Revelation of John 20 · The Lantern

και ειδον αγγελον καταβαινοντα εκ του ουρανου εχοντα την κλειδα της αβυσσου και αλυσιν μεγαλην επι την χειρα αυτου

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a chain in his hand. And he held the dragon, that old serpent, which is called the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be finished: after thi…

an angel. An angel administers such a sentence,it says, in order to show that the devil is both weaker than thèse ministering powers in terms of power and that from the beginning in vain he boldly ruled over all.

an angel. That angel is the Lord Jesus Christ, an angel of great prudence, who decended from heaven through the mystery of the Incarnation.

και εκρατησεν τον δρακοντα τον οφιν τον αρχαιον ος εστιν διαβολος και σατανας και εδησεν αυτον χιλια ετη

For this end did He put enmity between the serpent and the woman and her seed, they keeping it up mutually: He, the sole of whose foot should be bitten, having power also to tread upon the enemy's head; but the other biting, killing, and impeding the steps of man, until the seed did come appointed to tread down his head,-which was born of Mary, of whom the prophet speaks: "Thou…

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.

Moreover, if you begin the unloosing of Satan in connection with the time of the great Antichrist from the time when, under the fifth trumpet, the star falling from heaven took the key to the bottomless pit and opened it, then from Christ's resurrection to that time there are around one thousand years during which the saints reign with Christ.

και εβαλεν αυτον εις την αβυσσον και εκλεισεν αυτον και εσφραγισεν επανω αυτου ινα μη πλανηση τα εθνη ετι αχρι τελεσθη τα χιλια ετη και μετα ταυτα δει αυτον λυθηναι μικρον χρονον

But if, on the other hand, there is to be an end of evil, when the chief thereof, the devil, shall "go away into the fire which God hath prepared for him and his angels" -having been first "cast into the bottomless pit; " when likewise "the manifestation of the children of God" shall have "delivered the creature" from evil, which had been "made subject to vanity; " when the cat…

"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.

he must be loosed for a little while. This they (Peter Auriol and Alexander Minorita) explain with regards to the time of the Antichrist when the power of the Devil will be released to deceive the nations.

και ειδον θρονους και εκαθισαν επ αυτους και κριμα εδοθη αυτοις και τας ψυχας των πεπελεκισμενων δια την μαρτυριαν ιησου και δια τον λογον του θεου και οιτινες ου προσεκυνησαν τω θηριω ουτε την εικονα αυτου και ουκ ελαβον το χαραγμα επι το μετωπον αυτων και επι την χειρα αυτων και εζησαν και εβασιλευσαν μετα χριστου τα χιλια ετη

οι δε λοιποι των νεκρων ουκ ανεζησαν εως τελεσθη τα χιλια ετη αυτη η αναστασις η πρωτη

Compare [John's] other words: "The hour is coming, and now is here, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live"—implying that the rest of the dead (who do not hear) will "not come to life." The added clause, "until the thousand years were finished," means that during that time "the rest of the dead" did "not come to life" as they should…

"Until the thousand years were ended," that is, until such time as the sacrament of the faith and the mystery of the cross is perfected in them and that those who are beginning to flourish might appear in their eternal blessedness.

until the thousand years were finished. That is, the time of Christ; for they will rise with others at the end of the world to be punished simultaneously in body and spirit.

μακαριος και αγιος ο εχων μερος εν τη αναστασει τη πρωτη επι τουτων ο θανατος ο δευτερος ουκ εχει εξουσιαν αλλ εσονται ιερεις του θεου και του χριστου και βασιλευσουσιν μετ αυτου χιλια ετη

Now "the pain of the stroke" means that inflicted at the beginning upon disobedient man in Adam, that is, death; which [stroke] the Lord will heal when He raises us from the dead, and restores the inheritance of the fathers, as Isaiah again says: "And thou shall be confident in the Lord, and He will cause thee to pass over the whole earth, and feed thee with the inheritance of…

Blessed and holy who takes part in that first resurrection—It is not a first and second resurrection according to time; for there is one resurrection, and God has assigned one day for judgment, but he calls the resurrection the first, because the orders prior and more excellent pertain to it, according to that: Many are the mansions of my father's house; for if there are many m…

Supply the life of glory for their souls, which glorifies life is called the first resurrection. Indeed the second will be when they will rise in glorious bodies. Because these have salvation that they already posses in their souls and afterwards they will have this bodily;

και οταν τελεσθη τα χιλια ετη λυθησεται ο σατανας εκ της φυλακης αυτου

And therefore during these three years and a half the souls of those who were slain for His testimony, both those which formerly passed from the body and those which shall pass in that last persecution, shall reign with Him till the mortal world come to an end, and pass into that kingdom in which there shall be no death.

And when the thousand years are completed, etc. He said completed as part of a whole, for he will be released such that three years and six months of the last struggle will remain. But besides this trope, it is rightly said that the time is finished.

By Gog, which means 'roof.' Antichrist is understood, who will be the dwelling place of the Devil. By Magog, which means 'from the roof,' those who follow Antichrist are understood, as has been said more fully in Ez. 39.

και εξελευσεται πλανησαι τα εθνη τα εν ταις τεσσαρσιν γωνιαις της γης τον γωγ και τον μαγωγ συναγαγειν αυτους εις πολεμον ων ο αριθμος ως η αμμος της θαλασσης

και ανεβησαν επι το πλατος της γης και εκυκλωσαν την παρεμβολην των αγιων και την πολιν την ηγαπημενην και κατεβη πυρ απο του θεου εκ του ουρανου και κατεφαγεν αυτους

και ο διαβολος ο πλανων αυτους εβληθη εις την λιμνην του πυρος και θειου οπου το θηριον και ο ψευδοπροφητης και βασανισθησονται ημερας και νυκτος εις τους αιωνας των αιωνων

If sorrow, and mourning, and sighing, and death itself, assail us from the afflictions both of soul and body, how shall they be removed, except by the cessation of their causes, that is to say, the afflictions of flesh and soul? where will you find adversities in the presence of God? where, incursions of an enemy in the bosom of Christ?

And the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the False Prophet are, and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, etc. That is, the devil will be cast into the eternal fire at the final judgment, where all whom he has led will also go, that is, the majority of the impious city.

και ειδον θρονον λευκον μεγαν και τον καθημενον επ αυτου ου απο προσωπου εφυγεν η γη και ο ουρανος και τοπος ουχ ευρεθη αυτοις

And in the Apocalypse John saw this new [Jerusalem] descending upon the new earth. For after the times of the kingdom, he says, "I saw a great white throne, and Him who sat upon it, from whose face the earth fled away, and the heavens; and there was no more place for them." And he sets forth, too, the things connected with the general resurrection and the judgment, mentioning "…

And I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it, and from before his presence the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. He calls the white throne, bright and flashing. The passage alludes to the passing of the heavens and the alternation and transformation of the earth.

And I saw a great white throne, and him who sits upon it: and from his face fled the earth and the heaven—After the day of revelation that the faithful and unfaithful see, he will say to those who are left and have not yet tasted death: Come with me, that you enter your chambers and hide until the wrath has passed.

και ειδον τους νεκρους μικρους και μεγαλους εστωτας ενωπιον του θεου και βιβλια ηνεωχθησαν και βιβλιον αλλο ηνεωχθη ο εστιν της ζωης και εκριθησαν οι νεκροι εκ των γεγραμμενων εν τοις βιβλιοις κατα τα εργα αυτων

Who is free before God if not those who are declared to be by the power of him who judges the works of each one? God is said to have a book, which is not a physical book but a spiritual book, that is, the eternal memory in which the names of the elect are kept.

In this judgment, moreover, there will be an opening of the books, namely of consciences, by which the merits and demerits of all will become known both to themselves and to others, this being accomplished by the power of that book of life, namely the incarnate Word; who in the form of Divinity will be seen only by the good, but in the form of humanity, in which he will also pr…

και εδωκεν η θαλασσα τους εν αυτη νεκρους και ο θανατος και ο αδης εδωκαν τους εν αυτοις νεκρους και εκριθησαν εκαστος κατα τα εργα αυτων

Consider, he says, whether too the blessed John, when he says, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it: and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them," does not mean the parts which are given up by the elements for the reconstruction of each one?

And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each was judged according to their works. Those who disbelieve in the resurrection of bodies mock both us and our doctrine that these bodies will be raised again, as if this were not only difficult but wholly impossible.

And they were judged, each one according to their deeds. This signifies that bodies will be gathered from the earth and souls from their places. The good are designated by the name of death, which has only suffered the dissolution of the flesh, but not punishment. The wicked are designated by the name of hell.

και ο θανατος και ο αδης εβληθησαν εις την λιμνην του πυρος ουτος εστιν ο δευτερος θανατος

και ει τις ουχ ευρεθη εν τη βιβλω της ζωης γεγραμμενος εβληθη εις την λιμνην του πυρος

[In evil persons] God begins his judgment with desertion and ends with anguish. For in this present time as well in which God deserts the evil ones who go away from him, he does not work in them what displeases him but works through them what pleases him.

And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life. That is, who was not judged by God to be alive. Hence, it seems more correct to say, as those who interpret the open books as the consciences of individuals and their revealed works.

Revelation of John20