Book 2 Endnotes
[i] It is interesting to note that immediately following this warning (or a continuation of it) Zephaniah seems to speak of a gathering of Israel just before the coming of the Day of the Lord:
(Zephaniah 2:1-2) Gather together, gather together, O shameful nation, {2} before the appointed time arrives and that day sweeps on like chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the day of the Lord's wrath comes upon you.
[ii] 1 Enoch 20 is worth quoting in its entirety:
{1} And these are the names of the holy angels who watch. {2} Uriel, one of the holy angels, who is over the world and over Tartarus (the abode of the dead). {3} Raphael, one of the holy angels, who is over the spirits of men. {4} Raguel, one of the holy angels, who takes vengeance on the world of the luminaries. {5} Michael, one of the holy angels, to wit, he who is set over the best part of Mankind and over chaos. {6} Saraqael, one of the holy angels, who is set over the spirits who sin in the spirit. {7} Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over paradise and the serpents and the Cherubim. {8} Remiel, one of the holy angels, whom God set over those who rise.
[iii] It is not clear how much literalness should be placed on the mechanism of the angel offering up the prayers to God. Scripture teaches (1 Timothy 2:5) that Christ is the only mediator between God and man, and so angels are not needed to offer our prayers. In the Old Testament the offering of incense at the golden altar in the Holy of Holies was the work of the high priest, a function taken over entirely by Christ (Hebrews 3:1, 8:1-2) who works in the true Holy of Holies, God’s throne room.
This has led some to see this “other angel” as Christ himself, but there is no particular indication that the angel is a mediator. Since the end of the episode is that he hurls the censor full of fire to the earth, starting the Wrath of God, his role as an agent of God’s judgment, common in Scripture, is more in view. The prayers are not primarily in view here. Rather, the judgment they asked for is.
Assuming these prayers are the ones offered by the martyrs under the altar (6:9-10), it is interesting to note that there was considerable delay from the time they made their prayers until those prayers were offered up before God, but no delay between that and the prayers being answered. It is tempting to read into this a parallel of the delay Christians often observe in having their prayers answered.
[iv] Fire appears as judgment and as purification both as intentional acts of God in several places, including here, Psalm 21:9, when Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire, and the refiner’s fire that purifies Christians.
[v] “biblaridion”. This, and the related words “biblion” and “biblos” are derived from the city of Byblos, a transhipment point for papyrus. “Biblos” taken by itself means any inscribed paper, hence “book” or “scroll”. “Biblion”, a diminutive of “biblos”, by NT times had come to mean the same thing as “biblos”. This loss of diminutive meaning led to the formation of “biblaridion”, a diminutive of “biblion” unknown in classical Greek. In Chapter 10, the Textus Receptus has “biblaridion”, while some manuscripts have the spelling variant “biblidarion”. A few have “biblion”. Because textual support for “biblaridion” is strong, attempts (e.g. Byers, p. 52, note 9) to equate this scroll with the one opened by the Lamb based on both being “biblion” are very weak. It is almost certain they are two different scrolls.
[vi] This fascinating, and somewhat bizarre, apocalypse was written (with later Christian additions) by a Palestinian Jew near the end of the first century. This makes the book a Jewish contemporary of Revelation. It has many interesting things in it which cast some light on apocalyptic thought at the time John wrote, but like many extra-biblical books contains much that is strange. It proclaims that the Messiah will be revealed for a period of 400 years, after which he and all humans will die, after which there will be a new earth (2 Esdras 7:28ff.).
[vii] One problem with the theory that one of the two witnesses is Elijah is the nature of his ministry as outlined by Malachi:
(Zephaniah 2:1-2) Gather together, gather together, O shameful nation, {2} before the appointed time arrives and that day sweeps on like chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the day of the Lord's wrath comes upon you.
[ii] 1 Enoch 20 is worth quoting in its entirety:
{1} And these are the names of the holy angels who watch. {2} Uriel, one of the holy angels, who is over the world and over Tartarus (the abode of the dead). {3} Raphael, one of the holy angels, who is over the spirits of men. {4} Raguel, one of the holy angels, who takes vengeance on the world of the luminaries. {5} Michael, one of the holy angels, to wit, he who is set over the best part of Mankind and over chaos. {6} Saraqael, one of the holy angels, who is set over the spirits who sin in the spirit. {7} Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over paradise and the serpents and the Cherubim. {8} Remiel, one of the holy angels, whom God set over those who rise.
[iii] It is not clear how much literalness should be placed on the mechanism of the angel offering up the prayers to God. Scripture teaches (1 Timothy 2:5) that Christ is the only mediator between God and man, and so angels are not needed to offer our prayers. In the Old Testament the offering of incense at the golden altar in the Holy of Holies was the work of the high priest, a function taken over entirely by Christ (Hebrews 3:1, 8:1-2) who works in the true Holy of Holies, God’s throne room.
This has led some to see this “other angel” as Christ himself, but there is no particular indication that the angel is a mediator. Since the end of the episode is that he hurls the censor full of fire to the earth, starting the Wrath of God, his role as an agent of God’s judgment, common in Scripture, is more in view. The prayers are not primarily in view here. Rather, the judgment they asked for is.
Assuming these prayers are the ones offered by the martyrs under the altar (6:9-10), it is interesting to note that there was considerable delay from the time they made their prayers until those prayers were offered up before God, but no delay between that and the prayers being answered. It is tempting to read into this a parallel of the delay Christians often observe in having their prayers answered.
[iv] Fire appears as judgment and as purification both as intentional acts of God in several places, including here, Psalm 21:9, when Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire, and the refiner’s fire that purifies Christians.
[v] “biblaridion”. This, and the related words “biblion” and “biblos” are derived from the city of Byblos, a transhipment point for papyrus. “Biblos” taken by itself means any inscribed paper, hence “book” or “scroll”. “Biblion”, a diminutive of “biblos”, by NT times had come to mean the same thing as “biblos”. This loss of diminutive meaning led to the formation of “biblaridion”, a diminutive of “biblion” unknown in classical Greek. In Chapter 10, the Textus Receptus has “biblaridion”, while some manuscripts have the spelling variant “biblidarion”. A few have “biblion”. Because textual support for “biblaridion” is strong, attempts (e.g. Byers, p. 52, note 9) to equate this scroll with the one opened by the Lamb based on both being “biblion” are very weak. It is almost certain they are two different scrolls.
[vi] This fascinating, and somewhat bizarre, apocalypse was written (with later Christian additions) by a Palestinian Jew near the end of the first century. This makes the book a Jewish contemporary of Revelation. It has many interesting things in it which cast some light on apocalyptic thought at the time John wrote, but like many extra-biblical books contains much that is strange. It proclaims that the Messiah will be revealed for a period of 400 years, after which he and all humans will die, after which there will be a new earth (2 Esdras 7:28ff.).
[vii] One problem with the theory that one of the two witnesses is Elijah is the nature of his ministry as outlined by Malachi:
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He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse (Malachi 4:6)
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This does not fit very well with what we are told of the prophesying of the two witnesses, which seem to be a witness of judgment rather than reconciliation. In reply to this it should be mentioned that we know nothing about what they prophecy, only what happens to those who oppose them. The reaction of many of the inhabitants of Jerusalem after their resurrection (Revelation 11:13) may indicate their ministry was at least in part of reconciliation. John the Baptist is certainly a prototype here. His ministry combined repentance (Matthew 3:2) with judgment (3:7) and it is likely so will that have the two.
[viii] It is, of course, possible that these people are all in the city of Jerusalem. It is possible, however, that this foretells a day in which events in Jerusalem are instantaneously presented around the earth, something which in John’s day would have been miraculous, and which in our own is commonplace.
[ix] Using Strongs Concordance, “Orge” means anger that is considered, planned, while “thumos” is more spontaneous, an outburst. The difference is that between “anger” and “fury”. Anger may be considered, contemplated, its results planned while fury is a sudden outbreak of passion.
[viii] It is, of course, possible that these people are all in the city of Jerusalem. It is possible, however, that this foretells a day in which events in Jerusalem are instantaneously presented around the earth, something which in John’s day would have been miraculous, and which in our own is commonplace.
[ix] Using Strongs Concordance, “Orge” means anger that is considered, planned, while “thumos” is more spontaneous, an outburst. The difference is that between “anger” and “fury”. Anger may be considered, contemplated, its results planned while fury is a sudden outbreak of passion.
