Read: Proverbs 16:16-25, Revelation 9:1-11
Pilgrim’s Progress Stage 4 Part 1

Relate: Is Apollyon Satan? Yes or no? I actually spent a good deal of time on this question. After researching both the Bible and what other scholars have written about Pilgrim’s Progress, I have come down with a firm and hard answer. I don’t know. Of the three scholarly articles I read (thanks, EBSCO), one clearly says it is, one says it is not, and the third says it isn’t at one point but says it is a couple of paragraphs later. Thanks for the clarity, guys (and lady). The significant verse in question is Revelation 9:11. The best way to translate it would be: “They had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew: Abaddon, but in Greek [he] has the name Apollyon.” Translation from one language to another is never easy, and here we are actually dealing with three languages and two (possibly) ancient perspectives. The Hebrew Abaddon means “destruction” or “doom” and in the Old Testament refers to a place. But the Greek Apollyon means “destroyer,” and outside of Revelation, we only see it as a wordplay by Euripedes and Aeschylus who are calling the god Apollo “my destroyer.” So Abaddon in the Old Testament is a place: “destruction”. Apollyon, outside of Revelation, is a person, “the destroyer”. So some translations show this as the pit being Abaddon and the king of the pit being Apollyon. But most see John using the two words interchangeably. His name is Abaddon in Hebrew, and his name is Apollyon in Greek. Which is right? I don’t know.

React: And as for Pilgrim’s Progress, it would make sense for Apollyon to be only the Lord of the City of Destruction and not necessarily Satan himself. Bunyan has another character, Beelzebub, who is Lord of Vanity Fair and clearly distinct from Apollyon. But when Christian fights Apollyon, the weapons and manner of the fight seem to refer to other places in scripture that talk about our battle against Satan himself. So, whether or not Apollyon is Satan in this allegory, he still fights like Satan. And the way we defeat our adversary, whoever that may be, is still the same. We will get more into that in the days ahead, but the first step can clearly be seen here today. Christian knew that where we have come from does not determine where we are headed.

Respond:

Dear God,
My citizenship is in heaven, even though I have not yet arrived at home. For now, like Christian, I am still passing through. But I know that I am moving forward. I am not where I started this journey, and by Your grace, I will never go back. I don’t need to remind Satan of his future. Just help me to remember mine.
Amen