It is generally accepted that Revelation's heavenly scenes were intended to demonstrate that God continued to exercise his control even when the audience's experience might suggest otherwise. In The Abyss in Revelation, Edward Gudeman argues that the descriptions of the underworld and its denizens present God as sovereign, even over this most "God-forsaken" of places. Examining the motif and imagery of the abyss and the sea in Old Testament, New Testament, Greco-Roman, and Second Temple Jewish writings, Gudeman identifies the traditions that John appropriates in Revelations and elucidates how they are used to demonstrate God's dominion and power. Gudeman shows that, examined against the background of the Jewish literature on the Watchers, the references in Revelation to Satan or the beast coming out of the abyss imply that they are emerging for the purpose of final judgment and destruction. Thus, the author of Revelation demonstrates for his readers that God is in control of the activity of Satan and demonic beings and that their destruction is both planned and certain. Original and convincing, this volume sheds light on Revelation's message about how God responds to evil and advances our understanding of several interpretive problems related to the abyss and its inhabitants. Biblical scholars especially will benefit from Gudeman's research.
