Apocalipse 20
Apringius of Beja
Apocalipse 20:1
We must entreat the Lord more earnestly here, lest we consent in error concerning the number of the thousand years or through our own excess nurture error. Rather, [let us entreat the Lord] that he who is called "Faithful" and "True" might keep our faith safe. The Lord himself said at the beginning of this book, "I am the first and the last, and the living one although I was dead; and I have the keys of death and of hades." By the key it speaks of him who bears the office of ministry, so that he might open the pit of the abyss. The great chain is the unbreakable bond of the divine commandment. It is in his hand, which means that he exercises it by work and deed. — TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20:1
Apocalipse 20:2
In Greek letters, one thousand is designated with an "alpha." In the alpha we have the beginning, which is Christ; in the name [of Christ] we have the cross, which is our victory and the destruction of the evil enemy. Therefore, both by the cross of Christ and by the authority of the cross he bound the enemy of the world who deceived those who dwell upon the earth. For to that eternity no time is added, and the eternity of his time will be enclosed by no end, nor will there ever be an end to the number of years. And so by the sovereignty of the Lord through the power of the cross he bound him in the abyss. — TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20:2
Apocalipse 20:3
"And sealed it over him," that is, placed upon it the bolt of the cross so that he might never regain his strength, nor any more seduce the nations, whom the resurrection will restore and make better. Nonetheless, to this explanation the following seems in opposition. "Until the thousand years shall be ended. After that he must be loosed for a little while." However, one can understand this to mean to the extent that the will of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and his command allow. "For a little while," that is, in a moment of time and by the power of the one who commands, [Satan] is dissolved into nothing and at the same time disappears. For if he is loosed so that he might be free, how then does he say, "I saw thrones?" This is similar to the most holy Daniel who speaks in the same sense as follows: "In that day your people shall be saved, every one whose [name] shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace, that they might eternally see." For, how is he released from chains, if the resurrection is already celebrated and if the seats of judgment are seen? — TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20:3-4
Apocalipse 20:3
set a seal upon him. That is, placed upon it the bolt of the cross so that he might never regain his strength, nor any more seduce the nations, whom the resurrection will restore and make better.
Apocalipse 20:4
The souls of all the martyrs and of all the Christian faithful who rise again and awaken from the dust of the earth shall reign, it says, with Christ for a thousand years. That is, they will reign by the sign of the cross and by the pre-eminence of the Lord's passion. — TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20:4
Apocalipse 20:5-6
"Until the thousand years were ended," that is, until such time as the sacrament of the faith and the mystery of the cross is perfected in them and that those who are beginning to flourish might appear in their eternal blessedness. "The rest of the dead did not come to life." He did not say, "they did not arise again," but that they did not come to life, because without joy and happiness, and without the reward of eternity, in their torments they shall be regarded as though dead. "This is the first resurrection." That is to say, the happiness of the saints and their reward; for it is said to be the "first" because of its splendor and its preeminence. — TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20:5
Apocalipse 20:5-6
He indicates that those over whom the second death has power did not come to life. To be sure, they have been resurrected unto the second death, that is, they have been damned to the lake of fire, even as it is stated in the psalms: "As though living he swallows them as in anger." Indeed, concerning those over whom the second death has no power, it says, "they shall be priests of God and they shall reign with him a thousand years." All those who shall have been in the congregation of the saints, shall be called saints, and they shall be priests of Christ our God, and they shall reign with him in the strength of the cross and in the sovereignty of his might. — TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20:6
Apocalipse 20:7
[We have here a difficulty] for we must inquire how it is that when the thousand years have ended, the enemy is given his freedom and the nations [continue to] live upon the earth within that infinity [which occurs after the end]. For indeed, after the resurrection, when the judgment of the living and the dead has been rendered, all things everlasting are given and those who reign with Christ, namely, the saints, will come with God's aid to the eternal blessings, that is, to the very reality of eternality itself. Moreover, they will be rewarded with the contemplation of him who is the Beginning, and possessing the presence of a vision of such a majesty they will be established in its bliss. When the rewards of all the blessed have been consummated and perfected, and all things have been brought to the one headship of our Lord Jesus Christ and in him all things are held together, "Satan will be loosed from his prison." Then the nether regions themselves will be freed from him, at the same time the author of darkness will be dissolved and disappear, "and go out," into eternal perdition. — TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20:7
Apocalipse 20:8
In this passage "to deceive" means to scatter or to spoil, that is, to drag the nations along with him into condemnation, namely, all the wicked whom he has deceived in every part of the earth. And he will cause those who have been gathered together with him in one single condemnation to be delivered over to eternal torments. For Gog means "roof" and Magog means "out of the covering" or "out from the roof." Everyone whom he has brought out and led to the collapse of his own arrogance, or those whom he supported by the roof of his pride, or those who will be recognized as coming from the same cover and height of his arrogance, all these persons will be taken at the same time in one condemnation and by an eternal fire. When it says, "he will gather them for battle," it describes as something future what is in the past, for in some manner this battle is the hostility that the wicked have toward good works. And since those who are wicked are many and numerous, he adds, "whose number is like the sand of the sea." — TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20:7
Apocalipse 20:9-10
"And they ascended upon the height of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints." Lifted up by their arrogance, the impious ascended into the heights, but their earthly arrogance holds them back. They are wise in nothing heavenly, nor do they fear the power of celestial greatness. "They surrounded the camp of the saints." [This means that] they wished to exist in common with the saints, but of them the prophecy is fulfilled that says, "They shall return at evening and be hungry as a dog and go around about the city." In the present passage he calls the city "beloved," saying, "they shall surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city." — TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20:8
Apocalipse 20:12
Who is free before God if not those who are declared to be by the power of him who judges the works of each one? God is said to have a book, which is not a physical book but a spiritual book, that is, the eternal memory in which the names of the elect are kept. And so the psalm says, "The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance." "Also another book was opened, which is the Book of Life." The Book of Life, and Life itself, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Then he shall be opened, that is, made manifest to every creature, when he will render to each according to his work. "And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done." "God has spoken once, and I have heard these two things," it says. And what these two things are he makes clearer when he says, "The kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor of the nations." There he heard of the kingdom; here he has beheld the book. There he heard two things; here he has also seen another book. And what is contained in these two books he says there, "the power of God is also yours, O Lord, and mercy." The power is in the judging and the mercy is in the giving of recompense. "And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done." And so he says there, "for you will recompense everyone according to his works." — TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20:12
Apocalipse 20:13
Lest anyone say that those who have died at sea or have been drowned by water or have been eaten by beasts or have been destroyed by fire cannot be raised again, [it says therefore that] they gave up their dead. And since no one will escape the judgment of God, it adds, "and all were judged by what they had done." Lest anyone should think that after the resurrection there follows a death of the body, an opinion that is profane to believe and even to mention, he adds [that death was sent into the lake of fire]. — TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20:13
Apocalipse 20:14
This is to show that since death has been overtaken no one will die again. Moreover, since the nether region has been condemned, hell will find no one further whom it might receive. — TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20:14
Apocalipse 20:15
Whoever did not believe during life and did not open his mouth in confession of our Lord Jesus Christ shall be destroyed along with death and hell because he failed to receive life. Nevertheless, we do not confess that everyone will die or come to punishment. Rather, that will be fulfilled which we read in Daniel, "Some shall rise to everlasting life, and some to everlasting contempt, so that they might always behold." And what shall they always behold, if not that they are tormented while others are glorified? — TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20:15