Apocalyptic literature is by definition, "describing or prophesying the complete destruction of the world." But according to many in the traditionalist camp, as well as the conditionalist camp, there is a place for degrees of suffering in final punishment of the damned prior to death.
βασανίζω of Revelation 9
This is a non-final punishment context of the use of βασανίζω, universally translated as "torment" in the book of Revelation. Scholars say that pain is meant, but they acknowledged that the pain could symbolize something else- like mental or physical anguish. I think it signifies “spiritual harm“ here. I will wait to draw conclusions for usage in other places, including final punishment, as I go back through my notes with you.
Defending a futurist view of Revelation: “Ironside conjectures that this fallen star (v. 1) is the same as the one mentioned under the third trumpet (8:10), whom he identified with the pope. However, while he believes the key represents ‘a system of teaching, and possibly ritual observances connected with it’ and thinks that this trumpet describes ‘the development of apostasy of which [the pope] is evidently the head,’ yet he does not see the heresy as Catholicism [only], but ‘the occult systems of gnostic origin, so largely prevailing and so rapidly spreading at the present time.’”(“Revelation: Four Views” by Steve Gregg)— “And he opened the pit of the bottomless deep and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace...” etc. (2) Smoke represents “false doctrine, obscuring the true light of heaven.” (Adam Clarke)
We see here "the diffusion on earth of evil thoughts and ideas, the spirit of falsehood and hate, hostility to truth, and enmity against God and man...” (C. J. Ellicott)
“Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth.” (3a) “The locusts… ‘aptly typify or symbolize the spiritual plague of the last days.’... Walvoord, Ryrie, Gaebelein, Tenney, Morris, and others identify the bottomless pit as the abode or prison house of demons. Therefore, they understand the locusts as demonic hordes released against the unrepentant sinners in the Tribulation period…. Nondispensationalists, such as Ladd and Mounce, also understand the locusts as demons loosed on the unbelieving world. Gaebelein graphically describes the implications of this trumpet: ‘The light is now completely blotted out and in the darkness coming from the pit of the abyss the demon powers will do their fearful work.” (“Revelation: Four Views” by Steve Gregg) “Infernal spirits are ever ready, when permitted, to increase the ignorance, wickedness, cruelty, and wretchedness of men." (Justin Edwards)— towards their fellows.
“And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree,"- "Grass and green trees in the Bible are frequent symbols for God's people." (Stefanovic)- "but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.’ (3b-4)
“”And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months.’ (5a) “Scorpion stings are rarely deadly but they are so excessively painful that men so affected wish that they could die. Five months is the life cycle of certain types of locust…. Even here there is a limit set by God on what these creatures can do (‘it was given to them’) and limits on their time of activity.”( Peter Pett) “Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.” (5b) We focus upon the pain of the scorpion sting but what if the proper focus of the apocalypse here is the poison, which comes from sting of the tail. False ideas get into a the person's head and affects their deeds. ""Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed." (James 1:13-14)
The mark of believers (Christ) and unbelievers (antichrist) is in their foreheads— the doctrines that fight for their control of their thoughts and deeds- mind and body. “The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle.” — “A description of the locusts appears to be taken from Joel 2:4.” (Adam Clarke) “On their heads were crowns of something like gold,” — not the godly gold crowns belonging to the saints but ones "like" them, these subjects having a form of godliness, but denying the powers thereof. “The wicked ideas are always advocated from premises of virtue and benevolence; false ideas promise all kinds of victories and utopias; but, alas, the crowns are not really gold at all, but tinsel." (Coffman Commentary)
"And their faces were like the faces of men.” (7)— “that is, though locusts symbolically, they are really men.” (Adam Clarke) "Back of every evil on earth, in the last analysis, there looms the face of an evil man." (Burton Coffman) Thus: “… John describes the power and influence of hell operating in the hearts and lives of wicked men." (William Hendriksen) —
“’They had hair like women’s hair” for a covering (cp 1 Cor. 11:15). This “speaking of subjection, reminds us of their total subjection to infernal, satanic authority.” (L. M. Grant)— “‘and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.’ (8)— "Despite the feminine appearance, the true nature of this horde is seen in the teeth, namely, that of utter destructiveness." (Burton Coffman) "And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron" representing Judgment. It seemed as if no force would be able availed against them. But they had not that "breastplate of righteousness in place." (Eph. 6:14)— "and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle." (9) "Their hanging weapons and military trappings, with the clang of their shields and swords when they make their fierce onsets. This simile is borrowed from Joel 2:5-7." (Adam Clarke) These men “had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails.”— "They infected the conquered with their pernicious doctrines." (Adam Clarke)- "And they have the power to hurt the evil men of the earth five months" (10)— a long time, “but incidentally a definite time, fixed by the Lord, beyond which they did not dare to go… (Paul Kretzmann) “And they had a king over them - the angel of the bottomless pit, called in the Hebrew, Abaddon; and in Greek, Apollyon…” (11) whom you may call, ‘the destroyer’: who drives the whole world both Jews and Gentiles into the destruction that belongs to himself." (Geneva Study Bible)
“Swete writes: ‘The scorpion takes its place with the snake and other creatures hostile to man, and with them symbolizes the forces of spiritual evil which are active in the world.’ This assessment seems to be verified by Jesus, when He told the disciples, ‘Behold, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.’ (Luke 10:19) Christians are not exempt from the physical maladies that afflict mankind, but the demons have no right to inflict their SPIRITUAL HARM upon believers. Hobbs points out that ‘As Israel was safe from the plagues of Egypt, so God’s people were protected from these locusts.’ In addition to the analogy to Egypt, however, there may be an even closer connection to Ezekiel’s vision, in which God’s true people were marked on their foreheads just prior to the unleashing of six angelic destroyers, who slaughtered those in Jerusalem who lacked the mark (Ezekiel 9).” (“Revelation: Four Views” by Steve Gregg)
βασανίζω of Revelation 11
This is another usage of the Greek verb βασανίζω in apocalyptic literature. But there is a big contrast between this and Revelation 9. For God, not Satan, is the tormenter here.
And Jesus is trying to spiritually bless rather than curse the people of the earth. The Greek verb comes from βάσανος, a touchstone, which, when something purported to be gold is rubbed on it, serves as a test of its genuineness. But in the days of the apostles, the word had changed to mean torture, which involved pain— but here it seems to be mental pain, not physical pain, caused by the striking of the conscience of the masses to flee from the wrath to come.
As support, a boat—an inanimate object— is the object of torment in the New Testament. “Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed (βασανίζω) about by the waves, for the wind was against it.” (Matthew 4:24) And mental anguish is definitely meant here: “For day after day that righteous man living among them was tormented (βασανίζω) in his righteous soul (his person) at the lawless deeds he saw and heard.” (2 Peter 2:8)
Finally, it is not clear that the ancient use of βάσανος —a touchstone to test metals had ceased. “Plato’s Gorgius 486d states ‘If my soul had happened to be made of gold, do you not think I should have been delighted to find one of those stones with which they test gold, and it confirmed that my soul had been properly tended.’ Plato’s Republic 3.413e states ‘Testing them more carefully than men do of gold in the fire, to see, if the man remains immune to such witchcraft and preserve his composure throughout.’ Aristophanes’ Frogs 802 states ‘Because Euripides says he’ll test the plays word by word.’” (Resounding The Faith)
Here: “John was given a reed like a measuring rod,”— symbolizing “the word or Gospel in its function of determining who is in the church and who is outside of its bounds” (Lenski)—
saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.” (1) “Take an exact estimate of the temple, of the altar, and of the true worshippers.” (Albert Barnes) “In Old Testament times, measuring involved judgment with regard to who would live and who would die. For example David 'defeated Moab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death and one full line to keep alive' (2 Sam. 8:2).” (Ranko Stephanovic)— “But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it for it has been given to the Gentiles.” (2a) — a reference to pagans. In the end-time, "they"- the Gentiles or Hellenized Christians-- “will tread the holy city (the universal church) underfoot for forty-two months.” (2b) This is fulfilled by so-called pastors teaching things contrary to the Word of God.
“And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." (3)“Some see them as two persons living at the end of time; but 'my two witnesses' indicates that John knew them. I believe the two witnesses are the testimony of the Law and the Prophets” (Stephanovic) “These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the Lord of the earth.” (4) "While St. John uses the figure of Zechariah, he does not apply it in every detail. In the prophet, but one candlestick is mentioned. ‘The two olive trees,’ which supply the material for the candlesticks, are fit emblems of the Old and New Testaments; the candlesticks typify the Jewish and Christian Churches.. The Church derives her stores from the Word of God....” (Pulpit Commentaries)
“And if anyone wants to harm them,”— the universal church and its standard, the Word of God— “fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner.” (5) Haman will be killed on the gallows he made for Mordecai.— “These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire." (6). No one calls down fire from heaven upon the false prophets, like Elijah did. (1 Kings 18:16-45) Nor do they desire to do so as the sons of thunder suggested. (Luke 9:51-56) But they are devoted to destruction.
“When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies lie in the STREET of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt’”— “names dictated by prudence” (Sutcliffe) for Jerusalem — “where also our Lord was crucified." (7-8) "This is symbolical, of course, for neither the Word of the Lord nor the holy church can be overcome or killed literally. The Word of the Lord endureth for ever; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against the church. Despite this, the damage inflicted by the evil one is sufficient to justify the hyperbolic metaphor describing it. [The Scriptures have no place in their homes, thus littering the street of Jerusalem]- 'Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves.’ (9) And to think of just two individual men remaining unburied in some specific city is ridiculous. Something of far greater import than this is depicted. ‘The word for STREET here signifies a broad street, such as the principal street of a city would be.’ ...Thus, we may say that the unburied bodies of the dead, decorate Broadway!” (Burton Coffman)
“And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them," the desecrated holy writs and "make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented (βασανίζω) those who dwell on the earth.” (10) "The citizens of the great city are happy indeed to feast their eyes upon the dead witnesses. They are delighted now to see that the testimony of the Word to the nations will never be heard again." (Lenski) They appeased their consciences by celebrating its demise and giving alms to the poor, rather than heeding to the torments or strikes that had come to their consciences through the testimony of the slain.
"Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them and they, stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them." (11) "The celebration is now over.... The breath of life is here the reference to Genesis 2:7; it is God who brings the witnesses back to life. This scene of bringing to life the two witnesses recalls Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of the dry bones—the prophecy of the restoration of Israel from the Babylonian exile. To their enemies, Israel is seen as having been slain. As Ezekiel prophesied, the breath came into the dead bodies, and they came to life and stood on their feet (Ezek. 37:1–10). Whenever the world thinks it has silenced the voice of the faithful witnesses that 'tormented them,' vindication is always portrayed symbolically in the resurrection and ascension… As Desmond Ford states, 'the righteous may be knocked down, but they are not knocked out.'...Two witnesses thus came back to life and the stage was set for a widespread preaching of the gospel—more than at any time in history. Bringing them back to life engenders a great fear on their enemies who earlier rejoiced over their disgraceful death." (Ranko Stefanovic)
"They heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, 'Come up here.’ And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven." (12-13) “Just as Jerusalem persecuted Jesus and put him to death, so this great symbolic city – professing Christians under the control of political power – persecutes God's people." (Stefanovic) They can only kill the body but not the soul. For God will resurrect them.
βασανίζω of Revelation 12
βασανίζω is translated as “pain” here, that of child birth— a type of physical pain, but the antitype is the great trial of a fruitful Church, which includes every form of strike from mockery to martydom. “But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.” (Gal 4:29) When speaking of His departure, Jesus said: “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father….Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.” (Joh 16:16, 21) “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Pet 1:3)
“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.” (1) “The Church of God…is resembled by a fair and delicate woman. {Jer. 6:2}—‘clothed with the sun’ (1a)— that is covered with the robe of Christ's righteousness; and clothed with the garments of his salvation, {Isa. 61:10} called the perfection of beauty, {Psa. 50:2} she is all glorious within. {Psa. 45:13}.” (Knollys' Commentary)— “‘With the moon under her feet’ —Bishop Newton understands this of the Jewish typical worship and indeed the Mosaic system of rites and ceremonies could not have been better represented, for it was the shadow of good things to come. The moon is the less light, ruling over the night, and deriving all its illumination from the sun; in like manner the Jewish dispensation was the bright moonlight night of the world, and possessed a portion of the glorious light of the Gospel. At the rising of the sun the night is ended, and the lunar light no longer necessary, as the sun which enlightens her shines full upon the earth; exactly in the same way has the whole Jewish system of types and shadows has been superseded by the birth, life, crucifixion, death, resurrection, ascension, and intercession of Jesus Christ.” (Adam Clarke)— “‘And on her head a garland of twelve stars”— “a crown of twelve stars, the twelve tribes of Israel; which are smaller than the sun and moon.” (John Wesley)
“Then being with child,”— the Seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), as well as her spiritual offspring— “she cried out in labor and in pain (βασανίζω) to give birth.” —“a symbol of the fruitfulness of the church in times of great trial. (Cp. Isaiah 54:1; 66:8.)” (Justin Edwards)
“And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads." (3) “When a birth is expected in a family the members thereof are generally hovering near… But in the case of this woman there is a being waiting near who is not friendly toward the ‘event. This being is called a great red dragon… The dragon of our verse is Rome. Some commentators designate that it means Pagan Rome Revelation but I do not believe it is to be restricted to that. However, since both Pagan and Papal Rome had their headquarters in the city of Rome, it will not make any difference as far as this verse is concerned, which angle of the subject we take. The description of the dragon in this verse agrees with the government of Rome with the leading European kingdoms that were connected with it and formed a part of the institution as a whole. The seven heads are so numbered because the city of Rome literally has seven hills on which it is situated. But those seven hills are not important except as symbols of something else not literal or at least not material. They represent the sevenfold power of that mighty institution in opposing the works of God. The ten horns are the same that Daniel saw (Dan 7:7), and they correspond to the ten toes of the giant image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream." (Zerr's Commentary)
“His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth” (4a) His tail”— with it's poisonous venom (Rev 9:3-5)— "drew — Greek, present tense, 'draweth,' 'drags down' - 'a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the ground' (4a)- His dragging down the stars with his tail (lashed back and forward in his fury) implies his persuading to apostatize, like himself, and to become earthy, those angels and also once eminent human teachers who had formerly been heavenly (cp. Rev 12:1; 1:20; Isa 14:12)." (Jamieson, Faucett, Brown)—
“And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.” (4b) This was true in Egypt of God's people being led by Christ that Rock that followed them. (1 Cor 10:4) "So the dragon, represented by his agent Pharaoh (a name common to all the Egyptian kings, and meaning, according to some, crocodile, a reptile like the dragon, and made an Egyptian idol), was ready to devour Israel‘s males at the birth of the nation. Antitypically the true Israel, Jesus, when born, was sought for destruction by Herod, who slew all the males in and around Bethlehem." (Jamieson, Faucett, Brown) And so it was true at the appointed time in Canaan. "That is, Herod watched to destroy Christ as soon as he was born, Matthew 2:1-12 so while the church was endeavouring to propagate Christianity and make converts to Christ, the dragon watched, intending to devour them." The devil's great design is to crush every good thing in the beginning, to nip grace in the bud, to kill the infant church in the cradle; he is therefore said to stand before the woman, to prevent all possibility of her child's escape. Behold his bloody cruelty! but though he stood before her, he had no power to hurt or touch either, mother or child: behold his powerful restraint!" (William Burkitt)
“She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.” (5a) etc. Despite all of his venomous threats— “she bore a male Child," that is Christ, "who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron." He is "the seed of the mystic woman, considered as the head and representative of all his disciples. It includes, therefore, not only Him, but all who are through faith united to him. 'And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.’ (5b) ; representing the exaltation of Christ, and through Him the protection of His people and their victory over their enemies." (Justin Edwards) — “‘Then the woman fled into the wilderness' (6a) The woman, the representative of the Church, has a place prepared by God for her in the wilderness; she is not altogether uncared for; ‘she has a place prepared’ (6), and nourishment. God provides her with a tabernacle of safety (Psalms 90:1), and with the true Bread 'which came down from heaven' (Exodus 16:15; Psalms 78:24-25; John 6:49-50), and with the living water from the Rock (John 4:14; John 7:37-39; 1 Corinthians 10:3-4). The time of the sojourn in the wilderness is twelve hundred and sixty days, a period corresponding in length to the forty-two months during which the witnesses prophesied; it is the period of the Church’s witness against predominant evil. Driven forth, her voice, though but as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, is lifted up on behalf of righteousness and truth." (Ellicott's Commentary)
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