Sárospataki Füzetek 15. (2011)

2011 / 1. szám - TANULMÁNYOK

THE BOOK OF REVELATION: FULL OF EXPECTATION

little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed” (6: ll).16

Chiliasm fleshes out an assumed ‘millennium’ with Old Testament prophecies about a kingdom of peace, prophecies that in reality fit much better with the New Jerusalem of chapters 21 and 22. For in chapter 20, there is no mention of Israel at all.17 A thousand years, a symbolic expression, points to a relatively long period. And that is in clear contrast to the ten days of oppression we read about in the letter to Smyrna (2: 10b). Unfortunately, this vision does not contain a detailed chronology, so that we are not able to construct for ourselves some kind of calendar. All we can say is that the millennium seems to be a lengthy period of time in heaven, during which the resurrected martyrs will reign together with Jesus Christ. Only after this period, will the general resurrection take place on the day of the final judgment.

This eschatological resurrection of the martyrs — their souls are given a body — appears to mean that they are to be vindicated: they will be given justice (20: 4: xai xgipa é8o0r] autóig).18 In verses 5 and 6 this is referred to as ‘the first resurrection’, some kind of resurrection-in-advance, one that precedes the general resurrection of all the dead, which takes place on Judgment Day. At the same time, it also denotes a judgment-in-advance, in which the resurrected martyrs are declared holy. Later in the vision, John sees ‘the rest of the dead’, the ones who died a natural death, who lie buried in the sea or in the earth. Then the books are opened — the book of life also — and everyone will be judged by God (20: 11-15). The threatening prospect of ‘the second death’, the fire of hell, follows this final judgment. For the martyrs, however, there is no such threat (20: 6). Those who, like them, have overcome “will not be hurt at all by the second death”; but the cowardly, the unbelieving, are headed for destruction (2: lib; 21: 8).19

2.3 Forever together with the Messiah

All faithful Christians may look forward to reigning forever with the Messiah (5: 10b; 22: 5b; compare also Daniel 7: 21-22); however, only the martyrs may already share in this reign during the thousand years when Satan is bound. Their public vindication makes them the advance guard of all the righteous. These witnesses, whose blood was ruthlessly shed, are the first to enjoy the victory through Jesus Christ.20

10 Because of the double xai and the repeated article in Greek it is likely that two different groups are considered: oúvSoukoi as fellow Christians, generally, áősLpot as specific other martyrs in the future (‘their brothers and sisters, who were to be killed as they had been’).

17 The expectation of an earthly Messianic kingdom has parallels in the Jewish apocalyptic literature, such as 4 Espa and 2 Baruch. However, the Book of Revelation is unique in that it pays special attention to the martyrs’ resurrection. See Thomas Johann Bauer, Das tausendjährige Messiasreich der Jo- hannesoffenbarung. Eine Uterarkritische Studie %u Ojfb 19,11-21,8 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2007).

18 Compare Daniel 7: 22 in the Septuagint: xai x»)v xgiotv eSojxe toT? ayton; xoü titjxaxoo.

19 Van de Kamp, in Elis commentary (Openbaring 434-435), also rejects the millenarian point of view, albeit from a different perspective: all believers live on after their deaths. However, death and resurrection are to be understood here in a bodily sense.

20 For comparable interpretations, see: L. van Hartingsveld, Openbaring Een praktische bijbeiverklaring (Tekst & Toelichting; Kämpen: Kok, 1984), 101-102 and 122; Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Teve- lation (The International Commentary on the New Testament; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), 351-360; N.T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 472-476:

2011/1 Sárospataki Füzetek i7