John's basis for Revelation 20 - Quotes and Questions

[Bing]

Originally Posted by astrongerthanhe

Uh, no. Sorry. I see now how one might read my post that way, but that's not what I meant. I simply meant that silence doesn't always speak louder than words.

I beg your pardon for the misunderstanding. I of course agree that lack of evidence is not always evidence of lack. It is problematic, of course, that Revelation 20 does not show lack of evidence - only lack of evidence for a thousand years of regeneration. It is also problematic that this hole in John's cross-references stands starkly and conspicuously against the entirety of his apocalypse.

Originally Posted by astrongerthanhe

"Why?" What of my suggestion that the context of Revelation tells us why? That the judgments prior to the millennium, and not the bliss of the millennium, is in view here? Hence the lack of Utopian millennial references in Rev. 20:4-7. Thoughts?

A hit. A quite palpable hit, my friend. My immediate counter to this significant point is the question as to why John does not describe these devastating judgements with references to Old Testament millennial passages that mix bliss and judgement together.

It would be easy to consider the bliss of the millennial kingdom, for instance, if John had described Satan's imprisonment using the language of Isaiah 24:21-22, and bracketed the chapter with a description of the earth reeling like a drunken man. This would allow us to draw on the context of Isaiah 25 to find our blissful millennial kingdom. It would be easy to consider the validity of a thousand years of joy and peace if "They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years" was followed by a reference to Zephaniah 3:12 or 3:20 or something of similar ilk.

It is plain that if we are to countenance a literal and plain thousand year period of time following the return of Jesus distinct from the rest of eternity, that John is the first prophet to describe it succinctly. The question arises, was he the first prophet to describe it at all? And if this be the case, then what in the world are all our "Old Testament Millennial Passages" really about?