by Brian Godawa
The proof of this demon interpretation is in the Apostle John’s inspired reuse of the same exact language when pronouncing judgment upon first century Israel as a symbolic “Mystery Babylon.”
Revelation 18:2
2“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.”
Because of the exile under the Babylonians, Jews would use Babylon as the ultimate symbol of evil. So when John attacks his contemporaries in Israel for rejecting Messiah, he describes them as demonic Babylon worthy of the same judgment as that ultimate evil nation.
But regardless of one’s eschatological interpretation, the “wild beasts” or “monsters” and “hyenas” of Isaiah and Jeremiah are interpreted as demons, unclean spirits and detestable beasts, along with the unclean animals that will scavenge over the ruins of the judged nation. The Old Testament “haunt of jackals” is the New Testament equivalent of the “haunt of demons.” The “dwelling of hyenas and ostriches” is the “dwelling of demons.
So in Revelation, Babylon, or Jerusalem is a haunt for demons.
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CHAPTER 56
Gischala quotes from: Isaiah 61:1-2. This passage was quoted by Jesus as referring to himself in Luke 4:16-21.
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CHAPTER 57
The visitation of Yahweh promised:.
Luke 19:41–44
41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
“Luke’s point, however, does not concern timing, but effects. The thrust is not ‘no, the kingdom is not coming for a long time’; the point is ‘the kingdom is indeed coming – but it will mean judgment, not blessing, for Israel’. It ought to be clear from his next two paragraphs that Luke intends this: in verses 28–40, Jesus approaches Jerusalem in a quasi-royal manner, and in verses 41–4, as the crowd descends the Mount of Olives, he bursts into tears and solemnly announces judgment on the city for failing to recognize ‘its time of visitation’. YHWH is visiting his people, and they do not realize it; they are therefore in imminent danger of judgment, which will take the form of military conquest and devastation. This is not a denial of the imminence of the kingdom. It is a warning about what that imminent kingdom will entail. The parable functions, like so many, as a devastating redefinition of the kingdom of God. Yes, the kingdom does mean the return of YHWH to Zion. Yes, this kingdom is even now about to appear. But no, this will not be a cause of celebration for nationalist Israel.”
N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, Christian Origins and the Question of God (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1996), 635–636.
“The second-Temple Jewish hope for YHWH’s return has not received as much attention as I believe it should. This hope is, I think, the truth behind the point that Bruce Chilton has stressed in various works: that ‘the kingdom of god’ denotes the coming of Israel’s god in person and in power. Whether or not it is true, as Chilton argues, that Jesus made actual use of an early Jewish commentary on Isaiah (the Isaiah Targum), it is certainly the case that the theme of announcing the kingdom, and the phrase ‘the kingdom of god’ itself, both of which feature in that commentary but not elsewhere in non-Christian Jewish literature, are central features of what we most securely know about Jesus. And in the announcement of the dawning kingdom we find the persistent emphasis that now, at last, YHWH is returning to Zion. He will do again what he did at the exodus, coming to dwell in the midst of his people.
“This theme is not usually highlighted in this way. For this reason I shall make the point by setting out the main passages quite fully:
On that day the branch of YHWH shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel … Then YHWH will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its places of assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Indeed over all the glory there will be a canopy. It will serve as a pavilion, a shade by day from the heat, and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
Then the moon will be abashed, and the sun ashamed;
for YHWH of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and before his elders he will manifest his glory.
Isa. 24:23.
It will be said on that day,
Lo, this is our god; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is YHWH, for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
For the hand of YHWH will rest on this mountain.
Isa. 25:9–10
Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
‘Be strong, do not fear!’
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy …
And the ransomed of YHWH shall return,
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isa. 35:3–6, 10.
A voice cries out:
‘In the wilderness prepare the way of YHWH,
make straight in the desert a highway for our god.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of YHWH shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of YHWH has spoken.’
Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
‘Here is your god!’
See, the Lord YHWH comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep.
Isa. 40:3–5, 9–11.
N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, Christian Origins and the Question of God (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1996), 615–617.
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This is quoted from: Daniel 9:24. The phrase that I have translated “most holy one” is a controversial one. Some believe it refers to the “most holy place” or the holy of holies. But the original language is just “most holy.”
This from Ken Gentry on Daniel’s seventy weeks:
“The phrase “most holy” speaks of the Messiah who is “that Holy One who is to be born” (Luke 1:35). Isaiah prophesies of Christ in the ultimate redemptive Jubilee: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD” (Isa. 61:1-2a; cp. Lu
ke 4:17-21).
“At his baptismal anointing the Spirit comes upon Him (Mark 1:9-11) to prepare Him for his ministry, of which we read three verses later: “Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled [the sixty-ninth week?], and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14-15). Christ is preeminently the Anointed One (Psa. 2:2; 132:10; Isa. 11:2; 42:1; Hab. 3:13; Acts 4:27; 10:38; Heb. 1:9).”
Kenneth L. Gentry, "What is the Goal of Daniel 9:24?" online: https://postmillennialworldview.com/2013/11/15/what-is-the-goal-of-daniel-924/#more-1114
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This strategy was taken from: Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews 3.7.20, §222-228. Josephus had used the tactic at Jotapata.
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CHAPTER 58
This strategy was taken from: Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews 3.7.20, §222-228. Josephus had used the tactic at Jotapata.
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This story is based loosely on the following: Though it was John, not Simon who destroyed the tunnels below.
Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews 6.1.3, §28
“…the wall suddenly fell in, for it had been shaken by the rams at the point where John had dug beneath it while undermining the former earthworks.”
Paul L. Maier, editor and translator, Josephus: The Essential Writings (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1988), 351.
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CHAPTER 59
Lived upon the land: This phrase, translated in Young’s Literal Translation as “those who live upon the land, is translated in other versions as “land-dwellers” or “those dwell on the land.” It is used of the Israelites throughout Revelation. Rev 3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10;13:8, 14; 14:6; 17:2, 8
Same Greek phrase used of Israelites in OT: Jeremiah 1:14; 10:18; Ezekiel 7:7; 36:17; Hosea 4:1, 3; Joel 1:2, 14; 2:1; Zephaniah 1:8
It is also the Greek phrase used by Josephus of Jews: Wars 4.5.3 (324).
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This winepress and harvest comes from:
Revelation 14:17–20
17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.
“The vine can be a figure for Israel, as in Isa 5, Ps 80, but this does not preclude other meanings. However, there are two striking points in vs. 20 which suggest that the author did have Israel in mind. First, the trampling of the winepress is performed outside the city. The author will reach the destruction of the city in chs. 17, 18, but now he is concerned only about those “outside the city.” Second, the amount of bloodshed is enormous. The measurement of one thousand six hundred stadia is approximately the distance from Tyre to El Arish, two hundred miles. On a historical level one might suggest that the author predicted, or his work reflected, conditions in Palestine. In A.D. 66 Vespasian (with Titus), after strengthening his forces, captured nearly all the cities in Galilee which were held by the Zealots. Then he marched to Caesarea and Jerusalem. It was at this time that the whole of Palestine suffered bloodshed, with the exception of the Holy City. It may be this kind of situation to which the vision of the vintaging of the land addressed itself.”
J. Massyngberde Ford, Revelation: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, vol. 38, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 250.
“Josephus’s Jewish War records various particularly bloody battles: “the whole space of ground whereon they fought ran with blood, and the wall might have been ascended over by the bodies of the dead carcasses” (J. W. 3:7:23 §249); “the sea was bloody a long way” (3:9:3 §426); “one might then see the lake all bloody, and full of dead bodies” (3:10:9 §529); “the whole of the country through which they had fled was filled with slaughter, and Jordan could not be passed over, by reason of the dead bodies that were in it” (4:7:6; §437). Even in Jerusalem itself we learn that eventually “blood ran down over all the lower parts of the city, from the upper city” (4:1:10 §72); “the outer temple was all of it overflowed with blood” (4:5:1 §313); “the blood of all sorts of dead carcases stood in lakes in the holy courts” (5:1:3 §18); and “the whole city ran down with blood, to such a degree indeed that the fire of many of the houses was quenched with these men’s blood” (6:8:5 §406).”
Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., The Divorce of Israel: A Redemptive-Historical Interpretation of Revelation Vol. 2 (Dallas, GA: Tolle Lege Press, 2016), 323.
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The Marriage Supper of the Lamb: The imagery of marriage was used in the Old Testament for Yahweh marrying Israel. Now, that woman has become a harlot. God is divorcing her and marrying a new bride, the body of Christ. Consider the parables of Chris about the wedding feast. The Jews are invited, and they refuse to come, so God tells rejects them and offers the wedding feast to others:
Matthew 8:11–12
11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 22:1–10
1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.” ’ 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
“Another OT passage which speaks dramatically of Jerusalem as the bride of God is Ezek 16:8–10. God says, “… yea, I plighted my troth to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you became mine … I swathed you in fine linen and covered you with silk” (RSV). Like the bride in Ezekiel, the bride in Rev 19:8 is dressed in fine linen. So are the martyrs in 6:11 and the angels in 15:6. The two epithets, “bright” and “clean,” are in contrast to the clothing of the harlot as is also the simplicity of the bride’s clothes compared with the multicolored ones of the harlot. There is no doubt that the bride takes the place of the harlot, and with Carrington we may say, “It is impossible any longer to maintain that the harlot means Rome; the antithesis must lie between the old Israel and the new, the false Israel and the true, the Israel that is to appear so soon as the new Jerusalem.” The symbolism of linen as the just deeds of the saints confirms this.”
J. Massyngberde Ford, Revelation: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, vol. 38, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 317–318.
Messianic marriage and war coupled:
“Marriage is a metaphor for the covenant relationship, but it should not cause surprise that the marriage theme is associated with war. Two OT texts show the same alignment, Ps 45 and Wisd Sol 18 (see p. 319). Ps 45 is a royal psalm probably composed on the occasion of the marriage of an Israelite king to a foreign princess (vss. 11–13)
. The king is praised for his virtue and his military ability. Ps 45:3 mentions the sword upon the thigh (cf. Rev 19:15, 16); 45:4 refers to riding on in victory and majesty; 45:2 speaks of grace upon the king’s lips; 45:5 mentions conquest of peoples (cf. Rev 19:15); 45:6 refers to the royal throne and the royal scepter. Ps 45 was converted into messianic prophecy and the bridegroom was portrayed as both king and conqueror; after slaying his enemies he claimed the bride; Carrington, p. 308. This psalm, therefore, presents a “military bridegroom” carrying a sword, riding (either on horse or chariot), a victor conquering people and acquiring a royal throne and scepter. His speech (lips) are gracious. The rider on the white horse also is a military figure. He has royal insignia (diadems and royal title), he conquers and/or rules nations, and his speech is unique.”
J. Massyngberde Ford, Revelation: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, vol. 38, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 318.
“The context for the coming of the wedding feast is significant, fitting my overall thesis that Revelation is dealing with God’s divorce of Israel so that a new bride, the church, may be taken. As Chilton (473) well notes: “The destruction of the Harlot and the marriage of the Lamb and the Bride – the divorce and the wedding – are correlative events. The existence of the Church as the congregation of the New Covenant marks an entirely new epoch in the history of redemption” (cp. Terry 440; Leonard 139). Though joyful feasting – as in a wedding banquet – seems to clash with a scene of wrathful judgment, we actually see this combination of images elsewhere. Note especially the Lord’s own teaching in Matthew 8:11-12. There the image shows faithful people from all over reclining at feast with Abraham while the Jews (“the sons of the kingdom”) are cast out and sorely judged. Jesus’ parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22:2-13 also combines the themes of a festive banquet and tormenting judgment. Such images are built on the messianic feast in Isaiah 25:6-12 where the “lavish banquet / for all peoples” occurs in the context of the statement against Moab that “the unassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down, / Lay low, and cast to the ground, even to the dust.” Therefore, “Rev 19 links the gamos [wedding] of the Lamb with the destruction of Babylon and the vindication of Christ and his church, not with a remote future event. Salvation from the oppression by the great harlot opens the marital festivities” (Smolarz 253). Thus, “we would also submit the thesis that the marriage theme is developed throughout the battle of Armageddon.”