life from God and the body no life from the soul. The consequence of such total death is the second death, so called on the authority of divine Revelation. This is the death that our Savior meant when he said, “Be afraid of him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”Since this second death does not occur until soul and body are reunited, never to be separated again, you might wonder how the body is said to die by a death in which it is not deserted by the soul but rather is given a life by the soul to feel the torment it endures. For in a person’s last and everlasting punishment the soul is rightly said to be dead when its life from God is gone, but, since the body’s life depends on the soul, how can the body be said to be dead? If the body were dead, it could not feel the bodily torments that are to be felt after the resurrection. It is because life of every kind is good, and pain is evil, that we decline to say that that body lives, in which the soul is the cause, not of life, but of pain? The soul, then, lives by God when it lives well, for it cannot live well unless God is the cause of its good works. The body, however, takes its life from the soul when the soul is alive in the body, whether the soul is receiving any life from God or not.… It is true that when a person is finally damned, he does not lose sensation; nevertheless, because his feelings are not gentle enough to give pleasure nor soothing enough to be restful but are purifying to the point of pain, they can more properly be called death rather than life. The reason why this death of damnation is called a second death is that it comes after that first death, which is a divorce of two natures meant to be in union, whether God and the soul or the soul and the body. It can be said of the first death, the death of the body, that it is good for saints and bad for sinners, but of the second that is certainly good for no one and nonexistent for the saints.

And Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire, this is the second death. And Death and Hades, he says, were cast into the lake of fire; that is, the death and the immortal and incorporeal life of souls in the manner of death was taken away, once having been the resurrection and each soul receiving its own body; which, explaining more figuratively and hinting at their destruction, he said that Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is also what the prophet Hosea does, saying: "Where is your justice, O Death? Where is your sting, Hades?" (Hos. 13:14) He says the lake of fire, this is the second death; for it has also been said above that the first death is the earthly death, the separation of soul and body, and the second is the spiritual death, punishment and retribution, which has sin as its mother.

This is to show that since death has been overtaken no one will die again. Moreover, since the nether region has been condemned, hell will find no one further whom it might receive.

Death and hades are thrown into the lake of fire. This shows either that “the last enemy to be destroyed is death” or that the evil powers who are the friends of the death caused by sin and who have their abode in hades and escort their followers there will be condemned to this fire. For just as the inhabitants are encompassed in the term city, so also those worthy of death and hades are included in the terms death and hades. However, that fire has no destructive power over those who have been born of God and are exceptionally good. It is written, “God did not make death.” For this reason, this passage signifies that death and corruption shall be no more but that incorruptibility and immortality will reign. And it should not amaze if all who are not written in the Book of Life will be thrown into the lake of fire. For just as with the Father there are many mansions for those being saved, so also there are distinctions among the places and manners of punishment. Some punishments will be more harsh, some more endurable, which those not worthy to be in the Book of Life will suffer.

QUESTION: And death and hell were cast into the pool of fire, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life. ANSWER: That is, whosoever was not judged by God as being alive. Whence it seems to me that the right interpretation for the books opened above is rather that of those who interpret them as being every single person's conscience and works being disclosed, and interpret the book of life as being God's foreknowledge, which cannot be mistaken concerning those who will be given eternal life, since they are written in that book, that is, foreknown.

An angel binds Satan a thousand years, and shuts him up in the bottomless pit, Rev 20:1-3. They who were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, who have part in the first resurrection, and shall reign with Christ a thousand years, Rev 20:4-6. When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, shall go forth and deceive the nations, and shall gather Gog and Magog from the four corners of the earth, Rev 20:7, Rev 20:8. These shall besiege the holy city; but fire shall come down from heaven and consume them, and they and the devil be cast into a lake of fire, Rev 20:9, Rev 20:10. The great white throne, and the dead, small and great, standing before God, and all judged according to their works, Rev 20:11, Rev 20:12. The sea, death, and hades, give up their dead, and are destroyed; and all not found in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire, Rev 20:13-15.

And death and hell were cast into the lake - Death himself is now abolished, and the place for separate spirits no longer needful. All dead bodies and separated souls being rejoined, and no more separation of bodies and souls by death to take place, consequently the existence of these things is no farther necessary. This is the second death - The first death consisted in the separation of the soul from the body for a season; the second death in the separation of body and soul from God for ever. The first death is that from which there may be a resurrection; the second death is that from which there can be no recovery. By the first the body is destroyed during time; by the second, body and soul are destroyed through eternity.

SATAN BOUND, AND THE FIRST-RISEN SAINTS REIGN WITH CHRIST, A THOUSAND YEARS; SATAN LOOSED, GATHERS THE NATIONS, GOG AND MAGOG, ROUND THE CAMP OF THE SAINTS, AND IS FINALLY CONSIGNED TO THE LAKE OF FIRE; THE GENERAL RESURRECTION AND LAST JUDGMENT. (Rev 20:1-15) The destruction of his representatives, the beast and the false prophet, to whom he had given his power, throne, and authority, is followed by the binding of Satan himself for a thousand years. the key of the bottomless pit--now transferred from Satan's hands, who had heretofore been permitted by God to use it in letting loose plagues on the earth; he is now to be made to feel himself the torment which he had inflicted on men, but his full torment is not until he is cast into "the lake of fire" (Rev 20:10).

Death and Hades, as personified representatives of the enemies of Christ' and His Church, are said to be cast into the lake of fire to express the truth that Christ and His people shall never more die, or be in the state of disembodied spirits. This is the second death--"the lake of fire" is added in A, B, and ANDREAS. English Version, which omits the clause, rests on inferior manuscripts. In hell the ancient form of death, which was one of the enemies destroyed by Christ, shall not continue, but a death of a far different kind reigns there, "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord": an abiding testimony of the victory of Christ.