Tag Archives: Revelation 16:9

Torture, Part 5

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I don’t want to leave the impression that I am so perfected in love that I never fear punishment.[1]  I’m a creature of habit.  The possibility that God is punishing me for something is the first thing that comes to mind whenever it seems that things aren’t going my way.  What I’m saying is, I think that is a bad habit.  If I trust Him instead of reacting in fear I find that, though things aren’t going my way, the way they are going is just as good if not better than my way (though comparing and contrasting actual events with my imagination or fears is a dubious occupation at best).

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,[2] the 23rd Psalm ends.  That translation sounded like what I thought I “knew.”  God’s goodness and mercy would follow in the train of my glory, confirming my virtue, if and only if I kept the law.  I didn’t, not so much.  So I didn’t expect (though I sometimes still hoped for) God’s goodness and mercy.  It was only later after his goodness and mercy hunted me down, tackled me to the ground and held me there that I began to see it and Him for who He is.  Later I learned that the verse was badly translated.  Surely your goodness and faithfulness will pursue me all my days,[3] is much more to the point.[4]  The rabbis who translated the Septuagint chose καταδιώξεταί,[5] follow hard upon, pursue closely.

The desktop image on the computer I use most often to study the Bible is a frame from Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist.”  She is on her side, facing away from us, recovering from the trauma of snipping off her clitoris.  Her “familiars,” the three beggars, wait patiently beside her.  She had an oracle that someone would die when they arrived.  In a few moments her husband will fulfill that oracle, crushing her larynx to silence the voice that spoke of an evil he rejected as implausible, and finally choking the life out of the woman he claimed to love.  This image by contrast reminds me of the Sunday I didn’t cut off my penis, and the different way I heard two passages of Scripture before and after that intervention.

Matthew 18:8, 9 (NET)

Romans 6:3-6 (NET)
If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.  It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.  And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.  It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into fiery hell. Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life.  For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.  We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Before that Sunday, though they may have seemed harsh, Jesus’ words recorded by Matthew (and Mark,[6]) didn’t seem out of line when compared to a hero of the faith[7] like Jephthah who sacrificed his daughter to keep his oath.  And surely Paul’s words were metaphorical, a figure of speech, not to be taken literally.  After that Sunday I began to perceive cutting off my penis, or a hand or a foot as hyperbole, but being buried with [Christ] through baptism into death as the literal truth.  And to this day I’m not sure how to justify that opinion from the texts themselves apart from the (now obvious) fact that my hand or my foot, or even my penis, never causes (σκανδαλίζει, a form of σκανδαλίζω; or, entices) me to sin.

I introduce the story of the rich man and Lazarus[8] this way despite my sense that its context indicates reasonably clearly that it is not to be taken too literally.  Jesus’ illustration which precedes it of an unrighteous manager cheating his master/employer was certainly not a recommendation of good business practice.  His points were two: 1) the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries than the people of light;[9] and 2) make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth [one’s own presumably[10] rather than someone else’s], so that when it runs out you will be welcomed into the eternal homes.[11]

In Mark’s Gospel account Jesus’ was quoted, saying, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”  The disciples were astonished at these words.  But again Jesus said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God![12]  Jesus’ disciples were not contemporary socialists who assumed that the rich were swindlers and thieves who took whatever they had from the poor and working classes.  Their astonished question, “Then who can be saved?”[13] indicates to me they believed that the rich were blessed by God, that their wealth was a sign of his approval and favor.  And I assume they believed this because their religious teachers believed and taught it.  Jesus said (Luke 16:13, 14 NET):

“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and money.”  The Pharisees (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed him.

This is the audience for, and the immediate context of, the story of a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen…who feasted sumptuously every day.  But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores, who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.  In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores.[14]  In other words, Lazarus was “cursed” by God.

Both men died.  The rich man in hell (ᾅδῃ, a form of ᾅδης), as he was in torment (βασάνοις, a form of βάσανος),…looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side.[17]  Hell is not γέεννα here but ᾅδῃ, Hades.  Peter quoted a Psalm in his first sermon after receiving the Holy Spirit: Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced; my body also will live in hope, because you will not leave my soul in Hades (ᾅδην, another form of ᾅδης), nor permit your Holy One to experience decay.[18]  The rabbis who translated the Septuagint chose ᾅδην for Sheol (sheʼôl).

Peter (NET)

Blue Letter Bible (Septuagint)

Parallel Greek Text (NET)
…because you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor permit your Holy One to experience decay.

Acts 2:27 (NET)

 ὅτι οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψεις τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ᾅδην οὐδὲ δώσεις τὸν ὅσιόν σου ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν

Psalm 16:10

 ὅτι οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψεις τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ᾅδην οὐδὲ δώσεις τὸν ὅσιον σου ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν.

Acts 2:27

David by foreseeing this, Peter explained, spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades (ᾅδην, another form of ᾅδης), nor did his body experience decay.[19]  Jesus said: And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven?  No, you will be thrown down to Hades (ᾅδου, another form of ᾅδης)![20]  And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades (ᾅδου, another form of ᾅδης) will not overpower it.[21] Do not be afraid!  I am the first and the last, and the one who lives!  I was dead, but look, now I am alive – forever and ever – and I hold the keys of death and of Hades (ᾅδου, another form of ᾅδης)![22]  Three more times in Revelation (6:8; 20:13, 14) Hades was personified (ὁ  ᾅδης).  The NET translators only translated Hades as hell in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, which is progress.[23]

Of course, they also translated βασάνοις torment.  It was translated afflictions the only other place it occurs outside of the story of the rich man and Lazarus:  Jesus went throughout all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of disease and sickness among the people.  So a report about him spread throughout Syria.  People brought to him all who suffered with various illnesses and afflictions (βασάνοις, a form of βάσανος), those who had seizures, paralytics, and those possessed by demons, and he healed them.[24]  Perhaps they had good reason, for the rich man called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish (ὀδυνῶμαι, a form of ὀδυνάω) in this fire (φλογὶ, a form of φλόξ).[26]

The rich man was clearly thirsty, but was he in anguish in hell?  After the twelve-year-old Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem for three days, listening to [the teachers] and asking them questions,[27] His mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this?  Look, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously (ὀδυνώμενοι, a form of ὀδυνάω).”[28]  And the Ephesian elders were especially saddened (ὀδυνώμενοι, a form of ὀδυνάω) by what [Paul] had said, that they were not going to see him again.[29]  But the rich man was in this fire (φλογὶ, a form of φλόξ), surely that must mean he was being tortured in hell.

After forty years had passed, Luke recounted Stephen’s history lesson, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai, in the flame (φλογὶ, a form of φλόξ) of a burning (πυρὸς, a form of πῦρ) bush.[30]  Other writers used forms of φλόξ as follows.  The writer of Hebrews quoted, He makes his angels spirits and his ministers (λειτουργοὺς, a form of λειτουργός) a flame (φλόγα, another form of φλόξ) of fire[31] (πυρὸς, a form of πῦρ).  Another form of λειτουργός was translated authorities in, For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities (λειτουργοὶ) are God’s servants devoted to governing.[32]  Paul was a minister (λειτουργὸν, another form of λειτουργός) of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles who served the gospel of God like a priest.[33]  Epaphroditus was my brother, coworker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister (λειτουργὸν) to me in my need,[34] Paul wrote the Philippians.

Jesus’ head and hair were as white as wool, in John’s vision on Patmos, even as white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery (πυρὸς, a form of πῦρ) flame (φλὸξ),[35] and, His eyes are like a fiery (πυρός, a form of πῦρ) flame (φλὸξ).[36]  Jesus described Himself as the Son of God, the one who has eyes like a fiery (πυρός, a form of πῦρ) flame (φλόγα, another form of φλόξ) and whose feet are like polished bronze.[37]  Paul wrote however, With flaming (φλογός, another form of φλόξ) fire (πυρὶ, another form of πῦρ) he will mete out punishment (ἐκδίκησιν, a form of ἐκδίκησις) on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.[38]  Perhaps that was why the rich man was in anguish in this fire.

But Abraham said, “Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish (ὀδυνᾶσαι, another form of ὀδυνάω).”[39]  So was the rich man simply thirsty and anxious or saddened because he and Lazarus and the Pharisees and Jesus’ disciples expected him to be blessed and favored by God?  If he had been hardened as one of the objects of wrath prepared for destruction[40] why didn’t he blaspheme the name of God like those who were tossed…into the great winepress of the wrath of God?[41]

Thus people were scorched by the terrible heat, yet they blasphemed the name of God, who has ruling authority over these plagues, and they would not repent and give him glory.[42]  They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings and because of their sores, but nevertheless they still refused to repent of their deeds.[43]  And gigantic hailstones, weighing about a hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people, but they blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since it was so horrendous.[44]

Granted, the rich man didn’t exactly repent either, though I’m not entirely clear how he might have repented of receiving good things in his lifetime, the stated reason why he was in anguish, anxious or saddened in a flame like the burning bush, one of God’s ministers or the fiery eyes of Jesus.  But when he couldn’t get any water from Abraham or Lazarus because a great chasm had been fixed between[45] them, he still didn’t blaspheme God.  “Then I beg you, father”, he said, “send Lazarus to my father’s house (for I have five brothers) to warn them so that they don’t come into this place of torment (βασάνου, a form of βάσανος; or affliction).”[46]  And here Abraham delivered the first of Jesus’ two points to this illustration: 1) They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.[47]

In other words Moses and the prophets delivered the same message as Jesus, according to Jesus.  Then the rich man said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.”[48]  Again, Abraham spoke Jesus’ second point to this illustration: 2) If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead”[49]   And these two points serve his major point that what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight.[50]  In other words, while the rich man’s appearance (dressed in purple and fine linen…[feasting] sumptuously every day) may have impressed other people (You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, Jesus told the Pharisees), God was not so impressed (but God knows your hearts).[51]

And in that flame like the burning bush, one of the ministers of God or Jesus’ fiery eyes the rich man reconsidered his wasted life (Psalm 139:7, 8 NET).

Where can I go to escape your spirit?  Where can I flee to escape your presence?  If I were to ascend to heaven, you would be there.  If I were to sprawl out in Sheol [Septuagint: ᾅδην, another form of ᾅδης] there you would be.

Who knows?  Perhaps I’m meant to take the rich man’s thirst in the psalmist’s sense (Psalm 42:1-5 NET):

As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God!  I thirst for God, for the living God.  I say, “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?”  I cannot eat, I weep day and night; all day long they say to me, “Where is your God?”  I will remember and weep!  For I was once walking along with the great throng to the temple of God, shouting and giving thanks along with the crowd as we celebrated the holy festival.  Why are you depressed, O my soul?  Why are you upset?  Wait for God!  For I will again give thanks to my God for his saving intervention.

[2] Psalm 23:6a (KJV)

[3] Psalm 23:6a (NET)

[4] The note in the NET reads: “The use of רָדַף (radaf, ‘pursue, chase’) with טוֹב וָחֶסֶד (tov vakhesed, ‘goodness and faithfulness’) as subject is ironic. This is the only place in the entire OT where either of these nouns appears as the subject of this verb רָדַף (radaf, ‘pursue’). This verb is often used to describe the hostile actions of enemies. One might expect the psalmist’s enemies (see v 5) to chase him, but ironically God’s ‘goodness and faithfulness’ (which are personified and stand by metonymy for God himself) pursue him instead. The word ‘pursue’ is used outside of its normal context in an ironic manner and creates a unique, but pleasant word picture of God’s favor (or a kind God) ‘chasing down’ the one whom he loves.”

[7] Hebrews 11:32-34 (NET)

[9] Luke 16:8b (NET)

[11] Luke 16:9 (NET)

[12] Mark 10:23, 24 (NET)

[13] Mark 10:26b (NET)

[14] Luke 16:19-21 (NET)

[17] Luke 16:23 (NET)

[18] Acts 2:26, 27 (NET) Table

[19] Acts 2:31 (NET) Table

[20] Matthew 11:23; Luke 10:15 (NET)

[21] Matthew 16:18 (NET)

[22] Revelation 1:17b, 18 (NET)

[23] The King James translators chose hell for every instance of ᾅδης. Addendum 2/11/2022: The current version of the NET has Hades rather than hell in Luke 16:23.

[24] Matthew 4:23, 24 (NET)

[26] Luke 16:24 (NET)

[27] Luke 2:46 (NET)

[28] Luke 2:48b (NET)

[29] Acts 20:38 (NET)

[30] Acts 7:30 (NET)

[31] Hebrews 1:7 (NET)

[32] Romans 13:6 (NET)

[33] Romans 15:16 (NET)

[34] Philippians 2:25 (NET)

[35] Revelation 1:14 (NET)

[36] Revelation 19:12 (NET)

[37] Revelation 2:18 (NET)

[38] 2 Thessalonians 1:8 (NET)

[39] Luke 16:25 (NET)

[40] Romans 9:22 (NET)

[41] Revelation 14:19 (NET)

[42] Revelation 16:9 (NET)

[43] Revelation 16:11 (NET)

[44] Revelation 16:21 (NET)

[45] Luke 16:26 (NET) Table

[46] Luke 16:27, 28 (NET)

[47] Luke 16:29 (NET)

[48] Luke 16:30 (NET)

[49] Luke 16:31 (NET)

[50] Luke 16:15b (NET)

[51] Luke 16:15a (NET)

Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 5

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I want to continue considering the eternal gospel the angel flying directly overhead “evangelized” (εὐαγγελίσαι, a form of εὐαγγελίζω)[1] in its context.  It is one of three messages by three different angels: one “evangelized,” another declared (λέγων, a form of λέγω),[2] and another declared (λέγων, a form of λέγω) in a loud voice.

Three Angels
Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, and he had an eternal gospel (εὐαγγέλιον)[3] to proclaim (εὐαγγελίσαι, a form of εὐαγγελίζω) to those who live on the earth –  to every nation, tribe, language, and people.  He declared in a loud voice:

Revelation 14:6, 7a (NET)

 A second angel followed the first, declaring (λέγων, a form of λέγω):

Revelation 14:8a (NET)

 A third angel followed the first two, declaring (λέγων, a form of λέγω) in a loud voice:

Revelation 14:9a (NET)
“Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment (ἡ ὥρα τῆς κρίσεως αὐτοῦ) has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!”

Revelation 14:7b (NET)

 “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great city!  She made all the nations drink of the wine of her immoral (πορνείας, a form of πορνεία)[4] passion.”

Revelation 14:8b (NET)

 “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand, that person will also drink of the wine of God’s anger that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb.  And the smoke from their torture will go up forever and ever, and those who worship the beast and his image will have no rest day or night, along with anyone who receives the mark of his name.”

Revelation 14:9b-11 (NET)
This requires the steadfast endurance of the saints – those who obey God’s commandments and hold to their faith in Jesus.

Revelation 14:12 (NET)

At first I included the final statement with the declaration of the third angel only.  Then I realized that the eternal gospel the first angel “evangelized” was not exactly “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ before you die or burn in hell for all eternity.”  Nor was it 1 Corinthians 15:1-8.  In fact, it didn’t mention Jesus at all.  It occurred to me that seeing and hearing an angel evangelize an eternal gospel like this might also require some steadfast endurance of those who hold to their faith in Jesus (Galatians 1:8 NET).

But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell (ἀνάθεμα)![5]

I assumed that the fall of Babylon might require the same endurance for reasons that were not yet clear.  And at present I don’t know whether—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to their faith in Jesus—define the word saints or qualify which saints are under consideration here.  I’ll consider the torture of those who worship the beast in its own essay.

I related the two judgments to the three angels like this:

Three Angels
Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead…

Revelation 14:6, 7 (NET)

 A second angel followed the first…

Revelation 14:8 (NET)

 A third angel followed the first two…

Revelation 14:9-11 (NET)
Then I looked, and a white cloud appeared, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man!  He had a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

Revelation 14:14 (NET)

 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.

Revelation 14:17 (NET)
Then another angel came out of the temple, shouting in a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and start to reap, because the time to reap has come, since the earth’s harvest is ripe!”

Revelation 14:15 (NET)

 Another angel, who was in charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes off the vine of the earth, because its grapes are now ripe.”

Revelation 14:18 (NET)
So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

Revelation 14:16 (NET)

 So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard of the earth and tossed them into the great winepress of the wrath of God.  Then the winepress was stomped outside the city, and blood poured out of the winepress up to the height of horses’ bridles for a distance of almost two hundred miles.

Revelation 14:19, 20 (NET)

Despite everything I’ve been through I wanted to relate the outcome of the two judgments to the messages of the three angels like this:

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, and he had an eternal gospel (εὐαγγέλιον) to proclaim (εὐαγγελίσαι, a form of εὐαγγελίζω) to those who live on the earth – to every nation, tribe, language, and people.  He declared in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment (ἡ ὥρα τῆς κρίσεως αὐτοῦ) has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!”

Revelation 14:6, 7 (NET)

 A second angel followed the first, declaring (λέγων, a form of λέγω): “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great city!  She made all the nations drink of the wine of her immoral (πορνείας, a form of πορνεία) passion.”

Revelation 14:8 (NET)

 

 A third angel followed the first two, declaring (λέγων, a form of λέγω) in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand, that person will also drink of the wine of God’s anger that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb.  And the smoke from their torture will go up forever and ever, and those who worship the beast and his image will have no rest day or night, along with anyone who receives the mark of his name.”

Revelation 14:9-11 (NET)
They sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: “Great and astounding are your deeds, Lord God, the All-Powerful!  Just and true are your ways, King over the nations!”

Revelation 15:3 (NET)

 …they blasphemed the name of God…and they would not repent and give him glory.

Revelation 16:9b (NET)
“Who will not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name, because you alone are holy?  All nations will come and worship before you for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Revelation 15:4 (NET)

 …they blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since it was so horrendous.

Revelation 16:21b (NET)

 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings and because of their sores, but nevertheless they still refused to repent of their deeds.

Revelation 16:11 (NET)
Then I looked, and a white cloud appeared, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man!  He had a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.  Then another angel came out of the temple, shouting in a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and start to reap, because the time to reap has come, since the earth’s harvest is ripe!”  So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

Revelation 14:14-16 (NET)

 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.  Another angel, who was in charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes off the vine of the earth, because its grapes are now ripe.”  So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard of the earth and tossed them into the great winepress of the wrath of God.  Then the winepress was stomped outside the city, and blood poured out of the winepress up to the height of horses’ bridles for a distance of almost two hundred miles.

Revelation 14:17-20 (NET)
Then I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and his image and the number of his name. They were standing by the sea of glass, holding harps given to them by God.

Revelation 15:2 (NET)

 Then I saw another great and astounding sign in heaven: seven angels who have seven final plagues (they are final because in them God’s anger is completed).

Revelation 15:1 (NET)

Judgment and condemnation would be easier for me to grasp if:

1) The first angel said, “Fear God and give him glory…and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!”
2) Then in response to that people said, “Great and astounding are your deeds, Lord God, the All-Powerful!  Just and true are your ways, King over the nations!  Who will not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name, because you alone are holy?  All nations will come and worship before you for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
3) Then in response to that one like a son of man…swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped; that is, those who feared God and gave Him glory.
4) Then those who feared God and gave Him glory were standing by the sea of glass, holding harps given to them by God.

Or conversely that:

1) Those who did not fear God but worshipped the beast and his image…
2) Were those who blasphemed the name of God, who would not repent and give Him glory…
3) And they were tossed…into the great winepress of the wrath of God…
4) To face the seven final plagues.

But that isn’t what’s revealed here, is it?  Those who sang the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb probably conquered the beast and his image and the number of his name[6] by refusing to worship him, his image or take the mark.  What looked to John like their “reaping” by one like a son of man, will probably look like mass executions to their contemporaries on earth.  Their “reaping” is immediately preceded by Revelation 14:13 (NET):

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: ‘Blessed are the dead, those who die in the Lord from this moment on!’”  “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they can rest from their hard work, because their deeds will follow them.”

It is after they find themselves standing by the sea of glass, holding harps given to them by God[7] that they give glory[8] to God—Great and astounding are your deeds, Lord God, the All-Powerful!  Just and true are your ways[9]—and can’t imagine how or why anyone would not fear Him—Who will not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name, because you alone are holy?[10]

Meanwhile, back on the earth, those who worshiped the beast, and were tossed…into the great winepress of the wrath of God,[11] when the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was permitted to scorch people with fire, and they were scorched by the terrible heat, yet (καὶ)[12] they blasphemed the name of God, who has ruling authority over these plagues, and they would not repent and give him glory.[13]  When the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast so that darkness covered his kingdom, and people began to bite their tongues because of their pain, they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings and because of their sores, but nevertheless[14] (καὶ) they still refused to repent of their deeds.[15]  And finally, when Babylon the great was remembered before God, and was given the cup filled with the wine made of God’s furious wrath,[16] gigantic hailstones, weighing about a hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people, but (καὶ) they blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since it was so horrendous.[17]

The Greek word καὶ is usually translated and (see the KJV, NKJV, ASV, DNT, and YLT).  Three times the translators of the NET tried to create a contrast that may not be there in the text.  Without that contrast there is a very simple and obvious story here.  All deserved God’s wrath.  Those who received his mercy (albeit through refusing the mark of the beast and suffering execution) feared Him and glorified Him.  Those who received the wrath they deserved cursed Him and would not repent of their deeds.

God’s judgment is not about my righteousness.  It does not reflect or demonstrate my righteousness, but his.  The key here is in the song of Moses and the Lamb: you alone are holy.[18]  Why do you call me good? Jesus answered a question with another.  No one is good except God alone.[19]  For a long time I’ve thought that Jesus was asserting his divinity here in a backhanded, double reverse sort of way.  Now it seems so clear that He was fully embracing his humanity, walking humbly, led by the Spirit, dependent on the Holy Spirit’s love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.[20]  No one is good except God alone, Jesus said.

We are told explicitly who will worship the beast (Revelation 13:7, 8 NET):

The beast was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them.  He was given ruling authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation, and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed.

In other words, the judgment (and the condemnation, for that matter) was made even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in election would stand, not by works but by his calling).[21]  So John on Patmos had a vision confirming the most difficult words Paul wrote (Romans 9:14-18 NET):

What shall we say then?  Is there injustice with God?  Absolutely not!  For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”  So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy.  For the scripture says to Pharaoh: “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”  So then, God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.

My religious mind screams, “That’s not fair!”  But Paul heard my religious mind, or maybe his own (Romans 9:19-21 NET):

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault?  For who has ever resisted his will?”  But who indeed are you – a mere human being – to talk back to God?  Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?”  Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use?

And my religious mind says, “No!  Hell, no!”  But the new man following the Spirit, hears the Lord Jesus say, “deny [your]self, take up [your] cross, and follow me,”[22] and listens as He prays to our Father in heaven, “not my will but yours be done.”[23]  Let God be proven true, Paul wrote, and every human being shown up as a liar, just as it is written: “so that you [i.e., God, Paul quoted David at prayer here] will be justified in your words and will prevail when you are judged.”[24]  And as I fully embrace my humanity and truly believe that it does not depend on [my] desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy, I can hear something else in a fresh and new way (Romans 11:32-36 NET):

For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.  Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are his judgments and how fathomless his ways!  For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?  Or who has first given to God, that God needs to repay him?  For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be glory forever!  Amen.

They sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb (Revelation 15:3, 4 NET):

“Great and astounding are your deeds, Lord God, the All-Powerful!  Just and true are your ways, King over the nations!  Who will not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name, because you alone are holy?  All nations will come and worship before you for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 6

Back to Torture, Part 3

Back to Torture, Part 5

Back to Cult Prostitutes

[6] Revelation 15:2 (NET)

[7] Revelation 15:2 (NET)

[8] Revelation 14:7 (NET)

[9] Revelation 15:3 (NET)

[10] Revelation 15:4a (NET)

[11] Revelation 14:19 (NET)

[12] NET Note: “Here καί (kai) has been translated as ‘yet’ to indicate the contrast present in this context.”

[13] Revelation 16:8, 9 (NET)

[14] NET Note: “Grk ‘and they did not repent.’ Here καί (kai) has been translated as ‘but nevertheless’ to express the contrast here.”

[15] Revelation 16:10, 11 (NET)

[16] Revelation 16:19b (NET)

[17] Revelation 16:21 (NET)

[18] Revelation 15:4 (NET)

[19] Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19 (NET)

[20] Galatians 5:22, 23 (NET)

[21] Romans 9:11 (NET)

[22] Matthew 16:24 (NET)

[23] Luke 22:42b (NET)

[24] Romans 3:4 (NET)

Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 4

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Then Jesus began to criticize openly the cities in which he had done many of his miracles, because they did not repent.  “Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  If the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment (ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως) than for you![1]

Here, potentially, I have another instance where more bearable meant that fewer people rise up at the judgment to condemn the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon than the inhabitants of Chorazin and Bethsaida, those who witnessed Jesus’ miracles and yet rejected his message.  The same may be true of Capernaum relative to Sodom (Matthew 11:23, 24 NET).

And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven?  No, you will be thrown down to Hades!  For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued to this day.  But I tell you, it will be more bearable for the region (γῇ)[2] of Sodom on the day of judgment (ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως) than for you!

But all of this assumes that my intuition that κρίσεως[3] is limited to judgment and does not expand to mean condemnation is correct.  In Revelation κρίσεως may mean condemnation as I understand it: Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, and he had an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth – to every nation, tribe, language, and people.  He declared in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment (ἡ ὥρα[4] τῆς κρίσεως αὐτοῦ) has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!”[5]

Granted, the first thing that happens after the announcement of the hour of his judgment is a distinction I recognize as judgment.  One like a son of man seated on a cloud reaped the harvest of the earth for some unspecified purpose, at the command of an angel who came out of the temple in heaven.[6]  Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven and reaped the earth at the command of another angel who was in charge of the fire.  Those harvested in this way were the grapes from the vineyard of the earth, and were tossed into the great winepress of the wrath of God.[7]

So far so good.  But what I would consider the condemnation of the great winepress of the wrath of God was spelled out in some detail later as the seven bowls containing God’s wrath.

First Bowl

Revelation 16:2 (NET)

 …ugly and painful sores appeared on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.
Second Bowl

Revelation 16:3 (NET)

 …the sea…turned into blood, like that of a corpse, and every living creature that was in the sea died.
Third Bowl

Revelation 16:4-7 (NET)

 …the rivers and the springs of water…turned into blood.
Fourth Bowl

Revelation 16:8, 9 (NET)

 …the sun…was permitted to scorch people with fire.
Fifth Bowl

Revelation 16:10, 11 (NET)

 …on the throne of the beast so that darkness covered his kingdom, and people began to bite their tongues because of their pain.
Sixth Bowl

Revelation 16:12-16 (NET)

 …on the great river Euphrates and dried up its water to prepare the way for the kings from the east.
Seventh Bowl

Revelation 16:17-21 (NET)

 Then there were flashes of lightning, roaring, and crashes of thunder, and there was a tremendous earthquake – an earthquake unequaled since humanity has been on the earth, so tremendous was that earthquake.  The great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nations collapsed….Every island fled away and no mountains could be found.  And gigantic hailstones, weighing about a hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people…

After the third bowl containing God’s wrath John recorded:  Now I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are just – the one who is and who was, the Holy One – because (ὅτι)[8] you have passed these judgments (ἔκρινας, a form of κρίνω),[9] because (ὅτι) they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets, so you have given them blood to drink.  They got what they deserved!”  Then I heard the altar reply, “Yes, Lord God, the All-Powerful, your judgments (κρίσεις, a form of κρίσις)[10] are true and just!”[11]  Here both κρίνω and κρίσις were used for the adverse sentence, condemnation as I understand it.  It makes my careful distinctions moot.

I don’t recant because: 1) I’m not comfortable deriving the meaning of words from the most esoteric and figurative book in the Bible; and 2) the angel’s reasoning sounds vaguely demonic to me.  (And, yes, I recognize the audacity of that statement.)  Perhaps that is all demonic means.  Perhaps a demon is nothing more than an angel who has elevated his own reasoning above the will and word of God.  But I don’t believe that God is just or righteous because he passed these judgments (KJV, hast judged thus).

I don’t believe that God is just or righteous because He conforms to some abstract conception of justice or righteousness: they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets, so you have given them blood to drink.  They got what they deserved!  I believe that God is just and righteous because he is the Holy One, who is and who was.  What He does, how He judges, is just or righteous because of who He is.  Let God be proven true, and every human being shown up as a liar, Paul wrote the Romans, just as it is written: “so that you will be justified in your words and will prevail when you are judged.”[12]  But I suspect here that God is judged not only by human beings, but by angels.  Or, perhaps, ὅτι should have been translated—regarding the fact that—as in Acts 13:34 (NET).

But regarding the fact that (ὅτι) he has raised Jesus from the dead, never again to be in a state of decay, God has spoken in this way: “I will give you the holy and trustworthy promises made to David.”

I don’t have any issue with the altar’s reply—Yes, Lord God, the All-Powerful, your judgments are true and just!—except its tacit and uncritical acceptance of the angel’s reasoning (if his statement is translated correctly).  And, no, I’m not particularly troubled by a living altar in heaven capable of speech and reason.

Perhaps Genesis 1:11 and 12 is simply a poetic and figurative way of expressing God’s creation of plant life on the earth, or perhaps it is meant to be understood as God’s way of expressing how He created a living earth with a God-given ability to create plant life.  What is conspicuously absent from the text is any mention of God’s direct action in the creation of plant life, as is the case of animals in the sea and birds in the air (Genesis 1:21), animals on the earth (Genesis 1:25) and human beings (Genesis 1:26).  Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live before him,[13] Jesus said in a different but potentially related context.

If the angel flying directly overhead had the seven bowls in mind, condemnation as I understand it, when he said ἡ ὥρα τῆς κρίσεως αὐτοῦ (the hour of his judgment) then Jesus’ contrasts may have a different meaning as well.  The regions of Sodom, Gomorrah, Tyre and Sidon may be places of refuge from ugly and painful sores, rivers and springs of water turned into blood, and the scorching fire of the sun relative to Chorazin, Behtsaida, Capernaum or any town in Israel where the inhabitants rejected Jesus’ disciples’ message, The kingdom of heaven is near!  That is, of course, if the angel flying directly overhead was reasoning correctly and not thinking as backwards as the angel of the waters (if the angel of the waters was translated correctly).  So I’m conflicted here and continue in the spirit of giving the angel flying directly overhead the benefit of the doubt.

“Fear God and give him glory, the angel flying directly overhead said, because the hour of his judgment (ἡ ὥρα τῆς κρίσεως αὐτοῦ) has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!”  After the fourth bowl was poured out, people were scorched by the terrible heat, yet they blasphemed the name of God, who has ruling authority over these plagues, and they would not repent and give him glory.[14]  After the fifth bowl, They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings and because of their sores, but nevertheless they still refused to repent of their deeds.[15]  After the seventh bowl, gigantic hailstones, weighing about a hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people, but they blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since it was so horrendous.[16]  This makes it more plausible that κρίσεως here meant the condemnation of the seven bowls, the great winepress of the wrath of God, and not merely the judgment of Revelation 14:14-19.

In that case, however, I would tend to understand Jesus’ words like this: Furthermore, the Father does not [condemn (κρίνει, a form of κρίνω)] anyone, but has assigned all [condemnation (κρίσιν, a form of κρίσις)] to the Son…[17]  For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and he has granted the Son authority to execute (ποιεῖν, a form of ποιέω)[18] [condemnation (κρίσιν, a form of κρίσις)], because he is the Son of Man.[19]  The writer of Hebrews would have written, And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face [condemnation (κρίσις)], so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation.[20]

I’ve been through this before.[21]  This is why I would like to keep κρίνω as judge rather than condemn (κατακρίνω),[22] and κρίσις as judgment rather than condemnation (κατάκρισις,[23] κατάκριμα[24]).  Though I suppose it doesn’t matter really whether the Father assigned all judgment or all condemnation to the Son, or whether He has the authority to execute judgment or condemnation, if He does not judge or condemn the world because God sent Him into the world…that the world should be saved through him[25] instead.

Condemnation of Judgment? – Part 5

Back to Justice, Vengeance and Punishment

 

[1] Matthew 11:20-22 (NET)

[5] Revelation 14:6, 7 (NET)

[6] Revelation 14:14-16 (NET)

[7] Revelation 14:17-19 (NET)

[11] Revelation 16:5-7 (NET)

[12] Romans 3:4 (NET)

[13] Luke 20:38 (NET)

[14] Revelation 16:9 (NET)

[15] Revelation 16:11 (NET)

[16] Revelation 16:21 (NET)

[17] John 5:22 (NET)

[19] John 5:26, 27 (NET)

[20] Hebrews 9:27, 28 (NET)

[25] John 3:17 (NET)