In his third objection, Zaspel says this,
“In Rev.12 he frantically carries out a furious rampage over the earth, but in Rev.20 he is confined to the abyss.”
He, Satan, is claimed to be “frantically carrying out a furious rampage. The assumption that Satan is possessed by furiousness is not in question, but I believe in order give emphasis to the contrast Zaspel is trying to make between the nature of Satan’s activity in chapter 12 and his captivity in chapter 20, he flourishes his vocabulary in this explanation. The text in chapter 20 actually puts it this way, 4b “And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.” And this, 12b “But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"”. Neither of these citations demands the report given to us by Zaspel in the objection above, nor do these verses rule out the parallel of their content with the description of Satan’s state in revelation 20:1-3. Observed in isolation, neither the comparison nor the contrast of these two passages can provide conclusive evidence that the one is recounting Satan’s freedom in one age and his captivity in another.
Likewise, in Zaspel’s use of the word “confined” to describe Satan’s state in chapter 20, he has prepared his reader to accept his interpretation with out first questioning the validity of the connotations the word confined carries (especially when contrasted with the phrase, “carries out a furious rampage over the earth”); those choice words couple together to confuse the reader into assuming a difference that may not be there.
“In Rev.12 he frantically carries out a furious rampage over the earth, but in Rev.20 he is confined to the abyss.”
He, Satan, is claimed to be “frantically carrying out a furious rampage. The assumption that Satan is possessed by furiousness is not in question, but I believe in order give emphasis to the contrast Zaspel is trying to make between the nature of Satan’s activity in chapter 12 and his captivity in chapter 20, he flourishes his vocabulary in this explanation. The text in chapter 20 actually puts it this way, 4b “And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.” And this, 12b “But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"”. Neither of these citations demands the report given to us by Zaspel in the objection above, nor do these verses rule out the parallel of their content with the description of Satan’s state in revelation 20:1-3. Observed in isolation, neither the comparison nor the contrast of these two passages can provide conclusive evidence that the one is recounting Satan’s freedom in one age and his captivity in another.
Likewise, in Zaspel’s use of the word “confined” to describe Satan’s state in chapter 20, he has prepared his reader to accept his interpretation with out first questioning the validity of the connotations the word confined carries (especially when contrasted with the phrase, “carries out a furious rampage over the earth”); those choice words couple together to confuse the reader into assuming a difference that may not be there.
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