EXPOSITION. Having the ke7 ot the bottomlesa pit; the CHAPTER XX. abyu; as in eh, ix. I, 2, 11 ; xi, 7; xvii, 8. Ver. 1.-A.nd I BllW an angel come down Iu all these places the word signifies the from heaven ; coming down out of heaven. present abode of Satan and his angela, The usual mode of introducing a new vision whence they direct their operations in (of. oh. iv. 1, eto.). On account of eh. i. hostility to God, not the place of their final HI, some have eonsid~red this angel to be punishment (see ver, 10). In Luke viii. Christ himself; but this is incorrect, As 31 the word has exactly the same meaning; in oh. xii, 7-9, an angel is the immediate while in the only remaining ple.oo where it agent in this expulsion of Satan (vids tn/ra). is Ul:!Od iu the New Testament, viz. Rom. :x, 7, cm.~ 1-15.] THE REVELATION 011' ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 471
it stand■ for the plece of abode of the souls millennium of the 88ints, but the overthrow of the dead. Hamng the key o.f th6 aby~• of Satan. Before the picture of the war &nd therefore infol'IIl8 us that power is given to the overthrow, the saints are invited to be- this angel over Satan during the time of hold the complete aeourity of those who have this world's existence. And a great chain not worshipped the beast nor his image; iD lai1 hand; litel'll,lly, upon hu hand, as it_ jWst as the vision of Christ victorious intro- lying on it end hanging from it : the chain duced the seal-visions. And shut him up..an4 evidently symbolizing the power of the set a seal upon him, that he mould deceive angel over the inhabitante of the aliyss, and the nations no more, till the thou.&aJJ.d :yeani the purpose with which he now oomes, viz. should be fulfilled; and -ahut [it] and llfl(U8d .to restrain the power of Satan. [itl o,,er him, etc. It is possible that there Vets. 2, S.-And he laid hold on the dragon, is Ii.ere a reference to the death aud burial that old· ~rpent, which i■ th.e Devil, &nd of Chrillt (Matt. xxvii. 66). Satan" met in Satan. These titles are an exact repetition reality that fnte which he was able, in a of eh. xii. 9 (which see). And bound l!dm a shadowy and temporary form, to inflict on thous&nd years, and cast him into the bot- JeijUH'--he was ooLtml and ahut up fn the tomleas pit. ThtJ abyBB, as we have seen {on aliys8, and the e.by.s was sealed over him" ~er. 1), is the present abode of !;!a tan; the (1,iilligan. Cf. a.I so the word "abyBS," act of binding, therefure, is now over. This supra). Satan WRB thus bound" that he might faat oppo~es the interpretation which makes d~ceive the nat[ous no more," etc.; that is, " the thousand years " yet in the future. Satan, in his cha.meter of the deceiver (of. When, then, did this binding take place ? eh. xii. 9) of the world, is thus limited in Only one answer oan be given. It was when his power by the binding which has been Christ bruised the serpent's head by his act described. The 11alions; in the sell8e of the of 'redemption. Thns, "Christ was mani- world. not the ungodly world. And after fested that he might destroy the works of that be mUBt be loc&ed a little season. Umit the devil" (I John iii. 8); "Now sha:ll the " and." "A little time" (J,ucpbv xp&.,.,,,) prince of this world be oast ont" (John xii. is the exRct pl,rase used in eh. ,.-i, 11, where 81) ~ " The prince of this world bath been H certainly ruea.ns the period of this world', judged" (John xvi. 11). Sa.tan is the existence. Such abo is its meaniug here. atrong mnn bound (Matt. xii. 26,29). Next, " He must be looaed " signifies that Satan is, what is meant by "for a thousand yeo.re "? iu regard to the ungodly, allowed to work The best interpretation seems to be that this his will during this period. The thommnd phrase expresses a quality, and does not years' binding, and the loosing for a little express a period of time. That such a time, describe two events which ooouroontem- method of employing nnmben is usual in poraneoualy. While the godly -need have tbe Apocalypse we liave frequently aeen no fear, because even in this worl<l Satan's (see on eh. i. 4, "seven;" eh. xiii. 1, "ten," power as regards them is complutely limited etc.). Here, therefore, as in eh. vii. 4, "one by Christ's aot of redemption, yet in anotile:r thousand" signifies "completeness." Satan sense, aa regards the ungodly, Satan ia is bound " for a thousand years;" that is, loosed and olitains power. over them. The Satan is completely liound. In Ezekiel(from chief difficulty in this interpretation lie8 in which the fullowiug part of the vision is the words, "after this." But it muat be certainly dcrhed) a similar use is made of remembered that the '' thousand years" do the terms '' seven years" (Ezek. xxxix. 9) not express a period of time, but the quality and "seven mnnths" (Ezek. xxxix. 12). of <."Ompletencss. Therefore the loosing of But, agsin, in what senRB ean Satan be aaid Satan must not be supposed to take pince to have been "oomple!ely" bound by our in a period subsequent :lo the period_ of the Lord's work of reel emption? The answer binding. The seer wishes to describe the is-In relation to the godly. The purpose devil in a twofold character, subordinating of this sentence is that whioh is one gr1aat the second to the first. He thua says, "By purpose of the whole book, viz. t<i encourage Christ's rede,:ming work Satan ie bound and the struggling Chdstian. Thus thia sen- fettered in regard tu you fuituful Christians; tence assures Chri,tia11s that, for them, Satan but there is alll<l a llflconcl subordinate faot has been completely bound, and they need to remember, that at the same time he ia not despair nor !car his might 1 (cf. '' loosed," powerful in his natnral sphere, among hill infra). The chapter thua describes, not a own adhc'rents" The binding of Sa.tau in one direction 1,c,ing immedfately followed 1 The interpretation given here and in by a display of power in snother, and the the following verses follows closely the ex- former fad heing taxpre~110d by the ehrono- position of Professor Milligan, in the • Baird logiool symbolism of being bound for a Lectures' for 1885, where the reader may thousand years, it is psrt of this <."hrono- find tlie whole question of the millennium logical symbu1i<1m to eipreBs the. BeOOnd mwe full} ttuil,etl. fact 11.11 "1king place after t411 14-st, ihoagb 411 THE llBVELATION OP ST. JOHN, '1'H'E Dl't)1qB [OB.n.1-15.