[It is noteworthy that in the New Testament one rarely finds the authors specifically identifying the enemies of the early Christians.] Martin Hengel comments correctly: “One of the riddles of Jewish and early Christian polemic is that it hardly ever really names its opponents, but tends to use derogatory paraphrases. This is [also] true of Essene polemic, which conceals its opponents in ciphers” 1. In this context we recall the references to Babylon and Egypt in the Old Testament as, e.g., “Rahab”. Paul likewise doesn’t seem to refer to his enemies by their names but rather hides behind almost taunt phrases (2 Corinthians 11:5,13; 12:11; Galatians 5:12; Philippians 3:2; and see too Galatians 1:7; 3:1,10; 4:17; 2 Corinthians 2:17; Romans 3:8; 15:31). The references to the prophetess “Jezebel” in Revelation 2:20 and “the teaching of Balaam” (Revelation 2:14) don’t actually name the individuals concerned, but rather give them a kind of code name.
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Author: Duncan Heaster
Keywords: Satan, devil, Evil one, Wicked one, lawless one, strong delusion, son of perdition, man of sin, Antichrist, man of lawlessness, enemy, enemies, enemies of the cross, enemy of the cross, persecution, anonymous, unnamed opponents, opponent, unnamed, unnamed enemies, unnamed enemy, cipher, polemic, teaching of Balaam, Jezebel, opponents, Jewish opposition, synagog of Satan, synagogue of Satan, thorn in the flesh, code, code language, code name, secret, secret language, cryptic, enemy of the state, crypto, anonymous enemies, unknown, unknown enemy, adversaries, adversary, derogatory
Bible reference(s): 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 2 Thessalonians 2:8-9, Galatians 1:7, 2 Corinthians 11:13, Galatians 5:12, Gal 3:1, Gal 4:17, Ephesians 2:2, Romans 3:8, Rom 15:31, Revelation 2:14, Philippians 3:2, 2 John 1:7, Revelation 2:20
Source: “The Real Devil A Biblical Exploration.”
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