REVELATON 12:7-9; 20:1-3
AN EXEGETICAL EXERCISE SATAN DEFEATED – REVELATION 12:7-9
Revelation 12:7
The archangel Michael makes his only appearance within Revelation in this introduction. Therefore, Michael assumes his role as advocate and angelic protector for God’s people within the heavenly realm. However, the passage itself mirrors the prophecy of the battle in heaven depicted in Daniel 7:21; 8:10; 12 concerning the last days.
Revelation 12:8
Verse 8 depicts the consequences of Satan’s’ actions. The language “οὐδὲ τόπος εὑρέθη αὐτῶν ἔτι ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ” or “a place was not found for them any longer in heaven” is a warning identical to Daniel 2:35 prophecy of the destruction awaiting the hostile kingdoms of the world in the end
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The moniker “ancient serpent” is the indicator of his diabolical character referenced within Genesis 3, Wisdom, and Job as “God’s chief prosecutor.” This juxtaposition showcases the sinister elements of Satan’s character, “deceiver of the whole world.” Reminding all of the crimes already committed, he leads others “astray” with his “grand deception.” Similarly the Sanhedrin’s depicts the devil as both the “primeval and ancient serpent,” the ultimate adversary. Therefore, guilty of great deceptions perpetrated on the …show more content…
The text reflects the difference between the divine and mans time measuring “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years.” (Psalms 90:4) while punctuating the comparison of the Lord’s return “like a thief.” (2 Peter 3:10)
Revelation 20:2 Satan’s hurling into the abyss is similar to the text found within Isaiah 24:21-22 whereby God will gather the kings of the earth together with the host of heaven enacting their punishment of being cast into the pit. Similar in content is the story of God’s instruction of Raphael’s binding of the evil spirit of Azazel, casting him into darkness while solidifying his imprisonment with rocks preventing his escape. (1 Enoch 10:4-6) While the Enoch texts suggest Satan’s imprisonment contrasts between a pit and lake of fire. Revelation is clearly a secure imprisonment.
Revelation
The book of Revelation was written by the apostle John, in an apocalyptic literature style. It consists of a series of prophecies about the end times, when Jesus will return and triumph over all the evil residing in the world. Its purpose is to bring hope and encouragement to Christians so that they will continue watching for the return and victory of Jesus Christ, but it is also a warning of the Final Judgment that nonbelievers will endure. The depiction of the cosmic battle that takes place both in heaven and on earth, symbolic language, and introduction of surreal
The Book of Revelation consist of epistle, prophetic, and apocalyptic visions that foretells events that will and has come to pass. Chapter 4 introduces the prophetic part of the book where John is called up to heaven, sees the throne of God and other heavenly presences.
The devil at the dawn of Christianity bore little resemblance to the ruler of hell, the antichrist and agent of evil that he is known as in present day. Satan makes few overt or implied appearances in the Old Testament. For the important role of God’s greatest adversary, early Christians had to flesh out great parts of Satan’s story in order to develop him into his present, fearsome persona. The Christian story of the Devil is heavily influenced by earlier Greek mythology, and early Christian writings about the Devil co-opted local mythology in order to gain new converts and discredit popular pagan beliefs.
Dante Alighieri’s epic poem, Inferno, and the Book of Revelation as told by John in the Bible each regale the natural curiosity of humans involving manifestations of endings and possibilities of new beginnings in the afterlife. The purpose of informing God’s people of these manifestations and possibilities is mutual and key to the preparedness of humans for life after death. Still, justice is surely delivered appropriately in Inferno and Revelation, due to God’s brilliant arrangements. Divergence between minutiae is outshone by appreciation of seemingly incredulous similarities between God’s plans in the texts. Analysis reveals that Inferno and the Book of Revelation share countless themes, concepts, and scenes, though they differ slightly in the specific details surrounding the unfolding events.
In the early sixteenth century, scholars were studying the millennial expectations of the ancient worlds that had become such a radical component for the central institutions of Christendom. Advocates of this new millennial belief appeared after the completion of the New Testament. They argued diverse assumptions of this revolution, but found common roots in Revelation 20:1-10, which states that those who died for defending Jesus would sit at God’s right-hand with the power to judge and Satan would be released from his prison and thrown into a fiery lake of burning sulfur where he would be tormented.
In (Revelation 12:3) Satan appeared as a 7 headed dragon that had a crown on every head. He became so jealous and full of pride that he threw a rebellion against God. Isaiah 14 says “ I will raise my throne above the stars of God.” (Isaiah 14 12-15 NIV). A war broke out in Heaven, Michael and his angles fought Satan (Revelation 12:7). This next verse proves that Satan is truly evil, It says “Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.” (Revelation 12:4 NIV) That clearly shows that he wants nothing good for us and wants to destroy us. Hell was originally for Satan only, but in Genesis God gave us the choice to live in eternally in heaven or go to hell. The
Second, the books of Daniel and Revelation contain prophecies that point to the same event. Many Biblical scholars approach the interpretation of the books of Daniel and Revelation differently (Nelson 1982). For the book of Daniel, the majority of scholars share similar interpretation. This is because interpretations of dream or vision are included in the book. As for the book of Revelation, it contains various symbolic things and beings but there is not much interpretation for dreams or visions included in it. That is why there are several approaches to interpret Revelation in Christian community. Because of several approaches, I would like to focus only to the approach that is held by the majority of Seventh-day Adventists such as Uriah Smith and Ellen G. White who showed strong and clear connection between the books of Daniel and Revelation. Seventh-day Adventist pioneers such as Uriah Smith
This term paper will attempt to compare specific biblical passages from the book of Ezekiel to specific passages in the book of Revelation. These passages are comparable due to their similar use of language, visions, and symbolism.
The book of Revelation, the final book of the bible, is one of the most interesting and symbolic readings for many. With an unknown author, apocalyptic foreshadowing, and obscure meanings, it has been interpreted a number of different ways. Starting with the history, the symbolism, and ways to interpret it, the aim of this paper is to give the reader a better understanding of the book.
Satan's actions go on and achieve his wish and has since managed to make a man take the option that corresponds to the point. Wicked angel (Satan) play a huge role in the story of the Snake and the expulsion of man from the Garden of Eden.
John wrote to the seven churches explaining the need for a relationship with Christ. After speaking to the seven churches that are in the Roman province of Asia, the book of Revelation moves forward in the prophecy. Revelation 4:1 tells us that we moving forward: “After this” and “what must take place after this.” The point is to show us that the information concerning the seven churches has stopped. A new series of images is beginning. John sees a door standing open in heaven. The voice that spoke to John at the beginning that sounded like a trumpet. Christ is speaking to John and calling him into heaven. John does not actually go into heaven, as we see in verse 2. John is having a new vision and John is going to see into the throne room of heaven. As we are taken into this vision, we must visualize the picture before us. Try and picture this in your head and see what is going on in heaven (http://thebookofrevelationmadeclear.com/revelation-bible-study/view-of-heaven.html)
Chapter one is a survey of modern scholarly literature related to the theme of worship in the Apocalypse. It is divides into four subtopics; A) The theme of worship as a whole, B) The hymns in the Apocalypse, C) Revelation 4-5, D) Additional worship scenes.
The passage of Scripture being discussed in the following paper is Daniel 7:1-14. This chapter consists of three literary sections, first, chaos by the sea (7:1-8) followed by the heavenly courtroom (7:9-14), concluding with the visions divine victory and interpretation (7:15-28) which will not be addressed in this paper. The Christian canon locates the book of Daniel within its prophetic writings, however, the Jewish canon includes it within, “the Writings.” The book of Daniel doesn’t necessarily fit in either category, as it is widely considered within the literary category of apocalyptic literature which the subsequent sections of this paper will explore further. Daniel can be divided into three sections, based on language: a Hebrew introduction (Ch. 1); an Aramaic section (Ch. 2-7); and a Hebrew section (Ch. 8-12). Within these three language divisions exist two literary sections, first, the Tales (Ch. 1-6) followed by the Visions (Ch. 7-12). These two sections, though existing within the language divisions appear to have no corresponding connection.
The Book of Daniel is the only full-blown apocalyptic book in the Protestant recognized version of the Canon. A literary device divides the book into two halves. Chapters 1-6 are a collection of stories that introduces the reader to Daniel and three other Israelites as unwilling guests of the Babylonia Empire ruled by Nebuchadnezzar. The second half, Chapters 7-12 consists of apocalyptic imagery of deformed beasts and the heavenly court. The focus of this paper will be on chapter 7, which serves as a bridge of the two halves. Chapter 7 is the earliest of the visions as it identifies with the genre of 8-12 while through language and content it reverts to Daniel chapter 2. The linguistic break down is not as neat as the literary divide in
In Milton’s Paradise Lost, surely we have come to ponder upon the makeup of Satan’s attractable character—his rebellious, seductive, almost “bad-ass” attitude—a case of admirable evil. But let us not forget his ambition, his strive to weld the image of God. We have seen many moments throughout where we get Satan’s ground for imitating the image of God: “…In imitation of that Mount whereon / Messiah was declar’d…” (V 764-65). But why does Satan do this? What is it in Satan that causes him to “look up” to God? Is God a tyrant yet a role model to Satan? I propose that Satan’s drive is something more than just an act of pretending; maybe, it is rather a means of trying to grasp what he has been taken away from him. Or, we can say that Satan was more. Perhaps he came to existence not in the mold of angel, but as a divine tool. There must be a reason as to: why Satan was considered God’s “first and favorite angel”? This seems to suggest that Satan is, originally, at some level of divinity; an experiment of God’s that was put to the test (or is a test)—a divine prototype.