All that matters takes place in the spirit realm. Paul made it so clear in Ephesians 6:12:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world's rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Our greatest struggle in grasping the message of John to the churches in his care was to understand it from his viewpoint, a viewpoint given completely to spiritual realities impossible to describe in normal human language. Thus, as with Jesus, John used parables. The Apocalypse is a collection of parables, formed into one long parable. Those with spiritual eyes to see and spiritual ears to hear will receive the message (Matthew 13). Everyone else will see and hear the ravings of a madman. It had nothing to do with secretive mutterings to exclude outsiders. Outsiders excluded themselves. John didn't choose this literary method out of some abject fear of Roman power, for he was ready to die at any moment for his faith. Rather, he chose this method simply as a return to the teachings of Jesus, Who figures so prominently in the narrative.
Israel had failed utterly in her calling. While the Covenant of Moses was for her alone, it's underlying assumptions were a message meant for the whole world. We need only see the Book of Jonah to understand this. Ninevah did not convert to Judaism, but embraced Jehovah as Lord and repented of their sins, and that was enough. We find precious little evidence the message went forth in that fashion very often. Instead, the nation under Talmudic leadership withdrew further unto itself, leaving the whole world in darkness. It's no surprise Jesus had so very many to heal and especially to deliver from demons. This was correcting Israel's failure. Satan had held the world enthralled to his lies, so that even God's People had deserted the true Old Testament faith. Things had very nearly returned to the spiritual nadir which occasioned Noah's ministry.
Thus, at the beginning of this chapter, we step back a bit and review the history of Satan. We begin after the Cross, when an angel bearing the warrant for Satan's arrest chains and confines him in the Abyss. This is hardly a literal place, but symbolic of divine judgment for eternal beings in an eternal place the human mind cannot conceive. Prior to Calvary, Satan ran free among men, and deceived all through various forms of pagan worship and idolatry. This power was broken, in that wherever the gospel message went, souls went free. While we can hardly grasp it, we understand somehow the Spirit of God did not indwell men before Christ, at least not in the same sense. The Day of Pentecost ushered in a new spiritual reality. John does his best to offer a parable of what this meant in terms of Satan being restrained from a previous power of deception.
It would be silly in the midst of a parabolic revelation to suddenly proclaim a literal meaning for the millennium (2 Peter 3:8). With insufficient space here to recount the entire debate, we note the idea of a literal millennium came into Talmudic Judaism from the Zoroastrian faith of Persia. That it was then embraced by Christian heretics not long after John is hardly a surprise. As the last living Apostle to die, John foresaw a great falling away via heresies, rather like a dark cloud on the horizon. The symbolic meaning of a thousand years is well established in the Old Testament, as well as in previous chapters of this book -- it stands for the entire period between Christ's Ascension and His Return, these Last Days.
The meaning of "the first resurrection" is well established, as well, in the New Testament. It refers to spiritual rebirth, the death of the old self and new life in Christ (Galatians 2:20; John 11:26; Ephesians 2:1; etc.). Typical of spiritual logic, we gain this in preparation for a more literal manifestation at The End, a "second resurrection" (1 Corinthians 15:50-58). The principle of spiritual reality preceding fleshly reality is too obviously a fundamental concept in Christian teaching. Thus, John does not refer strictly to literal martyrs in the sense of Roman execution, but all "martyrs" who have died in Christ and become a living witness while still in the flesh. Having gained the first resurrection, they live forever, sharing His royal authority over all creation. A more literal rendition would mean none of us goes to Heaven until Christ returns. John intends his flock to celebrate their status as those living in Christ whether here or there.
However, somewhere near the end of these Last Days, Satan will be loosed once again as before Christ. This is what precipitates the visions in previous chapters of the Beast, the Prophet, the Harlot, and the Final Battle. As before, spiritual logic dictates we understand these as current reality spiritually, with numerous manifestations throughout time, until the final manifestation at The End. Just as the revelation of God came in bits and pieces, and reached its climax in the Son (Hebrew 1:1-4), so we expect the nature of Satan to reach its zenith at some point.
Rather than subtle workings through various agents in humanity, Satan will finally tip his hand and appear in person, as it were. Note Gog and Magog come "from the four quarters of the earth" as symbolic of the whole human race, as we saw in chapter 16. Also as before, their gathering as a single army is symbolic of fallen man's unity against the Truth. It refers to one final effort to stamp out Christianity and Christians. In this image, John describes the fire of God's cleansing holiness devouring the whole of sinful mankind. That holy fire takes on an eternal form as the Lake of Fire, where Satan follows his two greatest servants.
In a related vision, John sees what happens to all mankind who missed the first resurrection. The White Throne of God as Judge of all Creation calls all sinners irresistibly; there is no place else to go. Every human stands before Him. In Heaven is recorded all the moments of each human life. However, all that really matters is the one record, the Lamb's Book of Life. This Book was known at least as far back as Moses, though not by that name (Exodus 32:30-34). By now we know it is not a literal scroll, nor a tome of pages and ink. Still, it is clear the Lord knows the names of all who are His (Luke 10:20). Because these last are not found in the Book of Life, they must be judged by what is found in the books of their sinful lives. Without the Blood of the Lamb, all human action is sinful. No one escapes this second resurrection, neither at the bottom of the sea, nor even in death and Hell. All of them find the "second death" in the Lake of Fire. Those who are listed in the Lamb's Book die only once.
Yet again, it becomes obvious John calls his flock to understand the pain, misery and suffering of this life is natural to the fallen human condition. For so long as God leaves us here, we rejoice in His use of us. We remain stretched between Heaven and this awful place, and long for release to be with Him face to face. If we in any way cling to this world, or the things of this world, we show we do not understand Christ's teachings, nor the Book of Revelation.
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Ed Hurst
20 October 2007
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