PART VII. SECTION III. The Dragon taken and confined. 1 Καὶ εἶδον ἄγελον καλαβαίνοντα ἐκ τῶ κρανα, ἔχοντα τὴν κλεῖν τῆς ἀβύσσε, καὶ ἅλυσιν μεγάλην ἐπὶ τὴν χεῖρα αὑ 2 τῦ. Καὶ ἐκράτησε τον δράκοντα, τὸν ἔφιν τὸν ἀρχαῖον, ὅς ἐςι διάβολος καὶ σαλανᾶς, καὶ ἔδησεν αὐτὸν χίλια ἔτη. 3 Καὶ ἔβαλεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον, και ἔκλεισεν, καὶ ἐσφράγισεν ἐπάνω αὐτό, ἵνα μὴ πλανήσῃ τὰ ἔθνη ἔτι, ἄχρι τελεσ θῇ τὰ χίλια ἔτη· καὶ CHAP. XX. VER. 1-3. 1 And I saw an angel deceive the nations no more, until the thou sand years should be μετὰ ταῦτα δεῖ αὐτ τὸν λυθῆναι μικρὸν completed and after χρόνον. 1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in 2 his hand: And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thou3 sand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that, he must be loosed a little season. The removal of the beast and false prophet is followed by the decline of impiety and wickedness, and by the rapid growth of true Religion and Virtue. This is symbolically displayed. The dragon, that ancient foe of man, who, under the disguise of a serpent, had be guiled Eve; who had lent his throne, his authority and his arts, to the beast and the false prophet; to mislead the nations and their kings; is taken and confined. His influence upon earth is wonderfully diminished. And this important object is accomplished by the same superior agency. For, though an angel is represented as binding satan, yet, whence has he the commission and the power? whence the key of the bottomless deep, but from him who alone is described, as having "the keys of hell and of death †;" from him, who shutteth, and no man openeth? By his permission the bottomless deep had been opened §; by his power it is now closed and sealed. The author of all iniquity is confined in it, for a time; after which he is permitted to come forth again "for a season," and "to deceive the nations." But the beasts rise up no more. They are no longer the successful agents of satan. He is no longer permitted to employ this kind of civil and religious tyranny against true Religion, and the happiness of man. The blissful season, during which satan continues bounden, is called a thousand years. But of this more particularly, under the next section. * See notes, ch. xii. Ch. iii. 7. † Ch. i. 18. § See note, ch. ix. 1. PART προσε 4 Kai sidor Sçóves, ἐκάθισαν ἐπ' αὐτὸς, καὶ κρίμα ἐδόθη αυτ τοῖς καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν πεπελεκισμέ νων διὰ τὴν μαρίν gíar 'Inoỡ, nai dia τὸν λόγον το Θεό, OITIVES & κίνησαν τῷ θηρίω, ἔτε τῇ εἰκόνι αὐτῷ καὶ ἐκ ἔλαβον τὸ χάραγμα ἐπὶ τὸ μέτωπον, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτῶν· καὶ ἔζησαν, καὶ ἐβασί λευσαν μετὰ τῷ Χρι σὲ τὰ χίλια ἔτη. 5 Οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ τῶν νεκρῶν ἐκ ἔζησαν, ἕως τελεσθῆ τὰ χέ λια ἔτη. Αὕτη ἡ ἀνάςασις ἡ πρώτη. 6 Managinäy.@ ō #xav μig iv Ty ανατάσει τῇ πρώτ την ἐπὶ τέτων ὁ δεύτερο. θάνατο ἐκ ἔχει ἐξεσίαν, ἀλλ ̓ ἔσονται ἱερεῖς PART VII. SECTION IV. The Millennium. CHAP. XX. VER. 4-6. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sate upon them and judgment was given unto them: and the souls of those who had been slain with the axe for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God; and whosoever had not worshipped the beast nor his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand: and they lived and reigned with Christ the thousand years: 5 But the rest of the dead did not live till the thousand years should be completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who hath a part in the first resurrection: over these, the second death hath no 6 power: but they shall RR 2 4 And I saw thrones, and they sate upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand 5 years: But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first 6 resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God, and of Christ, and τῇ Θεό και το Χρις, καὶ βασιλεύσεσε με αὐτὸ χίλια ἔτη. be priests of God and shall reign with him a thousand years. Ver. 4. And I saw thrones; &c.] In Daniel, vii. 22, 26, "the judgment sits;"—" judgment is given to "the saints; they possess the kingdom." To this passage, St. Paul seems to allude in 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3, as well as does our Lord's promise in Matt. xix. 28. Luke xxi. 30. giving thrones of judgment to his Disciples. These prophecies, dark in themselves, until the event and completion shall illustrate them, are here repeated, with some additional information: for, it is affirmed, that this reign of the Saints shall continue "a thousand years." Who the saints are, is at first expressed in very general terms; as also is the prophecy of Daniel. They sate; judgment was given unto them." But among those who sit upon these thrones, are afterwards expressly enumerated, they who during the long conflict with the beast and false prophet, have kept the faith, even unto death, and refused the idolatrous worship, to which they were tempted or forced, by the worldly powers. These faithful sons and champions of the Church, are described as living and reigning with the Anointed, or Christ, the thousand years. And this early or first resurrection appears to be their exclusive privilege, and not to belong to the rest of the dead, who, it is said, shall not live, until the thousand years shall be completed. Much has been written upon this promised Millennium, or reign of the Saints; yet little that can afford satisfaction satisfaction to the judicious*. The meaning of a prophecy of this kind can only be made manifest by the event which is to fulfil it. Before that time shall arrive, it is unsafe to conjecture after what method it shall be fulfilled; whether, as some prophecies literally, or as others, typically; whether the departed Saints and Martyrs shall actually be raised again in their own persons, to effect so glorious a change in Religion and morals; or, whether, like Elijah in the person of John Baptist, and David in that of Christ, they shall live again in the persons of other saints, who shall fulfill their characters and offices, no man may presume to determine. It is best therefore, after the example of the wise father Irenæus, respecting another prophecy, to "wait the completion of the prediction t." Yet, if we are not permitted to descend to a special interpretation, we may receive advantage from a general view. We may confidently indulge a well-grounded expectation, that happy times, of long duration, are yet destined Augustine, in Civ. Dei, lib. xx. c. 7, commenting on this chapter, says, that the doctrine of a Millennium, in which the saints were to enjoy a corporeal resurrection in this world, was founded on a notion that, after six thousand years of trouble, the saints should enjoy one thousand years of sabbath, or rest. But the doctrine was founded on this passage of the Revelation. The notion of the time only, in which the prophecy will be fulfilled, was taken from this tradition of the Church, From Papias, a good man, but weak and credulous, seem to bave been derived those earthly notions of a Millennium, branded with the name of Chiliasm, which were adopted by some eminent writers of the ancient Church; by Irenæus, Apollinaris, Tertullian, Victorinus, Lactantius, &c. But there was another, and much more debasing, notion of a Millennium, entertained in those early times, in which, gross, sensual, corrupting delights were supposed to make the felicity of the Saints. This seems to have been derived from Cerinthus, and thence to have passed on to other heretics. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. c. 28. Iren. lib. v. 30. for |